Apple Compressor User Manual

Compressor

User Guide

K Apple Inc.

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www.apple.com

Apple, the Apple logo, AppleScript, Apple TV, Bonjour, DVD Studio Pro, Final Cut, Final Cut Pro, Finder, FireWire, iPad, iPhone, iPod, iTunes, Mac, Mac OS, OS X, QuickTime, Shake, Xsan, and Xserve are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.

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Production stills from the lm “A Sus Ordenes” provided

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8 Chapter 1: Compressor basics 8 What is Compressor? 9 Compressor workow overview 10 Compressor window overview 11 Manage Compressor windows 12 Compressor terms

14 Chapter 2: Compressor workows 14 Quick and easy batch template workow 15 Manual batch processing workow 16 Custom transcoding workow

17 Chapter 3: Import source media 17 Importing overview 18 Create a batch 20 Add source media les 20 Add standard source media les to batches 22 Add surround sound source media les to batches 25 Add image sequences to batches 26 Add metadata to source media les 27 Inspector window 29 Batch window

31 Chapter 4: Assign settings and preview media 31 Settings overview 32 Assign settings 32 Assign settings to source media 34 Replace an assigned setting with a dierent setting 35 Modify an assigned setting 35 Create custom settings 35 Create and modify settings 39 Share settings 40 About the Automatic settings 41 Example: Create custom groups and settings for DVD 42 Inspector panes 46 Use markers and poster frames 46 Markers and poster frames overview 47 Manually add and remove markers 49 Add compression or podcast markers 51 Plain text chapter marker lists 51 Set the poster frame

52 Preview media 52 Previewing overview 52 Preview media as source or with settings applied 57 Transcode a portion of a clip 59 Preview window

64 Chapter 5: Custom settings and output formats 64 Custom settings and output formats overview 65 iTunes and Apple device output 65 iTunes and Apple device output overview 66 Create H.264 settings 70 Create Blu-ray discs 72 Dolby Digital Professional les 72 Dolby Digital overview 74 Convert stereo audio to Dolby Digital Professional format 74 Assign les to surround sound channels 78 Dolby Digital Professional Encoder pane 83 Spatial mixing options 84 MPEG-2 les 84 MPEG-2 overview 86 Create MPEG-2 les 89 MPEG-2 Encoder pane 97 MPEG-2 bit rates and formats 99 About GOPs (groups of pictures) 100 AIFF les 100 AIFF overview 101 Create AIFF settings 102 Common Audio Formats les 102 Common Audio Formats overview 103 Create Common Audio Formats settings 104 MP3 les 104 MP3 overview 104 MP3 transcoding workow 105 Create MP3 settings 106 MPEG-1 les 106 MPEG-1 overview 107 About system and elementary streams 107 MPEG-1 specications 108 Create MPEG-1 les for the web 109 Create MPEG-1 video for DVD 110 Create MPEG-1 audio for DVD 112 MPEG-1 Encoder pane 114 MPEG-4 les 114 MPEG-4 Part 2 overview 115 MPEG-4 Part 2 default settings 116 Create MPEG-4 Part 2 settings 119 Create settings for an audio podcast

Contents 4

121 QuickTime movie les 121 QuickTime movie overview 122 QuickTime video codecs 123 QuickTime audio codecs 124 Create QuickTime media les 130 QuickTime Export Components les 130 QuickTime Export Components overview 130 Create QuickTime Export Components settings 132 DV Stream les 132 DV overview 133 Create DV Stream settings 134 Create image sequence les

137 Chapter 6: Assign destinations and submit batches 137 Jobs, targets, and batches overview 137 Work with destinations 137 Destinations overview 138 Assign destinations 140 Create and modify destinations 142 If a warning triangle appears 143 Destinations tab and Inspector 145 Set up targets and jobs 145 Set up targets 146 Add and copy jobs 146 Chain jobs 147 Submit batches 147 Submit a batch 151 View batch information in the History window

153 Chapter 7: Advanced functions 153 Add lters 153 Filters overview 154 Add and adjust lters 156 Video lters 163 Audio lters 165 Color output 166 Work with frame controls 166 Frame controls overview 167 Apply frame controls to a setting 168 Frame Controls pane 172 About deinterlacing 173 About reverse telecine 175 About retiming 176 Modify geometry settings 176 Geometry overview 177 Crop, scale, and change frame dimensions 179 Geometry pane

Contents 5

184 Add post-transcoding actions 184 Post-transcoding actions overview 184 Add setting actions 186 Add job actions 187 Job Action tab 198 Use Droplets 198 Create Droplets 201 Use Droplets for transcoding media 204 Droplet window 205 Use Final Cut Pro X and Motion 5 with Compressor 207 Use the command line to submit Compressor jobs 207 Shell commands overview 207 Synopsis 207 Command options 208 Example: Compressor commands 211 Compressor preferences 211 Set Compressor preferences 212 Preferences window

214 Chapter 8: Use Apple Qmaster to set up a distributed processing system 214 What is Apple Qmaster? 215 Distributed processing systems 215 Distributed processing overview 217 Distributed processing basics 218 Distributed processing setup guidelines 219 Examples of distributed processing systems 220 Additional components of a distributed processing network 221 How the Apple Qmaster system distributes batches 222 Create service nodes and cluster controllers 222 Creating service nodes and cluster controllers overview 223 Quickly set up a service node using This Computer Plus 224 Set up a cluster controller using QuickClusters 225 Advanced service node and cluster controller information 225 Use nodes without Compressor installed 228 Enable managed and unmanaged services 229 Schedule service availability 230 Use virtual clusters to make the most of multicore computers 231 Turn cluster controller services on or o 231 Set a service password for including a computer in a cluster 232 Use cluster storage 234 Rendering services and shared storage setup 234 Use distributed processing with Shake 235 Recovery and failure notications 236 Process a batch 236 Batch processing overview 237 Submit a batch of les from Compressor 238 Submit a batch of Shake les using Apple Qmaster 240 Submit a batch of Maya les using Apple Qmaster 242 Submit a batch of les using the Generic Render command in Apple Qmaster

Contents 6

244 Advanced rendering information 244 Set environment variables in Apple Qmaster 245 Manage Shake media les on a shared volume 245 Shake plug-in dialog 246 Generic Render dialog 247 Use Mental Ray for Maya 247 Use Apple Qmaster to submit UNIX commands 249 Job segmenting and two-pass or multi-pass encoding 249 Example: Submit After Eects batches with the Generic Render command 250 Apple Qmaster window 250 Apple Qmaster window 253 Apple Qmaster Sharing window 253 Setup pane of the Apple Qmaster Sharing window 254 Advanced pane of the Apple Qmaster Sharing window 256 Set Apple Qmaster preferences

257 Chapter 9: Use Apple Qadministrator to create and modify clusters 257 What is Apple Qadministrator? 257 Open Apple Qadministrator 258 Create and modify a cluster 262 Monitor cluster activity 262 Set Apple Qadministrator preferences

265 Chapter 10: Keyboard shortcuts 265 Compressor keyboard shortcuts

Contents 7

Compressor basics

What is Compressor?

Compressor is an application for converting audio and video les into professional media formats for disc, device, or web delivery. The process of converting from one le format to another is

called transcoding. You can use Compressor on its own or with Final Cut Pro X and Motion to

transcode audio and video les directly from those applications.

In Compressor, you can:

•

Convert source media to high-denition (HD) or standard-denition (SD) formats (including H.264) for Apple devices such as Apple TV, iPhone, iPad, iPod, or iTunes; for streaming or podcasting on the web; for DVD, CD-ROM, or Blu-ray Disc; or for hando to post-production.

Source media or

Final Cut Pro project

H.264

MP3

AC-3

iPhone

iPad iPod

iTunes

•

Use batch processing to create multiple output les from single-source media les.

•

Create standalone applications called Droplets for drag-and-drop transcoding operations on

MP3 MPEG-1 MPEG-4

QuickTime

To web

QuickTime

movie

(for broadband

and lowband)

AC-3 AIFF

H.264 MPEG-1 MPEG-2

AIFF MP3

QuickTime

CD-ROMDVD videoApple TV

H.264

AC-3

Blu-ray Disc

your desktop. Simply drag a media le onto a Droplet to launch a customized transcoding

session, without opening Compressor.

•

Use Apple-supplied encoding settings or create your own settings to build a library of specialized settings that can be reused.

•

Apply video lters to add fade-in/fade-out eects, timecode overlays, gamma correction, noise

removal, letterbox framing, watermarks, color adjustments, and more.

•

Apply audio lters to control dynamic range, peak levels, equalization, and audio fade-in/ fade-out eects.

•

Use the Preview window to view the results of your lter settings in real time.

•

Create and save output destinations, including your desktop, local disks, remote disks, and FTP

locations. You can even use destination presets to specify lenaming conventions.

•

Control video le image quality during MPEG-2 DVD transcoding by applying single- or dualpass variable bit rate (VBR) to your output les.

•

Customize your frame dimensions using geometry controls. You can resize your image to common

aspect ratios, including 4:3, 16:9, and 2.35:1, or reduce le size by cropping unwanted image areas.

•

Publish your media les to a QuickTime Streaming Server or other locations for DVD authoring.

•

Customize post-transcoding operations by applying AppleScript automation to your output les.

•

Export sequences directly from Final Cut Pro X or Motion into Compressor for transcoding, leveraging the powerful video-processing technology of those applications.

•

Encode media les in the background so that you can perform other tasks at the same time.

•

Automatically send an email notication to any location to notify you or your colleagues when

a transcoding job is complete.

•

Use distributed processing to divide the transcoding work among multiple computers, thereby increasing your processing power. The distributed processing feature is limited to computers that have Compressor installed.

•

Enable and disable distributed processing services and monitor batches using command-line options.

Compressor workow overview

Compressor oers several ways to convert (transcode) media les into any of numerous professional le formats. For basic transcoding jobs to common output formats (Blu-ray Disc, DVD, Apple TV, YouTube, and so on), choose a precongured template to have Compressor

automatically apply all required settings. For more advanced transcoding jobs, apply an output

setting from a list of more than 30 le formats.

Whether basic or advanced, all transcoding workows in Compressor follow the same

essential steps:

•

Import your source media into Compressor.

•

Apply and modify your preferred output settings.

•

Specify a save destination (the location where the output les are saved).

•

Submit your le or batch of les for transcoding.

Chapter 1 Compressor basics 9

Each transcoding session in Compressor is known as a batch. A transcoding batch can contain

Batch window

Preview window

multiple source media les, referred to as jobs. Each job can be transcoded into multiple formats. The following diagram represents a batch containing two jobs:

Batch

Job 1

Source

media file

Job 2

Source

media file

Target 1

DestinationSetting

Target 2

DestinationSetting

Target 1

DestinationSetting

Target 2

Setting Destination

Output media file

(Job 1, Target 1)

Output media file

(Job 1, Target 2)

Output media file

(Job 2, Target 1)

Output media file

(Job 2, Target 2)

In the diagram above, each job is converted to two output les. The settings and save destinations of these les are known as the targets. One output media le is created for each target assigned to a source media le. The total number of output les created by transcoding this batch will be four: Job 1 will create two output media les, as will Job 2.

Compressor window overview

The main Compressor workspace has ve windows, each of which represents a part of the transcoding workow:

Settings and Destinations tabs

Inspector window

History window

Chapter 1 Compressor basics 10

•

Batch window: Import source media les and add transcoding settings and save destinations

in this window.

•

Settings and Destinations window: Choose settings and output destinations from the two tabs in this window. The Settings tab contains more than 30 Apple-provided settings for common media formats (for Apple devices, Blu-ray and DVD discs, web streaming, video-sharing services such as YouTube, and so on). You can add your own custom settings to this list. The Destinations tab contains common save locations (Desktop, User’s Movies Folder, and so on). You can add your own custom save destinations to this list.

•

Inspector window: Adjust common transcoding controls and view a summary table listing the details of each setting. You can also use the Inspector window to gather information about source clips.

•

Preview window: Preview the results of your transcoding settings in this window. A split-screen

feature lets you compare the original media to the modied version, before you output. Here you can see the eects of applied lters and frame resizing, and you can make adjustments to

these attributes while previewing the results in real time. You can also use the Preview window to add and view various kinds of markers.

•

History window: See a complete log of all batches submitted from your computer, including progress bars of batches still being transcoded. You can pause or resubmit any batches listed in the log.

You can display the Compressor workspace in either of two basic default layouts. The standard layout displays all the Compressor windows, with the Settings and Destinations tabs sharing a

window; this layout is optimized for those times when you’re transcoding a single-source media le. The batch layout places the emphasis on the Batch window and is optimized for those times when you’re transcoding multiple source media les. As you work, you can switch between these

layouts. You can also create a custom layout and save it for future use.

Manage Compressor windows

The ve windows of the Compressor workspace can be moved and resized independently of one

another, allowing you to customize your work environment.

View a specic window

m Choose Window > window name.

Bring all Compressor windows to the front

Do one of the following:

m Choose Window > Bring All to Front.

m Click the Compressor application icon in the Dock.

Choose a layout

m Choose Window > Layouts, and choose a layout from the list that appears.

The Compressor interface changes to match the new layout.

Save a layout

1 Arrange the Compressor windows.

2 Choose Window > Save Layout.

3 In the dialog that appears, enter a name for the layout and click Save.

The layout is saved and appears in the layouts list when you choose Window > Layouts.

Chapter 1 Compressor basics 11

Manage layouts

1 Choose Window > Manage Layouts.

A dialog for managing layouts appears.

2 Do any of the following:

•

To rename a layout: Double-click it and type the new name.

•

To remove a layout: Select it and click the Delete (–) button.

•

To save the current interface conguration as a new layout: Click the Add (+) button and enter a name for the layout.

•

To choose a layout and apply it to the current Compressor interface: Choose the layout and click the Apply button.

3 When you’ve nished managing your layouts, click Done.

The dialog closes and the Compressor interface changes to match the chosen layout setting.

Note: The layouts list is actually divided into two sections—the ones supplied by Apple and the ones that you create. You cannot rename or delete the Apple-supplied layouts. The ones that you create are listed in alphabetical order. Use care when naming your layouts so that you can easily locate them in the list.

Compressor terms

This section covers common terms that you’ll encounter as you use Compressor.

•

Codec: Short for COmpression/DECompression. A mathematical model for reducing the data of

a source media le.

•

File format: The output format used to transcode your source media le.

•

Transcoding: The process of converting les from their original format to output les ready for

distribution in another format. Closely related terms include compression, which specically refers to data reduction, and encoding, a term that is essentially synonymous with transcoding, but doesn’t emphasize the conversion aspect.

•

Source media le: The original media le to be converted to a new le format.

•

QuickTime: The cross-platform multimedia technology that allows OS X and Windows

applications to capture and play back video, audio, and still-image les. QuickTime les can contain many dierent kinds of media and codecs. Codecs give instructions to QuickTime on

how to play back the media.

Chapter 1 Compressor basics 12

•

Setting: A group of attributes applied to a source media le during the transcoding process.

Each setting contains the following attributes (which you can modify in the Inspector window):

•

Output (le) format: The encoder you choose to convert your source media le. Choose one

of the following output formats based on the intended playback method: AIFF, Dolby Digital

Professional, DV Stream, H.264 for Apple Devices (which contains settings for use with

iPhone, iPad, iPod, and Apple TV), Image Sequence (which supports TIFF and TARGA images), MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, QuickTime Movie, or QuickTime Export Components.

•

Filters: Special eects that adjust dierent characteristics of your video (such as color, brightness, and sharpness) to maximize your video quality as the le is converted.

•

Geometry: Controls to crop the image and adjust its frame size.

•

Actions: Controls to create actions that are automatically applied to output les after transcoding. Use this feature to send email notications and execute tasks using Automator.

•

Destination: The location where your transcoded media le is saved. You can either use the default destination (the same folder the source media le is in) or choose a custom destination that you created. The destination also controls how the transcoded media le is named.

•

Target: The area of the Compressor workspace (in the Batch window) where you designate the

setting, destination, and output lename. Think of it as the blueprint for creating an output media le.

•

Job: The source media le and the target (setting and destination) you apply to it, ready to

be transcoded.

•

Batch: One or more jobs that are processed at one time. All jobs contained within the batch are submitted collectively when you begin the transcoding process.

•

Output media les: The transcoded media le (or les) created after the batch is submitted and processed. You can create as many output media les as there are dierent settings applied to the various source media les in the batch.

Chapter 1 Compressor basics 13

Compressor workows

Quick and easy batch template workow

If you want to transcode your source media les immediately and don’t need to create your own settings, you can use the batch template settings that are precongured in Compressor. The following workow shows you a quick and easy way to use Compressor with batch templates.

Stage 1: Choose a template

In the Batch Template Chooser, you’ll select a template to transcode your media. For more information, see Batch window on page 29.

Note: The default set of templates is shown below. If you’ve created other templates, they will also appear in the Batch Template Chooser.

Stage 2: Import source media les

Although there are many ways to import source media into Compressor, the easiest method is to

drag a source le from the Finder or the desktop to the placeholder job in the Batch window. For

more information, see Importing overview on page 17.

Stage 3: Submit your batch for processing

After you’ve chosen a template and provided a le to transcode, you can submit the batch that

contains your job. By default, the batch templates use Source (the same folder that the source

media les originated from) as the destination for the encoded les. For information about

choosing other destinations, see Destinations overview on page 137.

You can view the progress of your transcode in the History window in Compressor. It contains a

progress bar and tells you if a submission was successfully transcoded.

Manual batch processing workow

If none of the precongured batch settings work for your transcode but you want to use the settings

and destinations that come with Compressor, you can manually build and process your batch. The

following workow shows you an easy way to manually build and process a batch in Compressor,

summarizing each stage in the process and providing links to the instructions you’ll need.

Stage 1: Manually import source media les

You’ll need to manually import each source media le into Compressor, either by dragging les into the batch or by clicking the Add File button. After you import les, you’ll see that new jobs are created for each source le you added to the batch.

Each source file creates a job in the batch.

Target area (empty in this case) of a job

For more information, see Importing overview on page 17.

Stage 2: Assign settings and destinations

You’ll need to assign at least one setting and destination to each source media le job before

you can submit the batch for processing. You can also add multiple settings to the same job

to transcode multiple versions of the media le. Each setting-destination pair is known in

Compressor as a target.

For instructions on how to assign settings and destinations, see Assign settings to source

media on page 32 and Destinations overview on page 13 7.

Stage 3: Submit your batch for processing

When each media le has at least one setting and destination associated with it, you can submit

your batch for processing. For more information, see Submit a batch on page 147.

You can view the progress of your transcode in Share Monitor. This is a good way to monitor

when your batch has nished transcoding and if any problems occurred during the transcoding process. For more information about Share Monitor, see Share Monitor Help.

Chapter 2 Compressor workows 15

Alternatively, you can view the progress of your transcode in the History window in

Compressor. It contains a progress bar and, like Share Monitor, it can tell you if a submission was successfully transcoded.

Custom transcoding workow

You can create your own settings and destinations, and customize other attributes such as

lters, cropping, frame resizing, and actions settings to create your own custom transcoding process. The workow below summarizes each stage in the process and provides links to the

instructions you’ll need.

Stage 1: Import source media les

You can import source media les into a batch, either by dragging the les from the Finder to the Compressor Batch window or by clicking the Add File button. You can import source media les

from any folder that you have access to. For more information, see Importing overview on page 17.

Stage 2: Create and assign one or more settings

Compressor has many output formats you can use to create a setting. For more information about the various output formats available in Compressor, see Custom settings and output

formats overview on page 64. For instructions for creating your own customized settings, see Settings overview on page 31.

You can also add lters, geometry settings, and post-transcoding actions to your settings. For

more information, see Filters overview on page 153, About deinterlacing on page 172, Geometry

overview on page 176, and Post-transcoding actions overview on page 18 4.

You can streamline your workow by putting your settings into groups. For more information,

see Create and modify settings on page 35.

After creating a setting, you can preview it to check your work. For more information, see

Previewing overview on page 52.

Note: Frame Controls settings cannot be previewed in the Preview window. To preview Frame

Controls settings, you can do a test transcode using a small section of your source media le. For

more information, see Transcode a portion of a clip on page 57.

Stage 3: Create one or more destinations

By default, your transcoded le is saved in the same folder that the source media le originated from. If you want to store your transcoded les in a dierent location, you can create a new

destination. For more information, see Destinations overview on page 13 7.

Stage 4: Submit your batch for transcoding

After you’ve created and previewed all the jobs you want in the batch, you submit the batch. For more information, see Jobs, targets, and batches overview on page 137.

You can view the progress of your transcode in Share Monitor. This is a good way to monitor

when your batch has nished transcoding and if any problems occurred during the transcoding process. For more information about Share Monitor, see Share Monitor Help.

Alternatively, you can view the progress of your transcode in the History window in

Compressor. It contains a progress bar and, like Share Monitor, it can tell you if a submission was successfully transcoded.

Chapter 2 Compressor workows 16

Import source media

Importing overview

The rst step in the traditional Compressor transcoding process is to import at least one source media le into the Batch window, thus creating a batch.

If you’re using the batch template workow, the rst step is to choose a batch template. For more

information, see Quick and easy batch template workow on page 14.

Here are some tips for importing source media:

•

About highly compressed source les: It’s strongly recommended that you do not use highly

compressed les, such as MPEG les, as your source les, because they can cause artifacts in

the encoded video.

•

When importing QuickTime reference movies: If you submit a reference movie for distributed processing, the Apple Qmaster distributed processing system automatically copies the

appropriate media les to the processing cluster. For the best performance, you can avoid this le transfer step by making sure that the media les specied in the reference movie are

available to each node of the Apple Qmaster cluster. For more information, see How the Apple

Qmaster system distributes batches on page 221.

•

When importing MPEG-2 les: When you import an MPEG-2 le, Compressor must parse the le before you can play it in the Preview window. Parsing the le involves determining its frame structure and other necessary information about the le. Because the frame structure can change throughout the le, Compressor must scan the entire le, which can take several minutes for longer les.

This doesn’t happen with MPEG-2 elementary les encoded using Compressor that had the

“Add DVD Studio Pro metadata” checkbox selected. For more information, see MPEG-2 Encoder

pane on page 89.

•

When importing Dolby Digital Professional source media: You can use Dolby Digital Professional

AC-3 audio les as source media les for your jobs. There are two common reasons to do this:

•

To test a le you just encoded: Because you cannot preview the Dolby Digital Professional output

settings, importing an encoded le into a job allows you to play it and verify the settings.

•

To convert a Dolby Digital audio le to another format: Because not all media players include

Dolby Digital decoders, you may nd that you need to transcode the le to another format.

Compressor includes a Dolby Digital decoder that it uses to play or transcode Dolby Digital

The new batch’s tab

audio les. This means you can verify the Dolby Digital Professional output settings of a previously encoded le on your system without using an external Dolby Digital decoder. To

hear surround sound you must have an external surround sound device connected to your computer’s USB or FireWire output. The audio is mixed down to two channels if you play the audio using your system’s stereo speakers.

Important: Because the audio output is already decoded and not in the Dolby Digital format,

the optical output cannot be used when playing Dolby Digital les from Compressor.

Tip: If Compressor doesn’t allow you to add a Dolby Digital le to a job, add the extension .ac3 to the lename.

•

About automatic values and nonstandard QuickTime: Compressor uses a variety of tactics to determine the proper values for any settings that are set to Automatic. In most cases,

QuickTime les contain metadata specifying the various attributes of the le, such as frame

rate and frame size. In some cases, this metadata is not present, forcing Compressor to try to determine this information, or it’s incorrect, causing Compressor to generate incorrect values

for the Automatic settings. Additionally, some QuickTime les use nonstandard settings that

require Compressor to choose an automatic value that may not be suitable. For these reasons, it’s a good idea to verify that the Inspector values are set to Automatic. For more information, see About the Automatic settings on page 40.

Create a batch

Batches—groups of one or more jobs—are the heart of your Compressor workow, and the

Batch window is where you work with the batches. The Batch window provides a central location for organizing your transcoding tasks and quickly assigning settings.

When you rst open Compressor, the Batch window appears, and as you open more baches,

each appears as a tab at the top of the window. Batches can be saved, closed, and opened again. For more information, see Batch window on page 29.

Create a batch using default settings

m Choose File > New Batch.

A new, untitled batch is added to the Batch window.

Each tab is for a different batch.

The Batch window has a Submit button, located in the lower-right corner, that you can use to begin transcoding the currently selected batch. The lower-left corner shows the status of the current batch (how many jobs it contains and whether it has been submitted).

Chapter 3 Import source media 18

Create a new batch using a batch template

The new batch’s tab

1 Choose File > New Batch from Template.

The Batch Template Chooser appears, containing precongured templates and any templates

you’ve created.

For information about the templates in the Batch Template Chooser, see Batch window on page 29.

2 Select a batch template and click Choose.

A new, untitled batch is added to the Batch window.

Each tab is for a different batch.

Create a custom batch template

You can save any batch as a custom batch template. Custom batch templates appear as options in the Batch Template Chooser, alongside the default Apple batch templates. Custom batch

templates can save you time, particularly with workows that you repeat often.

1 In the Batch window, create a new batch.

Tip: Alternatively, open a saved batch with the characteristics that you want in the batch template.

2 Adjust the batch settings as appropriate. For more information, see Assign settings to source

media on page 32 and Destinations overview on page 13 7.

3 Choose File > Save as Template.

4 In the dialog that appears, enter a name and description, and click OK.

The custom batch template is saved and appears in the Batch Template Chooser.

Chapter 3 Import source media 19

Add source media les

Untitled batch tab

Add standard source media les to batches

Before you add any transcoding settings to a batch, you need to import the source media les into the batch. Importing the source media les into the batch automatically creates a job.

Following are the details for adding standard (not surround sound or image sequence) source

media les to a batch.

Add source media les to a batch

1 Open Compressor.

The Batch window opens with an empty batch tab named Untitled.

Note: If the Batch Template Chooser opens automatically, click Cancel to close it. To prevent the Batch Template Chooser from opening when you open Compressor, select the “Don’t show this dialog again” checkbox, or, in Set Compressor preferences, select For New Batches: Use Blank Template.

2 Do one of the following:

•

Choose Job > New Job With File (or press Command-I), navigate to the folder that contains

your source media, select one or more source media les, and click Open.

•

Click the Add File button (in the Batch window toolbar, if visible), navigate to the folder that

contains your source media, select one or more source media les, and click Open.

•

Control-click a job and choose Source > File from the shortcut menu.

Empty batch area with a placeholder job

Chapter 3 Import source media 20

•

The targets for this job

Control-click an empty area of the batch and choose New Job With File from the shortcut menu. You can then navigate to the folder that contains your source media, select one or more

source media les, and click Open.

•

Open your source media le folder and drag one or more source media les into the batch.

Note: You can combine the above steps by selecting all the source media les you want to

transcode before opening Compressor and then dragging them to the Compressor application icon.

This opens Compressor and adds the media les to the default untitled batch at the same time.

3 To save the batch, choose File > Save As (or press Command-Shift-S).

4 In the dialog that appears, enter a name for the batch and choose the location where you want

to save it.

5 Click Save.

The tab in the Batch window changes to match the name of the le.

Note: If your Finder preferences are set to show le extensions, the extension .compressor

appears in the tab along with the name.

You’re not required to name and save your batches, and for quick jobs you might decide not to.

However, naming and saving a batch makes it easy to go back and resubmit it later if you nd that the output les were not as expected or if your needs change. It also makes it easier to gure out what’s in the History window and in Share Monitor if you submit multiple batches in a

short period of time.

The batch now contains your selected media les, each in its own job. Source media les with video

content also include a thumbnail image and a scroller that you can use to scroll through the video.

will appear in this area.

Each source

media file creates a job.

Drag the slider to scroll

through video files.

Chapter 3 Import source media 21

Click anywhere in the job

to see this file’s attributes

in the Inspector window.

Change the source media le assigned to a job

1 In the Batch window, select the job whose source media le you want to change.

2 Do one of the following:

•

Choose Job > Source > File, navigate to the folder that contains your source media, select one

or more source media les, and click Open.

•

Control-click the job and choose Source > File from the shortcut menu. You can then navigate

to your source media, select one or more source media les, and click Open.

•

Drag a new source media le to the job.

Any targets you had already congured remain and are now applied to the new source media le.

Remove a source media le from a job

m Control-click the job and choose Clear Source from the shortcut menu.

Remove jobs from a batch

Do one of the following:

m To remove a single job: Select the job and press Delete.

m To remove all jobs: Control-click in an empty part of the batch and choose Remove All Jobs from

the shortcut menu.

You can now add targets to your jobs.

Add surround sound source media les to batches

There are two methods you can use to add audio les to a batch to create a surround sound job: an automatic method that relies on lenaming to map the audio les to the proper channels and a manual method that allows you to manually assign the audio les to the channels.

Each method results in a job to which you can add a setting that supports surround sound audio outputs, such as Dolby Digital Professional, AIFF, and several audio codecs in the QuickTime Movie output format.

Important: Some of the output formats have multiple congurations for the surround sound

audio channels. Be sure you know which conguration your intended playback device requires. For example, the AIFF output format provides four dierent congurations for 5.1 (six-channel) audio outputs, with the dierence being the order of the channels.

Assign les to surround channels with channel identier codes

1 In the Finder, append the channel identier code of the target surround channel to the lename

of each source audio le using these codes:

•

-L: Left front channel

•

-R: Right front channel

•

-C: Center front channel

•

-Ls: Left surround channel

•

-Rs: Right surround channel

•

-S: Center surround channel

•

-LFE: Low-frequency eects channel (Subwoofer, LFE)

Chapter 3 Import source media 22

For example, to assign an AIFF le to the left surround channel, rename the le lename-Ls.ai (where lename is the name of your le). The channel identier codes must include the hyphen, as shown.

Note: OS X may add a le extension like .ai. This will not interfere with this channel

assignment method.

This procedure works only when you drag les into the Batch window. If you drag the les onto the Compressor application icon, they’ll appear as separate source les, each in its own job.

Note: If you’re creating Dolby Digital Professional (AC-3) surround sound streams, you won’t use all the channels listed in the table at once. For a diagram of the Dolby audio coding modes, see

Dolby Digital Professional Encoder pane on page 78.

2 Drag the renamed source audio les to the Batch window.

If the les in the group are named correctly (see step 1) and the group has fewer than seven les, Compressor collapses the entire group of les into what appears as a single surround source media le in the Batch window

Manually assign source audio les to channels of a surround sound stream

1 To import the source audio les, do one of the following:

•

Choose Job > New Job With Surround Sound Group (or press Command-Control-I).

•

Click the Add Surround Sound button in the Batch window.

•

Control-click in the batch and choose New Job With Surround Sound Group from the shortcut menu.

The channel assignment interface opens.

2 To assign a source audio le to a channel, do one of the following:

•

Drag the source audio le from the Finder to the icon for a specic channel (for example, L).

•

Click the icon for a specic channel (for example, L) and use the Open dialog to locate the source audio le intended for that channel.

The le is now assigned to the L (left front) channel.

3 Repeat step 2 for each of the source audio les that you intend to include in the surround stream.

Note: If you’re creating Dolby Digital Professional (AC-3) surround sound streams, you won’t use all the channels listed in the table at once. For a diagram of the Dolby audio coding modes, see

Dolby Digital Professional Encoder pane on page 78.

Chapter 3 Import source media 23

4 To include a video le, click the Add Video button and select a video le.

5 When you’ve nished adding source audio and video les to the channel assignment

interface, click OK.

The group of surround les appears as a single surround source media le job in the Batch window.

Change a surround sound le assignment

After you create a surround sound job, the Batch window shows the surround sound icon in the

source media le thumbnail (unless a video le was added to the job), and the Inspector window shows the channels and their assigned les.

Click a channel’s icon to change the file assigned to that channel.

You can change any of the le assignments in the Inspector window.

1 Click the speaker icon of the channel you want to change.

2 In the dialog that appears, locate the le to assign to that channel and click Open.

3 To add a video le, click Add Video and select a video le.

You can replace a video le that is already assigned by deleting it and clicking Add Video to choose a dierent video le.

For information about creating Dolby Digital Professional output les, see Dolby Digital

overview on page 72.

Chapter 3 Import source media 24

Add image sequences to batches

You can import a sequence of still images into Compressor as a single image sequence job and

then apply an output frame rate and an audio le to the job. From that point, you treat the job as you do any other Compressor source media le, adding settings, destinations, lters, and post-transcoding actions to create an output media le with the video and audio formats and

characteristics you want.

Add a still image sequence job to a batch

1 Do one of the following:

•

Click the Add Image Sequence button and navigate to the folder containing the image

sequence les you want to import.

•

Choose Job > New Job With Image Sequence (or press Command-Option-I) and navigate to

the folder containing the image sequence les you want to import.

2 Click Open.

The new job appears in the Batch window.

3 Select the job in the Batch window.

The Inspector window displays the A/V Attributes tab containing information and controls for the new image sequence job.

Chapter 3 Import source media 25

4 Do any of the following:

•

Conrm the selected image sequence les.

To view the complete list of les, click the Info (i) button.

•

Conrm the video format information in the Video section.

•

Adjust the eld dominance for the source les by choosing an option from the Native Field

Dominance pop-up menu.

•

Adjust the frame rate for the source les by choosing a standard frame rate from the Frame

Rate pop-up menu.

•

If you want to add an audio le to the image sequence job, click Choose Audio and select an audio le.

Note: Compressor supports the following audio le types for image sequences: AIFF, MP3,

MPEG-4 audio-only (.m4a), and QuickTime movie (.mov).

You can also use Compressor to output an image sequence. For more information, see Create

image sequence les on page 134.

Add metadata to source media les

You can annotate a source media le with information that is important for your workow. Additionally, some types of source media need to be identied before a job can be processed.

Note: The Add Annotation feature is supported by the H.264 for Apple Devices, MP3, and

QuickTime Movie output formats.

Add an annotation to a source media le

1 Click the job to show the source media le’s attributes in the Inspector window.

2 Click the Additional Information tab.

3 Choose the type of annotation from the Add Annotation pop-up menu.

4 Double-click the corresponding Value eld and enter the annotation text.

5 To save the annotation, press Return or click in the next eld.

Chapter 3 Import source media 26

Associate a closed caption le with a job’s source media le

1 Click the job to show the source media le’s attributes in the Inspector window.

2 Click the Additional Information tab.

3 Click Choose, locate the closed caption le (must be a Scenarist closed caption format le, usually

with the le extension .scc), and click Open.

Note: Closed caption data is supported by the H.264 for Apple Devices, MPEG-2, and QuickTime

Movie output formats.

Depending on the output format of the job’s target, Compressor applies the closed caption le to the output media les.

•

For QuickTime outputs: Compressor adds the closed caption le as a closed caption track to the QuickTime output le. You can view the closed captions using QuickTime Player (version

7.2 or later).

•

For MPEG-2 elementary stream outputs: Compressor embeds the closed caption data in an elementary MPEG-2 video stream so that it can be used for DVD authoring.

•

For MPEG-2 program and transport stream outputs: Compressor embeds the closed caption data in program and transport MPEG-2 streams using the EIA-708 ATSC protocol.

Important: The timecode values in the closed caption le must directly relate to the timecode of

the source media le. You can open a closed caption le in TextEdit to see the timecode values it

contains (the actual text is encoded and cannot be read this way).

Inspector window

When you select a batch’s job, the Inspector window shows you information about the job’s

source media le.

The Inspector window contains three tabs: A/V Attributes, Additional Information, and Job Action.

A/V Attributes tab

The A/V Attributes tab contains general information about the source media le and is divided

into three sections.

Chapter 3 Import source media 27

•

File information: This section shows the lename, location, and type of le.

•

Video information: This section, when applicable, shows all video-related information about the

le. This includes its frame size, frame rate, and timecode information.

•

Audio information: This section, when applicable, shows all audio-related information about the

le. This includes its sample size and sample rate.

Additional Information tab

The Additional Information tab allows you to see and modify a variety of metadata items that might have been added in other applications such as Final Cut Pro or QuickTime. You can also

add metadata to the output media le, or associate a closed caption le with the output le.

•

Closed Caption le eld: Displays the name of the closed caption le currently associated with the source media le.

•

Choose (closed caption) button: Use this button to open a dialog and navigate to the closed

caption le you want to associate with the source media le.

•

Clear button: Use this button to remove the associated closed caption le.

•

Annotations table: Displays the current annotation types and the corresponding annotation text.

•

Add Annotation pop-up menu: Choose the type of annotation you want to add to the source

media le.

•

Remove (annotation) button: Use this button to remove the selected annotation.

Job Action tab

The Job Action tab allows you to apply and adjust post-transcoding actions for entire jobs. For information about using the Job Action tab, see Post-transcoding actions overview on page 184.

Chapter 3 Import source media 28

Batch window

Batch tabs

Show/hide toolbar button

The Batch window provides a central location for organizing your transcoding tasks and quickly

assigning settings. When you rst open Compressor, the Batch window appears with an empty,

untitled batch. Think of batches as documents that can be saved, closed, and opened again. You use the toolbar at the top of the Batch window to open all other Compressor windows.

Toolbar

Job area

Batch status

Batch submission button

To simplify common workows, Compressor includes a Batch Template Chooser that can appear

anytime you create a new batch. The For New Batches setting in Compressor preferences controls whether the Batch Template Chooser appears. For details, see Set Compressor

preferences on page 211 .

The Batch Template Chooser contains a variety of options you can choose from to congure a

new batch.

Choosing a template adds one or more settings to the batch, as well as a job action to be

executed when the batch output is nished.

Chapter 3 Import source media 29

Compressor includes the following batch templates:

•

Create Audio Podcast: Use this template to create an AAC audio le suitable for podcasting and

add it to the iTunes library.

•

Create Blu-ray disc: Use this template to create BD H.264 video and Dolby Digital Professional (.ac3) audio les and automatically burn them to a Blu-ray disc or an AVCHD disc (AVCHD discs can be played in Blu-ray Disc players that are compatible with the AVCHD format).

•

Create DVD: Use this template to create a standard-denition DVD using MPEG-2 (.m2v) video

and Dolby Digital Professional (.ac3) audio and automatically burn it to a disc.

•

HTTP Live Streaming: Use this template to create a set of les you can use to stream a movie to

iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Mac, using an ordinary server.

•

Publish to Apple TV: Use this template to create a video le suitable for viewing on Apple TV

and add it to the iTunes library.

•

Publish to YouTube: Use this template to create a video le suitable for viewing on YouTube and

upload it to a YouTube account.

Note: Choose a template based on the intended use of the output media le you’re creating. If there is no obvious template for your intended workow, you can create your own batch or transcoding workow.

Chapter 3 Import source media 30

+ 236 hidden pages

Apple Compressor User Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual

Contents

What is Compressor?

Compressor window overview

Manage Compressor windows

Compressor terms

Importing overview

Create a batch

Add image sequences to batches

Inspector window

Batch window