The Tool Desk
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Choose the bitrate for your H.264 resolution and frame rate
YouTube’s current encoder guidance recommends the following H.264 ingest bitrates. They are recommendations for the stream sent to YouTube, not promises about the bitrate of the viewer renditions: YouTube transcodes live streams into multiple output formats. Choose the row matching your actual output resolution and frame rate.
| Ingest resolution and frame rate | YouTube-recommended H.264 video bitrate |
|---|---|
| 360p30 | 4 Mbps |
| 480p30 | 4 Mbps |
| 720p30 | 8 Mbps |
| 720p60 | 8 Mbps |
| 1080p30 | 14 Mbps |
| 1080p60 | 17 Mbps |
| 1440p30 | 21 Mbps |
| 1440p60 | 34 Mbps |
| 2160p30 | 42 Mbps |
| 2160p60 | 50 Mbps |
These are YouTube Help’s current H.264 recommendations, accessed in 2026; consult its live encoder settings and bitrate guidance for current details. Don’t use the 1080p30 figure for 1080p60. The same page lists different recommendations for AV1 and H.265, so the table above is for H.264 only.
Use a setting your connection can sustain reliably, including audio and network overhead. If it cannot sustain the recommended bitrate for a resolution and frame rate, lower the output resolution or frame rate to a suitable row and test it rather than assuming a lower bitrate will preserve the same quality.
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Set a two-second GOP in FFmpeg
YouTube recommends a keyframe frequency of two seconds and says not to exceed four seconds. The FFmpeg -g option sets the maximum GOP size in frames, so convert seconds to frames by multiplying the frame rate by the desired interval:
- At 30 fps, two seconds is 60 frames: use
-g 60. - At 60 fps, two seconds is 120 frames: use
-g 120.
For a fixed cadence with libx264, set -keyint_min equal to -g; FFmpeg’s documentation notes that the minimum interval is ignored unless it equals the GOP size. Setting -sc_threshold 0 disables x264 scene-change keyframe decisions, which can otherwise add keyframes between regular intervals. YouTube’s recommendation is stated in its encoder settings guidance; FFmpeg documents the relevant options in its codec documentation.
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Configure bitrate control, not just a target
-b:v sets a video bitrate target, but FFmpeg documents that its default behavior is variable bitrate. YouTube recommends constant bitrate (CBR). For a libx264 starting point, set the target, minimum, and maximum to the same value and configure a buffer. Equal -minrate, -maxrate, and target bitrate are the generic FFmpeg CBR conditions; exact rate-control behavior can depend on the encoder and build. A buffer value is a configuration choice, not a YouTube requirement.
-b:v 14M: target 14 megabits per second, appropriate to the current H.264 1080p30 recommendation.-minrate 14M -maxrate 14M: rate-control bounds matching that target.-bufsize 28M: an example buffer setting, not an official required value.
FFmpeg describes these rate-control options in its codec documentation. Verify behavior for the encoder you actually use; do not assume -b:v alone guarantees CBR.
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Example: 1080p30 H.264 over RTMPS
This example combines the current 14 Mbps H.264 recommendation for 1080p30 with a 60-frame, two-second GOP, AAC audio, and RTMPS output. It assumes an input whose video can be encoded at 30 fps; adapt input handling, filters, audio mapping, and output for your source and FFmpeg build.
ffmpeg -re -i INPUT
-c:v libx264 -preset veryfast -tune zerolatency
-r 30 -g 60 -keyint_min 60 -sc_threshold 0
-b:v 14M -minrate 14M -maxrate 14M -bufsize 28M
-c:a aac -b:a 128k -ar 44100
-f flv 'rtmps://YOUTUBE_INGEST_URL/STREAM_KEY'-re paces file input in real time; live capture inputs generally provide their own timing. The example’s buffer size is illustrative, not a YouTube-mandated setting. libx264 is available only in FFmpeg builds configured with libx264; check with ffmpeg -encoders or the build configuration if the encoder is missing. YouTube recommends RTMPS, and its Live Control Room settings provide the stream URL and key. Treat the key as a secret: do not put a real key in public code, screenshots, or logs.
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For 1080p60
Use YouTube’s current H.264 recommendation of 17 Mbps, set the output frame rate to 60, and use -g 120 -keyint_min 120 for a two-second GOP. Select settings based on the actual ingest frame rate and a connection that can sustain the stream.
Test the stream and monitor it while live
- Before relying on the configuration, test with representative video motion and audio. A static image or silent test may not reveal problems that appear with normal content.
- Confirm the output resolution, frame rate, codec, and bitrate match the intended YouTube ingest settings.
- During operation, watch stream health and messages in YouTube Live Control Room. Use YouTube’s live streaming error guidance to investigate warnings or errors.
- Keep the keyframe interval at two seconds if you change frame rate; recalculate the GOP size in frames after the change.
What the bitrate and GOP do not solve for an always-on stream
Correct encoder settings do not make a stream uninterrupted. YouTube’s guidance does not prescribe one universal FFmpeg restart policy or guarantee that a process will run indefinitely. The host and your operating setup must address input loss, network failures, process restarts, error logging, and alerting. The right supervisor and recovery steps depend on the operating system, service manager, and source; these settings alone do not establish a universally best approach.
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