Upload a Video to YouTube

Want to be able to share your videos with friends, family, and perfect strangers? Uploading videos to YouTube is a quick process from either your mobile device or from your computer. Follow this guide have your video online and attracting viewers in just a few minutes.

Steps

From Your Computer

  1. Copy the video from your camera to your computer. Before you upload the video to YouTube, make any edits that you would like, and then make sure that it is converted into a proper format. There are a wide variety of programs and websites that can convert video for free. YouTube accepts the following formats:
    • .AVI (Audio Video Interleaved)
    • .3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project)
    • .MOV (QuickTime Movie)
    • .MP4 (Motion Picture Experts Group Part 14)
    • .MPEG or .MPG (Motion Picture Experts Group)
    • .FLV (Adobe Flash)
    • .M4V (h.264)
    • .WMV (Windows Media Video)
    • .WEBM (HTML5)
  2. Log in to your account. Each account has its own channel attached to it. Sign in to the account that is associated with the channel that you want to upload the video to.
  3. Click the Upload button on the top of the homepage. The Upload button is located to the right of the Search bar.
  4. Choose a video file. Click the “Select files to upload” button to open a file browser. Find the file or files that you want to add. You can also drag and drop videos into the square in the web browser window.
  5. Click the Open button. If your account is unverified, you are limited to 15 minute uploads. You can upload longer videos by verifying your account via text message. You can find the verification link in the Upload page.
    • You can upload directly from your webcam instead of uploading a pre-existing video. You can preview the recording before you upload.
    • Once you open the file, the video will begin uploading automatically. You will be taken to a page where you can enter the information for the video.
  6. Enter the details. Required information includes the title of the video, the description of the video, and any tags that you want to add.
    • Adding a description to your video will allow for others to learn more information about it, which will display at the bottom of the video. To help your video stand out, add a unique description and don’t just copy the title into the description box.
    • Tags allow other YouTube users to see your video by linking common words associated with your video (e.g. Dancing Elephants has a tag of "elephants," "dancing," and "funny"). Other videos with similar tags will often be seen together in the "Recommended videos" sidebar.
    • Annotations allow you to add notes or pauses to the video that you may have forgotten to put in. These can allow the viewer to see additional information about your channel, for example, without having to read the description.
  7. Choose Privacy settings. Public videos can be searched for and viewed by anyone. Unlisted videos are only accessible to people who know the video link. Private videos are unlisted and can only be viewed by viewers that you designate. These users need to have a Google account to access the video.
  8. Share your video if you want. You can share your video through Google+, Facebook or Twitter, or you could send your friends the video link. Check the box next to each service that you want to share with.
  9. Choose to monetize your video. Click the Monetization tab and check the Monetize box to place ads on your video.
  10. Adjust any advanced settings. Click the Advanced tab and review the options. You can choose to disable the comments, disable video responses, change rights ownership, choose to notify your subscribers, and more.
  11. Choose a thumbnail photo for the video to let other YouTube users see a quick overview image of what they should expect to see in your video. YouTube finds locations where the filming stopped for several seconds and takes a quick snapshot and allows you to use these clipped images for your videos. This is mandatory, but YouTube helps you out by selecting the very first clip at near the beginning of the video. Click a new clip's image to change it's thumbnail.
  12. Hit Save. Your title, description, etc. will be saved when your video has completed uploading. When the bar fills, you have posted a video on YouTube.
  13. Let YouTube's system figure out the right way to display the video (which take some time). Despite being uploaded from your computer to YouTube, YouTube wants to check for problems and make sure the viewer sees video that is cut correctly and will be displayed by all viewers the same way. You'll be told that it's in the process of being transacted, but you can't do anything to the uploaded video during this short intermission of time.

From Mobile

  1. Open your video. Use your device’s Video Player to open the video that you want to upload. You can either upload a video that is already on your phone, or you can upload a video immediately after recording it.
  2. Press the Share button. The Share feature is located in different places depending on the type of phone that you use:
    • In iOS 7, the Share button is located in the bottom-left corner of the video player. It looks like a box with an arrow coming out of the top.
    • On Android devices, the Share button may be visible in the video player, or you may have to press the Menu button for it to pop up.
  3. Select YouTube from the Share menu. There will be a variety of sharing options when you press the Share button. Tap YouTube to upload the file directly to YouTube. You may have to scroll through the list to find it.
    • Sign in if necessary. Depending on your login preferences, you may be asked for your YouTube account name and password.
  4. Give it a title. If you took the video with your phone’s camera, the video most likely has a title with just the date and some numbers. Enter a title that is descriptive and attention-grabbing.
  5. Describe the video. Add a description to the video that viewers can read while they watch it. Explain anything that may be going on in the video. Provide an accurate description to make sure that YouTube keeps the video in relevant searches.
  6. Tag the video. Add tags to help your video appear in other viewers’ searches. Tags are words or short phrases that describe the video and help others find it on YouTube. Misleading tags can have a negative impact on your video's views, so be honest and creative to bring in lots of searches.
  7. Select your privacy settings. You can choose to have the video uploaded publicly, privately, or unlisted. Public uploads can be searched for and viewed by anyone. Private videos can only be viewed by you or a channel that you have allowed to view the video. Unlisted videos can only be viewed by people with direct links to the video.
  8. Click the Upload or Publish button. Once you have your privacy settings and description set, click the Upload or Publish button to upload the video to your channel. Depending on the size of the video this could take a while.
    • Uploading your video using your data plan can take up a significant amount of your allotted data. Try uploading over WiFi to reduce your data costs.

Uploading DVDs

  1. Download and install DVD Ripper software on your computer. You must first rip your DVD video file to make it a fit for YouTube, and you do this using a good DVD Ripper software. You can use HandBrake or VidCoder for this task.
  2. Insert and copy your DVD. Insert the DVD you want to upload into your computer's DVD drive to copy the files into your computer.
    • Right-click on your DVD drive, and select “Explore” to open the files in your DVD.
    • Find and select the “VIDEO_TS” files. You can select more than one file at a time by pressing the Ctrl button, and clicking on the selected files.
    • Copy all files from your DVD, and paste them into your computer. However, you can also select files directly from your DVD drive without having to copy.
  3. Run your DVD Ripper software, and rip your files. You should now run your DVD ripper software on your computer from the Program menu.
    • Click on the “Source” button to open and to browse your DVD.
    • Choose the VIDEO_TS folder from your DVD. If you want to add multiple files or select files from your hard disk, click on the File tab of HandBrake and select “Enqueue Multiple Titles.”
    • Add all the video files to the queue for ripping.
  4. Set up your ripping options. You have to choose an output format for your ripped DVD files. In this case, you must remember the video formats supported by YouTube. You can upload AVI, FLV, MPEG4, MPEGPS, 3GPP, WMV, WebM and MOV files.
    • HandBrake makes it easy as you need not modify the encoding part. The default setting for encoding is fit for YouTube videos.
  5. Start ripping DVD files. Hit the Encode button at the bottom to start the ripping process. The ripping duration depends upon your computer configuration and the size of the files.
  6. Log into YouTube. Go to www.youtube.com, and sign into your account using your Gmail address and password. The login option is at the top right corner of your YouTube home page.
  7. Increase your video duration limit. The default maximum video length on YouTube is 15 minutes only. However, now you can top up this duration for uploading your DVD files by verifying your account.
    • Go to this page to increase your video limit: https://www.youtube.com/verify. Select your country from the drop-down menu below the country title. Afterwards choose the radio button “Text me the verification code.” Enter your mobile number in the required field, and click on the “Send” button.
  8. Check your phone inbox for the verification code message from Google. Type the code carefully in the required field, and press the “Verify” button. You should see a successful verification message soon after.
  9. Go back to the YouTube home page. If you had signed out, log in again so you can start uploading your DVD video.
  10. Click on the “Upload” button at the top right corner of the page. Alternatively, you can go to the uploading page directly at https://www.youtube.com/upload
  11. Click on the “Select files to upload” button. It’s right below the upper arrow sign in the middle of the page. Browse through the files on your computer, and click on the selected file. Click on the Open tab.
    • You can select the file directly by double-clicking on it. Moreover, you can specify the privacy settings for your video from the drop-down menu showing below the “Select files to upload” button.
  12. Edit your video setting. On the uploading page, you will see the progress of your DVD video file. Here you can edit both “Basic info” and “Advanced settings” by clicking on them at the top.
    • Click on the Basic Info tab, and type a title into the required box. Add a description for your video, and supply tags for it in the required fields.
    • Click on the Advanced Settings tab, and choose settings for Comment, License and Rights Ownership, Caption Certification, Distribution Options, Age Restrictions, Category, Video location, Video language, Recording Date, and 3D video from the drop-down menu.
  13. Click on the “Publish” button. Do so only after finishing the uploading process to make live your video. You should click on “Done” if it is your private video.
    • If you want, you can click on the “Share” button to share your video with people you’ve selected. You are allowed to change this setting later from the Video manager settings.



Tips

  • Do fun tags and challenges that you know are very popular to get more views. Speed drawing also gets some views.
  • Try to give your video a description that doesn't just repeat the title.
  • If you are going to upload a video from Windows Movie Maker, make sure you've saved it as a movie file. Only then will it be available to upload on YouTube.
  • Make sure you add captions so people will subscribe!
  • If you want a lot of views, make the title simple, and keep your tags multiple but to the point. You can include your username as a tag.
  • Read YouTube's Terms and Conditions on what and what not to post if you're unsure about whether your content is acceptable.
  • Look at the most viewed videos for hints on the title, tags, and other things.
  • You can use Java-based tools for uploading your DVD files as it enables the resume feature when uploading to YouTube. If you want to use this feature, go to https://developers.google.com/youtube/2.0/developers_guide_java and follow the contents.
  • You can share your uploaded DVD video link with friends and family privately by forwarding the “Uploading Notification” email sent by YouTube.
  • Put common words in your tags if your title is a little long.
  • Don't forget to upload an eye-catching thumbnail, describing your video perfectly.
  • You should select Audio Codec “AAC-LC” and Video Codec “H.264” if you want to set encoding settings manually for YouTube videos. For more information, you can go to https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/1722171
  • Once you have finished editing your video download it to a flash drive.

Warnings

  • Don't post nudity in your video - your account will be deleted.
  • Never publish your family DVD videos publicly to protect your privacy and to ensure your online security.
  • Don't upload commercial or copyrighted DVD videos to YouTube without permission of the copyright owner. This may cause trouble for you, and even lawsuits.
  • When the video reaches 301 views, the view counter will be temporarily stopped to check for bots
  • Make sure you don't post offensive things or you'll get dislikes and most likely be reported.
  • Always follow YouTube's Community Guidelines and Terms of Use to prevent your account from being deleted.
  • Always rip your DVD videos into a YouTube-supported format.
  • Make sure you post things that you think are reasonable; if you post something you don't want, people already going to be watching it. (although you can still delete it, it's best to stay on the safe side.)
  • Don't upload any video that contains copyrighted material onto YouTube without the permission of the copyright owner. It's against YouTube's user agreement, and the video with copyright-infringing material will get deleted as a warning (copyright strike). If you continue uploading videos that contain copyrighted contents onto YouTube without the permission of the owners, your account will be terminated. You could even be fined or imprisoned. Especially avoid violating copyrights belonging to film studios, independent filmmakers (even the most obscure ones are merciless about their copyrights), singers, actors, etc. Some YouTube users are also notoriously aggressive in enforcing their copyrights. You may upload Copyrighted material that follows Fair Use law.
  • Don't upload too many videos a day. Otherwise, the view counters will be stopped or get only few views. You can still upload videos anytime, but not daily.

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