4
Table Of Contents
- Compressor 4 User Manual
- Contents
- Welcome to Compressor
- Getting Started Quickly
- Ways to Use Compressor
- The Basic Transcoding Workflow
- The Compressor Interface
- Compressor Windows and the Transcoding Workflow
- Creating and Managing Compressor Layouts
- Working with the Compressor Windows
- Batch Window
- Settings Tab
- Destinations Tab
- Inspector Window
- History Window
- Preview Window
- Apple Qmaster Sharing Window
- Share Monitor
- Droplet Windows
- About Changing Values and Timecode Entries
- Keyboard Shortcuts
- Setting Compressor Preferences
- Importing Source Media Files
- Creating, Previewing, and Modifying Settings
- Finalizing Jobs and Submitting Batches
- Creating AIFF Files
- Creating Common Audio Format Files
- Creating DV Stream Output Files
- Creating Dolby Digital Professional Output Files
- About the Dolby Digital Professional Encoder Pane
- General Information About Creating Dolby Digital Professional Files
- Converting Stereo Audio Files to Dolby Digital Professional Format
- Assigning Files to Surround Sound Channels (Manual Method)
- Assigning Files to Surround Sound Channels (Automatic Methods)
- Assigning Files to Surround Sound Channels with Droplets
- Options for Spatial Mixing
- Creating H.264 for Apple Devices Output Files
- Creating H.264 for Blu-ray Disc
- Creating Image Sequence Files
- Creating MP3 Output Files
- Creating MPEG-1 Output Files
- Common Uses for MPEG-1
- MPEG-1 Specifications
- About the MPEG-1 Encoder Pane
- About the MPEG-1 Video Tab
- About the MPEG-1 Audio Tab
- About System and Elementary Streams
- MPEG-1 Transcoding Workflow
- Configuring the MPEG-1 File Format for Web Use
- Configuring the MPEG-1 File Format for DVD Use
- Creating the MPEG-1 Video for DVD Setting
- Creating the MPEG-1 Audio for DVD Setting
- Optional—Creating an MPEG-1 for DVD Group and Destination
- Creating MPEG-2 Output Files
- Creating MPEG-4 Output Files
- About MPEG-4 Part 2
- About the MPEG-4 Part 2 Encoder Pane
- Using Default MPEG-4 Part 2 Settings
- Customizing MPEG-4 Part 2 Settings
- Audio Podcasting Workflow
- Stage 1: Configuring the MPEG-4 Output for Audio-Only Output
- Stage 2: Including Podcasting Information
- Stage 3: Applying the Setting to a Source Media File’s Target
- Stage 4: Entering Annotations for the Output Media File
- Stage 5: Creating and Configuring Markers for the Output Media File
- Stage 6: Submitting the Job and Verifying the Output Media File
- Adding Additional Settings and Presets
- Creating QuickTime Export Component Files
- Creating QuickTime Movie Output Files
- Adding Filters to a Setting
- Working with Frame Controls
- Adding Geometry Settings
- Adding Actions
- Using the Preview Window
- Creating and Changing Destinations
- Using Droplets
- Apple Qmaster and Distributed Processing
- Distributed Processing Basics
- Basic Components of the Apple Qmaster Distributed Processing System
- Getting Started Quickly Using This Computer Plus
- Getting Started Quickly Using QuickClusters
- The Interfaces in the Apple Qmaster Distributed Processing System
- Apple Qmaster Sharing Window of Compressor
- General Information About Clusters
- Options in the Apple Qmaster Sharing Window of Compressor
- Managed vs. Unmanaged Services
- Turning Cluster Controller Services On or Off
- Using Virtual Clusters to Make the Most of Multicore Computers
- Setting a Service Password for Including a Computer in a Cluster
- Scheduling Service Availability
- Using Cluster Storage
- Defining Ports for Service Advertisements
- Recovery and Failure Notification Features
- Creating Clusters with Apple Qadministrator
- Setting Up for Part-Time Distributed Processing with Shake
- Appendix A: Keyboard Shortcuts
- Appendix B: Solving Problems
- Appendix C: Using the Command Line
Using Distributed Processing with Compressor
You can increase speed and productivity by distributing processing across multiple
computers. The Apple Qmaster features of Compressor subdivide the work for speed,
route the work to the computers with the most available computing power, and direct
the processing across designated computers.
For complete instructions on setting up and managing an Apple Qmaster distributed
processing network, see Apple Qmaster and Distributed Processing.
This section covers two specific topics that you should be aware of when you are using
the Apple Qmaster distributed processing system with Compressor.
Job Segmenting and Two-Pass or Multi-Pass Encoding
If you choose the two-pass or the multi-pass mode, and you have distributed processing
enabled, you may have to make a choice between speedier processing and ensuring the
highest possible quality.
The Apple Qmaster distributed processing system speeds up processing by distributing
work to multiple processing nodes (computers). One way it does this is by dividing up
the total number of frames in a job into smaller segments. Each of the processing
computers then works on a different segment. Since the nodes are working in parallel,
the job is finished sooner than it would have been on a single computer. But with two-pass
VBR and multi-pass encoding, each segment is treated individually so the bit-rate allocation
generated in the first pass for any one segment does not include information from the
segments processed on other computers.
First, evaluate the encoding difficulty (complexity) of your source media. Then, decide
whether or not to allow job segmenting (with the Allow Job Segmenting checkbox at
the top of the Encoder pane). If the distribution of simple and complex areas of the media
is similar throughout the whole source media file, then you can get the same quality
whether segmenting is turned on or not. In that case, it makes sense to allow segmenting
to speed up the processing time.
However, you may have a source media file with an uneven distribution of complex
scenes. For example, suppose you have a 2-hour sports program in which the first hour
is the pregame show with relatively static talking heads, and the second hour is high-action
sports footage. If this source media were evenly split into two segments, the bit-rate
allocation plan for the first segment would not be able to “donate” some of its bits to the
second segment because the segments would be processed on separate computers. The
quality of the more complex action footage in the second segment would suffer. In this
case, if your goal were ensuring the highest possible quality over the entire 2-hour
program, it would make sense to not allow job segmenting by deselecting the checkbox
at the top of the Encoder pane. This forces the job (and, therefore, the bit-rate allocation)
to be processed on a single computer.
130 Chapter 8 Finalizing Jobs and Submitting Batches