4.5

12Compressor User Guide
• Preview area: A viewer with playback controls that shows how your media file will look
and sound after transcoding. In this area you can also add metadata and markers to be
included in the transcoded file.
• Batch area: A list under the preview area that displays the transcoding batches you add
to Compressor. A batch is one or more transcoding jobs. A job is a source file to which
you apply transcoding instructions. Each job in the batch area displays information
about the source file, the job’s transcoding instructions (setting, output location, output
filename, and any caption data that you’ve added), and post-transcoding actions (such
as uploading the finished file to a video-sharing website).
You can expand the Current view to display additional areas:
• Settings and Locations pane: Click the Settings & Locations button at the top-left
corner of the Compressor window to expand this area, then click Settings or Locations
to display the individual panes. The Settings pane provides quick access to all the
built-in destinations and settings, as well as to any custom destinations or settings
that you created. Likewise, the Locations pane provides quick access to all the built-in
save locations, and to any custom save locations that you created. You apply settings,
destinations, and locations to a job by dragging an item from these panes to the job in
the batch area.
• Inspector pane: Click the Inspector button in the upper-right corner of the
Compressor window to expand this area. The inspector pane has several views that
change, depending on the item you’ve selected. When you select a batch (by clicking
the background of the batch area), the Batch inspector appears, displaying basic
information about the current batch. When you select a job in the batch area, the Job
inspector appears; this area displays a summary of the source file’s transcoding format,
an SDR or HDR badge that specifies whether the source file is a standard-dynamic-
range or high-dynamic-range video, and controls for adding metadata and modifying
job actions. When you select a specific transcoding instruction in the batch area (one
of the rows under the job), the General, Video, and Audio inspectors appear. These
three panes contain adjustable properties that you can use to customize the setting
or destination. And if you add captions to a job, selecting the captions file in the batch
area opens the Closed Captions inspector or Subtitles inspector.