Product Guide June 20, 2002

Table of Contents Overview

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The Power of X

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Key features

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System requirements

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Minimum Recommended DualHead and TripleHead editing using Matrox display cards

Realtime CPU-based effects

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State-of-the-art 18-parameter color corrector Realtime proc amp controls Realtime color balance with automatic white balance Realtime input/output level control with auto level Realtime chroma and luma keying with auto key Realtime adjustable slow and fast motion Realtime Matrox Flex 3D effects and transitions

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Realtime basic, advanced, and masked 2D/3D DVEs Realtime page curls Realtime blur Realtime particle effects Realtime 3D tiles Realtime distortions Realtime mesh warps Realtime ripples Realtime twirls Realtime cubes Realtime lens flare Realtime organic wipes Realtime native Adobe Premiere transitions www.fxzone.matrox.com Complete control for the ultimate in creative freedom

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Combine up to 16 effects in real time Realtime broadcast-quality titling and multiple graphic file format support In-context editing Advanced keyframe control Custom keyframe library A smooth, responsive editing experience Matrox TurboDV multi-layer compositing engine WYSIWYG plug-in for Adobe After Effects, NewTek Lightwave, and Discreet 3DS MAX Full complement of superior acquisition and delivery tools Realtime composite and Y/C analog input and output Realtime DV acquisition and output Matrox MediaTools for realtime SinglePass DV scan and frame-accurate capture Stop motion and time lapse capture Realtime DV output Frame-accurate insert edits Realtime MPEG-2 for DVD authoring Realtime MPEG-2 IBP capture from analog and DV sources Realtime MPEG-2 IBP encoding from the Adobe Premiere timeline Accelerated batch encoding of VCD, SVCD, multimedia, and web formats www.matrox.tv free web video hosting

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Table of contents Complete suite of digital video production tools

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Adobe Premiere like you've never seen before Better capture tools Full-quality turbo-charged editing Faster, better export tools Sonic Solutions DVDit! LE for DVD authoring Creating your DVD assets Authoring your DVD Productivity tools Matrox MediaTools Matrox MediaExport Matrox Video-for-Windows software codec Matrox WYSIWYG plug-in for Adobe After Effects, NewTek Lightwave, and Discreet 3DS MAX Ligos GoMotion Sonic Desktop SmartSound Quicktracks Pixélan SpiceRack Adobe Premiere like you've never seen before (feature summary)

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The Power of X defined in detail

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Matrox Electronic Systems Ltd. reserves the right to make changes in specifications at any time and without notice. Matrox is a registered trademark and Matrox RT.X100, Matrox Flex 3D, Matrox SinglePass, Matrox MediaTools, Matrox MediaExport, and Matrox Turbo DV are trademarks of Matrox Electronic Systems Ltd.

Overview Matrox RT.X100 is part of the new generation of Matrox products to incorporate the Power of X - a new architecture that leverages the scalable power of your CPU with the explosive performance of dedicated hardware for the ultimate realtime video editing experience. Matrox RT.X100 delivers many unique professional features that are not available on any other video editing card in its class. It's ideal for corporate communicators, event videographers, project studios, educational facilities, and digital filmmakers. At a suggested retail price of $1099*, including the full version of Adobe Premiere, you get full-quality, full-resolution, no compromise realtime editing at a price that is comparable, or even lower, than other software-only realtime applications. The combination of Matrox RT.X100 and Adobe Premiere provides vastly more realtime editing and productivity features than you get with just software alone. · Realtime CPU-based effects including realtime color correction, realtime chroma and luma keying, and realtime adjustable motion control · A vast array of Matrox Flex 3D-powered realtime effects & transitions in 14 different classes · The flexibility and power to combine up to 16 effects in real time with complete keyframe control · A full complement of superior acquisition & delivery tools including realtime DV output and realtime MPEG-2 capture and encoding for DVD authoring · A complete suite of digital video production tools incorporating many professional productivity features Matrox RT.X100 builds on the success of the Matrox RT2500 and Matrox DigiSuite MAX realtime editing platforms that have won numerous awards and been delivered to well over 100,000 users worldwide.

* USD in North America

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The Power of X The Power of X – that's what we call the ability of the new generation of Matrox products to leverage the scalable power of your CPU with the explosive performance of dedicated hardware for the ultimate realtime video editing experience. Here's why it's important… Until recently, dedicated hardware has been required at the heart of every realtime nonlinear editing system because CPUs just weren't up to the demanding task of handling video in realtime. Suddenly, with the advent of Gigahertz CPUs, editing software can be made to do some editing operations in real time, without hardware assistance, using just CPU power alone. Today's CPUs, however, are still not powerful enough to allow software-based realtime engines to perform all the realtime operations you would typically like to do, at full quality. Compromises are necessary. Common trade-offs include working at half- or quarter-screen preview resolution, reducing the frame rate, and turning off processing-intensive filtering and antialiasing. When you're done with your last edit, you must spend the time to render your entire project to see the actual result. Software-based editing products hold the promise of being more flexible and more scalable because as CPU speed increases, so does editing performance. On the other hand, specialized hardware excels at a number of time-consuming functions such as DV and MPEG-2 encoding and 3D effects. It also provides the necessary analog and digital inputs and outputs that are not built into your computer. The Power of X takes full advantage of your CPU and harnesses the power of dedicated hardware to give you the extra edge to enhance your editing experience – at a price that is comparable or even lower than many software-only editing products. With Matrox RT.X100, you generate revenue for your business today. As computer platforms get faster in the future, you'll benefit from the scalable power of the CPU, and still be a step ahead with the extra boost you get from fully-optimized hardware. The Power of X, as implemented in Matrox RT.X100, now exploits the full power of the CPU for: · · · ·

Ultra-fast DV decoding without quality compromises Smooth slow and fast motion control Advanced 18-parameter color correction Advanced chroma keying with shadow preservation, spill removal, and noise reduction The Power of X, as implemented in Matrox RT.X100, exploits the full power of dedicated hardware for:

· · · · ·

Realtime DV output Realtime MPEG-2 encoding Analog input and output Compositing and true 3D geometric effects High-quality bi-cubic and anisotropic effects filtering For a more complete explanation of the Power of X, please refer to page 25.

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Key features · The Power of X – leveraging the scalable power of your CPU with the explosive performance of dedicated hardware for the ultimate realtime video editing experience · Adobe Premiere like you've never seen before - better capture tools, full-quality turbo-charged editing, faster export · Realtime DV output · Realtime SinglePass DV scan and capture · Realtime MPEG-2 capture and encoding for DVD authoring · Realtime advanced color correction with 18-parameter control · Realtime chroma and luma keying · Realtime adjustable slow and fast motion · Realtime Matrox Flex 3D effects such as 3D DVE, blur, ripple, cube, and many more · Freedom to combine and keyframe up to 16 effects in real time, at full quality · Realtime composite and Y/C input and output · Accelerated batch encoding of VCD, SVCD, multimedia, and web formats

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System requirements A complete list of computers, motherboards, display cards, sound cards, storage devices, and DV-1394 devices validated for use with RT.X100 can be found in the support section of our web site.

Minimum · · · · · · · · · ·

Pentium III at 1 GHz, Pentium 4 at 1.7 GHz, or Athlon XP 1500+ Windows XP Home or Professional 512 MB RAM Free PCI slot Display card (Matrox G450, G550, or Parhelia recommended) 16-bit sound card CD-ROM drive for software installation 500 MB of free space for software installation on system drive Separate hard drive for A/V content Video camera or VCR Realtime DV output and certain complex realtime effects require the recommended system configuration.

Recommended · · · ·

Pentium 4 at 2.2 GHz, Athlon XP 2000+, or faster 512 MB DDR RAM or RDRAM DV-1394 camcorder or VTR Additional A/V drive for realtime export to disk DualHead and TripleHead editing using Matrox display cards Many video editors prefer the larger desktop workspace that two or three monitors can provide. We recommend the Matrox G550 and Matrox Parhelia display cards, which are optimized for DualHead and/or TripleHead editing with Matrox RT.X100.

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Realtime CPU-based effects Using the full potential of your computer's CPU, Matrox RT.X100 gives you realtime 18-parameter color correction, chroma/luma keying, and adjustable motion control. State-of-the-art 18-parameter color corrector The 18-parameter color corrector lets you fix even the most problematic shots in post-production. Adobe Photoshop users will recognize the convenient interface design.

· · Realtime proc amp controls Matrox RT.X100 lets you easily adjust 4 proc amp controls – hue, saturation, brightness, and contrast. Hue lets you change the overall color tone of an image. Saturation lets you adjust the overall purity of that color. Brightness and contrast let you adjust the tonal range of all pixels in the image. You can also use these controls to create special effects such as black and white in real time. ·

· Realtime color balance with automatic white balance Color correction can be further refined using 9 parameters related to the shadow, midtone, and highlight levels of your clips for professional tonal correction. The intelligent automatic white balance button does it for you in one simple step.

·

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Realtime CPU-based effects · Realtime input/output level control with auto level Using the histogram display and level controls, luminance levels can be remapped to maximize the dynamic range of a clip. For example, bright areas can be made brighter and dark areas can be made darker. 5 parameters are available - black, white and gamma levels on the input, and black and white levels on the output. The auto level button automatically redefines the lightest and darkest pixels as white and black, then adjusts the intermediate pixel values proportionally.

Realtime chroma and luma keying with auto key The Matrox RT.X100 realtime chroma keyer makes clean blue- and green-screen keys easy to achieve, even with DV material shot in less than optimal lighting conditions. It up-samples your DV video to 4:4:4 resolution and uses advanced noise reduction algorithms to ensure superior results. The auto key button intelligently adjusts the key with soft edges, spill removal, and shadow preservation. If needed, you can further refine the key with 8 manual controls.

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Realtime CPU-based effects The realtime luma keyer gives you 5 controls - low clip, low gain, high clip, high gain, and transparency.

Realtime adjustable slow and fast motion Matrox RT.X100 lets you apply smooth motion effects to video at any speed. It's perfect for special effects and fit-to-fill.

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Realtime Matrox Flex 3D effects and transitions Using the power of dedicated hardware, Matrox RT.X100 lets you create an unlimited number of fullykeyframeable, broadcast-quality 2D and 3D digital video effects and transitions that turn Adobe Premiere into a video editing powerhouse. Currently there are 14 classes of effects including 3D DVE, blur, ripple, and cube. More are in the works. All of these effects can be applied to video or graphics on any layer. Over 60 of Adobe Premiere's native transitions can also be used in real time. Of course, not everyone wants to do page curls and wacky transitions. RT.X100 was designed with the knowledge that even in simple and elegant productions, 3D effects can play an important role. For example, you can fix a shot taken with a tilted tripod using zoom and rotation around the Z-axis to level the horizon. 3D effects can also be extremely effective for manipulating text and graphics. The key is to give you full control so you can use effects in subtle ways. The RT.X100 hardware is powered by Matrox Flex 3D, a fully programmable architecture that applies 3D texture mapping to video in real time using a Matrox 3D graphics accelerator chip and graphics memory. Motion video or graphics are treated as source textures and mapped onto polygon-based 3D shapes. Broadcast-quality effects are achieved using special features that are built into the 3Daccelerator chip and exploited through the Flex 3D architecture. For more information about Matrox Flex 3D, please refer to the white paper in the Press Room section of our web site.

Realtime basic, advanced, and masked 2D/3D DVEs Realtime DVEs let you position, scale, and rotate your video and graphic layers in 3D space, in real time. You can easily create picture-in-picture (PiP) effects, tumbles, and spins. Matrox RT.X100 features 3 classes of DVEs with high-quality scaling and smooth sub-pixel motion: · Basic 2D/3D DVEs let you simultaneously apply DVE effects to two layers of video and/or graphics.

· Advanced 2D/3D DVEs let you position your clips anywhere in 3D space while adding soft edges, borders, and true shadows in real time.

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Realtime Matrox Flex 3D effects and transitions · Masked 2D/3D DVEs let you use any 8-bit gradient TGA image to create a cutout shape that's textured with video. You can create stunning effects such as soft-edged frames, or flying logos textured with video in real time. You can also apply a realtime shadow, and position it in 3D space.

Realtime page curls Matrox RT.X100 lets you add smooth page curls and page rolls to your projects. These are true 3D page curls with full-motion video on the reverse side and realistic highlights. Page curls on graphics let you create great-looking text effects. You control the position, rotation, and scaling of page curls in 3D space. You also have control over the softness of the edges.

Realtime blur The blur effect lets you simulate camera defocus or create unique fader effects in real time. Graphic clips can be attenuated with a specific color during a blur to create a subtle halo effect.

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Realtime Matrox Flex 3D effects and transitions Realtime particle effects Explode, shatter, blast, and break apart your images with realtime particle effects. Each particle piece is controlled by real world attributes such as gravity and dispersion.

Realtime 3D tiles 3D tile effects slice your video into a variety of different tile and slab patterns that rotate, flip, swirl, pivot, or spin in real time to reveal another clip.

Realtime distortions Matrox RT.X100 provides an unlimited variety of realtime distortions - shimmers, waves, bevels, shower door effects, and more.

Realtime mesh warps Matrox RT.X100 lets you manipulate the curvature of a clip by adjusting up to 5 individual forces in 3D space. You can control the elasticity of adjacent points to create graceful, flowing effects such as a falling feather, or drastic effects such as a vortex.

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Realtime Matrox Flex 3D effects and transitions Realtime ripples Based on real-world water dynamics, realtime ripple effects let you create wavy flags, subtle silk sheets, or undulating wave patterns on a clip, like the ripples on the surface of a pond. Advanced controls let you adjust the amplitude, number of periods, attenuation, shadow, and highlight.

Realtime twirls Matrox RT.X100 provides a variety of realtime twirl effects that twist and rotate your clips into spirals, coils, or whirlpools.

Realtime cubes Matrox RT.X100 lets you map video, graphics, or solid colors to the faces of 3D cubes and slabs, then rotate them in 3D space to create effects such as those you often see during sports broadcasts.

Realtime lens flare Matrox RT.X100 includes a realtime lens flare effect that simulates the unique refraction pattern caused by shining a bright light into the lens of a camera. Keyframeable parameters include depth of field, focal length of camera, flare intensity, and position.

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Realtime Matrox Flex 3D effects and transitions Realtime organic wipes Realtime organic wipes use grayscale gradients to transition from one layer to another in a particular pattern. You can choose from a wide variety of pre-created effects or easily create your own customized wipe patterns using applications such as Adobe Photoshop.

Realtime native Adobe Premiere transitions Over 60 of Adobe Premiere's native transition effects, including cross dissolve, can be used in real time on Matrox RT.X100. The effects you've been accustomed to rendering in Premiere can now be played back in real time. You don't need to learn how to use new effects - just drag-and-drop as usual.

www.fxzone.matrox.com www.fxzone.matrox.com is an exchange community website that lets registered users of Matrox video products download new effects from Matrox and exchange their own effects keyframe sequences, organic wipe patterns, and DVE masks with other users. Realtime mesh warp, twirl, and lens flare effects are available on this site for free download by registered RT.X100 owners. More classes of effects are in the works.

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Complete control for the ultimate in creative freedom Exploiting the power of both your CPU and the dedicated hardware onboard Matrox RT.X100, you can currently combine up to 16 effects in real time on two layers of video and two layers of graphics. Incontext editing and advanced keyframe control give you an unparalleled level of creative freedom, letting you edit with complete control and flexibility, without compromises. Combine up to 16 effects in real time · · · · · · · ·

2 layers of video with transparency 2 layers of graphics with transparency 2 channels of smooth slow/fast motion control on video 2 channels of color balance on video 2 channels of input/output level control on video 2 channels of proc amp control on video 2 channels of keyframeable 3D transform and perspective with soft borders 2 channels of keyframeable cropping Realtime broadcast-quality titling and multiple graphic file format support RT.X100 lets you create realtime broadcast-quality title sequences with the titling applications included in Adobe Premiere. All graphic file formats supported by Adobe Premiere can be used in real time, at any resolution. This lets you edit with .bmp, .jpg, and high-quality .tiff images in real time without the need to convert into .tga images.

In-context editing With Matrox RT.X100, as you adjust the effects parameters of a clip, you can see the other realtime layers of your project to more accurately fine-tune your changes in context, on a full-sized NTSC or PAL monitor instead of in a tiny, postage-stamp-sized window on your VGA display.

Creating a chroma key with 2 graphics layers using Adobe Premiere alone

Creating a chroma key with 2 graphics layers using Adobe Premiere and Matrox RT.X100

Advanced keyframe control Advanced keyframe control is an important advantage of Matrox RT.X100. Working directly in the preview window using your mouse, you can set multiple keyframes that adjust all effects parameters and resize, position, and rotate your clip over time. You're not limited to choppy linear interpolation as provided with Premiere, you can also choose smooth spline motion. You have maximum creative control to easily design exactly the look you want.

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Complete control for the ultimate in creative freedom Custom keyframe library The keyframeable effects you create may be saved so you can readily duplicate them later in your project or in new projects. You can make and save icons for the effects you want to include in your own effects library. You can also share your creations with other users at www.fxzone.matrox.com.

A smooth, responsive editing experience RT.X100 has been designed and fully optimized for instant feedback while editing. There is no lag in play, stop, scrubbing, and effects adjustment operations.

Matrox TurboDV multi-layer compositing engine When you exceed the realtime capabilities of Matrox RT.X100, Matrox TurboDV kicks in, taking advantage of the processing power of your computer and the RT.X100 hardware to perform blazingly fast rendering. The faster your system, the faster the render.

WYSIWYG plug-in for Adobe After Effects, NewTek LightWave, and Discreet 3DS MAX Matrox RT.X100 includes a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) plug-in for Adobe After Effects, NewTek LightWave, and Discreet 3DS MAX that lets you see your work directly on a broadcast video monitor. This lets you ensure proper 4:3 or 16:9 aspect ratio in NTSC or PAL, and check for exact color temperature, safe-title area, and any interlace artifacts that may be present in your images.

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Full complement of superior acquisition and delivery tools Matrox RT.X100 provides all the tools you need to work with today's most important acquisition and delivery formats - analog Y/C and composite video; DV; MPEG-2 for DVD and SVCD authoring; and MPEG-1, Windows Media, and RealMedia for VCD, multimedia, and web delivery. Matrox RT.X100 increases your productivity with Adobe Premiere by providing superior capture tools and faster export to a variety of formats. Realtime composite and Y/C analog input and output Using either composite (RCA-type connector) input, or the higher quality S-Video (Y/C-type connector) input from the RT.X100 breakout cable, video can be captured, edited, and recorded to VHS or S-VHS tape in real time, without rendering. You can mix clips captured from analog video with native-DV clips in the same project. Presets have been created for Adobe Premiere so that all audio, video, and capture parameters will be correctly set for the video format you've chosen.

Realtime DV acquisition and output Matrox RT.X100 provides a fully optimized array of DV capture tools and lets you record to DV tape in real time, without rendering. The built-in 1394 port lets you digitally transfer your DV material from DV and DVCAM devices to your editing system in its native DV format. You can create video clips of unlimited size using the NTFS file system in Windows XP.

· Matrox MediaTools for realtime SinglePass DV scan and frame-accurate capture Matrox MediaTools is a frame-accurate capture and logging application that lets you efficiently manage your DV video footage and capture still images.

Unique Matrox SinglePass technology cuts capture time in half by automatically scanning, logging, and batch capturing DV clips in a single pass, in real time. That means a one-hour tape can be captured in one hour. A clip is logged and created on your disk, on the fly, for each shot you physically recorded on the tape. You can easily delete any clip that you do not need to keep. This process is far superior to scene detection technology that erroneously creates clips where you never intended, and that prevents you from removing unneeded material that wastes disk space. Matrox SinglePass technology also eliminates repetitive rewind and pre-roll to save wear and tear on camcorders, VTRs, and tapes. You save hours of tedious logging and capturing time. Alternatively, you can simply log all the clips from your tape, and then choose which ones you want to batch capture to your hard drive. Once you've performed the scan and capture operation you can export the entire contents of the batch capture list directly into an Adobe Premiere project. You can also use Matrox MediaTools to grab single-frame TGA images or single-frame AVI clips to create photomontages. Single-frame AVI clips are useful because you can apply realtime effects between two stills without file conversions or rendering. 18

Full complement of superior acquisition and delivery tools · Stop motion and time lapse capture Matrox RT.X100 lets you use the stop motion feature of Adobe Premiere to perform manual or timelapse single-frame video captures from your analog or digital devices. With stop motion, you can create clay or cartoon animations by capturing a sequence of single-frames to give the illusion of motion. With time lapse, you can capture frames at specified intervals of time to show events that normally last several hours or days in a much shorter period of time.

· Realtime DV output Matrox RT.X100 will output DV to either tape or disk directly from the Adobe Premiere timeline, in real time, without rendering. · Frame-accurate insert edits The Matrox DV export-to-tape module lets you export a complete project, or only a specific part of a project to a specific location on a DV tape. It even lets you do frame-accurate insert edits if your camera or VTR supports this function. You save time because you don't need to reprint your entire project when you make small changes. You can cleanly overwrite the old sections with the new ones.

Realtime MPEG-2 for DVD authoring Matrox RT.X100 greatly simplifies the DVD creation process by integrating audio and video acquisition, realtime editing, graphics creation, realtime MPEG-2 encoding, DVD authoring, and pre-mastering in a single, affordable system. Sonic Solutions DVDit! LE, an easy-to-use DVD authoring application, is included in the Matrox RT.X100 software bundle. · Realtime MPEG-2 IBP capture from analog and DV sources Matrox RT.X100 lets you capture clips in realtime from analog and DV sources directly to MPEG-2 IBP files for immediate use in your DVD authoring program. There is no need to capture video first, then place clips on the timeline to finally export them into the MPEG-2 format. This feature is an invaluable tool when archiving stock footage and projects on digital servers or DVD disks. · Realtime MPEG-2 IBP encoding from the Adobe Premiere timeline Matrox RT.X100 lets you create your DVD video and audio assets by exporting your project directly from the editing timeline in real time.

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Full complement of superior acquisition and delivery tools Accelerated batch encoding of VCD, SVCD, multimedia, and web formats Matrox MediaExport provides hardware-accelerated batch encoding of Windows Media/RealMedia streaming formats and MPEG-1/MPEG-2 multimedia formats with multiple resolutions, bit rates, and frame rates. Ligos GoMotion technology, incorporated into the Matrox MediaExport plug-in for Matrox RT.X100, lets you perform high-quality MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 compression. MPEG-1 is ideal for VCD and CD projects since it allows you to put up to one hour of video on a CD and can be exported from Adobe Premiere at faster-than-realtime speeds. MPEG-2 is used for SVCD and DVD creation. You can also use encoding applications from Discreet, Microsoft, Sorenson, and RealNetworks that are compatible with Matrox RT.X100.

www.matrox.tv free web video hosting www.matrox.tv is a free video hosting site available to all registered Matrox video products users. You can use the site to simplify and speed up the client approval process. Instead of shipping tapes via FedEx or e-mailing monstrous video files, you can quickly upload mockups or finished projects to a private, password-protected area. The link and the password can be sent to one or many viewers, anywhere in the world, so they can watch your video on demand. While watching, viewers can record notes, suggest changes, and leave messages that are then e-mailed to you.

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Complete suite of digital video production tools The Matrox RT.X100 software bundle includes the full version of Adobe Premiere, Sonic Solutions DVDit! LE, and a wide variety of productivity features to make your work faster and easier.

Adobe Premiere like you've never seen before Matrox RT.X100 brings you Adobe Premiere like you've never seen before - better capture tools, fullquality turbo-charged editing, and faster export. The Matrox plug-in for Premiere lets you take full advantage of the powerful RT.X100 hardware for many more realtime features than you get with just software alone. You can create a wide variety of truly unique Flex 3D effects that bring a professional, high-end look to all your video productions. Even simple effects such as picture-in-picture look better because you have more control over parameters such as border style, softness, and drop shadows. Flex 3D effects also improve text and graphics manipulation, giving you much more artistic freedom.

· · · · ·

Better capture tools Realtime composite and Y/C analog capture (page 18) Realtime SinglePass DV scan and capture with Matrox MediaTools (page 18) Single-frame capture for photomontages (page 18) Stop motion and time lapse capture support (page 19) Realtime MPEG-2 IBP capture from analog and DV sources (page 19) Full-quality turbo-charged editing

· · · · · · · · · · ·

More artistic, better-looking professional effects (page 8) Vast array of realtime 3D effects and transitions (page 11) Full-quality, full-resolution, full-frame-rate viewing on your NTSC or PAL monitor Realtime broadcast-quality titling and multiple graphic file format support (page 16) Matrox TurboDV multi-layer compositing engine (page 17) Responsive play, stop, and scrubbing control Smooth spline interpolation of keyframes (page 16) In-context editing (page 16) JKL shortcut key support Audio mixer support 16:9 widescreen support Faster, better export tools

· · · ·

Realtime composite and Y/C analog output (page 18) Realtime DV output with frame-accurate insert edits (page 19) Realtime MPEG-2 encoding for DVD authoring directly from the Adobe Premiere timeline (page 19) Accelerated batch encoding of VCD, SVCD, multimedia, and web formats using Matrox MediaExport (page 20) · Free web video hosting at www.matrox.tv (page 20)

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Complete suite of digital video production tools Sonic Solutions DVDit! LE for DVD authoring With Sonic Solutions DVDit! LE, publishing a DVD is a simple, drag-and-drop process. MPEG-2 clips you create in Adobe Premiere can be imported into DVDit! and linked to buttons that control navigation. With its intuitive user interface and high-powered formatting engine, DVDit! lets you easily create interactive DVD titles.

· Creating your DVD assets You create your video and audio assets by exporting your DV project directly from the Adobe Premiere timeline to DVD-compliant MPEG-2 IBP files in real time. You can also capture from tape directly into an MPEG-2 IBP file for immediate use in your DVD authoring program.

· Authoring your DVD Using DVDit! LE, you combine menus for navigation, video clips, audio tracks, and graphic elements for a complete DVD. You can build your DVD project into a DVD Volume (files on your hard-disk) or burn it directly to a DVD-R or even a CD-R. When you are ready to explore some of the more extensive features that DVD has to offer, you can choose more advanced applications from Sonic Solutions such as DVDit! SE, DVDit! PE, and ReelDVD.

Productivity tools Additional productivity tools are bundled with Matrox RT.X100 to make your work faster and easier. · Matrox MediaTools Matrox MediaTools is a frame-accurate capture and logging application that lets you efficiently manage your DV video footage and capture still images. · Matrox MediaExport Matrox MediaExport provides hardware-accelerated batch encoding of Windows Media/RealMedia streaming formats and MPEG-1/MPEG-2 multimedia formats with multiple resolutions, bit rates, and frame rates.

· Matrox Video-for-Windows software codec The Matrox Video-for-Windows codec lets you read and write RT.X100-compatible DV files using popular digital media applications such as Adobe After Effects, Discreet Combustion, Discreet 3DS MAX, and NewTek LightWave, with or without the RT.X100 hardware installed in your system.

· Matrox WYSIWYG plug-in for Adobe After Effects, NewTek LightWave, and Discreet 3DS MAX Matrox RT.X100 includes a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) plug-in for Adobe After Effects, NewTek LightWave, and Discreet 3DS MAX that lets you see your work directly on a broadcast video monitor. This lets you ensure proper 4:3 or 16:9 aspect ratio in NTSC or PAL, and check for exact color temperature, safe-title area, and any interlace artifacts that may be present in your images.

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Complete suite of digital video production tools · Ligos GoMotion Ligos GoMotion technology, incorporated into the Matrox MediaExport plug-in for Matrox RT.X100, lets you perform high-quality MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 compression. MPEG-1 is ideal for VCD and CD projects since it allows you to put up to one hour of video on a CD and can be exported from Adobe Premiere at faster-than-realtime speeds. MPEG-2 is used for SVCD and DVD creation.

· Sonic Desktop SmartSound Quicktracks SmartSound Quicktracks by Sonic Desktop Software is included with Adobe Premiere. It lets you easily generate custom-length, royalty-free soundtracks for your video projects.

· Pixélan SpiceRack Pixélan Software Video SpiceRack Lite is included with Matrox RT.X100, providing over 150 realtime organic transition patterns.

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Adobe Premiere like you’ve never seen before

Feature Summary

Adobe Premiere software only

Matrox RT.X100 bundle

Capture tools Realtime composite and Y/C analog capture Realtime Single Pass DV scan and capture Stop motion/time lapse capture Realtime MPEG-2 IBP capture from analog and DV sources

NO NO YES NO

YES YES, with Matrox MediaTools YES YES

NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO, linear only NO NO NO

YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES, with Matrox TurboDV YES YES, at www.fxzone.matrox.com

NO NO NO NO

YES YES YES YES

NO NO

YES, with Matrox MediaExport YES, at www.matrox.tv

NO

YES

Realtime effects at online finishing quality Color correction/colorization Automatic white balance Chroma keying Luma keying Smooth slow and fast motion 2D/3D DVEs Masked DVEs Page Curls Blur Particles 3D tiles Distortions Mesh warps Ripples Twirls Cubes Organic wipes 60 native Adobe Premiere transitions Linear- and spline-based keyframing Accelerated multi-layer compositing engine Save and load keyframe sequences Effects exchange community Export features Realtime DV output Frame-accurate insert edits Realtime MPEG-2 IBP encoding Realtime composite and Y/C analog output Accelerated batch encoding of VCD, SVCD, multimedia, and web formats Free web video hosting

Productivity features WYSIWYG support for Adobe After Effects, NewTek LightWave, and Discreet 3DS MAX

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Discover the Power of X THE POWER OF X - THAT'S WHAT WE CALL THE ABILITY OF THE NEW GENERATION OF MATROX PRODUCTS TO LEVERAGE THE SCALABLE POWER OF YOUR CPU WITH THE EXPLOSIVE PERFORMANCE OF DEDICATED HARDWARE FOR THE ULTIMATE REALTIME VIDEO EDITING EXPERIENCE. HERE'S WHY IT'S IMPORTANT… Until recently, dedicated hardware has been required at the heart of every realtime nonlinear editing system because CPUs just weren't up to the demanding task of handling video in real time. Suddenly, with the advent of Gigahertz CPUs, editing software can be made to do some editing operations in real time, without hardware assistance, using just CPU power alone. Software-based editing products hold the promise of being more flexible and more scalable because as CPU speed increases, so does editing performance. On the other hand, dedicated hardware excels at a number of time-consuming functions such as DV and MPEG-2 encoding and 3D effects, which it can do very cost-effectively. The Power of X combines the best of both approaches to deliver peak video editing performance, at a very aggressive price point, without quality compromises. To better understand the relative merits of CPU-based processing and dedicated hardware, seven of the most important aspects of an editing system can be analyzed:

1. ANALOG INPUTS AND OUTPUTS 2.LAYERING FLEXIBILITY 3.EFFECTS DIVERSITY 4.EFFECTS QUALITY 5.EFFECTS RENDERING 6.EXPORT AND DELIVERY 7.INTERFACE RESPONSIVENESS

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X1.

ANALOG INPUTS AND OUTPUTS Some form of add-on hardware is required to bring analog video and audio into a computer. The importance of quality analog input should not be underestimated. Many facilities have stock footage and archives in analog formats and many consumers would like to be able to use VHS, S-VHS, and Hi-8 material in their projects. Analog output is required to record the timeline to any analog tape format. Analog output also provides instant feedback on an NTSC or PAL video monitor so the editor can see title safe areas and any interlacing artifacts that may be present. The exact color temperature of the video can also be seen, which is a must for doing accurate color correction. Due to their inherent implementation, software-only products often limit video playback to the computer monitor. Even with a display adapter that offers TV output of the VGA display, video playback will not be smooth because the output is just a scan-converted copy of what's on the VGA, not true NTSC or PAL video. The Power of X provides input and output versatility and accurate editing using dedicated hardware.

X2.

LAYERING FLEXIBILITY Editors would ideally like to have complete freedom to manipulate clips and effects in any order on any number of layers. Unfortunately, there are limitations with both hardware-based and CPU-based editing platforms. As soon as the user exceeds the realtime resources of the system, rendering is necessary. Hardware-based realtime engines typically rely on a stream-centric, pipelined architecture where the flow of data is fixed and pre-determined. The user works with a fixed set of effects and must follow a set of rules to apply them, but all realtime effects are guaranteed to playback in all situations. CPU-based realtime editing engines can be more flexible in that they offer the ability to assign multiple effects to an unlimited number of layers as long as there is CPU power available. Unfortunately, it's virtually impossible to predict when a segment will play in real time or when there will be dropped frames. Only trial and error will tell. Most editors agree that there is nothing worse than dropping a frame in the middle of a print-to-tape. The Power of X relies on a set of simple realtime rules that always produce predictable results, maximizing realtime performance, minimizing rendering, and preventing dropped frames.

X3.

EFFECTS DIVERSITY Algorithms used to process video have different processing requirements. A simple dissolve requires much less processing than a Gaussian blur, for example. Realtime editing hardware is typically optimized to offer a good selection of effects at a reasonable cost, while software-based products have the ability to implement more effects, but require huge CPU power to perform the more complex ones in real time. Today, simple effects can easily be done at full-resolution in real time with CPU power alone. A fully optimized application might support the use of more demanding effects, but in a limited way. The following table illustrates some of the effects typically used in video editing and their relative processing requirements.

LOW PROCESSING REQUIREMENTS - Text overlay

MEDIUM PROCESSING REQUIREMENTS - Slide transitions

- Dissolve

- Text rolls and crawls

- Wipes

- Basic chroma/luma keying

- Slow-motion

- Advanced color correction

- High-quality bi-cubic and anisotropic filtering to eliminate pixelization during scaling and rotation

- Basic color correction

- Advanced 2D DVE with drop shadows and soft borders

- True 3D DVE (rotation and zoom with sub-pixel motion and antialiasing)

- Complex filters such as blur and lens flare

- Special effects such as page curls, particles, ripples, and 3D geometry

- Basic 2D DVE such as cropping, scaling, and positioning - Simple filters such as emboss and posterization

HIGH PROCESSING REQUIREMENTS - Advanced chroma keying with noise reduction and shadow preservation

- "Faked" 3D (optical illusions, not based on true 3D geometry) - "Canned" 3D (polygons are precomputed with limited customization)

The Power of X uses a combination of CPU-based processing and dedicated hardware to achieve the widest variety of high-quality realtime effects. CPU processing is used for effects requiring individual pixel manipulation such as advanced color correction and chroma/luma keying. Dedicated hardware is used for compositing and true 3D geometric effects with high-quality bi-cubic and anisotropic filtering such as transitions, PiPs, blur, and all the Matrox Flex 3D effects.

X4.

EFFECTS QUALITY Hardware-based realtime engines are typically designed to perform a specific set of effects, at full resolution and full frame rate. With well-designed hardware, the system always works at full quality so the editor sees exactly what the final production will look like. Today's CPUs are not powerful enough to allow software-based realtime engines to perform all the realtime operations editors typically like to do, at full quality. Quality compromises are necessary to provide significant realtime functionality. These compromises are easily noticeable in a production environment but may not be so apparent in a quick demo. The most common compromise in a software-only environment is to work in preview quality at half- or quarter-screen resolution. Another common trade-off is frame rate reduction. In both cases, reducing the pixel count means more effects can be previewed with the same CPU power. Finally, processing-intensive filtering and antialiasing that provide smooth, professional-quality results are omitted. After the last edit, the user must spend the time to render the entire project to see the actual result. The Power of X uses cost-effective dedicated hardware to process many realtime effects at full quality. This frees up CPU bandwidth that is then available to process CPU-based effects at full quality. This ensures that the editor always works at full quality and can make final edit decisions at every step during the editing process. There is no need to render the project to see the final result.

X5.

EFFECTS RENDERING When using a hardware-based editing platform, rendering is only required when a project exceeds the available realtime resources. Even then, a properly designed hardware engine can render very complex segments at full resolution, full quality very quickly. When using a software-only editing product, rendering is always required to obtain a full-quality output of a project. Even very fast CPUs can take a long time to render complex effects, especially when all quality options such as filtering and antialiasing are enabled. The Power of X eliminates rendering on realtime projects and significantly reduces rendering time on complex projects that exceed the realtime capabilities of the system.

X6.

EXPORT TO DV, MPEG-2, MULTIMEDIA, AND WEB FORMATS Hardware can cost-effectively encode a finished project, right from the timeline, to provide realtime DV output and realtime MPEG-2 encoding for DVD authoring. Software-based systems that rely on proxies for realtime editing require a two-step DV export process. First the project must be rendered at finishing quality. Only then, can it be recorded to DV tape. Today's CPUs can do high-quality MPEG-2 encoding if time is not an issue, but quality is often sacrificed for speed to achieve realtime or near-realtime encoding. The Power of X uses dedicated hardware for realtime DV and MPEG-2 encoding, offloading the CPU so more complex segments can be output in real time. It also assists the CPU during multimedia and web encoding by performing YUV-RGB conversions, video filtering, and video scaling.

X7.

INTERFACE RESPONSIVENESS Interface responsiveness is a function of the amount of buffering built into the editing system to ensure smooth playback of the timeline - the more buffering, the longer the delay when the user presses the play or stop buttons, or scrubs the timeline. In a hardware implementation, buffering is based on the number of stages in the codec and effects pipeline. Hardware codecs might introduce 30 frames of delay. Each effects stage introduces additional frames of delay. The number of consecutive effects, rather than their complexity, determines the number of frames of delay. In a software implementation, the buffering is based on the number of frames that must be pre-computed. In this case, the number of effects and their complexity determine the number of frames of delay. Software codecs introduce a negligible delay of less than one frame. The Power of X uses a highly optimized software codec and distributes effects processing between the CPU and dedicated hardware. Each buffer ends up shorter. As both operate in parallel, the total system delay is very short, resulting in a very responsive editing system.

CONCLUSION Both dedicated hardware and CPU-based approaches to realtime editing provide significant benefits. Instead of choosing one over the other, Matrox has combined the best of both in the new generation of products that cost the same or less than software-only editing applications. The Power of X now exploits the full power of the CPU for: - Ultra-fast DV decoding without quality compromises - Smooth slow and fast motion control - Advanced 18 parameter color correction - Advanced chroma keying with shadow preservation, spill removal, and noise reduction The Power of X now exploits the full power of dedicated hardware for: - Realtime DV output - Realtime MPEG-2 encoding - Analog input and output - Compositing and true 3D geometric effects - High-quality bi-cubic and anisotropic effects filtering The Power of X gives users the extra edge to enhance their editing experience, today. As computer platforms get faster in the future, users benefit from the scalable power of the CPU, and they'll still be a step ahead with the extra boost they get from fully optimized hardware.