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Matrox MXO released
Guys
Thought you might like to know that the MXO has been released. Check it out at http://www.matrox.com/video if you haven’t already. It is a great little product if you do not need analog or SDI ingest.
Tony
Rev13 Films -
24 Replies
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With all due respect Tony, after my experience with this company with the RTmac I would’t trust them as far as I could throw them. Bah humbug. Damn thing’s a doorstop now.
Have a wonderful day.
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[TonyManolikakis] “It is a great little product if you do not need analog or SDI ingest.”
Both AJA and BlackMagic make similar products and given a choice, I would definitely take either of those over anything from Matrox. No offense, but Matrox is not my first choice for professional video output.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
https://www.biscardicreative.com“I reject your reality and substitute my own!” – Adam Savage, Mythbusters
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The point is that people want want a capture card for their laptops…and the DVI out to all those connections is what they are looking for.
However…I hate to sound elitist and snobby but…a true professional would only use a Mac Tower and proper capture card for high level work. And if you have a tower, you’d be better served using an AJA or Blackmagic card.
This is for the lower end user, IMHO.
Shane
Littlefrog Post
http://www.lfhd.net -
Ever since my experience with Matrox Studio back in the early 90’s the word Matrox makes me want to curl up in a corner with my blanket…and shiver!
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I am using a Mac tower. Dual G5. The point I was making is that if you are coming in from P2, HDV, XDCAM, Firewire etc not to mention FC or other network setups where you have ingest and editing done on different workstations;You do need output if for no other reason than to preview on a broadcast monitor. That is where the MXO comes in. One thing that I found very useful lately, and I have heard others ask about, is aspect ratio conversion. I was editing a show that was shot SD but anamorphic 16×9. With the MXO I could choose to output, letterbox, center cut or anamorphic with a simple preference. Anyway, just thought you guys would like to know…
Tony
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[TonyManolikakis] “You do need output if for no other reason than to preview on a broadcast monitor. That is where the MXO comes in.”
Again, BlackMagic and AJA have been making similar boxes for at least the past year so the ability to do this has been around a while. Not really sure what the Matrox offers that the others don’t already have.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
https://www.biscardicreative.com“I reject your reality and substitute my own!” – Adam Savage, Mythbusters
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I’m playing devil’s advocate. With the speed of these intel laptops today (which in some cases are faster than my sturdy dual 2.0), I’m not sure if having a tower qualifies you as a true professional. I don’t have experience with Matrox and I’ve heard the horror stories, but the proof is in the pudding which we will see when people pick it up and use it. I have a guy that work with a lot and he’s always asking how to monitor his DVCPRO HD footage shot on P2 through his laptop on set. Without buying a $20,000 HD deck, this might be his ticket. He’s a professional and been in the business for 20 years. Because he has a laptop on set he’s disqualified? This device is intended for output and monitoring only, it captures nothing. Would I use it for final output? Probably not. Shane, I believe I have heard you say that you use cinema desktop all the time and this box expands on that concept and allows you to connect to a proper monitor. When firewire first became a video capture/output spigot, people swore up and down against it calling it non-professional. Now, firewire transfers certain formats of HD, professional HD at that. Pro’s use it all the time. With the efficient codecs and relatively low cost of relatively fast storage, this could be an option. Would I prefer some sort of AJA IO HD? Sure. But it’s not here and this MXO thing is. I have taken my AJA io and my powerbook on the road many of times. Saves me the hassle of checking my whole edit suite and I travel much lighter saving money and back pain. I sure don’t feel like less of a ‘pro’ because I am connected to a computer that takes a little longer to render. So what? I am using the same software and same techniques that I use on my big box in the suite connected to the same monitors, etc, etc. As of now, I can only work in SD with that setup, but I can do UC 8 bit SD all day long with a friggin laptop! Now, if I could only hook up my fibre array to my laptop I’d really be into something. If this product works, I could edit HD on my laptop and hook it up to a proper monitor and output via firewire when the job is done. Can I do uncompressed HD? No, i can’t. Is the MXO for every situation? No. But for some situations it could be the way to get some work done on a small, light and portable set up. If it doesn’t work, then this whole post is moot.
Devilishly,
Jeremy
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It’s the only way to look at external HD video from a PowerBook/MBP for starters.
Matrox sent me a review copy… it’s a nice a box actually. Can down convert to SD, use a 23″ CD for an external monitor, send an HD SDI signal out all at the same time…
Sure it doesn’t compare with a Kona 3, but doesn’t cost as much either.In the article I’ve written for the next COW mag, I talk about my experience with it. I was really quite impressed actually.
Since it’s pretty much “Apple proof” I think it has it’s place.
Jerry
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theres an additional upside to this product, albeit a niche one…
in the world of broadcast news, where speed is of the essence, this product allows field editors, working on laptops, in XDCAM HD, HDV and/or other GOP formats, to output a live feed of their edit using HD/SD SDI, directly from the FCP timeline without having to conform the long gop first
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[Andy Mees] “in the world of broadcast news, where speed is of the essence, this product allows field editors, working on laptops, in XDCAM HD, HDV and/or other GOP formats, to output a live feed of their edit using HD/SD SDI, directly from the FCP timeline without having to conform the long gop first”
I would like to see that. I’m not sure how it can eliminate the hours of conforming during realtime playback… and more to the point, what compromises werre made in order to achieve it? We don’ use HDV, but I’d really be interested in hearing from someone who has used it for that, since it might be helpful to others.
On a side note, it is interesting to hear everyone’s reluctance with Matrox. I had predicted that they would have this problem. They are first and foremost a PC company and that will not change. AJA and BlackMagic are proven performers and haven’t left anyone hanging… there’s a great lesson there for all the manufacturers.
Mitch Ives
Insight Productions Corp.
mitch@insightproductions.comApple Certified Trainer: Final Cut Pro 5
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