Modify stereoscopic and spatial properties in Compressor
There are two places to adjust the properties of stereoscopic video and spatial video in Compressor:
Job inspector: When you import stereoscopic or spatial source media, Compressor detects any stereoscopic or spatial metadata present in the file and displays that information in the Job inspector. If the source video has no stereoscopic or spatial metadata, or if that metadata is incorrect, you can assign it in the Job inspector.
Video inspector: When you apply a preset to a stereoscopic job, Compressor configures stereoscopic and spatial properties for the transcoded file accordingly. If necessary, you can modify these properties in the Video inspector.
Adjust stereoscopic and spatial properties of source media
When you import stereoscopic source media, Compressor automatically tries to determine the associated stereoscopic properties. You can set or override these properties in the Job inspector.
Select a stereoscopic job in the Compressor batch area.
In the Projection Properties area of the Job inspector, set or override the following stereoscopic properties:
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.
Separate Files: The source media is a pair of separate files—one for the left eye, and one for the right eye.
When Stereoscopic is set to Separate Files, Left and Right eye options become available (and the job’s source file is automatically assigned to the left eye). To assign a source file for the right eye, click Choose next to Right, then select a file.
Note: The Separate Files option uses audio in the left-eye file and ignores audio in the right-eye file.
Hero Eye: Choose whether the left or right eye should be used as the hero eye (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.
Projection: Use this pop-up menu to set the projection mode for 360° video. See View and modify 360° video properties in Compressor.
Note: If the source media is MV-HEVC stereoscopic video (recorded on an iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Pro, or Apple Vision Pro), the Projection Properties are determined from the file’s metadata, and all controls in the Projection Properties area are dimmed. Working with MV-HEVC encoded video requires a Mac with Apple silicon and macOS 14 or later. Other systems treat MV-HEVC stereoscopic video as monoscopic HEVC files, using only the hero eye.
Modify stereoscopic and spatial properties of custom and applied presets
To configure the stereoscopic or spatial settings of your transcoded output, you can modify the settings of an applied or custom preset in the Video inspector.
In Compressor, select a custom preset in the Presets pane or select an applied preset in the batch area.
In the Video Properties section of the Video inspector, click the Stereoscopic pop-up menu, then choose an option to set the left- and right-eye format:
Automatic: Compressor assigns a stereoscopic or monoscopic output setting based on the source media. For monoscopic output, Compressor uses the hero eye if it can be determined from the file’s metadata; otherwise, the left eye is chosen.
Left Eye Monoscopic: Uses the left-eye view of the stereoscopic source to output a monoscopic video.
Right Eye Monoscopic: Uses the right-eye view of the stereoscopic source to output a monoscopic video.
Over/Under: Sets the transcoded video to a frame-packed stereoscopic output in which the left-eye view is the top of the image and the right-eye view is the bottom of the image.
Side by Side: Sets the transcoded video to a frame-packed stereoscopic output in which the left- and right-eye views are shown next to each other.
Both Eyes (Multiview): Uses both eye views of the stereoscopic source to output a stereoscopic video. Choosing this option automatically sets the codec to MV-HEVC.
In the Video Properties section of the Video inspector, click the Spatial Video pop-up menu, then choose to include or exclude spatial metadata in the transcoded video:
Automatic: Automatically applies any spatial metadata contained within the source file.
Off: Does not include spatial metadata in the transcoded video.
On: Includes custom spatial metadata in the transcoded video. When Spatial Video is set to On, you can modify the source file’s default field of view, baseline, and horizontal disparity. (Adjusting these values changes the viewing experience on Apple Vision Pro in a way that may cause stereo discomfort.)
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