RT.X10 and HuffYUV

[Peter B]

After looking at this new offering I may have to consider upgrading my trusty Marvel G200! I do have a couple of questions though. They answers may not yet be know unless someone has a pre-release version or they are the same as the X100, but just in case...

Capture Questions:
As far as I can tell from the Matrox info analog input is captured with a DV codec and doesn't this format have an issue with keying?
Can the X10 capture other formats such as HuffYUV or is it limited to DV only? I usually use FAT32 drives and capture with AVI_IO in 2Gb files as these drives are faster. They seem to recommend only NTFS because of the avi file size issue, using the Matrox capture software and it therefore cannot seamlessly capture or can third party capture software be used?

Card specifics
Is the X10 DV codec a proprietary Matrox Codec?
Are the effects and keying attributes of the X100 are still possible with the X10, but require rendering or are they not possible? How does the quality of MPEG video output compare with TmpgEnc or Cinemacraft?

Premiere
I assume the realtime effects are only possible with DV source video, but can any other codecs be imported and used in the timeline and rendered as required? If it upsamples the video to 4:4:4 in Premiere does this overcome the keying issue with 4:2:0 DV. I would guess not if there is any stairstepping in the original capture this would be translated as well? Does the X10 make Premiere any more stable?

[Dr Mordrid]

1. the RT.X100 has a realtime keying engine that upsamples the video stream to 4:4:4 and does advanced filtering to DV streams and the key to up the quality over "normal" DV25 keys. There are controls for 8 key functions in addition to multi-select of background regions (handy when you use stages) and an AUTO KEY mode that does a smart analysis and sets everything up for you. It works GREAT! The end result is excellent (and EASY) keying of DV, for a change.

The RT.X10 does not have this feature.

2. RT.X100 captures to DV only to the timeline but can capture to *.m2v + *.avi for straight capture-to-DVD use. It also provides 3 different MPEG encoders: realtime export to HDD, Ligos GoMotion Pro with hardware acceleration in the MediaExport module and the MainConcept engine built into Premiere 6.5 (a free update for those purchasing after June 22).

RT.X10 does not have this feature either.

3. NO; neither RT.X card can be used with VfW capture tools or HuffYUV. It's DirectShow only and it requires the use of NTFS drives so file size limts are not an issue.

A few betas have asked for YUV capture, but no idea as to if this will come or not (I doubt it though). Fact is with the very nice chroma/luma keyer and the timeline upsampling footage to 4:4:4 (and the effects being composited at 4:4:4 to start with) the main reasons for doing YUV captures are pretty much gone.

3. There are Matrox DV/DVCAM codecs for both type 1 and type 2, and these ARE exposed to other programs like MSPro etc. They're quite good ones.

4. The advanced keying engine found in the RT.X100 is absent, but it can do keying using the normal Premeire 6.5 keyer. Disadvantage: none of the advanced filtering or upsampling is done, so the quality will be lower.

5. With the RT.X100 the realtime to HDD exports are the lowest quality of the three options, but that's not saying it's bad...in fact it's not too shabby at all.

The next-best is the hardware accelerated Ligos GoMotion Pro engine, which is pretty good.

The best quality is from the MainConcept software-only encoder built into Premiere 6.5, which has more setups and options than you could ever ask for. It has MUX controls as well as support for Low, Main, High and High 1440 levels using Low, Main and High profiles. Not too damned bad.

The RT.X10 has only the MC export engine.

6. the DVE's and most other effects and features are only to be found in Premiere as this is the app Matrox has chosen to support in their drivers. We've been trying to get them to create a set of drivers for MSPro, but no luck so far.

The things that can be used in MSPro & other programs are the IEEE-1394 hardware, the organic wipes (they are *.tga's and can be used as MASK effects in MSPro and in SpiceMaster as well) and the Matrox DV/DVCAM type 1 and type 2 codecs.

7. The RT.X's do make Premiere much smoother to use because many things it would have to do in software are now done in hardware.

8. The realtime effects absent in the RT.X10 are as follows;

3D tiles
Partticle effects
Distortions
RGB colorization
Mask DVE
Blur
Ripple
Lens flare
Chroma/Luma keying

Color Correction is limited to 7 parameters in the RT.X10 vs. 16 parameters in the RT.X100.

Both cards offer field based slow motion, which is a big advantage over the usual frame based slow-mo you usually get.

Also absent are WYSIWYG plugins for AE, 3D Studio MAX and Lightwave as well as the accelerated MediaExport module.

Did I miss anything?

Dr. Mordrid

[Peter B]

But does it make a good cup of coffee?

Yes I think you have covered most things.

A cpuple of new questions:

I assume you can use any type of file in the timeline, HuffYUV, Quicktime, DivX etc but they need rendering?

What is the AE WYSIWYG plug in?

[Rob100]

Adobe After Effects.

[Peter B]

Soory I realise AE is After Effects, what is the WYSIWYG part mean (and I know what the letters mean).

What does it do for AE? Instant previews? RT effects or accellerated renders? Some influenec on quality? etc

[Dr Mordrid]

The plugins for AE, Lightwave and 3D Studio MAX allow you to clone their previews to the RT.X100's analog outputs; either composite or S-Video. This is a huge advantage in determining if the color scheme, aspect ratio and title safe regions are "right" for TV.

More plugins are in the works for other multimedia programs, so this is going to be a very advantageous feature.

Yes, using non-DV files on the timeline means a render has to be done.

Something I didn't mention above is the TurboDV multi-layer compositing engine. When you exceed the RT.X100's realtime capabilities TurboDV engages to accelerate rendering and compositing vs. what Premiere itself could otherwise do.

Dr. Mordrid

[Elie]

And for those that want the actual meaning of WYSIWYG well here it is...

What You See Is What You Get

Regards,
Elie

[Ted222]

Doc,

This statement concerns me as I am trying to decide which capture card(RT.x100 or RT.x10) to go with my RT2500 on another work station:

"4. The advanced keying engine found in the RT.X100 is absent, but it can do keying using the normal Premeire 6.5 keyer. Disadvantage: none of the advanced filtering or upsampling is done, so the quality will be lower. "

I want the highest quality in my editing. Have you tested, or can you be more specific in the lower quality of video from the RT.x10 over the RT.X100?

thanx,

Ted

[Elie]

Ted, there is no difference at all when yuo capture footage with either RT.X100 or RT.X10.

Both use the same high quality codec and same Flex 3D engine .

The only difference as Doc outlined above is that the RT.X10 lacks some of the advanced features like Chroma Key Ripples/Cubes etc.
Rest asure when you capture and edit with the RT.X10 you won't be loosing out on any quality of it's bigger brother the RT.X100

Regards,
Elie

[Dr Mordrid]

Exactly.

While the realtime chromakey/lumakey engine is absent, along with the advanced edge artifact reduction it does, the 4:4:4 upsample, anisotropic and bi-cubic filtering is present for all timeline work including Premiere's built-in keyer.

Sorry if I didn't make that clear enough....

Uppance: working with DV footage in the RT.X cards delivers MUCH higher quality than working from a plain-Jane IEEE-1394 card because of the advanced hardware & software.

Too bad it's stuck in Premiere-land

Dr. Mordrid

[Ted222]

Thanks, Elie and Doc,

So, to paraphrase what I have been reading:

When I get an RT.x10 I should get the same or higher quality as my RT2500 - with more "realtime/efficient" action in the timeline because of better use of hardware and software resources, and of course a free upgrade to Premiere 6.5.....although I still wish I could stick with my MSP 6.5.

Does this appear true?

I know its not all inclusive, but I have found that I don't use most of the bells and whistles and special effects in my editing.

Appreciate your quick responses,

Ted

[Elie]

Ted, you summed it up pretty nicely

Cheers,
Elie