Apple Compressor (4.0) - Manual (Page 18)

Chapter 3 Import source media 18
Compressor includes a Dolby Digital decoder that it uses to play or transcode Dolby Digital
audio files. This means you can verify the Dolby Digital Professional output settings of a
previously encoded file 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 files from Compressor.
Tip: If Compressor doesn’t allow you to add a Dolby Digital file to a job, add the extension .ac3
to the filename.
•
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 files contain metadata specifying the various attributes of the file, 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 files 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 workflow, 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 first 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 new batch’s tab
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).