Apple Compressor Droplet For Multiple Settings

Using Apple Compressor to convert Final Cut outputs to various formats is a very efficient way to compress and encode. Learning to use Apple Compressor boils down to simply applying a setting and a destination to whatever you have in the Batch Window, & submit. If you want to make adjustments to the attributes of a setting, you can duplicate the setting, which will place a copy of in the Custom folder. Once a setting is in the Custom folder, you can make adjustments to the attributes of the setting in the Inspector. Default settings cannot be adjusted until they have been duplicated into the Custom folder.

You can simplify the Compressor function, by creating what are called Droplets. Droplets are a way to automate Compressor settings. Once a droplet is created, you will not even have to launch Compressor. You can simply drag your Quicktime movie onto the Droplet, and allow the Droplet to initiate Compressor to process the movie to a preset Setting and Destination. To create a Droplet, you need to select a Setting, and click the Save Selection as Droplet button. Next you will need to name the Droplet, choose where the droplet will exist, & choose where the Droplet will place the processed media.

If you duplicate a Settings Folder, the folder and the settings within it will appear in the Custom Settings folder, and the duplicated folder can be added to. Take for example if you were to duplicate both the DVD: Best Quality 90 minutes settings folder, & the H. 264 for Apple TV, & H.264 for iPod settings. You could add the H.264 settings to the DVD: Best Quality settings folder, and then create a droplet of that folder. Anything placed onto that droplet would be processed to all four of the settings in the folder. This makes your most used setting combinations very easy to use.

Be sure to check out this video tutorial creating a droplet in Apple Compressor.