Image sequence job properties in Compressor

Job summary

The top section of the Job inspector displays the name, location, file information, and duration of the source file.

Media Extensions

Displays any media extensions that are required to decode media in the selected job. See Import third-party formats with media extensions in Compressor.

Timing

Provides the timecode for the Start point, In point, and duration of the image sequence output file. See Modify starting timecode in Compressor.

Image Sequence Properties

The following properties are available in the Image Sequence Properties area of the Job inspector:

• Frame rate: Choose a frame rate for the image sequence file from the pop-up menu, or type a custom value in the text field.

• Audio file: Add an audio file to the image sequence job file by clicking the Choose button, selecting a file, and clicking Open.

Video Properties

The following properties are available in the Video Properties area of the Job inspector:

• Field order: Use the pop-up menu to set the order in which video fields are transcoded. There are three options:

  • Progressive: All lines sampled at the same instant in time.

  • Top First: The field containing the top line (even lines) is sampled at an earlier instant in time than the field containing the bottom line (odd lines). Top-first field order is commonly used for high-definition video and standard-definition PAL video.

  • Bottom First: The field containing the bottom line (odd lines) is sampled at an earlier instant in time than the field containing the top line (even lines). Bottom-first field order is commonly used for standard-definition NTSC video.

• Color space: Use the pop-up menu to select a color space to apply to the source clip in the job. This defines how Compressor interprets the color data in the clip. It doesn’t convert the clip to another color space. To convert from one color space to another, change the “Color space” pop-up menu in the Video pane for each specific preset in the batch.

  Note: If the source file is tagged with a color space (such as Rec. 709), Compressor adds an asterisk (*) to the item in the pop-up menu. If the source file is untagged or tagged with an unrecognized color space, Compressor chooses the most likely color space and adds a dagger (†) to the item in the pop-up menu.

• Camera log: Use this pop-up menu to choose a log profile that corresponds with the source file. Compressor will try to pick the appropriate camera log based on metadata in the source file if possible, but you can manually override Compressor’s selection.

  Note: If the source file is in ProRes RAW format, this menu is set to No Value and disabled.

Projection Properties

You can set or override stereoscopic and projection properties of the source media.

• Stereoscopic: Specifies the format of the stereoscopic media. Choose an option:

  • Off (Monoscopic): The source media is not formatted for stereoscopic viewing.

  • Side by Side: The source media is a single frame-packed stereoscopic file in which left- and right-eye images are displayed side by side.

  • Over/Under: The source media is a single frame-packed stereoscopic file in which the left-eye layer is the top of the image and the right-eye layer is the bottom of the image.

• Hero Eye: Choose whether the left or right eye should be used as the default eye when transcoding to a stereoscopic format.

• Spatial Metadata: Select this checkbox to set or override the spatial metadata included in the source file. When this checkbox is selected, three spatial metadata options appear:

  • Field of View: The horizontal field of view of the lenses used to capture the images.

  • Baseline: The horizontal distance between the two camera lenses used to capture the images (also known as the interaxial distance).

  • Horizontal Disparity: The amount of horizontal shift in left- and right-eye images to set the perceived depth of a 3D scene. When horizontal disparity is negative, content in the footage appears closer; when it’s positive, content seems farther away.

  Note: Adjusting these values changes the viewing experience on Apple Vision Pro in a way that may cause stereo discomfort.

• Projection: Image sequence source files are always set to Rectangular projection.

Job Annotations

The Job Annotations area of the Job inspector in Compressor contains the Fields pop-up menu, which lets you include annotation metadata in your output file. See Work with metadata annotations in Compressor.

HDR Metadata

If a high-dynamic-range source file has HDR metadata, the values are shown in the HDR Metadata area of the Job inspector. After you apply a transcode preset to the source file, Compressor passes this metadata to the export file. When a user plays the exported video on a TV or display that supports HDR, the device detects the metadata and automatically adjusts its color levels. You can modify those values in the following fields (if these fields are not visible, move the pointer to the right of the HDR Metadata heading in the Job inspector, then click Show):

• Include HDR metadata: To include HDR metadata in your output file, select this checkbox. (If Compressor detects HDR metadata in the source file, it automatically checks this box.)

• Primaries: Use this pop-up menu to select a standard preset color space, or choose Custom to set your own chromaticity coordinate values.

• Red, Green, Blue, White point: Displays chromaticity coordinates (an x value and a y value) for each of the three primary colors and for the white point of the targeted display (an HDR-capable device).

• White Point: Use this pop-up menu to select a standard preset white point, or choose Custom to set your own.

• Luminance: Displays the minimum and maximum luminance of the targeted display in nits (candelas per square meter).

• MaxCLL: Displays the value, in nits, of the brightest pixel in the video file (Maximum Content Light Level).

• MaxFALL: Displays the value, in nits, of the maximum average light level for any single frame in the video file (Maximum Frame Average Light Level).

For more information about working in HDR color space, see Change video color space in Compressor. (HDR transcoding in Compressor requires macOS 10.13 or later.)

Image Sequence Files

Displays the image sequence files, in order.

Action

The following properties are available in the Action area of the Job inspector:

• When done: Use this pop-up menu to assign an automated job action to be performed after transcoding. See Job action properties in Compressor.

• Save captions to disk: Available for transcode presets that support captions. Select this checkbox to save a separate captions text file to your computer when you transcode a job that has captions. See Export captions in Compressor.