Matrox MXO2 LE

Ahmer · Joined: 04 Jul 2005 Posts: 11

We have just bought 2 MXO2 LE based Editing Workstations. We also have other Editing Workstations including Matrox RTX2, AXIO & AXIOLE hardware with Premiere CS v 3.2. All of our workstations are connected with NAS Storage server.

What problems we are facing with MXO2 LE?

1) Matrox MXO2LE only provides two options for Video Capture. Matrox AVI settings only shows MATROX MPEG2 I-Frame and 8 Bit Uncompressed.
Why I can't capture AVI files by using Matrox DV/DVCAM, MATROX DVCPRO, MATROX DVCPRO-50 ?

2) Matrox MXO2LE AVI (PAL) files encoded with LOWER FIELD FIRST while Matrox RTX2/AXIO/AXIOLE enodes SD PAL AVI files with UPPER FIELD FIRST. Why Matrox keep changing the filed Order Upper field first / Lower Field First?

3) Due to huge work load we often capture videos on one Workstation and than import AVIs to another workstation with dissimilar Matrox Hardware. MXO2LE with Premiere C5 based captured AVI files shows RED Render Line in Premiere CS3.2 with AXIOLE, Even the video goes completely blur and flickery.

Help me please.

autumn · Joined: 04 Jul 2005 Posts: 648

Hi Ahmer,

1) Matrox no longer gets involved with the 1394 captures of DV and HDV. You will choose an Adobe DV or HDV preset, capture your files, then open an appropriate Matrox sequence (in same project) to edit those files.

2) I work with NTSC, but I know the Matrox User Guide covers info about the PAL field order issues, please check online.

http://www.matrox.com/video/en/support/windows/mxo2/downloads/doc/release/?version=5.5.1

3) Sorry, no idea.

Please note that Axio, RT.X2, and MXO2 hardware share common drivers and should work well together IF ALL are using CS5. Other combinations of drivers versions, I don't know.

Jeff Pulera
Safe Harbor Computers

Ahmer · Joined: 04 Jul 2005 Posts: 11

Autumn,

Actually you did not get my point. We never use 1394/Firewire. Instead we use SDI with Embeded Audio. NTSC/PAL is not an issue, both are just broadcast video standards and we have PAL.

I am trying to tell to the problem.
Because all of our old editing workstaions (RTX2/AXIO/AXIOLE) have almost identical Matrox Drivers (AXIO Utilities 3.6) and Premiere Pro CS 3.2, We can easily copy paste data from one system to another when required. No Problem at all.

Problem (Can't capture Video using these Encoders (Matrox DVCPRO/DVCPRO-50)

* Create new project >> Matrox SD>> PAL >>DVCPRO.
* VTR with SDI OUT goes into (MXO2 LE Breakout box) SDI IN port.
* Capture setting are.
Matrox X.Link Control.
Video = SDI
Audio = SDI (Embedded Audio)
AVI Format = MATROX MPEG2 IFRAME / Matrox 8-Bit Uncompressed
(Matrox DVCPRO & DVCPRO-50 are not available, As they were available in Premiere CS3)

* MATROX MPEG2 IFRAME takes less disk space but we feel loss in video quality.
* MATROX 8Bit Uncompressed is great but it takes huge disk space.
Why MATROX DVCPRO and DVCPro50 options are not available?

Is there any advantage of installing MATROX VFW SOFTWARE CODEC PACKAGE to increase compatibility between old and new MATROX AVIs ?

autumn · Joined: 04 Jul 2005 Posts: 648

You can't install the Matrox VFW codecs on a machine that has Matrox hardware installed, so not an option. I do feel the reason that the Matrox DV and DVCPRO codecs were dropped is because Matrox no longer is involved in 1394 captures. I understand now that you were using these codecs with different capture inputs, but nevertheless these capture codecs are no longer available.

If you are not happy with the Matrox MPEG-2 I-Frame quality, have you tried increasing the capture data rate?

Thanks

Jeff

Matrox_Support_Sam · Site Admin Joined: 04 Jul 2005 Posts: 5554

Hi Ahmer,

Thank you for the detailed information you provided. We hope to answer your questions as best as possible.

Question #1 - MXO2 drivers do not support these codecs. The DV codecs were available with the Axio and RT.X2 products but no longer with MXO2. You can capture using MXO2's Mpeg2-Iframe SD codec at a 25Mb/sec data rate which would be the same data rate as DVCAM or DVCPRO codecs.

Question #2 - There are two types of Matrox PAL sequences. There is a Matrox PAL sequence using Upper Fields First and a Matrox DV PAL (only) sequence which is in Lower Fields First. This is to accommodate to DV PAL users which in fact capture and work with Lower Fields First.

Question #3 - What MXO2 CS5 AVI format, frame rate and codec are you importing into Premiere CS3.2 (with Axio or RT.X2?)?
What CS5 version are you running for Premiere and MXO2 product?

Hope this information is helpful.
_________________
Regards,
Sam
Matrox Video Technical Support