[Jeff Pulera]

Hi Jeremy,

The RT.X2 breakout box can capture SD or 1080i (no progressive analog in). Analog playback is SD, 720p or 1080i/p.

You CAN playback HD timelines to SD output in realtime with RT.X2, just go to Premiere playback settings and change master output to NTSC and choose Letterbox or Anamorphic, nice feature for preview/proofing to DVD recorder or tape deck.

If I can help you with anything else, look me up

Thanks

Jeff Pulera

[Jeff Pulera]

Hi Jeremy,

Actually I work for Safe Harbor Computers, I’m not based in “Safe Harbor”, in fact it is COLD here today, I’m freezing! I also have my own studio in Wisconsin and use the RT.X2 personally.

As you may know, even though HDV uses 1440×1080 pixels, playback is still 1920×1080. This happens because the HDV pixel aspect ratio is 1.333, and 1440×1.333 = 1920! The playback device interprets the aspect ratio and displays properly to fill the screen.

XDCAM EX SP also uses the same 1440×1080 resolution as HDV. So, anytime you are playing an HDV timeline with RT.X2, the video output from the RT.X2 breakout box via analog component is a full 1920×1080 that will work with any HD display that has component inputs.

The RT.X2 LE only has the analog breakout box, while the “full” RT.X2 also has a dedicated DVI-D connector onboard which is specifically for computer LCD displays, such as Apple 23″ or any 24″ LCD with DVI input. Since this output is intended for computer displays and NOT home-theater models, the DVI output uses the native 1920×1200 LCD resolution, so this DVI out will NOT work with an LCD that has 1920×1080 specs (note that DVI output is letterboxed for true pixel-for-pixel HD display).

If using P2 or MP4 files in Matrox, they are not transcoded or anything, they are used natively. DV and HDV captures via 1394 are in a Matrox .avi wrapper, but not re-encoded. You can also capture analog video using the Matrox MPEG-2 I-Frame codec for SD or HD that uses 4:2:2 color and variable bitrates (50-100Mbps for HD).

In any case, you CAN mix formats on the timeline as long as they use the same timebase. This means 29.97i files that are DV, HDV and MP4 can all be used in the same timeline, whether SD or HD, with no render, no catch! What you can’t do is mix for instance 1080i and 720p, without rendering.

As mentioned earlier, you CAN use XDCAM EX HQ (1920×1080) clips in RT.X2, they are worked on internally as 1440×1080 though, but output as 1920×1080. Not sure how you deliver to broadcast clients.

The Axio LE would give you full-raster support and the professional i/o options.

Jeff Pulera
Safe Harbor Computers

[Jeff Pulera]

Hi Jeremy,

AJA makes a great product for ingest/playback at highest quality, but as an editor I am partial to Matrox, been using it for years in my own business for weddings, events and corporate. With Matrox, it eliminates almost all rendering – effects are all in realtime, no red bars, and I also get full-quality live output to a monitor while editing.

I use the RT.X2 currently, which will handle XDCAM EX footage in realtime, and will allow you to mix in HDV and DV footage without render in the same timeline, whether SD or HD, scaling is realtime.

Note that RT.X2 does not have HDMI or SDI/HD-SDI. You’d have to move to the Matrox Axio LE for HD-SDI and full 1920×1080 support, as RT.X2 is limited to 1440×1080 resolution (it can accept XDCAM EX HQ clips, but they are worked with as 1440×1080 internally). Your choice of systems would depend on needs, such as broadcast or corporate-level production.

Any questions, fire away

Jeff Pulera
Safe Harbor

[Jeff Pulera]

You did not supply specifics, such as source video or length, that would be helpful. Is it HDV 25i?

In Premiere Media Encoder, choose either “MPEG-2 for Blu-ray” or “H.24 for Blu-ray”. Note that H.264 can take several times longer to encode than MPEG-2, not always worth the extra time for most projects.

Next, there will be many presets to choose from. Pick one that matches your footage, i.e. “1440×1080 25 Medium Quality”. You can always go in and change data rate, choose CBR or VBR, etc., but main thing is to match your footage, you don’t want to use 24p preset if footage is interlaced.

That’s about it really, just pay attention to format matching

Jeff Pulera
Safe Harbor Computers

[Jeff Pulera]

Hi Ty,

You have created a Premiere project with HD settings to edit your SD footage, that is the issue, trying to edit 720×480 clips in a 1920×1080 project.

Here’s the fix – create a NEW project and choose “DV” as the preset, either NTSC or PAL depending on your locale. Also pay attention to “Standard” for 4:3 or “Widescreen” for 16:9.

Now, in the new project with correct settings to match your footage, go to “File > Import” and Import the project file of original project. It will show up as a folder in the project bin – open it and double click on the “Sequence 1” file and this will open the edited timeline you had created before.

From here, you can Export to DVD with proper results. Your video and project frame size settings were mismatched before.

Jeff Pulera
Safe Harbor Computers

[Jeff Pulera]

Use CBR 6000 with Dolby audio, the whole thing should look fine.

If you think certain areas need higher quality, then use 2-Pass VBR (Variable Bitrate) with 6000 as the average, and set the high and low to what you want, so you might have 4000-6000-7000. This will accomplish what you are asking about, adding additional quality in scenes that need it, and using a lower data rate on simple scenes like the talking head shot.

Jeff Pulera
Safe Harbor Computers

[Jeff Pulera]

Video Effects > Color Correction > Leave Color

Jeff Pulera
Safe Harbor Computers

[Jeff Pulera]

Hi Tony,

I did get demos of Rocket DVD and worked with it a bit myself and you can add the video files, you don’t have to capture. Once you add the files, the rest is automated (chapters, menus, thumbnails, burning, printing).

Jeff Pulera

[Jeff Pulera]

Try “Rocket DVD”, I can’t find their website by Googling but found a dealer here:

https://tmpgenc.pegasys-inc.com/en/partnerstore/products/dmard.html

I have demo’d the product in the past and think it might suit your needs

Jeff Pulera

[Jeff Pulera]

I will assume that the source material is some sort of animation or similar, created in the computer. This is the ultimate quality, having RGB color, uncompressed quality, displayed on a PC monitor, perhaps at higher than video resolution (720×480).

Just the act of converting your masterpiece to NTSC (or PAL) will lose much of the sharpness and color due to the nature of “video” versus a computer display. Add to that the compression of MPEG-2 and you lose more quality.

You didn’t mention your workflow. How are you authoring the MPEG-2 file? There is a chance that the DVD authoring program is re-compressing your MPEG-2 file yet again before burning if the settings are incorrect.

Please share your complete worklow for better answers –

PC?
Mac?
Resolution/content of source?
Authoring software?

Thanks

Jeff Pulera
Safe Harbor Computers