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For more than a year or two, software-based nonlinear editing systems that work with DV-native media have captured the attention of the amateur and video professional alike. Recently, the addition of real-time effects have made them even more enticing. Although realtime effects, FireWire, and DV would seem to be a great mix at a minimum cost, the sad fact is that when these NLEs refer to "real-time" they are only speaking of real-time to the display screen and not to a video monitor or out to the DV deck. The effects still require rendering, because, in spite of all the hoopla about CPU advances, computers generally do not have the bandwidth to do all of these things simultaneously.
Dedicated hardware to handle video input/output and effects processing is still very much in need, if you want professional results. A burgeoning market of DV-based videographers has fueled the R&D at hardware manufacturers to take a look at the advantages that DV can offer. One of these companies is Matrox, who has just released its new RT.X100 for this market. Usually the divide is pretty straightforward: software-based systems use the CPU's horsepower, while hardware-based systems off-load the "heavy lifting" to one or more proprietary PCI cards. The RT.X100 is different, because it employs an architecture that combines the power of the CPU with the hardware power on the board. As a result, if you install the system in a really fast computer, you don't waste the advantages that the computer itself can offer.
RT.X100 And Your Configuration
The RT.X100 system is a $1,099 bundle consisting of the RT.X100 PCI card, a breakout box and software that includes a full version of Adobe Premiere, Matrox Media Tools, broadcast titling utilities, Sonic Solutions DVDit! LE (for DVD authoring) and SmartSound Sonic Desktop. DV 1394 (FireWire), composite analog, and S-video are supported through the card and the breakout box. All video is recorded to the media drives as DV media. The key point is that the real-time effects you see on the screen are final effects and are all available to be viewed or recorded through the digital (1394) and/or analog video ports. No dropping of frames. No resolution reduction.
It is a misnomer that all DV media is the...