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Axio LE
Matrox has just announced Axio LE. This new system eliminates the hardware effects card in the full Axio 2-card set and instead uses the processor on the workstation graphics card for hardware effects acceleration. Therefore, the LE sacrifices some of the HD performance of the full Axio, specifically with motion effects, blur, and texture mapping, but this will improve as newer graphics cards increase in power. The software effects, like multi track HDV decoding, chroma key, color correction, etc. remain as powerful as they are in the full Axio. Only 8-bit encoding is supported, but otherwise the system supports all the (mixed) formats, resolutions, and frame rates as the full Axio, both compressed and uncompressed. The card features a newly designed HD/SD breakout box that includes HD/SD component I/O and simultaneous HD and SD SDI out.
Pricing is $4500. for the card and BOB, and the Axio LE can be sold as a card set only (if you happen to have a compatible workstation). System prices should start at under $10K.
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6 Replies
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Yeah that 8-bit thing is a real pain. Otherwise it looks like a good deal.
Peter Corbett
Powerhouse Productions
Australia
http://www.php.com.au -
YEah $4k for an 8bit board is definately a deal breaker. At the end of the day the client wont care how ‘real time’ your sytem is, they only care about the quality of the final product. Thus the 10bit Decklink cards simply cant be beat and costs a fraction of the price of the Axio.
Pablo
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[Pablo] “At the end of the day the client wont care how ‘real time’ your sytem is”
Rendering blows, especially if you have a client sitting there. With I/O cards you end up rendering 90% of everything. Axio is more like 10%. For pro editors a few grand is a small price to pay for a superior system. And clients CAN tell the difference.
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I think it all comes down to the market you are in.
10 bit is not important everywhere.
And it seems to me when project $$ is based on hourly rates…
Axio LE ought to fit nicely in many places….
Alex Udell
Editing, Motion Graphics, and Visual FX
See My Current Reel
visit the combustion exchange ftp
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I could see alot of potential to using LE assuming there is reasonable real time. That is one of several reasons I am looking AJA’s Kona 3 right now.
With an AXIO is it possible to do real time editing with the card and then force a software render at a higher bit depth for the final edit? If so this could be a good workflow.
Gary -
Hello there
For me, I love the way Axio has a compressed codec available so you can capture very efficiently for a laptop or at very hiqh quality while saving hugely on disk space and throughput requirements.
If Decklink get their act together and offer a JPEG or MPEG2 variable compressed video option for PC it would definitely be my system of choice… at the moment Axio is the only one to offer that as far as I know.
Why do Decklink offer JPEG video for Mac and not PC?
Hmmm, maybe Steve Jobs paying somebody for exclusivity again? (like he did with the original Targa3000 card)
Mark
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