Sorenson Squeeze was a software video encoding tool used to compress and convert video and audio files on Mac OS X or Windows operating systems. It was sold as a standalone tool and has also long been bundled with Avid Media Composer.

History

Sorenson Squeeze was first announced on July 17, 2001, as the first variable bit rate (VBR) compression application for Mac OS X, and was released on October 29 of that same year. By March 2002, Sorenson Squeeze became available for Windows OS. Sorenson Squeeze was originally released as a tool for encoding videos for the Web and QuickTime playback but began adding new codecs as more versions were released. The software was discontinued by Sorenson in January 2019, and correspondingly was no longer offered as part of Avid Media Composer.

Features

Squeeze included a number of features to improve video & audio quality. Features included: GPU accelerated

H.264 Advanced Video Coding (AVC), also referred to as H.264 or MPEG-4 Part 10, is a video compression standard based on block-oriented, motion-compensated coding. It is by far the most commonly used format for the recording, compression, and distr ...

encoding, adaptive bitrate encoding, HD encoding and Dolby certified AC3 Audio. Intelligent encoding presets available in Squeeze included:

x265 x265 is a software codec for creating digital video streams in the High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC/H.265) video compression format developed by the Joint Collaborative Team on Video Coding (JCT-VC). It is available as a command-line app or a ...

(H.265)

MainConcept MainConcept GmbH is a software company founded in Germany by Markus Moenig and Thomas Zabel. They specialize in developing video/audio codecs and also applications and plug-ins related to video/audio encoding. They are a subsidiary of Endeavor S ...

H.264 and MainConcept H.264

CUDA CUDA (or Compute Unified Device Architecture) is a parallel computing platform and application programming interface (API) that allows software to use certain types of graphics processing units (GPUs) for general purpose processing, an approach ca ...

. Adaptive bitrate encoding allows for optimal bitrate and error resilience based on network conditions, resulting in a dynamic adjustment of the video bitstream being delivered. It encoded to multiple formats including

QuickTime QuickTime is an extensible multimedia framework developed by Apple Inc., capable of handling various formats of digital video, picture, sound, panoramic images, and interactivity. Created in 1991, the latest Mac version, QuickTime X, is avai ...

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WMV Windows Media Video (WMV) is a series of video codecs and their corresponding video coding formats developed by Microsoft. It is part of the Windows Media framework. WMV consists of three distinct codecs: The original video compression technology ...

. It uses multiple

codec A codec is a device or computer program that encodes or decodes a data stream or signal. ''Codec'' is a portmanteau of coder/decoder. In electronic communications, an endec is a device that acts as both an encoder and a decoder on a signal or da ...

s, including the

Sorenson codec Sorenson Media was an American software company specializing in video encoding technology. Established in December 1995 as Sorenson Vision, the company developed technology which was licensed and ultimately acquired from Utah State University. T ...

s SV3 Pro and Spark, H.265, H.264, H.263, VP6, VC1, MPEG2, and many others. Squeeze operates on the

Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...

Macintosh The Mac (known as Macintosh until 1999) is a family of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple Inc. Macs are known for their ease of use and minimalist designs, and are popular among students, creative professionals, and ...

and

Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

operating systems. Squeeze offers native plugins to Avid,

Apple Final Cut Pro Final Cut Pro is a series of non-linear editing, non-linear video editing software programs first developed by Macromedia, Macromedia Inc. and later Apple Inc. The most recent version, Final Cut Pro 10.6.4, runs on Macintosh, Mac computers power ...

and

Adobe Premiere Adobe Premiere Pro is a timeline-based and non-linear video editing software application (NLE) developed by Adobe Inc. and published as part of the Adobe Creative Cloud licensing program. First launched in 2003, Adobe Premiere Pro is a success ...

(CS4, CS5) NLEs. Each copy of Squeeze included the Dolby Certified AC3 Consumer encoder. Squeeze also included a simplified review and approval process, which allows the user to automatically send secure, password protected videos for immediate review. Instant feedback is received via Web or mobile.

Versions

* Sorenson Squeeze was released on October 29, 2001. * Sorenson Squeeze for Macromedia Flash MX was released on March 14, 2002. * Sorenson Squeeze 3 for MPEG-4 was released in January 2003. * Sorenson Squeeze 3 Compression Suite was released in January 2003. * Sorenson Squeeze 5 was released on March 31, 2008. * Sorenson Squeeze was updated to version 5.1 on May 11, 2009. * Sorenson Squeeze 6 was released on November 3, 2009. * Sorenson Squeeze 7 was released January 25, 2011.

Awards

* Streaming Media magazine Readers’ Choice Award for Encoding Software for 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010. * 2008 Vanguard Award from Digital Content Producer magazine

Squeeze 7 system requirements

Windows *Pentium IV-based computer or greater *Windows XP, Vista or 7 *32- and 64-bit compatible (including AVID 64-bit update); Faster performance on 64-bit systems *512 MB RAM *120 MB available hard drive space *QuickTime 7.2 or later *DirectX 9.0b or later Macintosh *Intel-based processor *Mac OS 10.4 or later *32- and 64-bit compatible; Faster performance on 64-bit systems *512 MB RAM *120 MB available hard drive space *QuickTime 7.2 or later

References

External links

Version 6 press releaseVersion 5.1 press releaseSorenson Squeeze Website
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