How to get current X264 Encoder accessible via Apple Compressor

[Christina]

Hello!

I am using Final Cut Pro and would prefer to use Compressor (v. 3.5) to streamline my workflow, if I can get it working to my liking. I use a Mac.

I have read that Compressor's H264 is a bit lacking, so I sought out to get X264 so that I could select it within Compressor instead.

I was able to find an old version from 2011 (x264Encoder 1.2.27) that is a dmg file and mounts like I am used to with the Mac... and I was able to drag/drop the .component file into the Quicktime Library folder. All good so far. It worked fine, and I'm able to use it within Compressor.

However, I assumed it would be better to use a newer build rather than something 8 years old. (Were there bugs? Improvements since then?) So I went to the current videolan website and downloaded the current X264 build which was a tar.bz2. This is where I get totally lost. I can extract the contents of this file and see everything inside, but I have no idea what to do with it from there. Same with the binaries - I have no idea what to do with these files or where to put them, and the learning curve has just been a little too steep trying to find the answer on google.. so here I am

Are the current X264 versions I'm finding only meant to be accessed via command line or something like that? Or is there some way I can get the newer version into the Quicktime Library folder like the 2011 version so it's accessible via Compressor?

I've been searching for quite some time and I can not come up with the answer on my own, so I appreciate anyone willing to spell this out for me.

(If the 2011 old version of x264 is just fine, I'd like to know that as well, since that seems to be working. Likewise, if h264 is fine and I’m not concerned with file size, should I just stick with built in h264? Last alternative is to export movie from timeline and use a different program to encode to a .mp4, one that supports new version of x264.)