Content area
Full text
Sorenson's reputation for excellent video compression, including implementations of MPEG-4 and Macromedia Flash, has carried its Squeeze Compression Suite through three revisions despite a rather quirky and feature-thin interface. But now in version 4, Sorenson has given Squeeze an extreme makeover that makes the program's interface far more commensurate with its actual encoding ability. Gone are the cryptic buttons across the top and the overpopulation of icons in the Batch window. They've been replaced by an interface that facilitates a very smart, highly intuitive workflow for both individual and batch compression.
Sound like a competitor to Discreet Cleaner XL, Cleaner 6 for Mac, or Canopus ProCoder? It should. At $449 it's the most affordable of the bunch (by $50 compared to ProCoder and $100 against either Cleaner), and it's the only one that's cross-platform. Squeeze still can't match the feature list of the others, and there are some obvious growing pains in this new version, so the discount is appropriate. But for straightforward, high-quality, multi-format video compression, particularly for MPEG-4 AVC and Flash, Squeeze 4 Compression Suite is definitely worth a look.
A Tighter Look
Squeeze 4's new interface is divided into flexible, resizable panes that neatly organize the compression workflow. By default there are six panes: Input, Filters, Settings, Details, the Preview/Player window, and the Batch Tree window. The first four are stacked down the left side of the interface. You can minimize and expand them, or hide them to create more desktop space. The Preview window and the Batch window are on the right, although the Preview window is now smartly detachable and can become a floating, movable, toggle-able palette that leaves the entire right side of the interface to the all-important Batch window, where most of the work is done.
That detachable Preview window is wonderful, especially with a dual-monitor desktop, but it's not the only clever enhancement. A new compression preview feature lets you, rather than set in/out points for a test encode, move your cursor to...