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Matrox Uber Alles???
Hello,
For my system specs you can see my post below about external monitors.Anyway, I really just wanted a decent breakout box for my killer notebook computer running Pr CS4 on Vista X64 Ultimate.
I bought the Matrox MX02 Mini. Installed it last night. Now I think I may have made a mistake. Maybe not. That’s what I am trying to figure out. The following isn’t really mentioned in the sales literature and I think you get a false impresssion.
I read that it has HDMI in/out, analog everything in/out, HD SD up/down/all live…..yahoo.
You also read that by installing, you add the Maxtro Mpeg2 I-Frame codec and can even add the codec to any other machine for compatability. MPEG2 I-Frame is like the quality of good spacial mpeg compression without the GOP as each frame is an I-Frame. I figure I can use it or not.
Okay….sounds good. Then when you buy and install it, you find out….
Once installed, when I go to test it out, I learn that you must create a Matrox Preset Project and a Matrox defined Sequence. Then you get program monitoring out the breakout box. There are Matrox specific, Palyback settings, Video/Audio control settings, Capture settings and interface (some of which looks more thorough than the Premier Pro dialogs)…..
That almost worries me…but maybe it is okay. Then I read that they have there own Video for Windows. There WYSIWYG software does not work for 64-bit systems. Premier will not recognize the Mpeg2-I Frame codec on it’s own….and a host of other do/don’ts, have/have nots.
I’m migrating away from my old Leitch Velocity system where everything was proprietary. It’s editing format is the dps file. I choose the Adobe suite to take advantage to the maturity of product, consistancy of interface, directlink, industy standard support & handling of ALL audio/video formats.
Now I am afraid that with Maxtrox added to the equation, I’m squezzed back into a proprietary wrapper. That the hardware only works when I use their sequence. Do they support all the same video/audio formats in the timeline? Can I export to all the same formats? A normal WMV file?
I just showed some clients (before I added the MX02 mini) a sample sequence edit with an export to Adobe Clip Notes. How great they agreed. Can’t wait to start using that! Can I do that with a Maxtrox sequence?
I planned to export projects (especially my 3D animation only projects) onto DVD-ROM disk. If I get a super-killer desktop based Premier Pro editing system later and for some reason do not use Matrox in that equation, will the project/sequences import? My guess is no because there is no such thing as a Matrox sequence in that scenario.
What about direct linking out to Photoshop, After Effects and Encoder from a Matrox sequence? What about recording in On Location and using those files on a Matrox sequence?
I have the suspecion that instead of a standard Premier Pro system where I have only added a breakout box and a new codec, I only get the use of the hardware within the software if I do it the Matrox way.
Our way or the highway.
So what is the big picture here? Is everthing really okay or with Matrox do I have to give up many things that make the Premier Master Suite sweet?
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11 Replies
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In theory, the whole suite should work…the Matrox box can’t handle every format for the price they charge for it…they have to optimize it around something.
You should have the same output ability (i.e. Media Encoder, Clip Notes) that you have otherwise.
I thought that Matrox had a read-only version of their codec that other software could use to access Matrox wrapped source files.
What I do have to say is that I’ve had a fair amount of cases in the past handful of years where the standard definition Matrox gear had difficulty with their own files when rendered out of After Effects. Sometimes it was user error in setting up the proper workflow, but other times it was likely a software conflict that we couldn’t track down…
Test out the workflow by rendering some After Effects comps as the Matrox proprietary codec to make sure that you can seamlessly drop that rendered file onto the PPro timeline with the Matrox sequence settings. (…and you can likely enjoy the full screen preview from AE through the Matrox box as well if they are supporting full screen preview for AE and Photoshop).
Unfortunately we’d all like to have a system where we could run non-proprietary uncompressed video and have it come out of any tap available, but with the practical limitations on drive speed, capacity, processor power, and budget to purchase same, we trade some proprietary operating environments for speed and runnability.
TimK,
Director, Consultant
Kolb Productions, -
Tim,
Thanks for the reply.
I’m a Velocity, 3DS MAX, and Combustion user. With this new computer, the Adobe CS4 product line is entirely new to me. I’ve been doing Lynda.com training to get up to speed. I’ve gone through Premier the most and played around a little. I’m 75% through Encoder, but have done nothing as of yet and I’ve done 20% AE training…but done nothing myself yet.I will leave for a month next week and given my inability to quickly determine various workflows due to my inexperience, I was trying to ascertain quickly whether in an overall sense, this is the route I should have taken…and if necessary, return the MX02 while I’ve only had it for two days.
Thanks again,
Buck Wyckoff
Buckward Digital Services, Inc. -
I don’t think that answer is that simple…
You’d need to try it in the context of your workflow…and see how the Matrox codecs work out for you.
Each device has a sweet spot…
TimK,
Director, Consultant
Kolb Productions, -
You might find a DV converter from Canopus might have worked out OK for a laptop. I hear you load an clear about proprietary codecs. I used to use a Canopus DV Storm. Only the Canopus effects were real time. They were not bad but you were using a plugin GUI rather than the Premiere Pro GUI.
If you have a 30 day trial buy the Canopus ADVC 110 DV converter and compare the two. I use a cheap ADS PYRO but the Canopus DV Coverter is better.
https://desktop.grassvalley.com/products/ADVC110/index.php
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It sounds like Buck works in HD…like most of us these days.
I have several Canopus ADVC products and they are very good units…but I think DV’s remaining life in professional production is about over.
The Matrox unit is HD.
Also, AJA has a soon-to-be-released unit called the IO Express, which works in a similar way.
TimK,
Director, Consultant
Kolb Productions, -
Hi Buck, I am a Velocity user too, Still have it for my SD work.
I Have the CS4 with Blackmagic. I love the quality of the matrox mini, I wish BM has the same codec-quality. Only thing I do not like about the mini is the upscaling during capturing is not working on Windows (will be in 2010) and I need that because I use 2 differnt formats on HD.
If you have most of your footage in same format M Mini is great!!,
Imagine you are working on the velocity, of course you have to work on you matrox codec template for the sequences, anyway you can bring any other format to the sequences too and watch it on you monitor, Matrox give you the real t. preview. I think is a great product. Dont be afraid of work on matrox codec, the mpg at 150 mb is not too big and look great. let me know, funny we came from the same background dps.
Contact me if you need more help
Diego Pocovi
https://www.diegopocovi.comDiego
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Thanks. That response helps.
I talked to my Matrox dealer and he assured me nothing in Adobe Pr CS4 would be unavailabe to me just because I was in a Matrox sequence.
He ran Matrox products, but never used the Matrox codec in a Matrox sequence. He didn’t know anything about it. But I’m glad to know you like it.
I’ve calmed down now and will keep it.
Thanks again.
Happy editing! -
Very good to know!
Thanks. -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oj0JoFxoOyo
Tim have you watched my video above? I am indeed editing AVCHD and HDV using a converter box. It is not a DV-25 timeline either. I can do it with a P2 timeline or even an AVCHD timeline. I am not sure what you mean by editing DV? I am not sure how much more HD you want then AVCHD or HDV 1440 X 1080? I admit it would look better on a 16:9 LCD monitor. The conveter box has has enough resolution (720×480) for the image to look very crisp and clean on an HD monitor(not true HD). I also usauly edit in draft mode any way (not true HD). The converter box works great for me. I admit a a Decklink card would be better but your assumption of only editing DV-25 using a converter box is incorrect. I would not have mentioed it if that were the case.
Buck could just use his video cards HDMI/DVI out to connect to an HD monitor as well.
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A computer display card only outputs RGB to an RGB display. It’s very difficult to gauge color correction when you’re viewing it in the wrong color system.
I’m aware of the functions of the Canopus ADVC boves as I have several different models myself. They were awesome when i was producing in DV. The Matrox unit that Buck has is designed to output an HD signal to an HD display (HDMI or analog component).
Using a DV converter box to view an HD timeline is a nice fix in a pinch that I do occasionally if I’m traveling or at a remote facility somewhere that only has that available. However, to really see focus, seeing less than a quarter of the resolution simply isn’t sufficient.
TimK,
Director, Consultant
Kolb Productions,
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