General properties of presets in Compressor

Name

All preset formats

Displays the name of the preset.

Description

All preset formats

Displays the description of the preset.

Extension

All preset formats

Displays the extension of the output file.

Allow export segmentation

Apple Devices, Image Sequence, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, MXF, QuickTime Movie

Select this checkbox to have Compressor process the output file using a shared computer group. See Transcode batches with multiple computers using Compressor.

Default location

All preset formats

Choose an item from the pop-up menu to set the default save location for transcoded files.

Format

Apple Devices, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, MXF, QuickTime Movie

Use this pop-up menu to specify whether the output includes video and audio, or video only.

For MPEG-2 presets, use this pop-up menu to set the stream type for the output file:

• Program Stream: This stream type contains only one MPEG-2 content channel and its associated audio. Program streams require an error-free delivery method and are primarily used for storage or processing within a computer.

• Elementary Stream: This stream type contains only one MPEG-2 content channel and no audio. When you select this option, you should also set the “Stream usage” property.

• Transport Stream: This stream type can contain several MPEG-2 content channels and associated audio. All the channels are multiplexed together, allowing the receiver to choose which to play back. Compressor supports creating single-channel transport streams that can also include associated audio. Transport streams can also recover from interruptions during playback, making them ideally suited for broadcast and streaming applications where noise or network congestion can lead to interruptions.

Optimize for network use

Apple Devices, MPEG-4, QuickTime Movie

Select this checkbox to create a file that will start playing after only a small portion of the file has been downloaded from the network.

File type/Image type

Common Audio Formats, Dolby Digital, Image Sequence

Choose a file type or image type from the pop-up menu.

Stream usage

H.264, MPEG-2

For H.264 presets, use the pop-up menu to set whether the output file is transcoded for Blu-ray Disc or AVCHD.

For MPEG-2 presets, use this pop-up menu to choose one of three output options:

• Generic: This option allows you complete access to all the MPEG-2 properties. This is the only option that supports the MPEG-2 640 x 480 video format in addition to the standard-definition (SD) and high-definition (HD) video formats. It’s also the only option that supports creating transport and program streams. It supports the complete bit rate range of 2.0 Mbps to 40.0 Mbps.

• DVD: This option restricts the encoding properties to those allowed by the SD DVD specification. These include the NTSC and PAL video formats and a bit rate range of 2.0 Mbps to 9.0 Mbps.

• Blu-ray: This option restricts the encoding properties to those allowed by Blu-ray video discs. These include the SD and HD video formats and a bit rate range of 10.0 Mbps to 40.0 Mbps.

Color palette

Image Sequence

Available when Image type is set to GIF or PNG. The color palette limits the colors used in the transcoded files. Select Not Indexed to use all available colors.

• Local: Uses a new color palette for each frame.

• Global: Uses a shared color palette across all frames. This method involves two passes. The first pass analyzes each of the frames, generating a common palette. The second pass encodes each frame using that common palette.

Color dithering

Image Sequence

Available when Image type is set to GIF or PNG and Color palette is set to a limited number of colors. Dithering simulates additional colors in a limited palette by blending color transitions. For example, a pattern of yellow and blue can be used to give the impression that green appears in the image.

• None: No dithering is applied.

• Floyd-Steinberg: Uses the industry-standard Floyd-Steinberg dithering algorithm.

• Sierra2: Uses the Sierra two-line dithering algorithm. Depending on the source, Sierra2 may produce a smoother image.

Animated

Image Sequence

Available when Image type is set to GIF or PNG, exports a single, animated file containing all frames (rather than a collection of individual files for each frame).

Playback

Image Sequence

Available when Animated is selected. Playback specifies how many times the animated GIF or PNG loops during playback. Select Continuously, or enter the number of times you want the animated image to play. (Not all web browsers will recognize this option.)

Create unique output directory

Image Sequence

Available when Animated is not selected. Select this checkbox to create a folder to hold the output files; the files saved will be named “frame-0,” “frame-1,” “frame-2,” and so on.

Add leading zeros to frame numbers

Image Sequence

Available when Animated is not selected. Select this checkbox to have Compressor add leading zeros to output filenames (“filename-000000,” “filename-000001,” “filename-000002,” and so on).

Add Apple metadata

MPEG-2

Select this checkbox to have Compressor parse specific MPEG-2 authoring information during the transcoding process and provide it in the output file. The resulting file will be read faster by other applications.

Include chapter markers only

MPEG-2

Select this checkbox to include chapter markers, but not unnamed compression markers, in MPEG-2 output. When this checkbox is deselected, all markers are included in the output file. See Add markers using Compressor.

Enhanced podcast

MPEG-4

Select this checkbox to have Compressor embed podcasting information (annotations, markers, and artwork) into the output media file. See Work with metadata annotations in Compressor and Add markers using Compressor.