Making Compressor Multi-processor Aware

[ This article was first published in the Feb/March, 2008, issue of
Larry’s Final Cut Pro Newsletter. Click here to subscribe. ]

I got a letter from a reader who said:

I own a new 8-core mac. So far after all the reading online, I still can not find a way to use the 8-core in compressor to maximize the output time; how do I set this up via q-master and compressor; please advise.

Larry replies: You use System Preference to create a Virtual Cluster and set the number of instances to 50% of your processors – in your case, 4.

Then, when you submit files you select “Virtual Cluster,” and not “This Computer.”

The screen shot above shows you how to configure the System Prefs – except your pull-down will show 8 instances, from which you select 4.

After that, it’s automatic.