Keeping Things Organized When Using Compressor

Compression is part of the media management process that permeates every area of the post-production process. When dealing with multiple large data files organization is the most important thing you can focus on. When using Compressor there are also certain things to keep in mind to avoid losing or deleting files.

For every batch that you are compressing you probably should give it a proper name other than what was automatically applied. For your batch you will likely have both an audio and video file. Each one should be named individually, with each having a comparable title with an indication as to whether it is audio or video. When you begin the compression it will also ask you to save the compression project by a name, which should be specified again to the project and any other information you would need for quick reference if opening this compression project again.

Make sure that your destination was selected appropriately and avoid the location presets. These tend to just be in general areas, such as your hard drive. This is not good for proper compression organization and can get things easily lost. Go ahead and choose your destination from the batch window that you are working with, or in the task bar above. Set custom destinations down below if you are going to save in the same spot repeatedly. Losing your work is frustrating so make sure you know where you’re saving it.

The same is true of presets. If you are compressing to a specific technology, such as a DVD or iPod, then there are presets already allocated for this and you should just go with those. Otherwise you need to double-check what format you need and choose the right one. If you go all the way through the compression process and end up with the wrong file type you can end up taking much longer than you need and have a cluttering amount of extra files.

Keep in mind that Compressor usually leaves you with two files, audio and video. Keep each project in its own separate folder, and if you anticipate that you may have to compress several times to get it right you should label each one numerically to indicate which of the pack it is. Labeling and proper storage is key to being successful through multiple compressions.