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Compressor Job Chaining does not work with Clusters
I have only seen one mention of this in a post here from 2007, but it seems to still be the case.
Whenever I set up a job chain in Compressor, if I submit the batch containing the chain to my virtual cluster, it successfully does the first step of the chain, but fails on starting the second step of the chain. The Status window says:
Status: Failed – HOST [MyComputer.local] QuickTime file not found
This is a very two-step simple chain, transcoding to ProRes 422 while deinterlacing and resizing, then encoding that output to H.264.
When I submit the same chain to My Computer, rather than the cluster, it works perfectly.
Has anyone else had this problem and found a way around it. You should be able to do job-chaining and still be able to use a virtual cluster for speed.
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7 Replies
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I would let Automator handle the chaining. You could create a simple routine that watches a folder for your .mov to show up (i.e. the ProRes file is complete) then feeds the file back to Compressor for the H.264 compression.
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[Craig Reed] “This is a very two-step simple chain, transcoding to ProRes 422 while deinterlacing and resizing, then encoding that output to H.264.”
Why do this in two steps? Do you need the intermediate deint/resized file, too?
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This allows for very fast transcoding of files to an intermediate file using frame controls to deinterlace and resize, then run that intermediate file through the encode process to H.264 in a multi-pass mode very quickly, because it does not have to process the frame controls aspects on each multiple pass.
According to the Apple Pro Training series book on Safari, multipass encoding engages the slow frame control processes on each pass. If you do a straight encode-only pass of an intermediate file that has already had the frame control passes completed, you can turn frame controls off for the encode-only step in the chain for a faster output.
https://my.safaribooksonline.com/9780321514226/ch04lev1sec3
Larry Jordan is including a demo of this in an upcoming fee-based webinar.
https://www.larryjordan.biz/sem/webinar_2010b.php#oct13 -
OK, but if you can’t work in clusters, then that point is moot and also you’re transcoding a transcode. Have you tried not chaining them and seeing the results?
Is this a Quick Cluster or are you using multiple computers?
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Hi Craig,
Have you tried Compressor Repair from Digital Rebellion? It’s free. From time to time Compressor trips over itself but I’ve always found a combination of running Compressor Repair followed by re-configuring the Quick Cluster then a restart will fix any problems I’m having.
All the best,
Alex ElkinsSalad Daze Films – Freshly Tossed
Check out my latest addition to the Creative Cow Reels Section -
Thanks for your reply, Jeremy.
By my research of Apple help and manuals, they do not mention restrictions and I should be able to work in clusters for both non-chained and chained jobs. So it is really not moot.
Yes, this is a Quick Cluster of six instances of the 8 processors on the Mac Pro. The cluster works fine for non-chained jobs.
And yes, while there is a slight improvement in quality in the final output when using the chained job, the biggest improvement is in output speed. That is the main reason I am pursuing this workflow.
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[Craig Reed] “And yes, while there is a slight improvement in quality in the final output when using the chained job, the biggest improvement is in output speed. “
Then you don’t need clusters. You can’t have clusters and chained jobs as the Qt movie isn’t sent to the chain. You should send feedback to the Compressor team.
https://www.apple.com/feedback/compressor.html
Jeremy
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