Video properties of presets in Compressor
The video properties of a preset can be found in the Video inspector (when the preset is selected).
Important: Not all properties or options are available for all transcoding jobs. The options shown depend on the type of source media you’re transcoding, the preset’s format, the configuration of other properties, and the hardware and software you’re using.
Video property | Preset formats | Description | |||||||||
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Enable video pass-through | MXF, QuickTime Movie | Select this checkbox to copy the source video unmodified to the destination file. When this checkbox is selected, all the other presets in the video properties area are disabled. | |||||||||
Frame size | All video-enabled preset formats | Use this pop-up menu to set the frame size (resolution) for the output file. You can enter custom values in the field next to the pop-up menu (if available), or choose one of the items in the pop-up menu. There are four types of options:
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Center crop for output ratio | All video-enabled preset formats | Select this checkbox to ensure that when changing the aspect ratio in the Frame size pop-up menu, the video remains centered in the new aspect ratio. | |||||||||
Pixel aspect ratio | All video-enabled preset formats | Use this pop-up menu to set the pixel aspect ratio (the ratio between the encoded width and the display width). | |||||||||
Frame rate | All video-enabled preset formats | Use this pop-up menu to set the playback rate (the number of frames displayed per second) for the output file, or enter a custom frame rate in the field next to the pop-up menu (if available). See Modify timing and frame rate in Compressor. | |||||||||
Field order | All video-enabled preset formats | Use the pop-up menu to set the output scanning method (either the field dominance or a conversion to progressive scanning). There are four options:
For presets that use H.264, HEVC, or MV-HEVC codecs, the field order is automatically set to Progressive. | |||||||||
Color space | All video-enabled preset formats | Use this pop-up menu to convert the source media to a new color space. Choose Automatic to allow Compressor to choose the best color space based on the selected preset. Choose “Same as Source” to use the color space of the source file (if available). You can also choose a manual preset to override the default. See Change video color space in Compressor. | |||||||||
RAW to log | All video-enabled preset formats | Use this pop-up menu to select how ProRes RAW conversion is done. Choose Automatic to allow Compressor to choose the conversion method. You can also choose a manual preset to override the default. This option is available only if the source is ProRes RAW. | |||||||||
Camera LUT | All video-enabled preset formats | Use this pop-up menu to select the camera lookup table (LUT) applied to the source. Select a custom LUT to transform your video from one color space to another. This preset is enabled if the source is ProRes RAW and if “RAW to log” is set to a value other than None. This preset is also enabled if “Camera log” in video properties in the Job inspector is set to a value other than None. | |||||||||
Cinematic | All video-enabled preset formats | Use this pop-up menu—available for video recorded in Cinematic mode with the iPhone Camera app—to specify how to handle Cinematic metadata (requires macOS 12 or later). There are two options:
Note: This menu is only visible if the video file you imported has Cinematic mode metadata. You may need to adjust certain settings to ensure the metadata is retained when you import the file. For more information, see the Motion User Guide. | |||||||||
Stereoscopic | All video-enabled preset formats | Use this pop-up menu—available for stereoscopic files or when you create a new stereoscopic preset—to choose how Compressor uses the left and right eye views in stereoscopic video:
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360° metadata | Apple Devices, MPEG-4, QuickTime Movie | Use this pop-up menu to choose the type of 360° metadata, if any, included in the output file:
For more information, see View 360° video metadata using Compressor. | |||||||||
Codec | Apple Devices, MPEG-4, MXF, QuickTime Movie | Choose one of the available transcoding methods. Note: HEVC encoding in Compressor requires macOS 10.13 or later. | |||||||||
Spatial Video | Apple Devices | Use this pop-up menu—available when Codec is set to MV-HEVC—to determine whether to output the file as a spatial video for playback on Apple Vision Pro:
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Encoder type | Apple Devices, MPEG-4, QuickTime Movie | Use this pop-up menu to set the type of encoder. This pop-up menu is enabled when Codec is set to HEVC. Choose from two options:
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Profile | Apple Devices, MPEG-4, QuickTime Movie | Use this pop-up menu to set the level of complexity included in the transcode. When Codec is set to H.264 for MPEG-4 and QuickTime Movie presets, this pop-up menu offers three options:
When Codec is set to HEVC or MV-HEVC, the Profile pop-up menu sets the color depth of the output file (the number of bits used to represent color in each color channel—red, green, and blue). There are two options:
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Entropy mode | MPEG-4, QuickTime Movie | When Codec is set to H.264, use this pop-up menu to set the entropy mode to CABAC (which provides higher-quality output) or CAVLC (which is faster and more compatible for playback on older devices). | |||||||||
Avg. Bit rate | MPEG-4, QuickTime Movie | Use this pop-up menu to choose a bit rate for your video:
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Key frame interval | MPEG-4, QuickTime Movie | When Every is selected, enter a value in the text field to set the key frame interval (number of frames) at which you want keyframes created in your output file. Alternatively, you can select Automatic to have Compressor choose the frame rate, or All to create a keyframe for all frames. | |||||||||
Quality | QuickTime Movie | When Codec is set to Animation, Photo-JPEG, or HEVC (with the Preserve alpha checkbox selected), this slider controls one of the following options:
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Anamorphic | MPEG-2 | This property applies only to standard-definition video. If the source video’s storage aspect ratio doesn’t match its display aspect ratio, you can correct the image so the output doesn’t appear squeezed or stretched. Choose Automatic from the pop-up menu to have Compressor scale the image based on the frame size, or choose 16:9 or 4:3 to scale the image to a specific aspect ratio. | |||||||||
Encoding mode | MPEG-2 | Choose an option from the pop-up menu to set how Compressor encodes the output file: either faster and lower quality, or slower and better quality. Options include:
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Motion estimation | MPEG-2 | This pop-up menu sets the amount of motion processing that will be performed on the file. There are three options:
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GOP structure | MPEG-2 | This property is available only when the “Frame rate” property is set manually (does not use Automatic). Compressor provides three methods of grouping frames, or “pictures,” in encoded video: as I-frames (intra-frames), P-frames (predictive frames), and B-frames (bidirectional predictive frames). These are collectively called a group of pictures (GOP). The “GOP structure” pop-up menu includes several methods of arranging frames:
Note: For most MPEG-2 encoding situations intended for use on a DVD, choose IBBP as the GOP structure preset, and a GOP size of 15 for NTSC, or 12 for PAL. | |||||||||
GOP size | MPEG-2 | This property is available when the “Frame rate” property is set manually (does not use Automatic). This slider specifies how many frames are contained within a GOP (group of pictures). The values available in the slider are determined by the GOP structure property (described above). The maximum GOP size you can choose within Compressor is 15 frames (NTSC) or 12 frames (PAL and 720p). The minimum GOP size for all video formats is 6 frames (closed GOP) or 7 frames (open GOP). | |||||||||
Automatically select bit rate | H.264, MPEG-2 | Select this checkbox to have Compressor automatically compute the best bit rate for the output file, based on the duration of the source file. To manually adjust the bit rate, deselect the checkbox and drag the “Average bit rate” and “Maximum bit rate” sliders (or enter values in the adjacent fields). | |||||||||
Multi-pass | Apple Devices, H.264, MPEG-4, QuickTime Movie | Select this checkbox to turn on multi-pass encoding, which applies an additional analysis of video frames to produce a high-quality output file. For faster (single-pass) transcoding, deselect the checkbox. | |||||||||
Include Dolby Vision 8.4 Metadata | Apple Devices, MPEG-4, QuickTime Movie | Select this checkbox to have Compressor include Dolby Vision 8.4 metadata in the output file. Dolby Vision 8.4 is a format designed to optimize HDR content for Apple devices. If this checkbox is selected, “Color space” is set to Rec. 2020 HLG and Profile is set to 10-Bit Color. This option is only available when Codec is set to HEVC or MV-HEVC. | |||||||||
Bit rate | Apple Devices | Select the Automatic checkbox to have Compressor calculate the appropriate bit rate for the output file, based on the frame size of the source file and device compatibility. If the checkbox is not selected, you can set the bit rate by dragging the slider or entering a value in the text field. | |||||||||
Frame sync | Apple Devices | Select the Automatic checkbox to have Compressor calculate the frame rate. Note: When Frame sync is enabled, the value in the seconds field defaults to zero (.0), but the actual value is determined during the encoding process. If the checkbox is not selected, you can drag the slider or enter a value in the text field to set the key frame interval (number of frames) at which you want keyframes created in your output file. | |||||||||
Allow frame reordering | MPEG-4, QuickTime Movie | Select this checkbox to potentially provide a better-quality output file by allowing Compressor to reorder video frames during transcoding. This option is only available when Codec is set to H.264 or HEVC. Important: If you select “Allow frame reordering,” your output file may be more efficiently compressed but may not be compatible with decoders on older hardware. | |||||||||
Preserve alpha | QuickTime Movie | Select this checkbox to preserve any alpha channel information in your source and pass the alpha to the output. This checkbox is enabled when Codec is set to ProRes 4444 or Animation. If you have macOS 10.15 or later installed, this checkbox is also enabled when Codec is set to HEVC. When Preserve Alpha is turned on, the Quality slider is enabled. | |||||||||
Add clean aperture information | QuickTime Movie | Select this checkbox to define clean picture edges in the output file. This property adds information to the output file to define how many pixels to hide, ensuring that no artifacts appear along the edges. When you play the output file in QuickTime Player, the pixel aspect ratio is slightly altered. This process doesn’t affect the actual number of pixels in the output file—it only controls whether information is added to the file that a player can use to hide the edges of the picture. | |||||||||
Scale image to preserve aspect ratio | Image Sequence | Select this checkbox to scale the output files to use square pixels and maintain the original aspect ratio (which results in an increase or decrease in the number of horizontal and vertical pixels). | |||||||||
Compression | Image Sequence | Use this pop-up menu to choose an image compression method. | |||||||||
Color depth | Image Sequence | Use this pop-up menu to set the number of bits used to represent color in each color channel (red, green, and blue). Choose Automatic, 8, or 16 (for better quality). | |||||||||
YUV 422 color encoding | MPEG-2 | Select this checkbox to use YUV 422 color encoding for superior chroma quality. | |||||||||
Start timecode | MXF | Use this pop-up menu to set a forced timecode start point for the output file. The Automatic option uses the default timecode of the source file (typically, 00:00:00:00). Other options set the timecode start to 1 hour or 10 hours. | |||||||||
Drop frame | MXF | Available when “Frame rate” is set to 29.97 fps or 59.94 fps and “Start timecode” is set to 00:00:00:00, 01:00:00:00 or 10:00:00:00. Select this checkbox to force the timecode to stay in sync with real-time duration during playback. | |||||||||
The Video inspector also shows options for cropping, padding, and rotating, setting parameters for retiming and resizing quality, and adding video effects.
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