Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
Exporting with Compressor
Compressor is a video and audio transcoding application that is available separately from the App Store on the
Mac and is a very useful tool to add to your video arsenal. Compressor comes with a selection of presets for
common encoding tasks, allowing you to convert your finished projects to a number of output formats. These
presets can be accessed directly from Final Cut Pro by choosing Share
⇒
Export Using Compressor Settings. A
window opens with the Compressor presets organized into folders, such as Apple Devices, Disc Burning, and so
on. You simply select the preset that you require and click Next to take you to the next window, where you can
name and save your file.
Using Compressor in this way has the disadvantage of tying up Final Cut Pro while the export process takes
place, preventing you from doing any editing work until the encoding has completed. A way around this is to
click the Advanced section and choose This Computer from the Background Rendering drop-down list, or send
the project to Compressor by choosing Share
⇒
Send to Compressor. This launches the Compressor application
and makes the sent project the source media file that is to be encoded by Compressor. This method also gives
you the option to customize and tweak the presets further.
Understanding the Compressor workflow
Compressor's Batch window, found in the top-left corner of the interface, is where you manage the files that are
to be encoded. When a source media file is added to Compressor, a job is created, which is represented by the
light gray tile inside the Batch window. The source media file is shown on the left side of the job, and you can
scrub through it with the slider below. Additional jobs with different source media files can be added to the
batch by dragging a new file onto the Batch window, choosing Job
⇒
New Job from File or pressing +I, and
navigating to the file that you want to add. A batch made up of many jobs can be submitted together and pro-
cessed at the same time.
A job can have many targets applied to it. A target tells Compressor how to encode the source media file and is
made up of a setting, a destination, and an output filename, with each target displayed as a strip in the job area.
Figure 16.9 shows four targets applied to a single job. The clapper icon in the source media area tells us that this
is a project that has been sent from Final Cut Pro.
