Apple Qmaster 3 User Manual
Page 88
Exporting from Final Cut Pro and Distributed Processing
You can use Compressor to transcode sequences or clips from within other applications,
such as Final Cut Pro. This saves time and hard disk space by eliminating the need to
export self-contained media files before processing them.
There are two methods you can use to avoid exporting self-contained media files for
Compressor distributed processing:
• Export a sequence directly from Final Cut Pro to Compressor and then submit that job
to a cluster in an Apple Qmaster distributed processing network. In this workflow,
Final Cut Pro opens on each processing node in that cluster to complete the job.
• Export the Final Cut Pro sequence as a QuickTime reference movie and then submit
the resulting movie to the cluster for processing. Because this method does not involve
Final Cut Pro, you are free to use Final Cut Pro while the batch is being processed in
the background. If you submit a reference movie for distributed processing, the
Apple Qmaster distributed processing system will automatically copy the appropriate
media files to the processing cluster. For the best performance, you can avoid this file
transfer step by making sure that the media files specified in the reference movie are
available to each node of the Apple Qmaster cluster. Below, you will find two sets of
instructions for submitting reference movies: one with automatic file transfer and one
with preparatory steps for maximizing performance.
Note: You can also use distributed processing with the Share feature in Final Cut Pro and
Motion. For more information, see the Final Cut Pro User Manual or the Motion User Manual.
To export a Final Cut Pro sequence directly to Compressor for distributed processing
1
Make sure Final Cut Pro is installed on each computer in the cluster that you intend to
use for distributed processing.
Each installation of Final Cut Pro requires a product serial number. For information about
volume licenses, go to
.
Note: On any given Final Cut Studio system or network, the Compressor and
Apple Qmaster versions (numbers) and the version of QuickTime must all match. For
example, Compressor 3.0.5 will work only with the 3.0.5 version of Apple Qmaster, and
no other version. In this example, the correct version of QuickTime is QuickTime 7.5.5 or
later. Non-matching configurations are not supported.
2
Make sure all of the source media files and render files for your Final Cut Pro project are
on a hard disk that can be shared (mounted) by all the computers in the cluster that will
process the job. (The following instructions use an example of a shared hard disk named
Media1.)
If you copy all the media files to another hard disk for this purpose, you may need to
reconnect the media files in Final Cut Pro before proceeding.
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Appendix
Solving Problems