Tutorial: Getting the Most Out of MPEG-2 with Apple's Compressor

Event DV by Todd Gillespie Most editors who have Compressor—either bundled with Final Cut Studio or DVD Studio Pro—will have had some experience with its applications. However, a lot of users are still unsure about how to get the most out of their compressions. Hopefully, after reading this article, you’ll have a better understanding of how to use Compressor within your editing workflow. So you’ve finished making a great video on your editing system. Now you’ve got to get it out to your clients or audience so they can watch what you’ve created. Unless you’ve got access to your own theater where people can come from all over to enjoy it, you’re going to need to get it into a format that people can watch on their own terms. Five or six years ago, most editors would lay their great video off onto a VHS tape, cry about the loss of quality, and move on. In the current era of DVD and online delivery, giving a client a VHS tape seems as antiquated as communicating with a stone tablet and chisel. By now, most editors who have Compressor—either bundled with Final Cut Studio or DVD Studio Pro—will have had some experience with its applications. However, a lot of users are still unsure about how to get the most out of their compressions. Hopefully, after reading this article, you’ll have a better understanding of how to use Compressor within your editing workflow (a workflow that, incidentally, will remain largely consistent with the new Compressor 3). read more...