General observations:
First of all, remember that terms like 4K and 24megapixels don't mean anything other than the size/depth of the frame you are filling with information. Just like you could have a 4000 word essay full of shit and a 1000 word essay that's riveting and insightful. If your footage is rubbish, having the latest go pro isn't going to make your youtube videos look better. As mentioned above, learn your camera settings and try different things.
Secondly, video compression varies a lot based on the nature of the footage. If you have a person talking to camera in front of a static background, not a lot of pixels are changing compared to an action clip of mtb in forest full of leaves. Two videos of the same duration pose very different challenges if you want a video to look good online. As a general rule, the more movement and the more detail, the bigger your file is going to be.
More specifically:
Exporting to youtube and other online platforms can seem like a bit of a dark art. The way you see footage at your end should be reasonably closely repeatable online (otherwise you wouldn't see all the high-end content available on there). Trial and error may surprise you, so have a go at uploading the same thing a few different ways.
There are far too many settings and variables to cover in a post on here, but I'd suggest having a read of what kind of settings youtube would like and trying to replicate those when you export your edit.
https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/1722171?hl=en
Depending on your software, you should have quite a lot of control over your final output. If you don't do it at your end, youtube will automatically give it a massive quality hair cut to get the bit rate down to what they want. Try exporting at 1440p at 40mbps. Youtube hits you harder with their compression if you upload at 1080p.
Have a look at a program like handbrake (it's free):
https://handbrake.fr
Or Compressor on Apple, or Adobe Media Encoder to help with this stage of the process.
If you're super keen, learn to use your edit software as the professionals do. Transcode your 4k rushes to a proxy resolution (smaller file, less quality but perfectly watchable) and do your editing. When you're 100% happy, make a copy of that edit and your edit software will let you 'relink' to the high quality footage you shot originally. At this point you export to the desired and format and get top quality without the hassles....
TL;DR.... I don't have a shortcut for you, trial and error, more reading and less TL;DR basically.
First of all, remember that terms like 4K and 24megapixels don't mean anything other than the size/depth of the frame you are filling with information. Just like you could have a 4000 word essay full of shit and a 1000 word essay that's riveting and insightful. If your footage is rubbish, having the latest go pro isn't going to make your youtube videos look better. As mentioned above, learn your camera settings and try different things.
Secondly, video compression varies a lot based on the nature of the footage. If you have a person talking to camera in front of a static background, not a lot of pixels are changing compared to an action clip of mtb in forest full of leaves. Two videos of the same duration pose very different challenges if you want a video to look good online. As a general rule, the more movement and the more detail, the bigger your file is going to be.
More specifically:
Exporting to youtube and other online platforms can seem like a bit of a dark art. The way you see footage at your end should be reasonably closely repeatable online (otherwise you wouldn't see all the high-end content available on there). Trial and error may surprise you, so have a go at uploading the same thing a few different ways.
There are far too many settings and variables to cover in a post on here, but I'd suggest having a read of what kind of settings youtube would like and trying to replicate those when you export your edit.
https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/1722171?hl=en
Depending on your software, you should have quite a lot of control over your final output. If you don't do it at your end, youtube will automatically give it a massive quality hair cut to get the bit rate down to what they want. Try exporting at 1440p at 40mbps. Youtube hits you harder with their compression if you upload at 1080p.
Have a look at a program like handbrake (it's free):
https://handbrake.fr
Or Compressor on Apple, or Adobe Media Encoder to help with this stage of the process.
If you're super keen, learn to use your edit software as the professionals do. Transcode your 4k rushes to a proxy resolution (smaller file, less quality but perfectly watchable) and do your editing. When you're 100% happy, make a copy of that edit and your edit software will let you 'relink' to the high quality footage you shot originally. At this point you export to the desired and format and get top quality without the hassles....
TL;DR.... I don't have a shortcut for you, trial and error, more reading and less TL;DR basically.