How To Maximize The Quality Of YouTube Videos (using Resolve)

Part 1: Delivering to YouTube… and making it look correct!

Remove your doubts about delivering to YouTube from DaVinci Resolve. After the correct color space options are addressed in DaVinci Resolve’s color management settings, this Insight focuses on optimizing your image quality for the best results on YouTube using DaVinci Resolve’s Deliver page’s Render Settings.

Note: The first two minutes address exporting from a Windows machine. After that, PC and Mac (or Linux) users will all benefit from the rest of the Insight about optimizing your Deliver page presets.

Mastering DaVinci Resolve’s Deliver Page Presets

Delivering to YouTube from DaVinci Resolve is straightforward, especially if you’re on a Windows machine. The YouTube preset on the Deliver page is set up according to YouTube’s own website specs, so rendering a good-quality file takes just a couple of clicks. On a Mac, things are different – so we’ll cover Apple-specific settings in Part 2 of this short series.

Regarding the color space, YouTube recommends BT.709, also known as Rec.709, which features a D65 white point. Its treatment of the gamma is as a non-linear OETF (scene to video) intended for CRT displays, which is Gamma 2.4. This setting is optimal for users working with a grading monitor.