Standalone Compressor 4 better than 3.5.3?

[Jeff Meyer]

I’d sooner invest in more ram. 8gb should run well under $100. You might be able to put 16gb into your laptop. Check 3rd party sources. Apple says 8gb is the max for my laptop, but I’m typing on it now with 16gb installed.

Personally, I use Adobe Media Encoder for H.264 conversions. I find it about two or three times faster than running a Quick Cluster in Compressor, and many more times faster if you’re simply submitting jobs to “this computer.” Media Encoder is multicore aware, so it makes better use of your hardware. It also encapsulates the H.264 is a multi-platform friendly mpeg container rather than Quicktime. I still use Compressor when converting to ProRes, but for anything else (H.264, XDCAM, MPEG2, etc.) it’s Media Encoder. Media Encoder isn’t sold separately, it comes bundled with Adobe Creative Suite software.

[William Carr]

All good info, thanks Jeff.

The full CS is a bit beyond my budget, perhaps if there is enough work to justify I could “rent” it.

My MBPRO takes up to 8GB RAM as I understand it, and it’s always nice to max out so maybe I will.

But I’m Still wondering if the newer Compressor– at $49– would make a difference in some way.

[Jeff Meyer]

I’ve never been able to find data one way or the other. I figure it if it were faster Apple would have bragged about, or someone would have documented it. I would check with the folks on the Final Cut X forum. They’re far more likely to know.
https://forums.creativecow.net/fcpxtechnique?view=s

Alternatively, you can do a 30 day trial on Creative Suite here to see if the difference will be noticeable on your system:
https://www.adobe.com/downloads/

[William Carr]

Good info again, thanks!

[Rafael Amador]

I know that Compressor.4 has few options not available in Compressor.3 (like some Mp4 flavors, for instance h264/Mp4) but apart of that I don’t know what other differences may have.
As Jeff suggests, ask in the FCPX/FCPX Techniques forum.
rafael

http://www.nagavideo.com

[William Carr]

Thanks, Rafael, I will!

[John Pale]

Compressor 4 is still a 32 bit app.

You can actually “rent” adobe CS6 through Creative Cloud. There are monthly rates.

[William Carr]

Yes, I know about the “rental” and it’s definitely an option, but not so much for me. $49 one time for Compressor 4 vs. $49 per month for CS just to get the conversion component is not viable. If I decide to switch to CS rather than FCPX, the subscription idea is appealing.

But at this point I’m sticking with FCP7 and interested to know the real-world improvements of standalone Compressor 4.X vs. 3.5.3.

[John Pale]

There really are none. A few new presets and some interface tweaks. Decent integration with fcpx.

No performance increase that’s significant. It’s still a 32 bit app.

[William Carr]

Oh well, thanks for the info. I will continue with 3.5.3 and a contingent of 3rd party apps like Streamclip, etc.

Thanks!