A detailed tutorial on HTTP Live Streaming and how to compress video files for it. Updated frequently, most recently in 2023.
In this video tutorial, learn how to change video frame rates using Compressor 4.
In this video tutorial, learn the best, and fastest, way to deinterlace video in Compressor 4.
In this video tutorial, learn how to speed video compression using a processor cluster in Compressor 4.
The X.264 codec can improve compressed image quality. This tutorial shows how to install and use it in Apple Compressor.
This step-by-step tutorial shows how to automate the process of burning-in timecode to a clip using Final Cut Pro X.
A step-by-step tutorial showing how to convert standard-def video into high-def video using Apple Compressor.
A look at new Samurai and NInja digital video recorders from Atomos, and why they are helpful during production.
This short video tutorial orients you to Sorenson Squeeze and shows you how to create a simple compression.
In this short video tutorial, learn how to create Watch Folders to automate media compression.
A step-by-step technique to creating a clip with a transparent background in Final Cut Pro X, then adding it as a watermark to Compressor 4 (or Compressor 3).
A video tutorial on adding chapter markers and creating test movies using Compressor 4.
A video tutorial on how to set preferences in Adobe Media Encoder CS6.
Job-chaining saves time during compression by sending the output of one compression process into input of the next. Here’s how it works.
Here is a step-by-step tutorial on how to compress video for YouTube using Adobe Media Encoder CS6.
This article provides an overview of how to use Adobe Media Encoder CS6.
Here’s a step-by-step technique that shows you how to create chapter markers manually or automatically in Compressor.
Audio slowly drifting out of sync is often caused by mismatched sample rates, or trying to edit MP3 audio. This explains how to convert MP3 to AIF.
Compressor scares a lot of people. However, if all you want to do is compress a video for YouTube, Compressor makes the process very easy. This technique shows you how.
I am looking for a specific workflow instructions. Since I’m dealing with HDV, XDCAM EX, anamorphic SD, recaptured DVD assests and stills, I needed an in depth step by step workflow.
Cheryl Foster sent me an email recently asking about archiving.
David Scott was having a problem creating a DVD using a Compressor Template. Until he solved it. Here’s what he did.
Here’s what you need to convert GoPro video files to before importing them to FCP.
If Blu-ray Discs are in your future as a Mac Pro user, you need to read this report from Michael Powles on installing a Blu-ray burner in a Mac.
Ben Balser writes on editing H.264 video natively in Final Cut Pro.
I’m not a fan of QuickClusters because, personally, I’ve found them problematic and unreliable. However, if you can get them to work, then by all means use them.
When placing still images in DVD Studio Pro, a PNG will be autosized to fit, while a TIFF won’t. This article explains more.
In this article, Larry Jordan answers a question about when to convert HD files to SD for editing in Final Cut Pro 7 or earlier.
DVDs are always standard-def, not high-def. So your AVCHD material will always look worse on a DVD than your source footage.
H.264 and X.264 are two different development projects that result in two different codecs that both do the same thing: create H.264-compliant files.
An extensive email correspondence with editor/subscriber, Patrick Nugent, concerning some difficulties with video artifacting and the solutions he found, is summarized in this article.
A subscriber and previous contributor returns with another great tip about operating the Compressor from the command line and advises to limit the number of your batches to a few hundred compressions.
In answering a subscriber’s questions regarding working with three different formats we examine issues like selecting the best codec to use, converting frame rates, and more.
Subscriber Mike Henry writes in to see about finding the most highly recommended practices with mixing cameras with different resolutions.
How to upload a file automatically after Compressor has finished converting a file.
Final Cut supports over 52 different video codecs, and this gets close to a hundred when you add a third-party capture card. How to do you choose which to use? This article explains what you need to know to select the best codec for your video.
What’s the best video format for archiving materials? This is an easy question to ask, but a hard question to answer. Also, what’s the best way to preserve 1″ and 2″ master video tapes — especially since those machines are increasingly hard to find? This article gets you started in the right direction.
While you can create watermarks in FCP, Compressor provides a much better alternative. This technique shows you what to do.
Final Cut Pro is a QuickTime editor. But what if you want to create WMV files? Well, you are not out-of-luck, but you will need different software. This article describes what you need to know, along with how to resolve problems when creating WMV files.
Adding DVD chapter markers to a QuickTime movie is reasonably easy. But how do you do this for H.264 compressed video. This article describes what you need to know.
Confused about all the options available in Sequence Settings? Well, this article can help. It may not explain ALL the different choices, but it will help you focus on the ones that are the most important.
In this answer to a newsletter reader’s question, we look at the process of transcoding (converting) video from one format to another. We specifically talk about what is the right format to transcode into.
Transcoding is the process of converting video (and/or audio) from one format into another. Generally, compression is done for final delivery, while transcoding is done from one editing format to another editing format. In any case, when should you transcode? This article explains the three options and provides suggestions on which one you should pick.
ProRes 422 is a new codec, invented by Apple, that seeks to minimize the massive file sizes of some HD formats. It also has benefits when you are working with HDV or other GOP-compressed video formats. In this article, I show you more about this codec and how to use it.
Final Cut does not like editing compressed video. However, what’s the best way to convert MEPG-2 video, which is compressed, into something Final Cut likes? This article tells you what you need to know.
The only problem with creating multiple versions of the same file is the time it takes. In this article, I explain how you can do this faster and easier by automating Compressor, than just doing one file at a time from Final Cut Pro.
A reader asks how to create a PAL DVD. In this article, I provide a reference for file conversion, then talk about the Compressor setting you can use to compress your files. (I also include a link to lots more training on DVD creation.)
If there was one “magic format” we would all be shooting in it. Unfortunately, as many of us are discovering as we move to HD, the world is a highly incompatible place.
QMaster allows you to combine multiple computers into a render farm to make video compression run faster. It also allows you to combine multiple processors on one computer to compress video faster. One of these choices works MUCH better than the other. This article explains what you need to know.
A reader questions why the Quicktime quality of his sequences are soft when he exports them as a mov.
