Preview jobs in Compressor

You can change how the timecode is displayed in the preview area.

1. In Compressor, click the disclosure arrow to the right of the timecode in the preview area.

2. In the pop-up menu that appears, select Timecode, Seconds, or Frames.

You can choose to preview media at the aspect ratio of either the source file or the transcoded output file.

1. In a job in the Compressor batch area, select the output row that includes the preset you want to preview.

2. Click the View menu (in the upper-right corner of the preview area) and under Aspect Ratio choose Source to preview at the aspect ratio of the source media file, or Output to preview at the aspect ratio of the transcoded output file.

When you preview stereoscopic video, you can specify which eye’s view you want to see in the preview area.

1. In a stereoscopic job in the Compressor batch area, do one of the following:

   • Select the source media.

   • Select the output row that includes the preset you want to preview.

     Note: If you’re previewing stereoscopic video that uses separate files for each eye, make sure the Comparison button in the preview area is turned off.

2. Click the View menu (in the upper-right corner of the preview area) and choose Left to preview the media as the left eye asset, or Right to preview the media as the right eye asset. Note that Compressor labels the source media’s intended eye as the hero eye.

If the stereoscopic source media uses separate left- and right-eye files, changing the View option switches between the two files. For frame-packed stereoscopic source media, changing the View option shows you the portion of the image designated for the left or right eye.

1. In a job in the Compressor batch area, select the output row that includes the preset you want to preview.

2. Turn on comparison previewing by doing one of the following:

   • Click the Comparison button in the preview area if it isn’t already selected (highlighted).

   • Click the View menu (in the upper-right corner of the preview area), and choose Source and Output under the Display options.

3. Click the Play button .

   The source file video plays on the left side of the preview area, and a preview of the transcoded file plays on the right side. The transcoded audio plays through your computer speakers (or through connected speakers or headphones).

1. In a job in the Compressor batch area, select the output row that includes the preset you want to preview.

2. Turn off comparison previewing by doing one of the following:

   • Click the Comparison button in the preview area if it’s selected (highlighted).

   • Click the View menu (in the upper-right corner of the preview area), and choose Source Only under the Display options.

3. Click the Play button .

In Compressor, do one of the following:

• Pinch open or closed on a trackpad.

• Double-tap with two fingers on a trackpad to toggle the zoom level between 100% and Zoom to Fit.

• Click the Zoom pop-up menu (in the upper-right corner of the preview area), then choose a zoom level.

• Press Shift-Z to resize the preview area to fit the current available window space.

  Tip: To increase the available preview area space, resize the Compressor window, or drag the divider bar between the preview area and the batch area down.

When the preview area is zoomed to a level greater than 100%, you can’t view the entire image at once. However, you can scroll the preview area to see compression or scaling artifacts in detail.

In Compressor, do one of the following:

• Swipe the trackpad using two fingers.

• Drag the inner box of the navigation control (in the upper-right corner of the zoomed-in preview area).

You can choose between five different options for preview area background. This is especially helpful when you have source media with a transparent background. The background option you choose determines how you view the preview area background behind the visible media.

1. In a job in the Compressor batch area, select the output row that includes the preset you want to preview.

2. In Compressor, click the View menu (in the upper-right corner of the preview area) and choose one of the following Background options:

   Black to Media Edge: The preview area background is dark gray (the default preview area background color) until the borders of the source media file. Inside the source media file, the transparent area is black.

   Black: The preview area background is black, including inside the transparent background area of the source media file.

   White: The preview area background is white, including inside the transparent background area of the source media file.

   50% Gray: The preview area background has a gray gradient (50% gray), including inside the transparent background area of the source media file.

   Checkerboard: The preview area background has a gray and white checkerboard pattern, including inside the transparent background area of the source media file.

If you’ve added captions to your job, you can view that text in the preview area.

1. In the Compressor batch area, select the output row for the job containing closed-caption data.

2. In the preview area, click the Captions button .

   When this button is highlighted, captions are shown in the preview area.

3. To stop displaying captions, click the Captions button again.

iTunes Store packages are special types of batches that can include closed-caption data, subtitles (in multiple languages), and alternative audio tracks. In the preview area, you can view any of that text and choose which audio track to hear.

1. In the Compressor batch area, select the Feature video.

2. In the preview area, do either of the following:

   • Click the arrow next to the Captions button , then choose the captions or subtitle text you want to display.

   • Click the arrow next to the Audio button , then choose the audio track you want to hear.

See Intro to iTunes Store packages in Compressor.