As a heads-up, I’m running into a perplexing, consistent bug in Apple Compressor (v4.8).
THE TASK
When I compress my weekly webinar for posting, I create four versions:
In all these cases, I use Compressor to add my website URL as a watermark – and that is where the problem occurs.
THE PROCESS
My webinars are recorded and edited as ProRes 4444 media using Final Cut Pro. I output the finished movie as ProRes 4444. (Why 4444? Because the colors exactly match the colors created on my computer.) I then compress each of these versions using the latest version of Compressor.
NOTE: I’ve followed this process for the last 12 years. The software versions change, but the process does not. This bug, though, is new within the last year.
For the three web versions, I add the watermark and compress all in one step using modified Compressor settings. All works perfectly and Compressor is really, really fast. (Finally!!)
For the HLS version, though, there’s an extra step: I first add the watermark and output a ProRes 4444 file using the default ProRes 4444 settings in Compressor. It is, essentially, a new master file with the watermark added.
I then use that watermarked files as a new source file and, from that, compress the seven different versions and thousands of smaller files that comprise an HLS folder.
NOTE: Creating a watermarked ProRes 4444 file saves having to add the watermark manually to each of the seven different HLS settings. It also saves time because Compressor only needs to add the watermark once, not seven times.
THE BUG
When I compress the original, source ProRes 4444 file – meaning before I add the watermark – it compresses perfectly.
When I compress the watermarked ProRes 4444 file, it crashes. Every time.
NOTE: I should also mention that the source ProRes 4444 file always compresses perfectly for the three web versions. I’ve never had it fail. I’ve never had it succeed once the watermark is added.
Something about recompressing a watermarked file, even though that watermarked file is stored in the extremely high-quality ProRes 4444 format, causes the crash.
This has been an on-going problem for the last several months. And I thought it was about time to give you a heads-up about it.
A WORKAROUND
There’s a work-around, but it requires more steps. The key is to avoid recompressing any file that Compressor has already compressed – even if that compressed file is in ProRes format.
In my example, if I add watermarks to each of the seven HLS compression settings, rather than add the watermark as a separate process, everything compresses fine.
Still, Compressor should create perfect ProRes files, but for some reason, it doesn’t. Now you know.
