Storage Recommendations:
- If you are working with compressed video, DV, HDV...
- 2 SATA Drives striped or 4 SATA Drives striped
Graphics Cards:
- ATI RADEON X1800/1900 XT
- ATI RADEON X1800/1900 XL
- NVIDIA GeForce 7800
- PNY Quadro FX 4500
Other System Guidelines:
Matrox has done a really good job posting the system recommendations for the RT.X2. It's a multipage report that not only recommends components, but explains why and ranks them.
Designing your Matrox RT.X2 system
Your particular workflow requirements and budget will determine the specific components you should choose when designing your Matrox RT.X2 editing system. To get the absolute maximum number of realtime layers and effects, in all cases, you can combine a top-of-the-line computer system, the fastest GPU, and the largest, most robust storage subsystem. If your budget is more modest, there are many tradeoffs you can make to design an editing system that will give you maximum performance to do exactly what you need to do on a daily basis.
Matrox RT.X2 relies on the power of your CPU to perform some effects and to decode and encode video streams. It relies on the power of the GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) in your system to process Matrox hardware-accelerated effects (Flex GPU effects). Note that what we refer to here as a GPU has various other names that may be more familiar to you, such as display card, graphics card, or VGA adapter. The type and size of storage you require depends largely on the video formats you are using and the number of hours of video you need to maintain online. Understanding your various options in each category will help you design the most economical system for your needs.
We have validated a number of computers, display cards, and storage subsystems and provided guidelines to enable you to make an informed choice as you choose the components for your own Matrox RT.X2 editing system or work with your Matrox RT.X2 dealer to specify a turnkey system. http://www.matrox.com/video/support/rtx2/rec/home.cfm
RT.X2 2.0
Matrox ® Video Products Group today announced that release 2.0 software for the Matrox RT.X2™ realtime HDV and DV editing platform will provide significant new features including realtime native editing of JVC’s ProHD HDV 720p format.
Matrox RT.X2 is designed primarily for realtime native HDV and DV editing with Adobe Premiere Pro. It also provides a high-quality MPEG-2 I-frame codec so users can capture other HD and SD formats using RT.X2’s analog inputs and mix all types of footage on the timeline in real time. Matrox RT.X2 will be demonstrated on the Matrox stand 7.128.
“Support for all the 720p formats used by JVC’s popular ProHD series cameras will make RT.X2 even more attractive to corporate communicators, event videographers, project studios, educational facilities, and digital filmmakers,” said Wayne Andrews, Matrox RT.X2 product manager. “The 720p format gives them an affordable way to get into HD production.”
Other new features coming in release 2.0 include:
• Support for Matrox HDV files and Matrox Flex CPU effects in Adobe After Effects
• 4:2:2:4 (YUVA) MPEG-2 I-frame editing in HD and SD
• Realtime playback and mixing of Adobe native HDV files – .MPEG and .M2T
• Improved color correction tools
• WYSIWYG video output for Adobe Bridge and Windows Media Player
• Four new effects – cube, impressionist, ripple, twirl
Support for Matrox HDV files and Matrox Flex CPU effects in Adobe After Effects
In release 2.0 of RT.X2, Matrox has focused on the After Effects/Premiere Pro relationship and added features that complement that workflow. Matrox HDV files are now supported in After Effects. In the previous release of RT.X2 you were forced to render out your HDV files to an intermediate format for editing in After Effects. RT.X2 2.0 improves that workflow by allowing you to work directly with the Matrox HDV files. The Matrox Flex CPU effects – color correction, secondary color correction, chroma key, luma key, move & scale effect, etc. – are now available in Adobe After Effects. If you have a timeline in Premiere Pro with any of these effects and you copy/paste this timeline into After Effects, the Matrox effects will remain intact. This is a huge time saver, given that these effects are realtime in Premiere Pro.
4:2:2:4 (YUVA) MPEG-2 I-frame codecs in HD and SD
RT.X2 now includes 32-bit MPEG-2 I-frame VFW codecs that you can use to render your animations or other compositions containing alpha. The 32-bit AVI file will playback in real time on an RT.X2 system. This support opens up many workflow possibilities. For example, an editor creating broadcast graphics in After Effects or using a stock animation package such as Digital Juice or Artbeats can now export one 32-bit file instead of rendering out two separate AVI + MATTE files. Having only one file simplifies management and makes it easier to include the composition in the final edit. Note that the 32-bit MPEG-2 I-frame codecs are locked to the hardware and therefore will work only with RT.X2 in the system.
HDV 720p (JVC ProHD) support
Realtime native editing of the entire range of HDV 720p frame rates – 23.98, 25, 29.97, 50, and 59.94 is supported in release 2.0. This includes support for JVC’s popular 100 ProHD series camera. In addition, RT.X2 goes a step beyond what Adobe Premiere Pro software offers alone and supports the 50 and 59.94 frame rates provided by the new 200 and 250 ProHD series cameras.
Realtime playback of Adobe native HDV files – .MPEG and .M2T
The ability to play native Adobe HDV files (MPEG) and Focus Enhancements FireStore files (M2T) in real time and mix them with AVI files on the timeline in real time enables powerful and flexible online/offline workflows. You can now capture HDV in the field on a laptop and bring it into RT.X2 for finishing or transfer your files directly from a FireStore to the RT.X2. You can also use a software-only machine to rough cut your HDV project and bring that project into RT.X2 without having to recapture your footage.
WYSIWYG video output for Adobe Bridge and Windows Media Player
You get instant output of video files such as MPEG, DivX, and AVI on your broadcast monitor using Adobe Bridge, Windows Media Player or other DirectShow-based applications. You can use this feature to show different versions of your work to clients on a broadcast monitor without having to open Adobe Premiere Pro. You simply double click on the file in Windows Explorer.
Improved color correction tools
Improvements to the color correction tools include: more color wheel and color picker precision, a new split view, and a luminance slider per tonal range.
Four new effects – cube, impressionist, ripple, twirl
Matrox continues to add value to the RT.X2 product line by providing exiting new effects to keep your edits looking fresh and new.
All registered RT.X2 owners can download free the new Version 2 drviers from the Matrox support center
Why upgrade from Matrox RT.X100 to Matrox RT.X2?
Both Matrox RT.X2 and Matrox RT.X100 are ideal for corporate communicators, event videographers, project studios, educational facilities, and digital filmmakers. There are, however, important differences between the two products.
Matrox RT.X100 is designed for realtime DV editing and it has a dedicated, on-board GPU (graphics processing unit) to process Matrox Flex effects.
Matrox RT.X2 is designed primarily for realtime native HDV and DV editing. Matrox RT.X2 is built on the award-winning Matrox Axio architecture that leverages CPU and GPU power. It relies on your system graphics card to process Matrox Flex GPU effects, providing more scalability. If you want to do more layers of 3D you can simply upgrade your graphics card. RT.X2 also provides a high-quality MPEG-2 4:2:2 I-frame codec so you can capture other HD and SD formats using RT.X2’s analog inputs and mix all types of footage on the timeline in real time. With Matrox RT.X2, you get a high-performance, future-proof HDV and SD editing environment.
RT.X2 features not found in RT.X100
- Realtime, multi-layer native HDV editing – RT.X2 provides HD performance similar to what RT.X100 provides in SD
- Many more realtime layers of video and graphics in SD – on a reasonably performing system, you can expect to edit
at least five native DV video layers plus six graphics layers and effects in real time
- Realtime MPEG-2 I-frame editing in HD and SD – this 4:2:2 codec provides high-quality capture from analog sources
- Realtime mixing of formats and resolutions on any timeline in real time – you can mix HD and SD material – no hassles, no rendering
- Realtime down conversion of a 1080i timeline to NTSC or PAL – eliminates the need to render an SD copy of an HD master
- 23.98 fps editing for the film look in DV
- New Matrox Flex CPU and Flex GPU effects such as realtime primary and secondary color correction, realtime track matte,
realtime surface finish, accelerated shine, etc. – the same professional effects found on Matrox Axio are provided on RT.X2
- Analog component input and output in HD and SD lets you capture and record using higher-end sources such as Betacam,
DigiBeta, etc.
- 1394 pass-through is provided on the RT.X2 breakout box
- Audio VU meters on capture let you easily make adjustments so you always capture audio at the proper signal level
- Faster than realtime DVD encoding (encoding speed depends on timeline complexity and system CPU and GPU power)
- Faster than realtime export to disk (export speed depends on timeline complexity and system CPU and GPU power)
- Full-resolution HD monitoring on an inexpensive flat panel display via independent DVI output – you can view full-quality HD
on an affordable monitor
RT.X2 provides tighter integration with Adobe Premiere Pro
- Realtime effects control is integrated into the Premiere Pro user interface – there is no need to learn a custom UI,
if you know how to use Premiere Pro and After Effects, you know how to use RT.X2
- Voiceover is supported on RT.X2
- 5.1 surround sound mixing and monitoring is supported on RT.X2
- WYSIWYG support with dynamic Alt+Tab switching is now provided for the most popular applications – there is no need
to close Premiere to have a preview output
- Adobe Dynamic Link support – RT.X2 lets you take full advantage of this key feature of Adobe Production Studio
- Realtime mixed-format multi-cam – your HDV and DV cameras can all be used as sources in a multi-cam shoot
- Safe title area and zooming of live window
- Additional realtime native Adobe effects: Crop, Dip to Black, Black and White, Additive Dissolve
- RT.X2 uses the Premiere Pro native “Scene Detect” feature for scan and capture in DV and HDV
Other differences
- Most features of Matrox Media Tools are now found in Premiere Pro
- Most features of Matrox Media Export are now found in Premiere Pro
- A few effects such as 3D tiles, particle effects, twirls, and cubes are not implemented on RT.X2
- To enhance system compatibility, realtime “always output to 1394” is not offered on RT.X2
- Realtime M2V capture is not implemented in the current release of RT.X2
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