How to Create and Optimize Graphics for Youtube Videos
There are many instances where you may need to insert graphics in your Youtube videos. In many cases, Youtube videos will be composed mainly of static images, as in the case of many training/presentation videos. This tutorial will teach you how to optimize graphics in Adobe Photoshop specifically for your Youtube videos.
Youtube Video Dimensions in Pixels
You’ve got Photoshop opened up and you want to create a graphic that will take up the whole Youtube screen. You’re probably left scratching your head…”What are the dimensions of a Youtube video?” Before we get there, keep in mind that there are various quality levels of videos on Youtube, namely 240p, 360p, 480p, 720p, and 1080p. You choose encoding output video resolution (dimensions) based on which quality level you are aiming for.
If For you want an HD Youtube Video, most users encode their videos at 1280×720. As you can probably guess, this is 720p, and will take up the entire Youtube screen with no letterbox (the black bars at the sides of the video). You can use this resolution for a full screen Youtube graphic, however in most instances it is an overkill. The main disadvantage with choosing this size is that it will be harder to find stock images (with large resolutions) to use for your graphic.
In most circumstances, your video will be viewed at its Youtube embedded dimensions, meaning users will not being viewing it in full screen. Thus we can opt for using 360p, meaning that your graphics should be 640×360.
Start off by opening a new 640 x 360 document in Photoshop.
Firstly, keep in mind that the seeking/controls bar at the bottom Youtube video will overlay your graphic when the user’s mouse is active over the video. Therefore it’s in your best interest to keep any text away from the very bottom of your graphic.
I will quickly demonstrate how you can create a training video based solely on static images used as slides. You can use an movie editor such as iMovie to put the slides together and export it to Youtube. Start off by selecting a dark shade of grey for as your foreground and black for your background. Choose the gradient tool, select the “reflected gradient” as shown below, and drag a gradient.
You should have something similar to this:
Next we’ll a title bar.In a new layer, select the marquee tool to drag out a bar at the top of your graphic.
Select a shade of grey and white as your foreground and background respectively. Insert another reflective gradient as shown:
Were going to make the left side of this bar red. This side will inform users what “step” they are currently on. Hold down the ALT key while the marque is still blinking and your cursor should change to a “negative marquee”. Drag out the area from the right end of the bar, resulting in it getting “unselcted”, leaving only the left portion of your bar selected. Neat trick huh? Choose two shades of red and drag out a gradient.
Next, create a new layer and drag it behind the title bar. This will be your “information box” where you can add text. I choose to go with a black and grey gradient, the result is shown below:
Add some text in, and a photo to aid your user, and voila. You have step one of your slide. Simply create as many slides as you need, and use a movie editor such as iMovie to put the slides together.
Stay tuned, our next tutorial will show you how to put together a movie in iMovie using still images. If you found this tutorial helpful please hit the Facebook Like Button !
