Matrox RT.X2 realtime editing platform

My review of the Matrox RT.X2

I am not going to comment on every feature or effect. Let's just say that the Matrox RT.X2 does what it is advertised to do.

For a more detailed review of functions, check out the Videoguys site and also look at the RT.X2LE FAQ.  It seemed silly for me to duplicate their efforts. I will just point out a few things I liked, and didn't like.

I checked out the RT.X2 in a system provided by Matrox, but if I was going to buy one, I would probably get the RT.X2LE.  It would fit in my case where the larger RT.X2 would not.

First up, borders on PIPs. Much easier than in Premiere Pro natively. Edge Softness on a crop is so handy I can't believe that Adobe hasn't implemented it yet. But Matrox has.

While color correcting, the split screen capability to see the before and after is much more adjustable than in Premiere Pro natively. Nice touch especially since a simple horizontal or vertical split really doesn't always cover the area of most interest. But even better is the ablility to mask the effect right from within the color corrector. An amazingly fast way to put in backgrounds for lower thirds. Just color correct a small section (without having to make a copy of the clip and apply the correction to that, then crop it).

Also in color correction, the Luma mapping function could be helpful in creating a mask by making any image completely black and white. Nice touch. Color matching between clips is also pretty easy. Secondary color correction is almost magical. All in real time.

The Matrox Speed Control has better than expected frame blending on slow motion. And since it is all real time, experimentation is a lot faster, which means you will spend more time playing with it and less time waiting for it. That might balance out for perfectionists though.

Shadows? I have always gone into After Effects to apply a shadow using an alpha channel for PIPs or logos. The RT.X2 can do that for you in Premiere Pro, and faster/easier than using After Effects.

The same applies to Corner Pinning. No need to go to After Effects for that anymore if you don't need complicated motion tracking.

The softness of the image when using 3D DVE is supposed to be noticeable compared to Matroc Move and Scale. I could not see it. I guess other people have, but I used a pretty sharp picture and compared them side-by-side on an external monitor and could not see the difference.

The Shine effect is powerful, so no need to buy a third party application if you haven't already. It was learning about this effect that I discovered the Matrox effect presets. There is a nice collection of effect presets supplied to help with using effects like Color Correction, Lens Flare, Old Movie and Timecode among others. Starting with these presets can help get you halfway or more toward a goal before you touch a single effect parameter.

I can see where the Blur / Soft Focus effect would be used in almost very wedding video. It is deceptively easy to use. Apply a preset and forget about it. Don't be tempted though. Get in there and make your own presets.

Is Chroma Key really helped by the RT.X2? I think so. I am still a fan of using After Effects Keylight, but the hardware acceleration makes it pretty easy with the RT.X2. And all without leaving Premiere Pro. It is certainly a lot more flexible than the native effect. The Matrox Chroma Key Shadow effect takes a shadow on the green screen (normally a problem) and uses it as a shadow in the effect. Nice touch. Turns a negative into a positive quite easily.

Luma key is improved over the native effect. Great for getting rid of boring or blown out skies.

As of Premiere Pro 3.2.0 there is a bug in the garbage mattes where the clip needs to be rendered in order to see the results properly. At least on my system and some other people's. The Matrox RT.X2 system didn't have that problem. Must be my graphics card? But I expect that to be fixed in CS4 (or new video drivers) anyway. I hope. I don't know how widespread the problem is.

I wish Matrox had made up for Premiere's deficiency. It would be nice to be able to soften the edges of a garbage matte. Submit those feature requests folks!

Matrox Mask, Mask Blur and Mask Mosaic all save time on a very commonly used effects such as blurring out faces, or soft edged dream sequences. The supplied mask shapes are pretty cool, and you can make your own in Photoshop as well. Or convert some you bought from a third party. This is especially handy when sixteen points of a garbage matte are insufficient and when matte animation is not needed.

I wasn't particulary impressed with the Track Matte features until I saw the ease of using animated track mattes as transitions. Can it be done with Premiere Pro natively? Sure. As fast and easy? No way.

The obligatory Page Curls and Page Rolls are provided. I only use such things for Slide Shows, so I didn't spend any time with them. But they can be used in 3D space which makes them more interesting.

More effects I didn't spend any time with, but saw in the training video, are Ripple, Twirl, Crystallize, Cube, Impressionist, Lens Flare, and Sphere. Interesting for some people, just not things I would use a lot. Except, as I said before, for Slide Shows where people find such things interesting.

Old Movie is quite variable and is an often requested feature that Premiere Pro does not have natively. Noise, dusts, streaks, flicker, etc. Handy tool for some people.

Matrox Pan and Scan can be handy for people mixing 4:3 with 16:9 who want 16:9 output. Or, for using 16:9 in a 4:3 project. You can see what you are doing easier than just dumping the 16:9 into a 4:3 project and trying to adjust on the fly. Work with your footage in the original size and use an outline of the proper size and ratio to help get the best part of the image into the frame before exporting to use it in the new project.

The Surface Finish effect is similar to what I normally do with blending modes in After Effects. But this is done with various textures in Premiere Pro. Painting a logo on brick, for example. It is not possible to make my own textures. That should be addressed by Matrox one of these days. It should not be that hard.

Having the RT.X2 makes your Premiere Pro Timecode effect hardware accelerated, so no need to render when you apply timecode. If you use timecode overlay a lot, this could seriously increase your editing speed.

I noticed that when I did render, I could see the current frame advancing on the external monitor, but not in the Program monitor. Interesting. Kind of handy. But Premiere Pro does not do that, probably because it takes processing power to display the screen, while Matrox has power to spare? I don't know, it's just interesting.

Speaking of native Premiere Pro effects, your timeline might initially have the red bar that says you need to render, however, after playing it through the first time, the system may decide to get rid of the red bar, meaning the hardware can handle it without rendering.

About the hardware, the WYSIWYG output of the breakout box to your external monitor is for more than just Premiere Pro. It works with After Effects, Photoshop, Autodesk 3ds Max, Autodesk Combustion and others.

You can ingest over the composite inputs from VHS or Component inputs as well. I used to do this a lot more than I do now, but the RT.X2 saves you from buying an extra tool to do this. Also, it can ingest HD over Component inputs which means you can do some neat things with various HD products. Like DVRs.

Exporting is generally through the Matrox Media Encoder that looks exactly like the Adobe Media Encoder but uses the Matrox hardware to accelerate the export.

Exporting to tape has a bit of an annoyance. You can't use a blank tape. It must be prerecorded (pre-striped), preferably with the lens cap on, to have continuous timecode. I have no idea why that is, but I trust Jeff Pulera when he says it is so. (Edit: I have been told that this is not actually true. Your mileage may vary.)

My suggestion is that you buy the training video "Matrox RT.X2 Revealed" by Jeff Pulera of Digital Vision Productions if you are considering buying the Matrox RT.X2. Learn how to use it, see what it can do, then if you are interested, at least you will be going in with your eyes wide open.

If you already have realtime effects from Cineform, and a graphics card that allows you to see your output on an external monitor in real time, then maybe you will have problems justifying the cost of the Matrox RT.X2.  If you don't have these things already, then perhaps the Matrox RT.X2 is the right product for you.

Just remember, if you expect to beta test new versions of Premiere Pro, you will have to wait until Matrox is ready to use the RT.X2 for those projects. And now and then, you might have to wait on a patch release until Matrox is ready. But all in all, the Matrox RT.X2 does what it is advertised to do. Just make sure your system is up to the task by investigating your hardware on their web site, or using a qualified vendor to purchase a turn-key system.

I can tell you that with all of the features I checked out, I never had a single crash. Not one. Assume that with proper hardware and properly installed software, the system is reliable.

I will be returning the RT.X2 to Matrox shortly after I post this review. So I will not be able to answer too many questions. I will still have the video tutorials but that's about it. According to my contacts at Matrox, your best bet for getting questions answered is to use the Matrox Forums or the Creative Cow forum "Matrox Video Systems".

Check out my review of the training video "Matrox RT.X2 Revealed" by Jeff Pulera of Digital Vision Productions here.