General properties of presets in Compressor
The general properties of a preset can be found in the General 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.
General property | Preset formats | Description | |||||||||
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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:
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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:
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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.
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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.
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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. | |||||||||
The General inspector may also show options for retiming, captions, and metadata.
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