Specifications

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About the Compressor Workflow Methods
Compressor includes two workflows you can use:
 Normal method: You use the Compressor windows to configure all aspects of the
encoding process. You can choose from preconfigured settings, known as presets, or
create custom settings. You can also configure a batch of files for encoding. The
batch can include multiple source media files or can have a single media file with
encoded outputs using multiple formats. See “Exporting Your Movie Using
Compressor” on page 27 for details on the process.
 Droplet method: You can create Droplets that act as shortcuts to perform your
encoding. Droplets make routine encoding very easy by only requiring you to drag
the files to be encoded to the Droplet icon, with no need to open Compressor first. A
Droplet is based on a single preset or a group of presets and a destination.
See the Compressor documentation for details of these methods.
Why Make AC-3 Files?
When authoring DVD projects, you are often faced with having more assets in your
project than will fit on the final DVD. One solution can be to use compressed audio in
place of uncompressed PCM and AIFF audio. Using compressed audio can:
 Reduce the amount of DVD disc space required by your audio assets
 Reduce the amount of DVD playback bit rate bandwidth that must be dedicated to
audio, potentially allowing you to use a higher bit rate for the video
 Make it possible to include Dolby Digital surround sound audio with your project
Compressor includes a Dolby Digital AC-3 encoder capable of creating audio files
containing from one to six channels (5.1 surround sound). The AC-3 encoder contains all
the controls needed to create DVD-compliant AC-3 audio from uncompressed audio files.
Important: The AC-3 encoder can only create 5.1 surround sound files from proper
sources. It cannot create 5.1 surround sound from a stereo source.
Ideally, the source files are uncompressed audio, such as AIFF or PCM audio, using a
48 kHz sample rate. However, Compressor can work with already compressed audio
files. You can have separate source files for each channel, as is often the case with
5.1 encoding, or use source files that include two or more audio channels.