With translation 3.0.1 , Compressor joins the ranks of forward-looking , rapid video - compression tools such as Sorenson Squeeze ( ) and Autodesk ’s Cleaner 6.5 . Compressor 3.0.1 provide a simple setup for administer rendering and most unflawed transcoding to Apple ’s newfangled ProRes 422 codec . The programme now has the tools needed for a majority of compression tasks : third - company plug - in keep for professional encryption operation , filter capability for on - screen timecode burning and watermark protection , and changing a television ’s look proportion or frame rate during compression .
In gain , Compressor 3 sports a full - blow interface makeover and enough engineering refinements to make even diehard fan of other compression applications take musical note .
Settings galore
With more than 100 presets for various devices , Compressor now lets you customize your scene to check any need , even tradition sizes for projects such as video vane banners , presentation graphics , or digital signage . you could even reuse setting from a previous interpretation session via the new History palette . In addition , Compressor 3 let you simultaneously process multiple versions of the same video : for the iPhone , the iPod , the Web , and even BluRay and HD - DVD formats , all in the same batch .
The program ’s new plug - in computer architecture lets developer create increasingly dynamic encryption tools . Compressor 3 , coupled with Telestream ’s Episode Pro plug - in , offers broadcasters drag - and - drop encoding for various broadcast formats such as the MPEG program stream , the transmission format that broadcasting networks utilise to drive home mental object to your TV Seth . This simplifies delivery in the ever - growing tapeless broadcast - production market .
Version 3.0.1 has several fresh feature . Automatic Center Cropping lets you crop widescreen video direct into the 4:3 formatting common to television and iPods or define one of the five coarse letterbox formats for your output . In addition , the newfangled Pixel Aspect protrude - up fare in the Geometry window pane of the Inspector windowpane allow for you to define a specific pixel aspect proportion to conform to your output media data file during compression .
yield of 5.1 environs strait is greatly enhanced in Compressor 3 . You no longer have to define speaker arrangement in other app or use DVD Studio Pro to decent program channel configurations for surround auditory sensation and Dolby audio compression configurations . However , since the Mac Pro ’s optic sound porthole currently fend for only stereo output , monitoring surround strait requires another software and third - political party audio identity card ( $ 300 and up ) to correctly hear all channels of the mix .
Transcoding between data format is gentle ; Compressor 3 ’s build - in presets let you convert footage from heavily compressed , CPU intensive HDV format to the less - compressed DVCPro HD or ProRes 422 codecs . This devote you greater real time playback and gist capabilities in Final Cut Pro .
While not quite achieving the timber of AJA Video ’s Kona or Blackmagic ’s DeckLink video - seizure card , Compressor ’s changeover capableness does offer a degenerate , cost - good way to transcode content , a genuine plus for hoi polloi with older PowerPC Macs who ca n’t capture HD right away into the Modern ProRes codec .
The program ’s new Optical Retiming occasion , derived from Apple ’s trill ( ) , let users vary a video ’s pedestal frame pace . I used this feature film to convert 1080 60i HDV ( 1440 by 1080 pixels ) to 720p24 DVCPro HD ( 960 by 720 pixels ) . While the spiritual rebirth from interlaced to progressive was cause for vexation , Compressor handled the hybridisation - conversion faster and with gamy - quality resolution than I expected from an exclusively software - establish subprogram .
Such conversions lets you create smaller files for videodisc playback ( with few frames ) or change your 1080i content for playback within the modest 720p format ( modest file ) frame size , a common technique for producing mellow - quality HD files for a laptop - based presentation .
However , this cognitive operation can create an inconsistent order of twin frames when converting 24 anatomy - per - second ( Federal Protective Service ) content to 30 or 60 Federal Protective Service . A similar job exists in Apple ’s Final Cut Pro 6 ( ) when mixing soma pace in the Open Format Timeline .
Watermark protection
Adding filter fitting to your TV as part of the final output is easy in Compressor 3 . One model is localise a professional looking watermark on your video , the most visible form of copyright protection . In addition , Compressor 3 now allows you to embed that same copyright information as metadata in your output
Rendering magic
Overall , rendering in Compressor 3 is remarkably fast when using the default compression scope . For the majority of users , deviating from the defaults is not really necessary . However , changing any of the mise en scene to “ Best ” when resizing or retiming your video engage the plan ’s opthalmic flow functionality , and can greatly increase the return time of your project .
create multimachine connection rendition requires the included AppleQmasterNode software ( in the Extras brochure on the Install disc ) . The new one - step render frame-up , called AutoCluster , reserve you to produce a render farm on a solitary multiprocessor Mac or distribute that processing across several data processor with a exclusive software licence .
Motion and LiveType timeline elements sent immediately from a Final Cut Pro timeline without first fork out within FCP will increase Compressor ’s render time and frustrate users who draw a blank that those elements need to be rendered before compression can get . Uncompressed telecasting files offer the fastest compressing times because the CPU does n’t need to first decompress a snip prior to applying new compression to each skeletal system .
Compressor 3.0.1 is a welcome rising slope from the old version , and it delivers the fastest render time on multiprocessor Intel Macs . Apple has summate a fashionable young port and simple render - management tools that augment the program ’s processing power . The History pallet , which allows you to manage or corroborate late options , and the optical stream feature of speech are both destined to become user favorite .
[ Gary Adcock is a Chicago - based consultant in HD and Film production , and he ’s the proficient chairwoman for HD Postproduction for the National Association of Broadcasters . ]
