If you are a seasoned editor or new to video editing, one of the many things that will frustrate you off the bat is dealing with exporting and compression. Sometimes, it can be straightforward if your client gives you requirements for the format they need their outputs in. Other times, you will find yourself playing a game of compression roulette, trying to get good quality in a small file size only to find the format you chose was not compatible with your client’s needs. Thankfully there are many applications such as Apple’s Compressor, Adobe Media Encoder and MPEG Streamclip that are designed to help alleviate your potential exporting nightmare. In my years as an editor, I’ve managed to use all these apps to facilitate deliverables for my clients.

In this article, I will discuss the pros and cons of each application, to provide a better understanding of which app may fare better in different situations. As a disclaimer, the pros and cons are based on my personal experience using them, and may not be exactly the same as your experience will be.

Apple Compressor (sold as part of Final Cut Studio 3: $999, as a separate app: $50)

Pros

• Great to use when you need to encode your finished file for a DVD
• Encoding can be automated by creating droplets
• Greater and more detailed customization than what is allowed in Final Cut Pro 7 or X
• Has better conversion for slowing down footage using optical flow

Cons

• Roundtripping from FCP 7 tends to yield poor results and can cause crashes
• Encoding to h.264 can be really slow at times
• It’s not a fully 64 bit application
• Interface hasn’t changed in version 4 and is still a bit confusing for new users
• Doesn’t take advantage of all cores on a multi-core Mac

Overall, I would use Compressor if I needed to encode a project for DVD or needed specific customization for a client deliverable. Otherwise, it’s the least used encoding application in my toolbox.

MPEG Streamclip (free app from squared5.com)

Pros

• Can convert to Quicktime, DV, .avi, .mp4 and more
• Has the ability to open DVD Video TS folders
• You can batch encode multiple files into one format
• Preferred app for DSLR users with h.264 footage
• Works on PC and Mac
• Can trim, cut and join other movies together

Cons

• Only converts audio to .aiff which can result in larger audio file size
• Doesn’t support AVCHD or MXF file conversion
• Parameters can be confusing for people who aren’t video savvy

Overall, I believe MPEG Streamclip is a must have in your toolkit if you need quick and dirty conversion. It is a highly recommended application among the DSLR community and best part of all is that it is free.

Adobe Media Encoder ($50 a month as part of the Creative Cloud)

Pros

• Can encode to formats of Quicktime, .wav, .mxf and many more
• Comes equipped with presets for many multimedia needs such web, DVD, broadcast, iOS, Android and more
• Can be queued from Premiere and After Effects
• Two pass encoding is available for higher quality output

Cons

• Learning curve for usage is not as beginner friendly
• Two pass encoding can be slow if you aren’t using a reasonably powerful computer

Overall, I’ve always found Media Encoder to be my encoding application of choice. The amount of headaches its relieved are second to none. With the next iteration on the horizon with CC, it will only grow stronger and more dependable with time.

That’s my assessment of the popular encoding applications used by video editors. They each possess their pros and cons but I’m a firm believer in using what gets the job done best and gives you the least headaches. There are many other encoding apps on the market but these three tend to be the most used and reliable for the various post production tasks that may arise.

I’m the NLE Ninja with AudioMicro asking you to stay creative.

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