Apple COMPRESSOR 3 New Features

New Features in Compressor 3

There are a number of new features, enhancements, and changes in this version of
Compressor, the most significant of which are introduced below. See the

User Manual,

for details on these features.

the

Distributed Processing Setup

guide, and the

Batch Monitor User Manual

An All-New Interface

Compressor 3 includes a new streamlined user interface that makes it easier to quickly
create, submit, and monitor your transcoding jobs and batches.

New Interface Layout Capability

As you use Compressor you will find that, depending on the particular encoding task
you are configuring, how the various Compressor windows are laid out can affect how
easy it is to use. To help with this, Compressor now includes the ability to configure and
save layouts. Layouts define which windows are visible, their sizes and positions, and
define which icons appear in the Batch window’s toolbar.

Compressor includes two layouts that you can use to get a starting point for creating
your own custom layouts.

Compressor 3

1

The standard layout shows all the Compressor windows, with the Settings and
Destinations tabs sharing a window. This layout is optimized for those times when you
are transcoding a single source media file.

Batch window

Settings and

Destinations tabs

Batch window

Preview window

History window

Inspector window

The batch layout places the emphasis on the Batch window. This layout is optimized for
those times when you are transcoding a number of similar source media files.

Settings and
Destinations tabs

Inspector window

You can change the positions and sizes of the windows and save their configuration as
a custom layout, making it easy to return to that interface configuration later.

2

History window

Customizable toolbar

Batch tabs (one for each

open batch)

Jobs area with thumbnail

images that you can

scroll through

Batch status

Batch Window Improvements

The Batch window has been changed significantly, with several new features that add
flexibility and power that you can use while creating your batches.

Show/hide toolbar button

Each target contains a
setting, destination, and
output filename.

Batch submission button

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Customizable toolbar:

toolbar of your Batch window. For example, you can add New Batch and Close Batch
items and remove any of the existing items. The Toolbar configuration is saved as
part of a layout.

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Multiple batches open at one time:

same time. By default each batch that you open appears as an additional tab in the
Batch window. You can drag a tab from the Batch window to have it open in its
own Batch window. This makes it easy to copy jobs or targets from one window
to the other.

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Scrollable thumbnail image:

thumbnail image of the video. You can scroll through the clip by dragging the
scroller located below the image.

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Chaining jobs:

You can now use the Job > New Job From Target Output command
to chain the output of a target to another job. This makes it possible to perform
multiple transforms to a source media file while controlling the order in which the
transforms occur, or to perform a transformation multiple times on the source
media file.

You can choose from a variety of items to customize the

You can now have multiple batches open at the

Each job in a batch with a source video file has a

3

This custom group

contains three other

custom groups, each

with its own settings.

Improvements to Settings and Destinations Windows

There are several significant improvements to the Settings and Destinations windows.

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Settings can have subgroups:

much easier to organize your custom settings by client, project, distribution stage, or
any other item that fits with your workflow.

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Destinations can include iDisks:

transcoded batches.

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Each tab can have its own window:

be separated into their own windows. Just as you can drag a batch’s tab out of the
Batch window to have the tab appear in its own window, you can drag the Settings
or Destinations tab to its own window.

You can now create groups within groups, making it

You can now set your iDisk as a destination for your

The Settings tab and Destinations tab can now

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