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We have a system with the PINNACLE VIDEO CAPTURE MODEL PRO-ONE and are wanting to add another system for our other camera. Just trying to get some info if I should consider the new matrox product
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Taking on Pinnacles comparison one by one;
1. RT.X100's use of the soundcard isn't a detriment at all since there is software that performs a synchronization when you install the drivers. Once this is done I've never had a synch issue (Turtle Beach Santa Cruz audio card)
2. The audio /input/output is by the soundcard, but not directly. The analog audio out comes and goes by way of the breakout box.
3. Not having an IEEE-1394 on the breakout box isn't that big a deal. I just pass the cable under my towers casters. and plug it into the cam as necessary.
4. Their front panel breakout box may seem nice until you have a huge spider of cables draped down the front of the machine :-P
5. CPU requirement: they list only a P-IV 2.2 so as to make this requirement seem expensive vs. theirs.
The fact is that the RT.X100 can also run quite well on an AthlonXP 2000+ system in a very cheap ECS, Asus or MSI board based on the SiS 735, 745. Since these boards run well under $80 and the AthlonXP runs about $135 the RT.X100 can run full tilt in a very economical system.
These inexpensive boards are on the RT.X100 recommended hardware list, so it's a supported configuration.
One thing though: DON'T EVEN THINK of using a VIA chipped mainboard. Not enough PCI bandwidth due to issues with the VIA chipset that have been around for ages.
6. Pinnacle lists the RT.X100 export of MPEG as "near realtime". This is not entirely true. The RT.X100 has two MPEG options;
a. Full realtime MPEG-2 to disk at up to 10 mbit/s
b. Accelerated MPEG-1/2 export through MediaExport. This uses Ligos GoMotion Pro and typically encodes at a time ratio of 1.3:1 or so, depending on CPU speed.
If you take advantage of the free Premiere 6.5 upgrade you also get MainConcepts MPEG-1/2 encoder. While not accelerated in the RT.X100 drivers it's still quick enough and has a plethora of setups, including MUX controls.
7. No, the RT.X100 does not provide hardware support for editing MPEG on the timeline. This is because you get higher quality editing DV on the timeline and using the built-in accelerated MPEG exports. MPEG is a terrible editing format unless you're using the Studio profile, and hardly any consumer devices do.
The other side;
1. The RT.X100 supports OpenDML and the ProOne doesn't.
2. In the words of many reviewers: the RT.X100's MediaTools are the best capture program they've ever used...period. Tons of goodies including one pass scan & capture, among many others.
3. RT.X100 does realtime chroma and luma keys...and VERY well indeed.
4. It accelerates the Premiere interface, considerably.
5. Pro one has two video streams and one graphic. RT.X100 has two and two now and Matrox has said more layers will be added to the drivers as CPU's scale in speed.
This is a huge advantage with the RT.X100's Power of X archetecture: its realtime engine is not just hardware but instead is a mix of hardware and a very scalable software realtime engine.
6. Pro One can handle up to 10 simultaneous effects. The RT.X100 can use up to 16.
7. It's drop-off-the-log simple to install & get running on supported hardware. What a relief
There is more, but you get the idea. Closing out I'll give you links to a couple of RT.X100 reviews.
Videoguys plays it straight in their reviews;
Charlie "Chazz" White is a columnist for Digital Media Net & elsewhere and an Emmy award winning producer for PBS and others;
Dr. MordridLast edited by Dr Mordrid; 27 August 2002, 21:37.Dr. Mordrid
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An elephant is a mouse built to government specifications.
I carry a gun because I can't throw a rock 1,250 fps -
Just out of curiosity has anyone tried a nForce chipset with the RT.X100 or X10? The Matrox web site makes no mention of them at all but given nVidia's multimedia performance claims regarding this chipset it would seem that it should be able to provide the necessary throughput.
David.Comment
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During the RT.X100 beta a few of us took the risk of using the SiS chipsets and they ended up working very nicely indeed.
Problem is that as AZ noted there seems to be a problem with nForce & PCI write performance in that in most systems it pretty much maxed out at 20 mb/s tops even though reads were reasonably fast.
This might be BIOS related or it might not, but it only seems to affect controllers on the PCI bus and not the integrated IDE controllers.
Tech Report did some writeups on this back in June;
It'll be interesting to see how it shakes out....
Dr. MordridLast edited by Dr Mordrid; 28 August 2002, 20:32.Dr. Mordrid
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An elephant is a mouse built to government specifications.
I carry a gun because I can't throw a rock 1,250 fpsComment
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Yeah I forgot to add the Nforce chipset to the DO NOT buy list as well
The list is growing..
Do not buy VIA or NFORCE based motherboards if you are using your PC for Non Linear Editing etc.
Regards,
ElieComment
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