Transforming Raw Footage Into YouTube Gold via Sony Vegas

How to Edit YouTube Videos in Sony Vegas

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Sony Vegas (Vegas Movie Studio) is renowned and particularly popular video editing software which is going to provide you with quite a lot of convenience. It is light, easy to work with and has comprehensive command tools which would provide you with prominent video editing capabilities. You can choose through a variety of exportation presets, including YouTube HD videos. In this article, we’are going to show you how to edit your YouTube Videos with Sony Vegas Pro.

---

Best Sony Vegas Alternative to Edit YouTube Videos - Even though Sony Vegas is quite comprehensive, it does require knowledge on behalf of the user. Unlike it, Wondershare Filmora is a perfect alternative which would provide you with all the necessary capabilities without presuming any kind of skills on your particular behalf. With this in mind, let’s take a look at some of the benefits:

Download Mac Version ](https://tools.techidaily.com/wondershare/filmora/download/ )

Amongst these, there are tons of other benefits that you can take advantage of.

• It has over 200 unique styles you can take your pick from
• It has animated captions that you can add conveniently
• It has a wide range of different templates and credits that you can use

---

How to Edit YouTube Videos in Sony Vegas

Let’s walk through the process of editing.

Step 1: Import Videos

The first thing that you would need to do is import the video clip that you would want to re-shape and edit. In order to do so, you want to click on the File button and then go to Import. You will see a side menu on which you need to click Media and select the file that you want to upload. Keep in mind that you might have to wait for a short period of time while the videos are being uploaded.

Note: You can also import videos which have been published on your channel by downloading them and saving them as MP4 files. On the other hand, if you have the intention of editing videos published on other channels, you might want to use Wondershare Video Converter Ultimate in order to download and convert them to your Mac and get them imported on Sony Vegas.

Step 2: Edit the video and audio files on the Timeline

Sony Vegas introduces a Timeline with Video and Audio tracks. They contain the clips you’ve used in the entire editing process. You can edit them by aligning them as you see fit in order to come up with the best sequence. You can also add additional tracks. In order to do so, all you need to do is right click on the space which is empty and then go Add video track.

Step 3: Add special effects

Of course, what’s video editing software without powerful special effect capabilities? You will see the special effects tab located on the left side of your screen. You can easily browse throughout all of them in order to get a sense of what you can achieve with your video. There are quite a lot of different special effects that you can incorporate in your YouTube video and make it perfect.

Step 4: Export

This is the thing that you need to do once you are done with the process to edit YouTube videos with Sony Vegas. It’s a very easy task to handle and if you’ve come that far you are already on the finish line. Go to File -> Export and choose the specific extension that you want to use. The clip is going to be saved in the directory that you’ve selected, and it’s ready to watch and upload.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Sony Vegas (Vegas Movie Studio) is renowned and particularly popular video editing software which is going to provide you with quite a lot of convenience. It is light, easy to work with and has comprehensive command tools which would provide you with prominent video editing capabilities. You can choose through a variety of exportation presets, including YouTube HD videos. In this article, we’are going to show you how to edit your YouTube Videos with Sony Vegas Pro.

---

Best Sony Vegas Alternative to Edit YouTube Videos - Even though Sony Vegas is quite comprehensive, it does require knowledge on behalf of the user. Unlike it, Wondershare Filmora is a perfect alternative which would provide you with all the necessary capabilities without presuming any kind of skills on your particular behalf. With this in mind, let’s take a look at some of the benefits:

Download Mac Version ](https://tools.techidaily.com/wondershare/filmora/download/ )

Amongst these, there are tons of other benefits that you can take advantage of.

• It has over 200 unique styles you can take your pick from
• It has animated captions that you can add conveniently
• It has a wide range of different templates and credits that you can use

---

How to Edit YouTube Videos in Sony Vegas

Let’s walk through the process of editing.

Step 1: Import Videos

The first thing that you would need to do is import the video clip that you would want to re-shape and edit. In order to do so, you want to click on the File button and then go to Import. You will see a side menu on which you need to click Media and select the file that you want to upload. Keep in mind that you might have to wait for a short period of time while the videos are being uploaded.

Note: You can also import videos which have been published on your channel by downloading them and saving them as MP4 files. On the other hand, if you have the intention of editing videos published on other channels, you might want to use Wondershare Video Converter Ultimate in order to download and convert them to your Mac and get them imported on Sony Vegas.

Step 2: Edit the video and audio files on the Timeline

Sony Vegas introduces a Timeline with Video and Audio tracks. They contain the clips you’ve used in the entire editing process. You can edit them by aligning them as you see fit in order to come up with the best sequence. You can also add additional tracks. In order to do so, all you need to do is right click on the space which is empty and then go Add video track.

Step 3: Add special effects

Of course, what’s video editing software without powerful special effect capabilities? You will see the special effects tab located on the left side of your screen. You can easily browse throughout all of them in order to get a sense of what you can achieve with your video. There are quite a lot of different special effects that you can incorporate in your YouTube video and make it perfect.

Step 4: Export

This is the thing that you need to do once you are done with the process to edit YouTube videos with Sony Vegas. It’s a very easy task to handle and if you’ve come that far you are already on the finish line. Go to File -> Export and choose the specific extension that you want to use. The clip is going to be saved in the directory that you’ve selected, and it’s ready to watch and upload.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Sony Vegas (Vegas Movie Studio) is renowned and particularly popular video editing software which is going to provide you with quite a lot of convenience. It is light, easy to work with and has comprehensive command tools which would provide you with prominent video editing capabilities. You can choose through a variety of exportation presets, including YouTube HD videos. In this article, we’are going to show you how to edit your YouTube Videos with Sony Vegas Pro.

---

Best Sony Vegas Alternative to Edit YouTube Videos - Even though Sony Vegas is quite comprehensive, it does require knowledge on behalf of the user. Unlike it, Wondershare Filmora is a perfect alternative which would provide you with all the necessary capabilities without presuming any kind of skills on your particular behalf. With this in mind, let’s take a look at some of the benefits:

Download Mac Version ](https://tools.techidaily.com/wondershare/filmora/download/ )

Amongst these, there are tons of other benefits that you can take advantage of.

• It has over 200 unique styles you can take your pick from
• It has animated captions that you can add conveniently
• It has a wide range of different templates and credits that you can use

---

How to Edit YouTube Videos in Sony Vegas

Let’s walk through the process of editing.

Step 1: Import Videos

The first thing that you would need to do is import the video clip that you would want to re-shape and edit. In order to do so, you want to click on the File button and then go to Import. You will see a side menu on which you need to click Media and select the file that you want to upload. Keep in mind that you might have to wait for a short period of time while the videos are being uploaded.

Note: You can also import videos which have been published on your channel by downloading them and saving them as MP4 files. On the other hand, if you have the intention of editing videos published on other channels, you might want to use Wondershare Video Converter Ultimate in order to download and convert them to your Mac and get them imported on Sony Vegas.

Step 2: Edit the video and audio files on the Timeline

Sony Vegas introduces a Timeline with Video and Audio tracks. They contain the clips you’ve used in the entire editing process. You can edit them by aligning them as you see fit in order to come up with the best sequence. You can also add additional tracks. In order to do so, all you need to do is right click on the space which is empty and then go Add video track.

Step 3: Add special effects

Of course, what’s video editing software without powerful special effect capabilities? You will see the special effects tab located on the left side of your screen. You can easily browse throughout all of them in order to get a sense of what you can achieve with your video. There are quite a lot of different special effects that you can incorporate in your YouTube video and make it perfect.

Step 4: Export

This is the thing that you need to do once you are done with the process to edit YouTube videos with Sony Vegas. It’s a very easy task to handle and if you’ve come that far you are already on the finish line. Go to File -> Export and choose the specific extension that you want to use. The clip is going to be saved in the directory that you’ve selected, and it’s ready to watch and upload.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Sony Vegas (Vegas Movie Studio) is renowned and particularly popular video editing software which is going to provide you with quite a lot of convenience. It is light, easy to work with and has comprehensive command tools which would provide you with prominent video editing capabilities. You can choose through a variety of exportation presets, including YouTube HD videos. In this article, we’are going to show you how to edit your YouTube Videos with Sony Vegas Pro.

---

Best Sony Vegas Alternative to Edit YouTube Videos - Even though Sony Vegas is quite comprehensive, it does require knowledge on behalf of the user. Unlike it, Wondershare Filmora is a perfect alternative which would provide you with all the necessary capabilities without presuming any kind of skills on your particular behalf. With this in mind, let’s take a look at some of the benefits:

Download Mac Version ](https://tools.techidaily.com/wondershare/filmora/download/ )

Amongst these, there are tons of other benefits that you can take advantage of.

• It has over 200 unique styles you can take your pick from
• It has animated captions that you can add conveniently
• It has a wide range of different templates and credits that you can use

---

How to Edit YouTube Videos in Sony Vegas

Let’s walk through the process of editing.

Step 1: Import Videos

The first thing that you would need to do is import the video clip that you would want to re-shape and edit. In order to do so, you want to click on the File button and then go to Import. You will see a side menu on which you need to click Media and select the file that you want to upload. Keep in mind that you might have to wait for a short period of time while the videos are being uploaded.

Note: You can also import videos which have been published on your channel by downloading them and saving them as MP4 files. On the other hand, if you have the intention of editing videos published on other channels, you might want to use Wondershare Video Converter Ultimate in order to download and convert them to your Mac and get them imported on Sony Vegas.

Step 2: Edit the video and audio files on the Timeline

Sony Vegas introduces a Timeline with Video and Audio tracks. They contain the clips you’ve used in the entire editing process. You can edit them by aligning them as you see fit in order to come up with the best sequence. You can also add additional tracks. In order to do so, all you need to do is right click on the space which is empty and then go Add video track.

Step 3: Add special effects

Of course, what’s video editing software without powerful special effect capabilities? You will see the special effects tab located on the left side of your screen. You can easily browse throughout all of them in order to get a sense of what you can achieve with your video. There are quite a lot of different special effects that you can incorporate in your YouTube video and make it perfect.

Step 4: Export

This is the thing that you need to do once you are done with the process to edit YouTube videos with Sony Vegas. It’s a very easy task to handle and if you’ve come that far you are already on the finish line. Go to File -> Export and choose the specific extension that you want to use. The clip is going to be saved in the directory that you’ve selected, and it’s ready to watch and upload.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Beyond Basic: The Advanced Techniques of YouTube Counts

How Does YouTube Count Views? It’s Not as Simple as You Think

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

How does YouTube count views? It’s not as simple as the number of clicks your video gets. If someone sits and refreshes your video over and over without letting it play for any significant time, those refreshes won’t be recorded as views. There is a lot more that goes into the calculation.

1. Not Everyone Who Clicks Adds to Your View Count
2. How Does YouTube Count Views
3. How Does YouTube’s View Count Algorithm Work?
4. Account Tracking Factors - Some Viewers Don’t Count
5. The Skip & Skim
6. Frozen YouTube View Counts
7. The 301 Mark

Best YouTube Video Editor - Filmora

After you have created your YouTube channel, do you want to edit videos and upload your first video? Here we recommend using Filmora to easily edit YouTube videos.

You can use Filmora to make YouTube videos with built-in royalty-free audio. Filmora also can help you make YouTube intros. It includes more than 500 templates, transitions, effects, and text resources.

1. Not Everyone Who Clicks Adds to Your View Count

YouTube doesn’t provide a clear definition of what counts as a view, but we know that someone clicks on your video, and clicking right away doesn’t count. That’s how we know that watch time is a factor. Some studies conclude that a full 30 seconds need to be viewed to register as one view, but there is no way to know for sure.

2. How Does YouTube Count Views?

YouTube wants to be sure that views are coming from humans and not bots. So, during the first couple of hours after you publish a video, YouTube seems to be stricter about what they count. The views which are counted are the ones that YouTube believes to be legitimate. Sometimes, it ends up skipping legitimate views for the sake of discretion.

Once this window of time passes, it is likely that you will see the view counter start to update a lot more frequently. The counter could still revert to updating slower and more hesitantly, though, if YouTube’s algorithm thinks it’s detecting something fishy.

At times, your view count can even be frozen temporarily until the algorithm can validate the views you are receiving. This is done to ensure a fair and positive experience for everyone who creates content. View counts can be adjusted by the algorithm in either direction.

You May Also Like:
5 Tips To Get More Views With YouTube Optimization [Free Checklist] >>

3. How Does YouTube’s View Count Algorithm Work?

Termed by many as one of the most boggling algorithms of all time, it is really hard to decode the complete dynamics of the YouTube view count algorithm.

There are some tests you can run yourself to try to unpack it.

If you upload a video and then set it as unlisted it won’t get any public views so you can experiment by doing things like watching for different lengths of time and seeing what gets counted.

You’ll have to use a computer in a different location and make sure the account is not the same as the one you used to upload the video. Now, you need to watch the video for roughly 15 seconds. The key here is to keep it less than 30 seconds. You will see that the view did not add to the count. If you repeat this process on multiple computers at varying locations and with different accounts and you are likely to find the same result.

However, if you watch it for 30 seconds or longer it is likely that the count will go up.

We are adding ‘likely’ here because, despite this 30-second rule which has been decoded, there are other factors that might contribute to whether a view is counted as well as other automated scanning techniques at play.

Try to watch the same video numerous times in a single day. You will find that the count will add up at first, but after some time it will stop. YouTube knows that a lot of times people replay some videos over and over when they really enjoy them, and so they want to factor replays into their algorithm because they suggest quality. However, to avoid spam views, the counter will stop after a certain point.

4. Account Tracking Factors - Some Viewers Don’t Count

Something else that can affect whether a view is counted is the behavior of the account which watches it prior to landing on your video’s watch page. Sometimes, YouTube might feel that there is an increased chance a particular account is actually a bot, and then views from that account might not be added.

One way that YouTube might flag an account as a potential bot is if it is jumping between videos directly without navigating through recommendations, the search engine, or the account’s subscriber feed (how are they getting between these watch page URLs if they aren’t clicking on anything YouTube can record?). To add to it, if the viewer is watching each of the videos for almost 30 seconds exactly (or less) there is an increased probability that it is not a human but a bot (or a human watching the bare minimum as part of a view exchange program).

Any bot-like action will result in an account’s views do not be added to your view count.

5. The Skip & Skim

It’s not uncommon for viewers to watch a video for say five seconds, skip forwards a bit and watch for another ten seconds as they look for a specific part. It is hard to say whether skipping through a video, but watching a scattered 30 seconds, would count as a view or not.

6. Frozen YouTube View Counts

Sometimes YouTube will freeze a view count in order to check that it is accurate. When the count is unfrozen, the count may jump up as views are validated or it can go down if YouTube detects a problem.

You can use YouTube’s analytics reports to monitor an estimate of your potential views, but there is no assurance that this data will completely match your official view count.

7. The 301 Mark

You may have seen a lot of videos that have a stagnant count of 301 views. The algorithm behind YouTube’s view counting system believes that any video which has fetched higher than 300 views has the ability to impact people’s perception of quality on YouTube. They do not want the homepage to be crowded with artificially popular videos.

This is why view counts are often frozen at 301. The employees at YouTube then manually verify whether the views obtained so far are legitimate or fake. Once the employees are sure that the views are legit, the counter is unfrozen and you will see an upward swing.

During the period when the view count is frozen every legitimate view is still counted, just not added immediately. Once the YouTube team is sure that your videos are not getting fake traffic, your view count will be updated to include views that were registered during the frozen phase. However, YouTube says it won’t flag videos at 301 views anymore.

Conclusion

In short, we know YouTube expects a viewer to watch a video for around 30 seconds before it counts a view, that views from suspicious accounts are not counted, and that YouTube can decide to freeze your view count while they review your views. They are protecting the site from becoming saturated with videos that only look popular because of bots. Ultimately, ‘how does YouTube count views’ isn’t a question anyone but YouTube can answer for sure, but we do know it isn’t as simple as ‘a view is someone clicking on your video’.

If you want to engage your audience with cool effects and Filmora is the best choice to make a split-screen and green screen video for YouTubers. Download it now to have a try!

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

How does YouTube count views? It’s not as simple as the number of clicks your video gets. If someone sits and refreshes your video over and over without letting it play for any significant time, those refreshes won’t be recorded as views. There is a lot more that goes into the calculation.

1. Not Everyone Who Clicks Adds to Your View Count
2. How Does YouTube Count Views
3. How Does YouTube’s View Count Algorithm Work?
4. Account Tracking Factors - Some Viewers Don’t Count
5. The Skip & Skim
6. Frozen YouTube View Counts
7. The 301 Mark

Best YouTube Video Editor - Filmora

After you have created your YouTube channel, do you want to edit videos and upload your first video? Here we recommend using Filmora to easily edit YouTube videos.

You can use Filmora to make YouTube videos with built-in royalty-free audio. Filmora also can help you make YouTube intros. It includes more than 500 templates, transitions, effects, and text resources.

1. Not Everyone Who Clicks Adds to Your View Count

YouTube doesn’t provide a clear definition of what counts as a view, but we know that someone clicks on your video, and clicking right away doesn’t count. That’s how we know that watch time is a factor. Some studies conclude that a full 30 seconds need to be viewed to register as one view, but there is no way to know for sure.

2. How Does YouTube Count Views?

YouTube wants to be sure that views are coming from humans and not bots. So, during the first couple of hours after you publish a video, YouTube seems to be stricter about what they count. The views which are counted are the ones that YouTube believes to be legitimate. Sometimes, it ends up skipping legitimate views for the sake of discretion.

Once this window of time passes, it is likely that you will see the view counter start to update a lot more frequently. The counter could still revert to updating slower and more hesitantly, though, if YouTube’s algorithm thinks it’s detecting something fishy.

At times, your view count can even be frozen temporarily until the algorithm can validate the views you are receiving. This is done to ensure a fair and positive experience for everyone who creates content. View counts can be adjusted by the algorithm in either direction.

You May Also Like:
5 Tips To Get More Views With YouTube Optimization [Free Checklist] >>

3. How Does YouTube’s View Count Algorithm Work?

Termed by many as one of the most boggling algorithms of all time, it is really hard to decode the complete dynamics of the YouTube view count algorithm.

There are some tests you can run yourself to try to unpack it.

If you upload a video and then set it as unlisted it won’t get any public views so you can experiment by doing things like watching for different lengths of time and seeing what gets counted.

You’ll have to use a computer in a different location and make sure the account is not the same as the one you used to upload the video. Now, you need to watch the video for roughly 15 seconds. The key here is to keep it less than 30 seconds. You will see that the view did not add to the count. If you repeat this process on multiple computers at varying locations and with different accounts and you are likely to find the same result.

However, if you watch it for 30 seconds or longer it is likely that the count will go up.

We are adding ‘likely’ here because, despite this 30-second rule which has been decoded, there are other factors that might contribute to whether a view is counted as well as other automated scanning techniques at play.

Try to watch the same video numerous times in a single day. You will find that the count will add up at first, but after some time it will stop. YouTube knows that a lot of times people replay some videos over and over when they really enjoy them, and so they want to factor replays into their algorithm because they suggest quality. However, to avoid spam views, the counter will stop after a certain point.

4. Account Tracking Factors - Some Viewers Don’t Count

Something else that can affect whether a view is counted is the behavior of the account which watches it prior to landing on your video’s watch page. Sometimes, YouTube might feel that there is an increased chance a particular account is actually a bot, and then views from that account might not be added.

One way that YouTube might flag an account as a potential bot is if it is jumping between videos directly without navigating through recommendations, the search engine, or the account’s subscriber feed (how are they getting between these watch page URLs if they aren’t clicking on anything YouTube can record?). To add to it, if the viewer is watching each of the videos for almost 30 seconds exactly (or less) there is an increased probability that it is not a human but a bot (or a human watching the bare minimum as part of a view exchange program).

Any bot-like action will result in an account’s views do not be added to your view count.

5. The Skip & Skim

It’s not uncommon for viewers to watch a video for say five seconds, skip forwards a bit and watch for another ten seconds as they look for a specific part. It is hard to say whether skipping through a video, but watching a scattered 30 seconds, would count as a view or not.

6. Frozen YouTube View Counts

Sometimes YouTube will freeze a view count in order to check that it is accurate. When the count is unfrozen, the count may jump up as views are validated or it can go down if YouTube detects a problem.

You can use YouTube’s analytics reports to monitor an estimate of your potential views, but there is no assurance that this data will completely match your official view count.

7. The 301 Mark

You may have seen a lot of videos that have a stagnant count of 301 views. The algorithm behind YouTube’s view counting system believes that any video which has fetched higher than 300 views has the ability to impact people’s perception of quality on YouTube. They do not want the homepage to be crowded with artificially popular videos.

This is why view counts are often frozen at 301. The employees at YouTube then manually verify whether the views obtained so far are legitimate or fake. Once the employees are sure that the views are legit, the counter is unfrozen and you will see an upward swing.

During the period when the view count is frozen every legitimate view is still counted, just not added immediately. Once the YouTube team is sure that your videos are not getting fake traffic, your view count will be updated to include views that were registered during the frozen phase. However, YouTube says it won’t flag videos at 301 views anymore.

Conclusion

In short, we know YouTube expects a viewer to watch a video for around 30 seconds before it counts a view, that views from suspicious accounts are not counted, and that YouTube can decide to freeze your view count while they review your views. They are protecting the site from becoming saturated with videos that only look popular because of bots. Ultimately, ‘how does YouTube count views’ isn’t a question anyone but YouTube can answer for sure, but we do know it isn’t as simple as ‘a view is someone clicking on your video’.

If you want to engage your audience with cool effects and Filmora is the best choice to make a split-screen and green screen video for YouTubers. Download it now to have a try!

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

How does YouTube count views? It’s not as simple as the number of clicks your video gets. If someone sits and refreshes your video over and over without letting it play for any significant time, those refreshes won’t be recorded as views. There is a lot more that goes into the calculation.

1. Not Everyone Who Clicks Adds to Your View Count
2. How Does YouTube Count Views
3. How Does YouTube’s View Count Algorithm Work?
4. Account Tracking Factors - Some Viewers Don’t Count
5. The Skip & Skim
6. Frozen YouTube View Counts
7. The 301 Mark

Best YouTube Video Editor - Filmora

After you have created your YouTube channel, do you want to edit videos and upload your first video? Here we recommend using Filmora to easily edit YouTube videos.

You can use Filmora to make YouTube videos with built-in royalty-free audio. Filmora also can help you make YouTube intros. It includes more than 500 templates, transitions, effects, and text resources.

1. Not Everyone Who Clicks Adds to Your View Count

YouTube doesn’t provide a clear definition of what counts as a view, but we know that someone clicks on your video, and clicking right away doesn’t count. That’s how we know that watch time is a factor. Some studies conclude that a full 30 seconds need to be viewed to register as one view, but there is no way to know for sure.

2. How Does YouTube Count Views?

YouTube wants to be sure that views are coming from humans and not bots. So, during the first couple of hours after you publish a video, YouTube seems to be stricter about what they count. The views which are counted are the ones that YouTube believes to be legitimate. Sometimes, it ends up skipping legitimate views for the sake of discretion.

Once this window of time passes, it is likely that you will see the view counter start to update a lot more frequently. The counter could still revert to updating slower and more hesitantly, though, if YouTube’s algorithm thinks it’s detecting something fishy.

At times, your view count can even be frozen temporarily until the algorithm can validate the views you are receiving. This is done to ensure a fair and positive experience for everyone who creates content. View counts can be adjusted by the algorithm in either direction.

You May Also Like:
5 Tips To Get More Views With YouTube Optimization [Free Checklist] >>

3. How Does YouTube’s View Count Algorithm Work?

Termed by many as one of the most boggling algorithms of all time, it is really hard to decode the complete dynamics of the YouTube view count algorithm.

There are some tests you can run yourself to try to unpack it.

If you upload a video and then set it as unlisted it won’t get any public views so you can experiment by doing things like watching for different lengths of time and seeing what gets counted.

You’ll have to use a computer in a different location and make sure the account is not the same as the one you used to upload the video. Now, you need to watch the video for roughly 15 seconds. The key here is to keep it less than 30 seconds. You will see that the view did not add to the count. If you repeat this process on multiple computers at varying locations and with different accounts and you are likely to find the same result.

However, if you watch it for 30 seconds or longer it is likely that the count will go up.

We are adding ‘likely’ here because, despite this 30-second rule which has been decoded, there are other factors that might contribute to whether a view is counted as well as other automated scanning techniques at play.

Try to watch the same video numerous times in a single day. You will find that the count will add up at first, but after some time it will stop. YouTube knows that a lot of times people replay some videos over and over when they really enjoy them, and so they want to factor replays into their algorithm because they suggest quality. However, to avoid spam views, the counter will stop after a certain point.

4. Account Tracking Factors - Some Viewers Don’t Count

Something else that can affect whether a view is counted is the behavior of the account which watches it prior to landing on your video’s watch page. Sometimes, YouTube might feel that there is an increased chance a particular account is actually a bot, and then views from that account might not be added.

One way that YouTube might flag an account as a potential bot is if it is jumping between videos directly without navigating through recommendations, the search engine, or the account’s subscriber feed (how are they getting between these watch page URLs if they aren’t clicking on anything YouTube can record?). To add to it, if the viewer is watching each of the videos for almost 30 seconds exactly (or less) there is an increased probability that it is not a human but a bot (or a human watching the bare minimum as part of a view exchange program).

Any bot-like action will result in an account’s views do not be added to your view count.

5. The Skip & Skim

It’s not uncommon for viewers to watch a video for say five seconds, skip forwards a bit and watch for another ten seconds as they look for a specific part. It is hard to say whether skipping through a video, but watching a scattered 30 seconds, would count as a view or not.

6. Frozen YouTube View Counts

Sometimes YouTube will freeze a view count in order to check that it is accurate. When the count is unfrozen, the count may jump up as views are validated or it can go down if YouTube detects a problem.

You can use YouTube’s analytics reports to monitor an estimate of your potential views, but there is no assurance that this data will completely match your official view count.

7. The 301 Mark

You may have seen a lot of videos that have a stagnant count of 301 views. The algorithm behind YouTube’s view counting system believes that any video which has fetched higher than 300 views has the ability to impact people’s perception of quality on YouTube. They do not want the homepage to be crowded with artificially popular videos.

This is why view counts are often frozen at 301. The employees at YouTube then manually verify whether the views obtained so far are legitimate or fake. Once the employees are sure that the views are legit, the counter is unfrozen and you will see an upward swing.

During the period when the view count is frozen every legitimate view is still counted, just not added immediately. Once the YouTube team is sure that your videos are not getting fake traffic, your view count will be updated to include views that were registered during the frozen phase. However, YouTube says it won’t flag videos at 301 views anymore.

Conclusion

In short, we know YouTube expects a viewer to watch a video for around 30 seconds before it counts a view, that views from suspicious accounts are not counted, and that YouTube can decide to freeze your view count while they review your views. They are protecting the site from becoming saturated with videos that only look popular because of bots. Ultimately, ‘how does YouTube count views’ isn’t a question anyone but YouTube can answer for sure, but we do know it isn’t as simple as ‘a view is someone clicking on your video’.

If you want to engage your audience with cool effects and Filmora is the best choice to make a split-screen and green screen video for YouTubers. Download it now to have a try!

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

How does YouTube count views? It’s not as simple as the number of clicks your video gets. If someone sits and refreshes your video over and over without letting it play for any significant time, those refreshes won’t be recorded as views. There is a lot more that goes into the calculation.

1. Not Everyone Who Clicks Adds to Your View Count
2. How Does YouTube Count Views
3. How Does YouTube’s View Count Algorithm Work?
4. Account Tracking Factors - Some Viewers Don’t Count
5. The Skip & Skim
6. Frozen YouTube View Counts
7. The 301 Mark

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1. Not Everyone Who Clicks Adds to Your View Count

YouTube doesn’t provide a clear definition of what counts as a view, but we know that someone clicks on your video, and clicking right away doesn’t count. That’s how we know that watch time is a factor. Some studies conclude that a full 30 seconds need to be viewed to register as one view, but there is no way to know for sure.

2. How Does YouTube Count Views?

YouTube wants to be sure that views are coming from humans and not bots. So, during the first couple of hours after you publish a video, YouTube seems to be stricter about what they count. The views which are counted are the ones that YouTube believes to be legitimate. Sometimes, it ends up skipping legitimate views for the sake of discretion.

Once this window of time passes, it is likely that you will see the view counter start to update a lot more frequently. The counter could still revert to updating slower and more hesitantly, though, if YouTube’s algorithm thinks it’s detecting something fishy.

At times, your view count can even be frozen temporarily until the algorithm can validate the views you are receiving. This is done to ensure a fair and positive experience for everyone who creates content. View counts can be adjusted by the algorithm in either direction.

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3. How Does YouTube’s View Count Algorithm Work?

Termed by many as one of the most boggling algorithms of all time, it is really hard to decode the complete dynamics of the YouTube view count algorithm.

There are some tests you can run yourself to try to unpack it.

If you upload a video and then set it as unlisted it won’t get any public views so you can experiment by doing things like watching for different lengths of time and seeing what gets counted.

You’ll have to use a computer in a different location and make sure the account is not the same as the one you used to upload the video. Now, you need to watch the video for roughly 15 seconds. The key here is to keep it less than 30 seconds. You will see that the view did not add to the count. If you repeat this process on multiple computers at varying locations and with different accounts and you are likely to find the same result.

However, if you watch it for 30 seconds or longer it is likely that the count will go up.

We are adding ‘likely’ here because, despite this 30-second rule which has been decoded, there are other factors that might contribute to whether a view is counted as well as other automated scanning techniques at play.

Try to watch the same video numerous times in a single day. You will find that the count will add up at first, but after some time it will stop. YouTube knows that a lot of times people replay some videos over and over when they really enjoy them, and so they want to factor replays into their algorithm because they suggest quality. However, to avoid spam views, the counter will stop after a certain point.

4. Account Tracking Factors - Some Viewers Don’t Count

Something else that can affect whether a view is counted is the behavior of the account which watches it prior to landing on your video’s watch page. Sometimes, YouTube might feel that there is an increased chance a particular account is actually a bot, and then views from that account might not be added.

One way that YouTube might flag an account as a potential bot is if it is jumping between videos directly without navigating through recommendations, the search engine, or the account’s subscriber feed (how are they getting between these watch page URLs if they aren’t clicking on anything YouTube can record?). To add to it, if the viewer is watching each of the videos for almost 30 seconds exactly (or less) there is an increased probability that it is not a human but a bot (or a human watching the bare minimum as part of a view exchange program).

Any bot-like action will result in an account’s views do not be added to your view count.

5. The Skip & Skim

It’s not uncommon for viewers to watch a video for say five seconds, skip forwards a bit and watch for another ten seconds as they look for a specific part. It is hard to say whether skipping through a video, but watching a scattered 30 seconds, would count as a view or not.

6. Frozen YouTube View Counts

Sometimes YouTube will freeze a view count in order to check that it is accurate. When the count is unfrozen, the count may jump up as views are validated or it can go down if YouTube detects a problem.

You can use YouTube’s analytics reports to monitor an estimate of your potential views, but there is no assurance that this data will completely match your official view count.

7. The 301 Mark

You may have seen a lot of videos that have a stagnant count of 301 views. The algorithm behind YouTube’s view counting system believes that any video which has fetched higher than 300 views has the ability to impact people’s perception of quality on YouTube. They do not want the homepage to be crowded with artificially popular videos.

This is why view counts are often frozen at 301. The employees at YouTube then manually verify whether the views obtained so far are legitimate or fake. Once the employees are sure that the views are legit, the counter is unfrozen and you will see an upward swing.

During the period when the view count is frozen every legitimate view is still counted, just not added immediately. Once the YouTube team is sure that your videos are not getting fake traffic, your view count will be updated to include views that were registered during the frozen phase. However, YouTube says it won’t flag videos at 301 views anymore.

Conclusion

In short, we know YouTube expects a viewer to watch a video for around 30 seconds before it counts a view, that views from suspicious accounts are not counted, and that YouTube can decide to freeze your view count while they review your views. They are protecting the site from becoming saturated with videos that only look popular because of bots. Ultimately, ‘how does YouTube count views’ isn’t a question anyone but YouTube can answer for sure, but we do know it isn’t as simple as ‘a view is someone clicking on your video’.

If you want to engage your audience with cool effects and Filmora is the best choice to make a split-screen and green screen video for YouTubers. Download it now to have a try!

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

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