So Which RT.X Bundle should I go with?

[Prospero]

I've finally gotten around to forming my multimedia company with my two partners, and it's shopping time. I'd like to keep things as cheap as possible, but we just have to get some equipment. My main thing is I need either Premier or Media Studio Pro. I also need a better authoring program than DVD Movie Factory. I'm having a terrible time figuring out the software bundles on RT.X products. Over on the info side a Matrox's website , it says both the RT.X10 Xtra and the RT.X100 Xtreme come with DVDit SE. The Matrox store lists DVDit LE or an upgrade to Reel DVD Studio. Now the store isn't saying Xtra or Xtreme after the models, so is this a bundle that hasn't been released yet? If I could get the RT.X10 Xtra with Premier 6.5 and DVDit SE, that would fit the bill nicely. Anyone want to clue me in as to just what bundles are and will be available?

Oh, I should say I have the registered version of TMPEG, and usualy do my mpeg2 encoding in that. I've been much happier with it's results than any authoring package. That being the case, the authoring package has to accept pre rendered files without rendering all over again.

[Dr Mordrid]

Since you're really going to be doing serious editing I'd highly recommend the RT.X100. It has loads of features someone doing it for money will be interested in, including realtime output to HDD and IEEE-1394 among many others. A couple I find extremely useful are realtime auto white balance and all those color correction capabilities it has.

Xtreme and Xtra are new driver builds coming out for RT.X100/10 respectively with extended features as documented on Matrox's RT.X site. Believe me, they are NICE. Among them for Xtreme;

• XtremePreview for editing many layers and effects without rendering

• Professional waveform and vectorscope monitors

• Realtime super-smooth field-blended fast and slow motion

• WYSIWYG video output support for DirectShow compliant applications

• Video capture using OHCI and Video-for-Windows compliant applications

• Professional DVD authoring with Sonic ReelDVD Studio

DVDiT is not on my recommended list even if it is bundled. It's encoder is slow as mud and its absent some important features.

For authoring I'd think in terms of DVD Workshop or ReelDVD. ReelDVD will be bundled with the RT.X100 Xtreme. There is a promo that includes the full version of ReelDVD Studio;

http://www.matrox.com/video/products/reeldvdpromo/home.cfm

Shipping: May 30.

Dr. Mordrid

[Prospero]

DVDiT is not on my recommended list even if it is bundled. It's encoder is slow as mud and its absent some important features.

As long as I can use an external encoder, not a problem. What features is it missing? I tried it once a while back, and remember I liked DVD Workshops interface better.

For authoring I'd think in terms of DVD Workshop or ReelDVD. ReelDVD will be bundled with the RT.X100 Xtreme. There is a promo that includes the full version of ReelDVD Studio;

I would love to pick and chose what software I wan't, but it's a matter of what I can afford. We have other equipment needs, as video editing isn't the only thing we do. So far I've spent more time on home theater consults than anything else. I'm more looking for the best software bundle I can get. I would love the RT.X100, it just remains to be seen money wise. Thanks for the help.

[Dr Mordrid]

Missing features;

Speed (G) and menu complexity mainly. It's a rather limited program compared to DVDWS and ReelDVD.

Dr. Mordrid

[gt40]

As a complete amatuer editing home videos, I have almost regreted not buying the rtx100 over the rtx10.
The added feature set and Mpeg hardware capabilties of the rtx100 make it very attractive, especially in a professional environment (time is money).

[Prospero]

• Video capture using OHCI and Video-for-Windows compliant applications

I just noticed that one. I can actualy use AVI_IO and VirtualDub with these? Cool! That could be quite usefull for personal stuff along with Xvid and the vfw WM9, recently released.

[Ray Austin]

Don't forget the RT chroma and luma keys of the RTX100. If you ever need this feature only once, it will pay for the card.

I strongly recommend the RTX100 just for the Xtreme drivers alone it's well worth it. Trying to keep costs low is one thing, but if you end up paying for it in productivity then it's actually costing you more in the long run.

Good luck

[Dr Mordrid]

Originally posted by Prospero
I just noticed that one. I can actualy use AVI_IO and VirtualDub with these? Cool! That could be quite usefull for personal stuff along with Xvid and the vfw WM9, recently released.

Yup. The VfW capture feature works with AVI_IO, VirtualDUB, Uleads programs etc. The OHCI IEEE-1394 also works with DV enbabled software. This gives loads of flexibility in acquiring video.

Dr. Mordrid

[Taliska]

There's been one question bugging me... hardware MPEG encoders - are they worth it?

My thinking is that you can get good encoders and bad encoders - hardware ones are (presumably) realtime and have got to get the job done in a fixed amount of time, whereas software ones could produce higher quality output given enough time and horsepower.

Is this actually the case in practice?

I guess it depends what you want to do with the encoder - I guess for PVR functionality, hardware encoding is better, but for less frequent home video editing, software encoding is adequate.

Any thoughts?

Taliska