Answers.Body: <p>YouTube currently does not have any encoding options for content creators. </p>
  
  <p>As far as why some videos are encoded as webm and others in different container types, I don't believe there is any documentation on that whatsoever. YouTube may be beta-testing specific codecs, to see how codecs perform/stream for end users, or there may be a specific matching system whereas input = specific output attributes. </p>
  
  <p>When you upload a video to YouTube, the video is re-encoded using a Variable Bitrate at the highest resolution / matching resolution of the original upload. If the uploaded video is larger => 360p then smaller versions are also encoded for multiple streaming options (240p as an example). </p>
  
  <p>But there is no current way to force the YouTube encoding platform to encode to a specific codec, and even you were able to figure out what input codec would result in a specific desired output codec, it may only be temporary. I only mention this because YouTube has stated it is currently experimenting with new codecs, including closed source proprietary codecs and encoding algorithms... so what works today may not tomorrow. </p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2018-10-08T12:56:34.167Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2018-10-08T12:56:34.167Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: McFlySoHigh
Body: <p>I know the answer, which is probably "there is no way", but bear with me for a moment. </p>
  
  <p>I am uploading videos to YouTube, and on my Android phone I am downloading them using YouTube Red. I am playing these downloaded videos in the YouTube app in the background, when the screen is off. This works with the vast majority of the videos, except the ones that I am uploading. I did read the recommended upload formats, I tried several codecs, but no luck. My audios stop the second I am shutting off the screen.</p>
  
  <p>What I finally found using <code>youtube-dl -F</code> is that my videos do not have audio-only streams with webm extension, only as m4a (after Youtube processed them). So my question is: what makes Youtube create webm audio files for some videos, but not for the others? Is there a way to force this (I suppose not). Is there a way to suggest it? As I mentioned, I tried a wide variety of codecs - video and audio, and the combinations - when generating my files for the upload.</p>
  
  <p>A sample output for a file that works with Youtube Red playback in background:</p>
  
  <pre><code>format code  extension  resolution note
  249          webm       audio only DASH audio   52k , opus @ 50k, 73.58KiB
  250          webm       audio only DASH audio   66k , opus @ 70k, 92.62KiB
  251          webm       audio only DASH audio  114k , opus @160k, 161.14KiB
  171          webm       audio only DASH audio  115k , vorbis@128k, 161.27KiB
  140          m4a        audio only DASH audio  127k , m4a_dash container, mp4a.40.2@128k, 180.79KiB
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>and the output for one file which does not:</p>
  
  <pre><code>format code  extension  resolution note
  139          m4a        audio only DASH audio   49k , m4a_dash container, mp4a.40.5@ 48k (22050Hz), 1.20MiB
  140          m4a        audio only DASH audio  129k , m4a_dash container, mp4a.40.2@128k (44100Hz), 3.20MiB
  </code></pre>
  
Tags: <audio><youtube><android>
Title: How can I force YouTube to convert my video's audio stream to Opus or Vorbis / Youtube Red issue
UserDisplayName: egyedia
ThreadText: # How can I force YouTube to convert my video's audio stream to Opus or Vorbis / Youtube Red issue
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2018-10-08)
  
  I know the answer, which is probably "there is no way", but bear with me for a moment.
  
  I am uploading videos to YouTube, and on my Android phone I am downloading them using YouTube Red. I am playing these downloaded videos in the YouTube app in the background, when the screen is off. This works with the vast majority of the videos, except the ones that I am uploading. I did read the recommended upload formats, I tried several codecs, but no luck. My audios stop the second I am shutting off the screen.
  
  What I finally found using `youtube-dl -F` is that my videos do not have audio-only streams with webm extension, only as m4a (after Youtube processed them). So my question is: what makes Youtube create webm audio files for some videos, but not for the others? Is there a way to force this (I suppose not). Is there a way to suggest it? As I mentioned, I tried a wide variety of codecs - video and audio, and the combinations - when generating my files for the upload.
  
  A sample output for a file that works with Youtube Red playback in background:
  
  ```
  format code  extension  resolution note
  249          webm       audio only DASH audio   52k , opus @ 50k, 73.58KiB
  250          webm       audio only DASH audio   66k , opus @ 70k, 92.62KiB
  251          webm       audio only DASH audio  114k , opus @160k, 161.14KiB
  171          webm       audio only DASH audio  115k , vorbis@128k, 161.27KiB
  140          m4a        audio only DASH audio  127k , m4a_dash container, mp4a.40.2@128k, 180.79KiB
  
  ```
  
  and the output for one file which does not:
  
  ```
  format code  extension  resolution note
  139          m4a        audio only DASH audio   49k , m4a_dash container, mp4a.40.5@ 48k (22050Hz), 1.20MiB
  140          m4a        audio only DASH audio  129k , m4a_dash container, mp4a.40.2@128k (44100Hz), 3.20MiB
  
  ```
  
  **Tags:** audio, youtube, android
  
  
  ---
  
  ## 1 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_1 on 2018-10-08. Score: 1
  
  YouTube currently does not have any encoding options for content creators.
  
  As far as why some videos are encoded as webm and others in different container types, I don't believe there is any documentation on that whatsoever. YouTube may be beta-testing specific codecs, to see how codecs perform/stream for end users, or there may be a specific matching system whereas input = specific output attributes.
  
  When you upload a video to YouTube, the video is re-encoded using a Variable Bitrate at the highest resolution / matching resolution of the original upload. If the uploaded video is larger => 360p then smaller versions are also encoded for multiple streaming options (240p as an example).
  
  But there is no current way to force the YouTube encoding platform to encode to a specific codec, and even you were able to figure out what input codec would result in a specific desired output codec, it may only be temporary. I only mention this because YouTube has stated it is currently experimenting with new codecs, including closed source proprietary codecs and encoding algorithms... so what works today may not tomorrow.
  
  
  ---
  
  