Canopus DV Raptor Testimonial

[Jerry Jones]

I highly recommend this board.
http://www.justedit.com/dvraptor

It works extremely well with Ulead
MediaStudio Pro 5.2 on my work computer
which is:

a) 500Mhz Intel Pentium III
b) Micronics Intel BX chipset mobo
c) Diamond Viper 550
d) 18gb UltraDMA
e) 128mb SDRAM
f) Artel's BorisFX 3.5.5 compositing
plug-in

And now... I've purchased a 2nd Canopus
DV Raptor for use on my underpowered
home computer:

a) 233Mhz Intel Pentium MMX
b) Supermicro Intel HX chipset mobo
c) Maxtor DiamondMax 5.6gb system drive
d) Initio UltraSCSI adapter
e) IBM Ultrastar 4.5gb UltraSCSI drive
f) 96mb PNY fast page mode parity ram
g) ATI Xpert 98 PCI display adapter

The Canopus DV codec is amazingly efficient.
I can capture and playback with no dropped
frames even on my Maxtor DiamondMax system
drive... and the mobo I have at home
doesn't even support UltraDMA!!

With Ulead MediaStudio's "smart render"
technology... rendering is a snap... the
vertical line simply races until it gets
to a title or transition and even then
it is very reasonable.

The image quality is superb.

At home, my DV camcorder is a JVC GR-DVM5U.

At work, my DV camcorder is a Sony DCR-VX1000.

Batch capturing is flawless with both
camcorders.

I had to sell my Matrox Rainbow Runner and
my Matrox Mystique (MGA chipset does not
support OVERLAY for Canopus DV Raptor),
but I'm not regretting the decision. The
quality of DV video is absolutely terrific
and you especially notice it where titles
and transitions are concerned.

I know the real time capabilities of the
Matrox RT2000 are very attractive.

But I'm going to be extremely, extremely
curious to see how well it works "in the
real world."

My real world experience with the Canopus
DV Raptor is that it works and works
superbly well.


[This message has been edited by Jerry Jones (edited 10-04-1999).]

[Elie]

Yeah but it's not real-time
Plus how much did this board cost?

Elie

[DaddyBay]

It doesn't do analog video either -- a key feature of the RT2000 is its versatility in handling both DV and analog video.

[Jerry Jones]

The board cost $430 from http://www.egghead.com

It came with a light version of
Adobe Premiere 5.

It also came with the "Smart Play"
plug-ins for Ulead Systems MediaStudio
Pro 5.2.

RE: Real Time

The MatroxRT2000 is not really "real time"
either if you're talking about DV output.
You have to wait for rendering.

Moreover, with Ulead's "Smart Render,"
I watch as the vertical line RACES over
all DV clips ONLY TO SLOW DOWN when a
transition or title is present. The
rendering is **extremely** fast.

Plus, Canopus is developing Raptor Edit
software:
http://www.canopuscorp.com/raptoredit/
Download the demo... and you'll see how
slick the interface is. It accomodates
16:9 aspect ratio DV video and it allows
for flawless batch capturing and DV deck
control. I'm told Artel Software will be
selling a BorisFX compositing plug-in
for Raptor Edit very soon.

Once you work with DV video, you won't
even want to mess around with analog
anymore... unless you absolutely have to.

For analog... I plan to buy either
a Sony DV Walkman
http://www.supremevideo.com/vcr/sonyvcr/gvd300s.htm

...or a Sony DVMC-DA1:
http://www.angelfire.com/tx2/dv/dvmc.html

DV video is far, far easier to work with
than analog and you don't get the frame
sync problems and all of the other analog
drop-out problems, etc.

When you get your RT2000, please report on
it. I hope you find it as trouble free as
I've found the Canopus DV Raptor to be.

[A_BIT]

Jerry,

Don't you have to burn out your camcorder in some sort of video loop while using the Raptor? That is, I am under the impression that you don't get preview unless the camcorder is looped into the system.

Maybe I should add a Raptor my Dell PII 400 system with Blaster Banshee 16MB SGRAM AGP. You think it will work with this setup?

My current video system is a home made celery-specs in my signature profile...



------------------
Anthony

• Slot 1 Celeron 400, Asus P2B, 256MB PC-100
• AGP Marvel-TV 8MB
• Turtle Beach Montego PCI sound card (Y connector on audio out per Matrox tech support)
• C: IBM 10.1, 5400, Primary on 1, System, Swap, Software
• D: IBM 13.5, 5400, Primary on 2, Dedicated to video
• E: Memorex 48x CD, Secondary on 1
• F: Yamaha CD-RW 2x2x8, Secondary on 2
• Win98, FAT32 on C: & D:
• MediaStudio Pro 5.2

[Mark F]

Anthony,
The loopping(?) is only for full screen. You can get the regular small (1/4?) screen on the monitor in your editing software as with any other card. Just a bonus feature for full screen.
Any one knoe if the RT2000 will do this useing the TV out? Then the camera won't have to be powered on to see a biger preview!!! Best of both worlds

Mark F.


------------------
OH NO, my retractable cup holder swallowed a CD

[Keith Wiebe]

Would it solve my jitter every 30 sec. or so from my Rainbow Runner? I don't drop any frames but apparently some fields become a problem and upon playback I get some skips here and there. What won't the firewire board do that the Rainbow Runner can? Does one need win. 98? Does the sound card need 48khz capability? How does it handle the 2-4gig limitations? I just got a Sony Digital 8 camera and maybe I do need firewire but not if too many things need replacing.

[Elie]

Jerry,

Yes from the FAQ at matrox's site it has to render to go back to DV, but I want to output straight to VCR, in my case SVHS.
My transition/FX/titles will not be rendered with the RT 2000 at all.
The DV Raptor does not offer anything different than what the RRS/RRG offers other than DV input, it still uses the smart render feature which the RR series do anyway.

And in terms of cost $430 I can get a Marvel G400 and buy a Firewire board which will offer me everything from TV Tuner/3D and DV input/output.

Don't get me wrong Jerry, The DV Raptor is a great product but for the money I think the Marvel G400 TV is a better value, don't you agree?

Cheers mate

Regards,
Elie


[This message has been edited by Elie (edited 10-05-1999).]

[Jerry Jones]

Do I think the G400 is a "better value"
than the Canopus DV Raptor?

Elie, I think your question shows how
two reasonable people can see things
very, very differently even given
the same set of facts.

In answer to your question: No, of
course I don't think the G400 is a better
value than the Canopus DV Raptor. It's
not even in the same league.

The G400 is not an IEEE 1394 board.
The G400 is an analog video digitizer.

With G400, video:

a) takes a quality hit upon capture
because "digitization" of analog
video is inherently destructive
b) no built-in benefits of Firewire
such as batch capturing and deck
control or DV tape time code.

With video "copied" via Firewire...
quality is preserved. Firewire is
virtually lossless in its ability to
preserve video quality over multiple
generations.

Unlike analog video... DV video "holds
up" marvelously well when put through
software transition gymnastics such as
those found in Adobe Premiere or MediaStudio
Pro or BorisFX or Adobe After Effects.

The DV format is visually superior to
S-VHS and Hi8. Have you ever seen how
beautiful video can appear when captured
from a Sony DCR-VX1000 or a Canon XL1 DV
format camcorder?

The visual quality is stunning and you
really can see the difference if you have
high enough quality monitors to sit side-
by-side with monitors displaying analog
video from either S-VHS or Hi8 sources.

No---I don't think the G400 is a better
value. It's not a bad card. But it
represents aging technology. MJPEG
analog digitizers are going the way of
the dinosaur.

DV lives up to the hype. The interesting
thing for me will be the RT2000. Can it
live up to the hype.

Personally, I am reserving judgement on
the RT2000 until somebody can convince me
it is

a) easy to install like Canopus products
b) yields stunning quality like Canopus
products do
c) functions as well as Canopus products
do

I have some lingering doubts about MPEG-2
devices... particularly in that they seem
to be failing to capitalize on a supposed
strength of the MPEG-2 format... smaller
file sizes. Indeed, the file sizes are
smaller than those of DV .avi files. But
not so much smaller as to get me excited.

I'm a Matrox fan... I used to own the
Rainbow Runner. But I've visually compared
the quality difference between DV video
captured via Firewire and analog video
captured via devices such as the Rainbow
Runner and even higher quality setups such as Fast Video Machine and the AVID Media
Composer.

DV video quality appears to be much higher
than all but BetacamSP source video.

It's much easier to work with during the
editing process, too.

[Jerry Jones]

Elie wrote:

>The DV Raptor does not offer anything
>different than what the RRS/RRG offers...

Wow. Elie. I wonder if you've had
an opportunity to visually view a
Canopus DV Raptor in action.

It is so superior to the Rainbow Runner
series it's not even funny. You might be
shocked by how much better MediaStudio Pro
performs with the DV codec developed by
Canopus.

I'm not kidding... this codec is so
efficient that rendering almost is "real
time" it's so fast. This is particularly
true with a 500Mhz Pentium III processor
like the one I'm using at work.

The Raptor Edit software is even faster
than MediaStudio where the Canopus DV codec
is concerned.

The performance of both software packages,
however, is greatly enhanced by the DV
codec... much faster than if you were
working with the Matrox Rainbow Runner
codecs.

Before you buy an RT2000... seek out somebody
with a DV Raptor or a DVRex.

Eyeball the difference between analog and
DV video.

Somehow... I believe you would come away
with a different point of view.

[Jerry Jones]

To Anthony:

The Matrox G200 supports overlay
in the Canopus DV Raptor.

Your system appears to have everything
you would need and I think you would be
pleasantly surprised by the performance
of the DV Raptor.

[Jerry Jones]

To Keith:

You would be amazed at the performance
gain you would get with your Digital 8
and 1394 and the DV Raptor.

I highly recommend the Canopus DV Raptor.

[Jerry Jones]

Anthony,

You don't have to keep your DV device
plugged-in if you have a 500Mhz Pentium III
as I do at work.

At home, where I have a slower system, I
will have to keep my camcorder connected
until I can buy a DV Walkman or a
DVMC-DA1:
http://www.camcorders.net/vcr/sonyvcr/gvd300.htm

[Elie]

Hi Jerry,

I have a Canon XL1 and I do know the difference as I see it with my own eyes.

Although DV produces jaggies on diagonal edges which is my only complaint about the format.

Many will argue the fact that DV is simply superior to other formats such as beta cam/SP even lossless MJPEG, the argument can go on for years

However you missed my point about the Marvel, I said by adding an IEEE 1394 card to the RR you will be able to capture in DV with no generation loss at all, edit it and output it to VHS/SVHS with only one generation loss.

I personally would wait for the RT2000 before making any decision as to which NLE card I should go for taking in consideration the DV Raptor and the Matrox Digi Suite LE.

Regards,
Elie

[Jerry Jones]

Elie wrote:

>...I said by adding an IEEE 1394 (to
>the Marvel G-400)

Yes... I understood this... but it seemed
you were still sort of comparing the G-400
to the DV Raptor when they're really
apples and oranges.

In addition, there are many, many bogus
Firewire cards on the market. And I
would advise against trying to add them
to a system with the G400.

I would advise people to stay away from
the DPS, the Pinnacle, the ADS,
the Orange Micro, and the Adaptec.

I've surveyed lots of newsgroups and user
forums and these cards are complained
about frequently.

Digital Origin seems to be doing relatively
well and has a growing following much like
the DV Raptor.

Good luck with the RT2000. I'm keeping
my fingers crossed it will work as
advertised. I'll admit I'm skeptical about
the C-Cube Microsystems chip.



[This message has been edited by Jerrold Jones (edited 10-08-1999).]