Non-Linear Systems

Matrox DigiSuite LE

	BCS Price: $4,450.00 ($142.76/mo.) Item #: EQ513093U Condition: USED
Equipment Description: available as analog to digital conversion subsystem or as complete turnkey computer system Model Description: Realtime Video Editing Platform

Equipment Details

Matrox® DigiSuite LE is a highly-integrated, single-slot PCI controller that combines analog video & audio I/O, 2 Motion-JPEG codecs, and realtime A/B roll digital video mixing w/ 2D DVE, 32-bit graphics/digital audio processing & optional SDI I/O module.

See the complete details of this equipment in one of the PDF describing the model.

Additional Information:

MATROX DIGISUITE LE SYSTEM

DIGISUITE LE Card

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DIGISUITE DTV / LE AUDIO CABLE DLITE / XLR / CBL

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Card & Cables for Digisuite LE System

 

The introduction of the DigiSuite LE at NAB 98 marked a commitment from Matrox to bring the market a high quality lower cost powerful realtime editing platform, with almost all of the features and funtionality of it's big brother, Matrox DigiSuite. We reviewed the DigiSuite LE o n an IBM IntelliStation M Pro with a 450 MHz Intel Pentium II processor, 128 MB of RAM and Premiere 5.1 RT. DigiSuite LE is ideally suited for Adobe Premiere 5.1 RT, but also runs with other Windows NT applications like in-Sync Speed Razor RT, Discreet edit*, IMC Incite, and United Media ON-Line Express. With the Matrox DigiSuite LE integrated system we were editing in less than an hour after opening the computer from the shipping box. We were dragging clips from the gallery into the timeline and viewing the results instantly instead of waiting for a movie to be "made".

The DigiSuite LE occupies a single PCI slot leaving room for other boards to be installed on either side of the board. The board features two streams of D1 video with a host of realtime effects, transitions, DVE, and keying capabilities that can be combined in exciting and creative ways. The LE offers the highest Motion-JPEG data rates on the market, exceeding 30 MB per second (both channels combined), capable of 1.3:1 (nearly uncompressed) NTSC/PAL video storage and playback. These features are a must in producing high-end television commercials and other advertising agency work where compression is frowned upon. The LE also offers perfect 48-kHz audio sync, easy NT networkability and many advanced productivity features.

Advanced Realtime Features
DigiSuite LE has two channels of color correction and 2D DVE with high-quality scaling, subpixel motion, and transparent shadow that can be applied to either two video layers or the 32-bit graphics layer. Even when we added more than 2 channels of 2D DVEs we were able to hold down the ALT key and scrub at 100% quality. Using the hardware to compile our section with four 2D DVEs and color correction took seconds not minutes or hours.



LE has an independent fader (transparency) control that is available for all three realtime layers.
Two advanced chroma/luma keyers with chroma suppression, shadow preservation, and anti-alased edges are available.

Hundreds of user-customizable transitions are provided that feature anti-alised edges and soft borders.

The LE offers variable-speed motion layers of video at any rate you choose. This feature is great for special effects or to make a clip "fit to fill" a particular segment of your production.

All of the advanced features of the DigiSuite LE can be applied to each layer independently or simultaneously, and there are no repeat field transitions or other common quality compromises.

Productivity Features
The accelerated print-to-disk feature puts your realtime sequences into an AVI file in less than 3x real time so you can easily convert them into video for the web or MPEG-2 streams for DVD authoring.

When the number of layers in your project exceeds the realtime capabilities of the LE board, it's hardware still speeds up your production. The multi-layer compositing engine lets you quickly build productions with dozens (or even hundreds!) of video/graphics layers with traveling mattes, DVEs, transitions, color correction, keying, and all the other DigiSuite LE effects.

LE provides professional-quality balanced XLR and unbalanced RCA audio input/output. True 48-kHz audio genlocked to video reference ensures perfect synchronization in accordance with SMPTE-272M and AES11-1991.

The DigiSuite LE also offers an optional field-upgradeable digital module that adds serial digital video and AES/EBU digital audio input/output.

Realtime 3D DVE Option
Boris Effects software comes bundled with the LE package for 3D effects. But if you need a realtime hardware-based solution, Matrox currently provides a realtime 3D effects solution based on the Pinnacle's Genie card to create page curls, DVE moves with perspective, and cube roll effects, priced at $5995. They are planning to release a product based on a technology they call "Flex 3D" in the first part of 2000. Matrox states theat Flex 3D is a fully programmable technology that exploits the power of Matrox graphics accelerator chips to produce broadcast-quality 3D video effects.

 

 

System Integration
One of the biggest challenges for PC-based nonlinear editing systems is the ease of integration due to the high performance required to stream video to/from codec, memory, and storage. This over stresses the processor, system bus, and memory throughput resources. Most of today's PCs can easily handle single streams of high-quality video, but realtime dual-stream video systems with audio and graphics can still present challenges.

Matrox designed the DigiSuite LE to minimize the burden on host system resources and make the card work with a wide variety of computer configurations. The DigiSuite LE was designed to minimize the need for PCI bus bandwidth and system memory. Onboard RAM buffers the video to and from the codecs under control of a Matrox custom-designed Application-Specific Integrated Circuit, which also maintains high bandwidth access to PCI. The benefit of this approach is that the compressed video makes only one pass over the PCI bus.

This leaves more than enough PCI bandwidth available for other system functions and eliminates the competition between the CPU and codecs for host memory bandwidth. This creates a system that is more reliable. The video playback is smooth and free of dropped frames, even under the most demanding scenarios. This setup allows for a wider choice of host systems and eliminates the need for tweaking. We tested this by rendering an After Effects project we were working on and went back to using the DigiSuite LE's realtime features without any problems. (what is the link to the system comparison chart?)

DigiSuite 3D Studio MAX plug-in
The DigiSuite 3D Studio MAX plug-in, together with the innovative technology of DigiSuite LE, lets you render high-quality alpha-keyed animations in3D Studio MAX. The plug-in can be used for rendering scenes or Video Post sequences. The plug-in renders your alpha-keyed animation to two DirectShow .avi files. One file is your animation, the other is alpha-key (matte) information stored as a grayscale animation. When you play back your animation using DigiTools, both files are played together in real time and are keyed over selected video source. When the plug-in is installed, it is incorporated into 3DS MAX to keep the .avi rendering process quick and easy. All files created with the plug-in can be used for any 3DS MAX procedure or effect that uses .avi files.

Conclusion
Matrox DigiSuite LE, with the bundled software is a very stable and productive nonlinear editing engine. Production specialists have proven DigiSuite LE reliable and stable in the marketplace for over eighteen months. If you need a reliable stable system with near uncompressed video quality check out the DigiSuite LE.

Matrox http://www.matrox.com/video

ARITCLE LINK: http://www.digitaleditor.com/reviews/digisuitele

Model Details

Matrox DigiSuite LE is the most cost-effective realtime editing platform in the DigiSuite series designed for the broadcast, cable, and post-production markets. If you primarily use Betacam SP equipment, DigiSuite LE is a great solution for you. It features the highest M-JPEG data rates on the market, and captures DV material over the 1394 port into high quality 4:2:2 M-JPEG streams for realtime editing.

Features:

• Available with a complete content creation software suite
• Supports leading third-party software (Adobe Premiere RT, Discreet edit
• In-sync Speed Razor RT, IMC Incite, and United Media On-Line Express)
• M-JPEG data rates exceeding 15MB/sec per stream (30MB/sec combined) are supported (500KB/frame in NTSC and 600KB/frame in PAL; compression ratio of 1.3:1)
• Two simultaneously available DVE processors provide scaling, motion effects, and YUV color correction control for two video streams

Additional Information

MATROX DIGISUITE LE SYSTEM INFO for BCS EQ513093.pdf

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