How to post HDRP gameplay clips to social media

Unity Engine
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1

HDRP looks AMAZING in editor. But when I post gameplay clips to Twitter or FB, all those beautiful pixels have been compressed into oblivion.

Please share any tips, tutorials, or blogs that describe how to make the best-looking HDRP posts possible.

My current workflow looks like this:

  • In the editor, make a great looking HDRP scene with volumetric lights, fog, moving cameras, and sound effects. Use Timeline to create a cinematic cut-scene of what I want to show on social media. (FYI, can’t really use offline renderers since sound and music is key to the scene)
  • Record the editor window. Probably lots of good and bad options here. I personally use the GeForce Experience app that comes with my video card to do a Full screen recording, even though the editor window is less than full screen, even with Maximize on Play ticked on.
  • Edit the video in a video editor (like PowerDirector) to crop the screen recording to just show the editor window, at a standard ratio like 16:9. Probably lose some fidelity in this step
  • Re-render the video with “appropriate” settings for the desired platform (YouTube, Twitter, FB, Vimeo) they’re all a bit different. Try to optimize for the highest quality allowed by the file size limit. Also lose fidelity here which is why it would be good to hear how others have optimized for each platform.
  • Upload to each platform, and sigh heavily knowing what the platform compression will do to all the original pixels. Lose a LOT of pixel fidelity here.
  • Cry a little when comparing the result from step 5 to the original in step 1
  • Go online and hope someone has a better way. :slight_smile:
2

Ahh, bummed to not get any takers on this topic.

FYI, here’s a 2 year-old thread from Reddit on the general topic.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Unity3D/comments/7i7534/what_tools_and_techniques_do_you_use_to_record/

I was just hoping to get an update specifically for HDRP, which seems to really suffer on social.

3

Probably because this isn’t really HDRP topic despite you trying to word it so and posting it to HDRP forum section.

It’s generic video compression issue which has nothing to do with HDRP specifically other than you happening to use it on your project.

1 Like
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Yeah, it has nothing to do with HDRP, but compression. You first need to have the right video output settings.

twitter: How to share and watch videos on X & Media Best Practices | Docs | Twitter Developer Platform
Facebook: Redirecting...

But even then, compression may take a hit on your videos.

1 Like
5

Hey, in the end, the most important parameter for the perceived quality is the bitrate, more than the actual resolution. Sadly you can’t control how these platforms re-encode your videos.

However, you can find workarounds:

A piece of general advice is to upload the video at the highest possible resolution supported by the platform, usually 4K (more if possible). Even if the original footage is under this resolution; this means upscaling your 1080p material to 4K for instance.

This ensures that the bitrate (= the amount of data per second) allocated by the platform to your video is as high as possible. Also, it is believed that some platforms, like Youtube, may give a slightly higher ranking to high-resolution videos, compared to 720 or 1080p ones.

6

Thanks @pierred_unity for this tips. Could you explain how to upscale? Is that done within Unity or in a video editor?

There are probably a lot of technical choices here in going from what you see in the editor to what you can show off on Twitter. That’s why I think there is demand for a tutorial/guide for those like me who aren’t video editing or social media compression experts.

I also believe that HDRP adoption will increase with better looking examples on social media. Currently, most of them are underwhelming vs. what you actually see in the editor or in-game.

7

Thanks @Mauri for adding the links to the thread. Many of them talk about “minimum” settings vs the “right” settings. I’m guessing there’s a real art of getting it “right”, and a balancing act of quality vs size.

8

You’re totally right. You caught me. :stuck_out_tongue: I agree that HDRP is not the cause, but it certainly is the biggest victim when it comes to video compression losses.

So, while HDRP isn’t part of the answer, I’m hoping that HDRP users can be part of the answer, since they have the most to gain from improving the quality of gameplay posts to social media.