Optimizing a Video for Pre-Recorded Streaming

StreamYard's pre-recorded streaming feature currently supports videos with a maximum bitrate of 10MB/s. If your video has a higher bitrate, you'll need to reduce it first before it can be uploaded. This can also prevent lagging and freezing from occurring during your pre-recorded stream.
It's also recommended to enable the "web optimized"/"faststart", and "Align A/V" flags for videos.

Handbrake is an easy-to-use tool for doing this, and it is supported on Windows, MacOS, and Linux.
Handbrake also allows converting videos of any size to a supported format accepted by StreamYard.

Here's how:

1. Download and install Handbrake from here.
   
2. Drag and drop the video file you'd like to convert into Handbrake to open it.
   HandBrake should now look like this:
   
3. On the "Summary" tab, make sure the Format is set to "MP4", as well as "Align A/V Start" and "Web Optimized" is checked.
   
4. On the "Dimensions" tab, make sure the Resolution Limit is set to "1080p HD."
   
5. On the "Video" tab, there are a few options to check.
   Make sure Video encoder is set to "H.264 (x264)"
   Make sure the Frame rate is set to 30fps constant frame rate.
   For Quality, "Constant quality" is recommended, with a value between 21-23.
   (Higher values mean lower quality but smaller size/lower bitrate)
   For "Encoder Preset", the default "Fast" value is recommended. Slower values will produce higher quality at lower bitrate, but take longer to process.
   
   
   
6. On the "Audio" tab, make sure the Codec is set to "AAC (avcodec)."
   
7. Modify the path at the bottom of HandBrake to end in .mp4 instead of .m4v
   (Optionally, change the location and name of the finished file, if wanted).
   
8. Click "Start Encode" at the top of HandBrake to begin processing the video.
   
9. The video should now be processing. Depending on how long the video is, and how powerful your computer is, it may take anywhere from a few minutes to an hour to finish.
10. Once the video is finished processing, confirm that the "Total bitrate" is under 10,000kbps (10mb/s) by right-clicking on the video file, clicking "Properties", and checking under the "Video" section. Now you're ready to upload it to StreamYard as a Pre-recorded video!