Matrox Electronic Systems RT-X2 User Manual

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Matrox RT.X2

User Guide

May 27, 2008

Y10979-301-0360

Trademarks

Matrox Electronic Systems Ltd. ....................................... Matrox®, Axio™, DigiSuite™, EZ-MXF™, Flex CPU™, Flex GPU™,

Mx.tools™, RT.X2™

Adobe Systems Inc.......................................................... Adobe

Apple Computer, Inc. ....................................................... Apple

Autodesk, Inc. ................................................................. Autodesk

eyeon Software Inc. ........................................................ Fusion®

International Business Machines Corpora tion .................. IBM

Microsoft Corporation ...................................................... Microsoft®, ActiveMovie®, DirectShow®, DirectX®, Windows®,

NewTek, Inc .................................................................... LightWave 3D

Panasonic (Matsushita Electric Industrial Co.)..................Panasonic®, DVCPRO™, DVCPRO50™, DVCPRO HD™

PCI-SIG ........................................................................... PCI-SIG

RealNetworks, Inc. .......................................................... RealNetworks

Sony Corporation ............................................................ Sony

Victor Company of Japan, Limited (JVC) .......................... JVC™, D-9™, HDV™

All other nationally and internationally recognized trademarks and tradenames are hereby acknowledged.

, After Effects®, Encore®, Flash®, Photoshop®, Premiere®,

Clip Notes™, Soundbooth™

, FireWire™

, 3ds Max®, Combustion

, VGA

Windows Media

,Windows Vista

, PCI Express®, PCIe®, PCI-X®, PCI™

, RealMedia™

, XDCAM®, Blu-Ray Disc™, DVCAM™, HDV™, XDCAM EX™

Disclaimer Matrox Electronic Systems Ltd. reserves the right to make changes in specifications at any time and without notice. The in-

formation provided by this document is believed to be accurate and reliable. However, no responsibility is assumed by Matrox Electronic Systems Ltd. for its use; nor for any infringements of patents or other rights of third parties resulting from its use. No license is granted under any patents or patent rights of Matrox Electronic Systems Ltd. Unauthorized recording or use of broadcast television programming, video tape, or other copyrighted material may violate copyright laws. Matrox Electronic Systems Ltd. assumes no responsibility for the illegal duplication, use, or other acts that infringe on the rights of copyright owners.

Matrox Electronic Systems Ltd. 1055 St. Regis Blvd., Dorval, Quebec, Canada H9P 2T4 Tel: (514) 685-2630 Fax: (514) 685-2853 World Wide Web: www.matrox.com

Contents

Chapter 1

Introducing Matrox RT.X2

Welcome to Matrox RT.X2 ...............................................................2

Matrox RT.X2 SD key features ...............................................................2

Matrox RT.X2 and RT.X2 LE key features ..............................................2

About this manual ............................................................................ 3

Style conventions...................................................................................3

How video formats are expressed ........................................................4

Other documentation .......................................................................4

Chapter 2

Working with .mxf, .mp4, and .avi Files

Working with native .mxf files in Adobe Premiere Pro

and After Effects.............................................................................6

Steps for using .mxf files in your projects ..............................................6

Working with native XDCAM EX (.mp4) files in

Adobe Premiere Pro.......................................................................7

Displaying information for clips in Windows Explorer ......................8

Thumbnails preview ...............................................................................8

Additional file details in Windows XP ......................................................8

Creating Matrox EZ-MXF files for playback with

VFW applications............................................................................9

Panasonic P2 folder structure.............................................................. 10

Creating Matrox EZ-HDV AVI files for playback of

large HDV clips with VFW applications..........................................11

Converting a 32-bit .tga sequence to an .avi file with alpha ......... 12

Chapter 3

Defining Your Adobe Premiere Pro Settings

A note about running other programs with Adobe Premiere Pro.. 16

Setting your system’s volume levels ............................................. 16

For Windows Vista ............................................................................... 16

For Windows XP ...................................................................................17

Loading project presets................................................................. 18

Setting up your scratch disks ........................................................ 19

Displaying warnings in Adobe Premiere Pro’s Events panel..........19

Mixing interlaced and progressive clips in a project......................19

Mixing SD and HD clips in a project .............................................. 20

Defining your General settings .......................................................21

Selecting options for accelerated Premiere Pro effects....................... 24

Specifying your video output settings .................................................. 25

Selecting your DV-1394 output settings ............................................... 27

Defining your Video Rendering settings ........................................ 27

Defining your Capture settings...................................................... 28

Specifying your video capture settings ................................................ 28

Specifying your audio capture settings ................................................ 31

Notes about capturing to Matrox .m2v files ........................................ 34

Capturing HDV material on Matrox RT.X2 SD ............................... 35

Exporting to a Matrox .avi file........................................................ 36

Selecting your MPEG-2 I-frame settings....................................... 39

Selecting your MPEG-2 IBP settings ..............................................41

Exporting using Matrox Media Encoder ........................................ 43

Exporting using Matrox Clip Notes................................................ 44

Setting up Matrox DV/HDV device control .................................... 44

Exporting your sequence to tape .................................................. 45

Preparing your tapes for recording...................................................... 45

Avoiding missing frames when exporting to DV tape .......................... 45

Exporting to DV tape using DV-1394 device control ............................ 46

Creating an SD project in 16:9 format ........................................... 47

Chapter 4

Setting Up Realtime Effects with Adobe Premiere Pro

Available effects ............................................................................ 50

How to apply a Matrox video effect in Adobe Premiere Pro..........51

How to apply a Matrox video transition in Adobe Premiere Pro ....51

Transforming your clip................................................................... 52

Using the transform controls ...............................................................52

Transforming a clip in the Program Monitor......................................... 54

Contents

Cropping your clip..........................................................................55

Using Select Crop ................................................................................56

Applying a mask to your effect ...................................................... 57

Using Select Mask ...............................................................................58

Creating a primary color correction...............................................59

Using Split View ................................................................................... 61

Working with Split View in the Program Monitor .................................. 61

Using RGB curves................................................................................63

Adjusting tonal range ...........................................................................65

Using the color balance graph .............................................................66

Performing an auto balance ................................................................69

Matching colors between two clips ..................................................... 70

Using the luma mapping graph............................................................72

Creating a secondary color correction..........................................74

Using the selective key graph .............................................................. 79

Creating a color pass effect ................................................................84

Creating a 3D DVE effect ...............................................................85

Creating a 4-corner pin effect .......................................................88

Creating a blur/soft focus effect....................................................90

Overview of the chroma key effects.............................................. 91

Creating a chroma key or chroma key shadow effect ..................92

Using the chroma key graph to modify key colors and

perform an auto key ...........................................................................95

Creating a cube effect ...................................................................98

Creating a crystallize effect .......................................................... 101

Creating a garbage matte effect ................................................. 103

Creating an impressionist effect.................................................. 105

Creating a lens flare effect .......................................................... 108

Overview of the luma key effect ................................................... 110

Creating a luma key effect.............................................................111

Using the luma key graph ................................................................... 112

Creating a mask effect ................................................................. 114

Creating a mask blur effect .......................................................... 116

iii

Contents

Creating a mask mosaic effect .................................................... 118

Creating a move & scale effect....................................................120

Creating an old movie effect ........................................................122

Creating a page curl effect ..........................................................126

Creating a pan & scan effect .......................................................128

Creating a ripple effect.................................................................130

Creating a shadow effect .............................................................132

Creating a shine effect .................................................................134

Creating a sphere effect ..............................................................138

Creating a surface finish effect ....................................................140

Creating a track matte effect.......................................................143

Creating a twirl effect...................................................................145

Creating a wipe transition ............................................................146

Using the Matrox chroma clamper effect ....................................148

Selecting your speed control method ..........................................148

About Adobe Premiere Pro’s fixed effects...................................148

Matrox RT.X2 realtime guidelines ................................................149

Supported graphics formats .............................................................. 150

Limitations ......................................................................................... 150

Chapter 5

Using Matrox RT.X2 with Video for Windows Programs

Overview.......................................................................................152

Using VFW programs without the RT.X2 hardware......................152

Before you start rendering ...........................................................153

Selecting color space conversion options ......................................... 154

Rendering material to a Matrox VFW .avi file...............................156

Configuring the Matrox MPEG-2 I-frame codecs ...............................157

Chapter 6

Using the Matrox WYSIWYG Plug-ins

Overview.......................................................................................160

Configuring the Matrox WYSIWYG Control Panel.........................160

Contents

Required steps to use the WYSIWYG plug-ins ............................ 162

Adobe After Effects ........................................................................... 162

Adobe Photoshop.............................................................................. 162

Autodesk 3ds Max............................................................................. 162

Autodesk Combustion ....................................................................... 162

eyeon Fusion ..................................................................................... 162

NewTek LightWave 3D ...................................................................... 163

Chapter 7

Monitoring Your Matrox RT.X2 System

Using X.info to display RT.X2 information .................................... 166

Monitoring your Adobe Premiere Pro memory usage........................ 166

Displaying system information ........................................................... 166

Displaying hardware information........................................................ 168

Monitoring your RT.X2 card’s operating temperatures ...................... 169

Enabling and disabling the Matrox hardware-accelerated effects

in Adobe Premiere Pro ..................................................................... 169

Error notification ................................................................................ 169

Appendix A

Understanding Standard and Advanced Pulldown

Overview ...................................................................................... 172

Standard 2:3 pulldown ................................................................. 172

Matrox RT.X2 implementation of standard reverse pulldown .............173

Advanced 2:3:3:2 pulldown ......................................................... 173

Matrox RT.X2 implementation of advanced reverse pulldown ............174

Appendix B

Matrox RT.X2 Workflows

Overview ...................................................................................... 176

Working with SD “24P” material .................................................. 176

486p @ 23.98 fps workflow example .................................................. 177

Working with HD projects ............................................................ 178

1440 × 1080i/p workflow example.........................................................179

720p workflow example..................................................................... 180

Capturing HDV and SD material to edit in SD on Matrox RT.X2 ... 181

Contents

Capturing HDV and SD material on Matrox RT.X2 SD ..................182

Using the Matrox MPEG-2 I-frame HD codec ..............................183

MPEG-2 I-frame HD codec workflow example for offline editing....... 183

MPEG-2 I-frame HD codec workflow example for online editing....... 185

Using Matrox RT.X2 to edit Matrox Axio offline HD projects........186

Supported video compression formats ........................................ 187

Supported master output formats................................................188

Appendix C

Matrox RT.X2 Customer Support

Getting the most support .............................................................190

Registration ....................................................................................... 190

Keep up to date with our web site .................................................... 190

Contacting us .................................................................................... 190

Appendix D

Matrox RT.X2 Glossary

Glossary of terms .........................................................................192

Index ..................................................................................... 205

Contents

Chapter

Introducing Matrox RT.X2

This chapter outlines some of the features of the Matrox RT.X2 product line, and describes the available Matrox RT.X2 documentation.

Welcome to Matrox RT.X2

Matrox RT.X2 products let you get maximum productivity from Adobe Premiere Pro, and are ideal for corporate communicators, event videographers, project studios, educational facilities, and digital filmmakers. Matrox RT.X2 SD is for users who want to deliver in SD only, while Matrox RT.X2 and RT.X2 LE give you the flexibility to edit, view, and output HDV and SD material.

Matrox RT.X2 SD key features

The following are key features of Matrox RT.X2 SD:

• Realtime multi-layer editing of video, graphics, and effects.

• Realtime Matrox Flex CPU effects, including color correction, speed changes, chroma/luma keying, and many more.

• Realtime and accelerated Matrox Flex GPU effects, including 3D DVEs, blur/glow/soft focus, shine, and many more.

• Native DV/DVCAM, DVCPRO, and MPEG-2 4:2:2 I-frame SD editing.

• Realtime downscaling of HDV 1080i/p clips in an SD project.

• Realtime mixed-format multi-camera editing in an SD project.

• Realtime playback of 32-bit MPEG-2 I-frame SD .avi files with alpha.

• Accelerated media encoding, including export to DVD, Flash Video, and Adobe Clip Notes.

• WYSIWYG plug-ins for many popular compositing and animation programs, such as Adobe After Effects, Adobe Photoshop, and Autodesk Combustion.

• DV-1394, composite, S-Video, and SD analog component video input and output.

Matrox RT.X2 and RT.X2 LE key features

The following are key features of Matrox RT.X2 and RT.X2 LE:

• Realtime, mixed-format, multi-layer workflows that combine HD and SD material from analog and digital sources.

• Realtime Matrox Flex CPU effects, including color correction, speed changes, chroma/luma keying, and many more.

• Realtime and accelerated Matrox Flex GPU effects, including 3D DVEs, blur/glow/soft focus, shine, and many more.

• Native HDV and MPEG-2 4:2:2 I-frame HD editing.

• Native DV/DVCAM, DVCPRO, and MPEG-2 4:2:2 I-frame SD editing.

• Realtime playback of 32-bit MPEG-2 I-frame .avi files with alpha.

Chapter 1, Introducing Matrox RT.X2

• Native .mxf file support for Panasonic P2 (SD and 720p formats) in Adobe Premiere Pro and After Effects.

• Matrox EZ-MXF utility for native .mxf file support in Video for Windows (.avi file) applications.

• Realtime mixed-format multi-camera editing.

• Realtime high-quality hardware downconverting for SD output of an HD project.

• Accelerated media encoding, including export to DVD, Flash Video, and Adobe Clip Notes.

• WYSIWYG plug-ins for many popular compositing and animation programs, including Adobe After Effects, Adobe Photoshop, and Autodesk Combustion.

• DV-1394, composite, S-Video, and SD/HD analog component video input and output.

• Full-resolution DVI output for previewing the video output on a DVI monitor that accepts digital input, such as an inexpensive digital flat-panel display. (Not supported on RT.X2 LE.)

About this manual

This manual explains how to use Matrox RT.X2 with the provided Matrox software, including how to use your RT.X2 system with Adobe Premiere Pro.

¦NoteThroughout the Matrox RT.X2 documentation, the term “RT.X2” refers

to RT.X2, RT.X2 LE, and RT.X2 SD, unless indicated otherwise.

Style conventions

The following style conventions are used in this manual:

• When an operation is different between Windows Vista and Windows XP, the operating system is displayed in brackets after the operation. For example, right-click

• The names of files, directory paths, and manuals appear in italics. For example:

$ The data is stored in the sample.wav file.

$ The file is located in your C:\Windows\System directory.

$ Please refer to your Matrox RT.X2 Installation Manual.

• Menus and commands that you need to choose are displayed in the form

Menu > Command. For example, File > Save means click File in the

menu bar, then click

• The names of keys are displayed in small capital bold letters, such as the

CTRL key.

Computer (Vista) or My Computer (XP).

Save in the menu that appears.

About this manual

• A plus (+) sign is used to indicate combinations of keys and/or mouse operations. For example:

$ CTRL+C means to hold down the CTRL key while pressing the C key.

$ SHIFT+click means to hold down the SHIFT key while you click an item

with the mouse.

How video formats are expressed

With the exception of NTSC and PAL, all SD and HD video formats are expressed in the Matrox RT.X2 documentation and dialog boxes as follows:

VRp or i @ n fps

Where:

• VR is the vertical resolution. For 1440×1080 video, however, both the horizontal and vertical resolutions are specified.

• p or i represents either progressive or interlaced video.

• @ n fps is the frame rate in frames per second.

Here are some examples:

• 486p @ 23.98 fps Represents 720× 486 progressive video at 23.98 frames per second.

• 720p @ 59.94 fps Represents 1280×720 progressive video at 59.94 frames per second.

• 1440x1080i @ 29.97 fps Represents 1440×1080 interlaced video at 29.97 frames per second. This format is used for HDV 1080i material.

• 1080i @ 29.97 fps Represents full-size 1920×1080 interlaced video at

29.97 frames per second.

Working with .mxf, .mp4, and .avi Files

This chapter shows you how to work with .mxf, .mp4, and .avi files on Matrox RT.X2.

Working with native .mxf files in Adobe Premiere Pro and After Effects

¦NoteMatrox RT.X2 SD does not support working with .mxf files.

Matrox RT.X2 supports the MXF file format, which allows you to use .mxf files that are created with the Panasonic P2 camera (in SD and 720p formats) directly in Adobe Premiere Pro and After Effects without having to convert the files to the traditional AVI file format.

¡ Important When using a Panasonic P2 camera to shoot material at 486p @

23.98 fps for use with Matrox RT.X2, you must set the camera to Advanced mode (486/24pA).

Steps for using .mxf files in your projects

1 Connect your Panasonic P2 device to your Matrox RT.X2 computer as per

your device’s instructions.

¦NoteIf you have a PCMCIA card reader in your computer, you can use it

to load your P2 memory card for use with Matrox RT.X2. However, the device must show up in Windows as a drive.

2 You can either edit directly from the P2 device or from the computer’s hard

drive. If you choose to edit your .mxf clips from the computer, copy the Panasonic P2 folder structure to your computer’s hard drive. For information regarding the Panasonic P2 folder structure, see “Panasonic P2 folder

structure” on page 10.

3 Import the native .mxf files into Adobe Premiere Pro’s Project panel like any

other file. To help you select your shots you can enable thumbnail view, and add details for your .mxf files in Windows Explorer, or Premiere Pro’s

Import or Get Properties dialog box. For more information on displaying

.mxf file information, see “Displaying information for clips in Windows

Explorer” on page 8.

4 Edit your project with the native .mxf files from the Project panel, applying

effects, and mixing the .mxf files with other clips as you see fit.

5 Add Adobe After Effects compositing with a simple copy and paste or

import the .mxf files into After Effects and edit them as you see fit.

¦NoteMatrox RT.X2 does not support exporting to an .mxf file.

Chapter 2, Working with .mxf, .mp4, and .avi Files

Working with native XDCAM EX (.mp4) files in Adobe Premiere Pro

¦NoteMatrox RT.X2 SD does not support XDCAM EX files.

Matrox RT.X2 supports realtime playback of Sony XDCAM EX 1080i/p and 720p .mp4 files in Adobe Premiere Pro. Both 1080i/p HQ-mode (1920× 1080) and 1080i/p SP-mode (1440×1080) clips are supported in your 1080i/p projects, and will be automatically scaled to your project’s frame size as needed. For example, when you import XDCAM EX 1080i @ 29.97 fps HQ-mode (1920× 1080) clips to a 1440×1080i @ 29.97 fps project, the clips are automatically downscaled to 1440×1080. Realtime downscaling of XDCAM EX 1080i/p SP-mode clips in SD projects is also supported as explained in “Mixing

SD and HD clips in a project” on page 20.

¦NoteInstead of importing XDCAM EX clips directly to your Adobe Premiere

Pro projects, you should copy the clips from your XDCAM EX device to your computer’s hard drive.

Working with native XDCAM EX (.mp4) files in Adobe Premiere Pro

Displaying information for clips in Windows Explorer

Matrox RT.X2 extends the functionality of Windows Explorer by allowing you to easily view and manage your .mxf and .avi files by providing thumbnail previews (Vista and XP) and additional file details (XP only).

¦NoteYou can view thumbnails and additional details for .mxf and .avi files in

any application where you can choose the thumbnails or details view, such as Adobe Premiere Pro’s

Thumbnails preview

Matrox RT.X2 allows you to view thumbnails of .mxf and .avi files in Windows Explorer. The thumbnail will display the first frame of the clip. Without Matrox RT.X2, only the default Windows icon would appear. In a folder containing .mxf or .avi files, enable the thumbnails view as follows:

Import dialog box.

• In Windows Vista, choose

Large Icons, except Small Icons.

¦NoteIn Windows Explorer, ensure that Always show icon, never

thumbnails

• In Windows XP, choose

is cleared in Organize > Folder and Search Options > View.

View > Tiles or any of the icon options, such as

View > Thumbnails.

Additional file details in Windows XP

On a Windows XP system, Matrox RT.X2 lets you add additional details for .mxf and .avi files in Windows Explorer.

°To add clip details in Windows Explorer:

1 Start Windows Explorer, and ensure that the details view is selected for the

appropriate folder by choosing

View > Details.

Chapter 2, Working with .mxf, .mp4, and .avi Files

2 Choose View > Choose Details.

3 In the Choose Details dialog box, select the check boxes corresponding to

the desired “Matrox” or “Matrox P2” details. Detail names followed by “Matrox P2” are specific to Panasonic P2 files (for example, User Clip Name, Shooter, Shooting Location, and Scene No.).

4 Click OK.

5 To apply the change to all folders, choose Tools > Folder Options >

View > Apply to All Folders

Creating Matrox EZ-MXF files for playback with VFW applications

¦NoteThe Matrox EZ-MXF utility is not available on RT.X2 SD because

Matrox RT.X2 SD does not support .mxf files.

Many animation, compositing, and motion graphics applications used by video editors read Video for Windows (VFW) .avi files, but these applications are not designed to read .mxf files. The Matrox EZ-MXF utility creates a very small reference .avi file, along with the associated mono .wav files, from an .mxf file without modifying the contents of your original .mxf file or its metadata. Your VFW application plays the created .avi and .wav files, which reference the original .mxf file.

Remarks

• Windows Media Player does not support .mxf files. You can therefore use the Matrox EZ-MXF utility to create reference .avi and .wav files for your .mxf files that you want to play back using Windows Media Player.

Creating Matrox EZ-MXF files for playback with VFW applications

•For .mxf files that have a frame size of 1440×1080, the created reference .avi files will have a frame size of 1920×1080 and a 1.333 pixel aspect ratio. To display these .avi files correctly in Adobe After Effects or Adobe Premiere Pro, you’ll need to use the

Interpret Footage command to change the pixel

aspect ratio to 1.0.

You can configure Matrox EZ-MXF to create only video files, only audio files, or both types of files. By default, Matrox EZ-MXF is set to create both video and audio files.

°To create Matrox EZ-MXF files:

1 In Windows Explorer, right-click the desired .mxf file (or selected files), and

choose

2 In the Configure Matrox EZ-MXF AVI dialog box, specify the type of files

you want to create (video and/or audio), and click

¦NoteThe file type settings will remain in effect until you change them.

Matrox EZ-MXF AVI > Configure.

OK.

3 Right-click the desired .mxf file (or selected files), and choose Matrox

EZ-MXF AVI > Create

. The reference .avi and .wav files are created as per

the folder structure for Panasonic P2 as explained in the next section.

¡ Important Once the Matrox EZ-MXF files are created, do not change the

location or name of the referenced .mxf files or your VFW program won’t be able to locate your .mxf material. If this occurs, Matrox RT.X2 will display an appropriate error message.

Panasonic P2 folder structure

Panasonic P2 files are organized in a specific folder structure as follows:

Chapter 2, Working with .mxf, .mp4, and .avi Files

When you select an .mxf file in the VIDEO folder, Matrox EZ-MXF looks for any associated audio .mxf files in the AUDIO folder, and creates the reference .avi and associated .wav files in the VIDEO folder. For example, if you select the file 00001A.mxf from the VIDEO folder, the reference .avi file (00001A.avi) and all associated audio files, such as 00001A00.Mono.wav and 00001A01.Mono.wav, will be created in the VIDEO folder. For more information on the P2 naming convention and folder structure, see your Panasonic P2 documentation.

¦NoteIf you select an audio .mxf file from the AUDIO folder, only the mono

.wav file will be created, and it will be in the AUDIO folder.

Creating Matrox EZ-HDV AVI files for playback of large HDV clips with VFW applications

The file size limit for playing back HDV .avi files in VFW applications is 2 GB. For example, when you play back a large HDV .avi file in Adobe After Effects, the clip stops playing at the 2-GB point. To overcome this limitation, you can use the Matrox EZ-HDV AVI utility to create small .avi files, and the associated mono .wav files, that reference your large HDV clips. These reference HDV .avi and .wav files will play back completely in your VFW application.

¦NoteFor HDV clips that have a frame size of 1440× 1080, the created

reference HDV .avi files will have a frame size of 1920× 1080 and a 1.333 pixel aspect ratio. To display these files correctly in Adobe After Effects or Adobe Premiere Pro, you’ll need to use the pixel aspect ratio to 1.0.

You can configure Matrox EZ-HDV AVI to create only video files, only audio files, or both types of files. By default, Matrox EZ-HDV AVI is set to create both video and audio files.

Interpret Footage command to change the

°To create Matrox EZ-HDV AVI files:

1 In Windows Explorer, right-click the desired HDV .avi file (or selected

files), and choose

2 In the Configure Matrox EZ-HDV AVI dialog box, specify the type of files

you want to create (video and/or audio), and click

Creating Matrox EZ-HDV AVI files for playback of large HDV clips with VFW

Matrox EZ-HDV AVI > Configure.

OK. The created reference

files will be named Filename_Ref.avi, Filename_Ref.Mono1.wav, and Filename_Ref.Mon2.wav. For example, if you’re creating both video and audio files for a file named Demo.avi, your reference files will be named Demo_Ref.avi, Demo_Ref.Mono1.wav, and Demo_Ref.Mono2.wav (only mono reference .wav files can be created for stereo HDV clips).

¦NoteThe file type settings will remain in effect until you change them.

3 Right-click the desired HDV .avi file (or selected files), and choose Matrox

EZ-HDV AVI > Create

the same folder as your source .avi files.

¡ Important Once the Matrox EZ-HDV AVI files are created, do not change the

location or name of the referenced HDV .avi files or your VFW program won’t be able to locate your original HDV clips. If this occurs, Matr display an appropriate error message.

. Your reference .avi and .wav files will be created in

ox RT.X2 will

Converting a 32-bit .tga sequence to an .avi file with alpha

Matrox RT.X2 allows you to create a single .avi file with alpha from a 32-bit .tga sequence. The created .avi file will contain the alpha-key information, which means that when you place the file on the timeline in Adobe Premiere Pro, the clip will be automatically keyed. Having only one file simplifies management and makes it easier to include the composition in your final edit.

¦NoteYou can convert 32-bit uncompressed or RLE-compressed .tga files to an

.avi file with alpha.

When selecting only one .tga file, the program automatically detects other files with the same base name in the same folder (for example, demo001.tga, demo002.tga, etc.), and uses these files to create the .avi file. When multiple .tga files are selected, only the selected files will be taken to build the .avi file. The

.avi file will be created with the following naming convention:

Base Name_Compressor_Output Format.avi

For example, if the base name for your converted .tga sequence is demo, the compressor is

NTSC 4:3, the created .avi file will be named

demo_MPEG-2_I-frame_NTSC_4_3.avi.

You can create HD and SD .avi files with alpha in Matrox MPEG-2 I-frame format. On Matrox RT.X2 SD, however, only the SD files are supported.

Chapter 2, Working with .mxf, .mp4, and .avi Files

Matrox MPEG-2 I-frame+ Alpha, and the output format is

°To create an .avi file with alpha from a .tga sequence:

1 In Windows Explorer, right-click the selected .tga file(s), choose Matrox

AVI + Alpha

format, such as

> Select Format, and then click the desired .avi output video

1440x1080i @ 29.97 fps.

¦NoteFormats that are not supported by your Matrox RT.X2 hardware are

identified with an asterisk (*) in the list. If you create an .avi file using an unsupported format, it will not play back in real time on your Matrox RT.X2 system.

2 Right-click the selected .tga file(s), and choose Matrox AVI + Alpha >

Configure

¦NoteOnce set, the output format and configuration settings apply to all

subsequent .tga sequences that you convert to .avi files. However, if you select a 1440× 1080i/p output format, the compressor for the .tga to .avi conversion will automatically be set to

Matrox MPEG-2 I-frame HD + Alpha.

3 From the Compressor list, select the compression format you want for your

.avi file.

¦NoteAlthough the Matrox uncompressed formats are available, you cannot

play back uncompressed clips in real time on your Matrox RT.X2 system.

$ Matrox MPEG-2 I-frame + Alpha Renders video to MPEG-2

intra-frame format with alpha using the 4:2:2 Profile @ Main Level at a selected data rate (SD resolution only).

$ Matrox MPEG-2 I-frame HD + Alpha Renders video to MPEG-2

intra-frame format with alpha using the 4:2:2 Profile @ High Level at a selected data rate (HD resolution only).

Converting a 32-bit .tga sequence to an .avi file with alpha

4 Click the Configure button to specify various options for the MPEG-2

I-frame compression. The configuration options are the same as when you capture or export video using Adobe Premiere Pro (see “Selecting your

MPEG-2 I-frame settings” on page 39).

5 Under Destination Folder, either select Same folder as TGA, or click

Browse to specify where the .avi file will be created. Select Overwrite existing file

if you want to overwrite any .avi file with the same name in the

specified folder.

6 Right-click the selected .tga file(s), and choose Matrox AVI + Alpha >

Convert to AVI

Chapter 2, Working with .mxf, .mp4, and .avi Files

Chapter

Defining Your Adobe Premiere Pro

Settings

This chapter explains how to define various settings for using Matrox RT.X2 with Adobe Premiere Pro. This includes specifying your project and export settings.

A note about running other programs with Adobe Premiere Pro

For the best performance, you shouldn’t run any other programs at the same time as Adobe Premiere Pro. If you choose to do so, however, make sure that you start Adobe Premiere Pro and open your Matrox RT.X2 project before starting the other programs. Otherwise, Adobe Premiere Pro may fail to start. If this happens, quit all programs and then restart Adobe Premiere Pro.

¥Tip When Adobe Premiere Pro is running, you can monitor your Adobe

Premiere Pro memory usage. To do this, hold your mouse pointer over the Matrox X.info ( ) icon. For details on using Matrox X.info, see Chapter 7,

“Monitoring Your Matrox RT.X2 System.”

Setting your system’s volume levels

To properly capture and play back audio in Adobe Premiere Pro, make sure you’ve set appropriate recording and playback volume levels for your system as follows:

For Windows Vista

1 Right-click the speaker icon on the Windows taskbar and choose Playback

Devices

¥Tip If you don’t see the speaker icon, right-click the Windows taskbar and

choose click

2 From the list of available devices, double-click the device that you want to

use with your Matrox RT.X2 system.

3 Click the Levels tab, and for each of the controls (Line-in, Microphone,

etc.) make sure the volume slider is at an appropriate level, such as at midpoint. As well, make sure that each control is not muted.

¦NoteIf you have an active audio stream connected to an input on your audio

card via the RT.X2 breakout box, you must mute the input to avoid hearing the audio when you’re not working in Premiere Pro.

Properties, click the Notification Area tab, select Vo lu me , and

OK.

4 Click OK, and click the Recording tab.

5 From the list of available devices, double-click the device (input) that you

want to use as the audio source, such as system.

6 Click the Levels tab, and make sure the volume slider is at an appropriate

level, such as at midpoint.

Chapter 3, Defining Your Adobe Premiere Pro Settings

Line-in, with your Matrox RT.X2

7 Repeat steps 5 and 6 for every audio input source that you intend to use with

your Matrox RT.X2 system. For example, if you intend on recording audio from a microphone, set the volume levels for the

8 Click OK.

9 Click OK to close the dialog box.

Microphone input.

For Windows XP

1 Double-click the speaker icon on the Windows taskbar.

¥Tip If you don’t see the speaker icon on your Windows taskbar, run

Sounds and Audio Devices from the Windows Control Panel, select Place volume icon in the taskbar

2 Choose Options > Properties.

3 From the Mixer device list, make sure that the audio device you want to use

with your Matrox RT.X2 system is selected.

4 Select the Playback option, then select all check boxes in the list. Click OK.

5 For each of the controls (Line-in, Wave , etc.), make sure the Vol um e sliders

are at an appropriate level, such as at half-level. As well, clear all the check boxes.

¦NoteIf you have an active audio stream connected to an input on your audio

card via the RT.X2 breakout box, you must mute the input to avoid hearing the audio when you’re not working in Premiere Pro.

, then click OK.

Mute

6 Choose Options > Properties.

7 Select the Recording option, then select all check boxes in the list. Click

OK.

8 For each of the controls (Line-in, Microphone, etc.), make sure the

Vol ume sliders are at an appropriate level, such as at half-level. As well, if

available, clear all the

9 Close the dialog box.

Mute check boxes.

Setting your system’s volume levels

Loading project presets

The Matrox realtime plug-in for Adobe Premiere Pro includes project presets that you can load to immediately apply appropriate Matrox RT.X2 settings. For more information about using the Matrox project presets for working with different types of projects, see Appendix B, “Matrox RT.X2 Workflows.”

°To load a Matrox project preset:

1 Start Adobe Premiere Pro and click the New Project icon. The New

Project

2 From the appropriate Matrox folder (Matrox - SD to create an SD project,

or type of project you want to create. For example, if you want to create an NTSC project in which you’ll capture clips to DV/DVCAM format and work in a standard 4:3 editing environment, expand the folders under

Remarks

$ Matrox RT.X2 SD supports creating SD projects only. Therefore, the

$ Matrox HD presets are provided for capturing HDV material. Make sure

3 From the Location list, select where you want to save the project on your

A/V drive.

4 In the Name box, specify a name for your project.

5 Click OK to apply the settings.

dialog box appears.

Matrox - HD to create an HD project), select the preset that matches the

Matrox - SD, then select the DV preset.

Matrox HD presets are not available on RT.X2 SD.

you select the appropriate preset for your HDV footage, such as the

1440x1080i 29.97 fps HDV

1080/60i format, or the footage was shot in Sony 1080/50i format. On RT.X2 SD, you can capture HDV material in an SD project as explained in “Capturing HDV material

on Matrox RT.X2 SD” on page 35.

NTSC and Standard

Matrox

preset if your footage was shot in Sony

Matrox 1440x1080i 25 fps HDV preset if your

Chapter 3, Defining Your Adobe Premiere Pro Settings

Setting up your scratch disks

When specifying the location of your scratch disks in Adobe Premiere Pro, make sure you follow the recommendations in your Adobe Premiere Pro User Guide. For example, always store your video and audio files on an A/V drive.

°To specify your scratch disks:

1 Choose Edit > Preferences > Scratch Disks.

2 Under Scratch Disks, select an appropriate A/V drive letter for each scratch

disk type.

¥Tip To enhance performance, store your media cache files on a drive

separate from your video files.

3 Click OK to save your preferences.

¡ Important Make sure that you specify the same scratch disk settings for all

your projects. This will help shorten the amount of time it takes to open new or existing projects.

Displaying warnings in Adobe Premiere Pro’s Events panel

Matrox RT.X2 uses Adobe Premiere Pro’s Events panel to issue certain error messages and warnings. To display these, choose information about using the documentation.

Events panel, see your Adobe Premiere Pro

Window > Events. For more

Mixing interlaced and progressive clips in a project

When editing on Matrox RT.X2, you can mix interlaced and progressive clips in the same project, as long as the clips have the same frame size and frame rate. Both the interlaced and progressive clips will play back in real time. For example, when working in an NTSC project you can import NTSC clips as well as 486p @

29.97 fps clips, and 1440×1080p @ 29.97 fps clips to which you’ve applied realtime scaling as explained in “Mixing SD and HD clips in a project” on page 20.

You should be aware, however, that when you apply effects to clips that have a scanning mode (progressive or interlaced) that doesn’t match your project, some undesirable artifacts may appear in your clips.

Setting up your scratch disks

Mixing SD and HD clips in a project

Matrox RT.X2 supports realtime playback of SD clips in an HD project, and HD clips in an SD project. To do this, however, the clips must be scaled to your project’s frame size. If you want the scaling to be performed when you import the clips into your project, choose

Default scale to frame size. This option does not affect clips that have already

been imported into your project. To scale individual clips in a sequence, right-click the clip in the

Because you can also mix interlaced and progressive clips that have the same frame size and frame rate in a project, when you apply realtime scaling to a clip it will play back in real time even if the clip’s scanning mode (interlaced or progressive) doesn’t match your project.

Depending on your project’s video format, realtime scaling of clips is supported as shown in the following table:

Project video format Supported realtime scaling of clips

NTSC Downscale 1440 ×1080i/p @ 29.97 fps

PAL Downscale 1440 ×1080i/p @ 25 fps

486p @ 23.98 fps Downscale 1440 ×1080p @ 23.98 fps

486p @ 29.97 fps Downscale 1440 ×1080i/p @ 29.97 fps

576p @ 25 fps Downscale1440 ×1080i/p @ 25 fps

1440 × 1080i @ 25 fps Upscale PAL and 576p @ 25 fps

1440 × 1080i @ 29.97 fps Upscale NTSC and 486p @ 29.97 fps

1440 × 1080p @ 23.98 fps Upscale 486p @ 23.98 fps

1440 × 1080p @ 25 fps Upscale PAL and 576p @ 25 fps

1440 × 1080p @ 29.97 fps Upscale NTSC and 486p @ 29.97 fps

Edit > Preferences > General and select

Timeline panel and choose Scale to Frame Size.

Remarks

Realtime scaling is not supported for the following:

$ Matrox offline HD clips.

$ Matrox .avi files with alpha.

$ Sony XDCAM EX 1080p @ 23.98 fps SP-mode (1440×1080) .mp4 files

in an SD project.

$ Sony XDCAM EX 1080i/p HQ-mode (1920× 1080) .mp4 files in an SD

project.

Chapter 3, Defining Your Adobe Premiere Pro Settings

Defining your General settings

The Matrox Playback Settings dialog box has several pages that you can use to specify various settings for editing in Adobe Premiere Pro on Matrox RT.X2. When you select a Matrox project preset, such as editing mode is automatically set for your project, and many settings are optimized for editing on Matrox RT.X2.

°To specify your General settings on Matrox RT.X2:

1 Choose Project > Project Settings > General and click the Playback

Settings

2 Click the General tab.

button.

DV Standard, a Matrox

3 Under Scrubbing Mode, select Frame, 1st Field, or 2nd Field to indicate

whether you want to display frames or only one field when you scrub a sequence in the

Timeline panel. For example, you may want to scrub the

first or second field to eliminate the flickering that can be seen in your picture when you pause while scrubbing interlaced video. Scrubbing fields can also be used to check for any dropped fields that may have occurred in your video during a telecine process.

¦NoteIf you choose to scrub fields when working with progressive scan

video, you won’t normally see a difference between scrubbing the first or second field.

Defining your General settings

4 Under Video Luma Level, select the type of processing that you want to be

applied to luminance levels in your video when rendering and previewing video in a sequence:

$ Broadcast Processes video using the standard legal range of luminance

levels for broadcast video. Any super black or super white luminance levels (that is, levels that fall below the standard black level or exceed the standard white level) are clipped.

$ Post Production Processes video for post production. Any super black

or super white luminance levels in your video are retained.

5 Under Error Reporting, select Report dropped frames on playback if

you want to be warned each time frames are dropped when you play back video from the

Timeline panel. Otherwise, clear this option.

¦NoteOnce playback of the sequence has stopped, a red bar will appear over

segments of the sequence that have dropped frames (even if you don’t choose to report dropped frames).

6 Under Frame Hold, select Enable Frame Hold if you want to use Adobe

Premiere Pro’s Frame Hold to freeze on a particular frame of a clip in a sequence. When you do this, any Frame Hold effects applied to your clips will require rendering. If you’ve selected

Enable Frame Hold and

encounter repeated frames when playing back nested sequences or clips with negative speed changes, or you find that segments are identified with a red bar that don’t actually require rendering, you can clear this option. When you do this, however, any Frame Hold effects you’ve applied will be ignored.

7 Under Premiere Pro Accelerated Effects, you can select various options

for your realtime/accelerated Premiere Pro effects. For example, you can choose to disable certain features and specify how you want your Motion effects to be processed. For details, see “Selecting options for accelerated

Premiere Pro effects” on page 24.

8 Under Realtime Indicator Threshold, drag the slider to set the threshold at

which Matrox RT.X2 determines that a segment in the

Timeline panel is

realtime. Drag to the left to set a lower (safer) threshold, or to the right to set a higher (more aggressive) threshold. For example, if you find that Matrox RT.X2 does not identify any segments as being non-realtime (that is, with a red bar) and you have dropped frames when you export your project to tape, you can set a safer threshold to force more segments to require rendering and avoid having dropped frames. Alternately, if you find that some segments are identified with a red bar but they don’t have dropped frames, you can set a more aggressive threshold.

9 Under Audio Conform/Waveform File Creation, indicate whether or not

you want audio conform and .pek (waveform) files to be created when you import clips to your project:

Chapter 3, Defining Your Adobe Premiere Pro Settings

$ Create audio conform and PEK files Creates both audio conform and

.pek files.

$ Create PEK files Creates only the .pek files (audio conform files won’t

be created).

You can clear either one or both of these options to indicate that you don’t want audio conform and/or .pek files to be created for clips imported into your project (files may still be created for certain types of clips). This provides faster editing of your project immediately after importing clips because resources aren’t being used for the file generation. However, because Premiere Pro needs the .pek files to draw the audio waveforms for your clips, you won’t see the waveforms in the

Timeline panel.

¦NoteDepending on the content of your project, choosing not to create audio

conform files may cause dropped frames. For any change to these options to take effect, you’ll need to restart Premiere Pro and open your project again.

10 Under Sequence Playback, clear Postroll after stop if you don’t want any

postroll when you stop the playback of a sequence. When you do this, the playback will stop at the current-time indicator, and you’ll see a slight jump in the video output when the playback stops (but the correct frame will be displayed).

11 Under A/V Sync Adjustment, drag the slider to adjust the A/V

synchronization of clips played back in a sequence. If your audio starts later than the associated video, increase the A/V sync value. Alternately, if your audio starts before the associated video, decrease the A/V sync value. Be aware that if you decrease the value too much, you may experience audio crackling.

12 Under Memory Usage, select Optimize memory usage to reduce the

amount of system memory that Matrox RT.X2 allocates to work with your project. Although this optimizes memory usage, the changes in memory management could affect realtime performance depending on the content of your project. If you experience dropped frames, try clearing this option to see if the performance improves.

13 Under Matrox RT.X2 Splash Screen, select Disable splash screen

display

if you don’t want the Matrox RT.X2 splash screen to be displayed on your computer and video monitors when you first open your project after starting Premiere Pro. Select

Disable splash screen audio if you’d like to

disable the audio associated with the Matrox RT.X2 splash screen.

14 Click OK to save your settings and return to the Project Settings dialog

box.

Defining your General settings

Selecting options for accelerated Premiere Pro effects

To select your options for processing accelerated Premiere Pro effects on Matrox RT.X 2 :

1 Choose Project > Project Settings > General and click the Playback

Settings

2 Click the General tab.

3 Under Premiere Pro Accelerated Effects, select the options you want:

$ Disable accelerated scaling to frame size Select this if you want to

$ Disable accelerated transitions Select this if you’d like to disable the

$ Accelerate Motion using Select this if you’d like realtime/accelerated

button.

disable the realtime playback of clips that are scaled to your project’s frame size as explained in “Mixing SD and HD clips in a project” on page 20. When you apply a DVE or other effect that resizes a realtime scaled clip, the full-screen image is resized, including any letterbox or pillarbox black bars. By disabling the accelerated scaling to frame size, any black bars in your scaled clips will become transparent, but your scaled clips will require rendering.

realtime/accelerated playback of Premiere Pro transitions that support this feature. Because Matrox RT.X2 emulates Premiere Pro’s non-realtime version of these transitions, if you don’t like the emulation you can disable the accelerated transitions to revert to Premiere Pro’s non-realtime version that requires rendering.

playback of Premiere Pro Motion effects. You can then select one of the following to determine how you want the Motion effects to be processed:

• Matrox move & scale Maps the Motion effects to the Matrox

CPU-based move & scale effect, which gives the best results if you only want to create picture-in-picture effects without rotation. If you apply rotation when you set up a Motion effect, it will require rendering.

• Matrox 3D DVE Maps the Motion effects to the Matrox

hardware-accelerated 3D DVE effect, which supports rotation. The picture, however, won’t be as sharp as when you map the Motion effects

Chapter 3, Defining Your Adobe Premiere Pro Settings

to the Matrox move & scale effect. You can map to the Matrox 3D DVE effect only if you have a display card that supports the Matrox hardware-accelerated effects. For more information, see “Enabling and

disabling the Matrox hardware-accelerated effects in Adobe Premiere Pro” on page 169.

4 Click OK to save your settings and return to the Project Settings dialog

box.

Specifying your video output settings

You can specify various settings to configure your video output signals from the RT.X2 breakout box.

°To specify your video output settings:

1 Choose Project > Project Settings > General and click the Playback

Settings

2 Click the Video Output tab.

button.

3 Under Master Output Format, select the video format you want for all

video outputs from the RT.X2 breakout box. Depending on your project’s video format, you may not be able to change the master output format.

4 If the Aspect Ratio Conversion list is available, such as when the video

output for an HD project is downconverted to NTSC or PAL, select one of the following settings for the video output:

$ 16x9 Letterbox Outputs the widescreen 16:9 picture in letterbox mode

by adding black bars at the top and bottom of the picture for display on a standard 4:3 television screen.

$ Anamorphic Outputs the widescreen 16:9 picture as horizontally

compressed 4:3 video, which retains the picture’s full vertical resolution for display on a widescreen television. To display the video with the correct

Defining your General settings

proportions on an NTSC or PAL monitor, select the 16:9 display setting on the monitor.

5 If the Pulldown Method list is available, select the pulldown method you

want to be applied to your output video (

2:3:3:2

). You should select Advanced 2:3:3:2 only if you’ll be recording

Standard 2:3 or Advanced

to a DV-1394 device that supports this pulldown method. Depending on your project’s frame rate and the current master output format, a pulldown method may automatically be selected.

6 Under Analog Setup (NTSC), select the setup level you want for your

NTSC analog video:

$ 0 IRE Applies a setup level of 0 IRE. You should select this option only

when working with a commercial DV-1394 device that uses the Japanese analog NTSC setup of 0 IRE. For example, if the video appears too bright when you play back DV clips on your NTSC monitor, you can change the setup to 0 IRE to output your DV clips at the correct brightness.

$ 7.5 IRE Applies the standard NTSC setup level of 7.5 IRE.

7 Under Analog Output Type, select the type of analog video output you

want. If you’re outputting SD analog video, you can select

Component or

Composite & S-Video. If you’re outputting HD analog video, the analog

output type will be set to

8 Select Allow Super White to allow the highest luminance level of your

video output to exceed the standard maximum white level. Select

Super Black

to allow the lowest luminance level of your video output to fall

Component.

Allow

below the standard black level.

¦NoteSuper white and super black should not be allowed when producing

your final video production for broadcast.

9 Click OK to save your settings and return to the Project Settings dialog

box.

Chapter 3, Defining Your Adobe Premiere Pro Settings

Selecting your DV-1394 output settings

You can choose to output a sequence from the Timeline panel over the 1394 interface to perform an export to DV tape, and select the format you want for your DV-1394 output.

¦NoteThese settings are not needed to export to an HDV device, and the

DV-1394 Output page won’t be available if you’re working with a

1440×1080i/p project.

°To select your DV-1394 output settings:

1 Choose Project > Project Settings > General and click the Playback

Settings

2 Click the DV-1394 Output tab.

3 Select Enable 1394 output for export to tape if you want your sequence

to be output over the 1394 interface when you perform an export to tape (that is, when you choose your sequence to the DV-1394 device connected to your RT.X2 system.

¡ Important Because this option requires additional system resources, you

may find that when this option is selected some effects that were previously realtime will drop frames and require rendering (you’ll see a red bar over these segments in your sequence). Therefore, you should select this option only when you want to export your sequence to DV tape. When you perform the export to tape, Adobe Premiere Pro will render the segments identified by the red bar.

4 From the Output Format list, select the format you want for the DV-1394

output. For example, to record to a standard DV device, select

DV/DVCAM

5 Click OK to save your settings and return to the Project Settings dialog

box.

button.

File > Export > Export to Tape). This lets you record

Matrox

Defining your Video Rendering settings

When you select a Matrox project preset, your Video Rendering settings for editing on Matrox RT.X2 are automatically set for you. You can specify additional Video Rendering settings as explained in your Adobe Premiere Pro documentation.

Defining your Video Rendering settings

Defining your Capture settings

The Matrox Capture Settings dialog box has pages that you can use to specify your settings for capturing video and audio in Adobe Premiere Pro on Matrox RT.X 2 .

Remarks

• When you specify your capture settings on Matrox RT.X2, VU meters will be displayed to let you monitor your audio input levels. For more information, see “Monitoring audio levels for capture” on page 33.

• Although Matrox RT.X2 SD supports only SD projects, you can capture HDV material in an SD project using Adobe Premiere Pro’s HDV capture feature (instead of Matrox’s capture feature) as explained in “Capturing

HDV material on Matrox RT.X2 SD” on page 35.

Specifying your video capture settings

Matrox RT.X2 lets you capture your video to various formats depending on your project’s video format. For example, if you’re working with an SD project (such as NTSC), you can capture to a DV format, such as DVCPRO, to create .avi files for use in your Premiere Pro projects.

When working with an SD project, you can also choose to capture video to an .m2v file for DVD authoring using Adobe Encore. These .m2v files are not supported in your Matrox projects, but are supported in Adobe Encore. For details about specific limitations when capturing to Matrox .m2v files, see “Notes

about capturing to Matrox .m2v files” on page 34.

°To specify your settings for capturing video in Adobe Premiere Pro on

Matrox RT.X2:

1 Choose Project > Project Settings > Capture.

2 From the Capture Format list, select Matrox AVI to capture to an .avi file,

Matrox M2V to capture to an .m2v file (for SD projects only).

3 Click the Configure button, then click the Video Capture Settings tab.

Chapter 3, Defining Your Adobe Premiere Pro Settings

4 Under Input Device, select one of the following devices:

$ RT.X2 or RT.X2 SD to capture material from an analog source connected

to your RT.X2 breakout box.

¦NoteAnalog input is not supported for 486p @ 23.98 fps and 29.97 fps,

576p @ 25 fps, 1440× 1080p, and 720p projects.

$ DV-1394 to capture material from a DV-1394 device connected to your

RT.X2 breakout box.

5 If you selected the RT.X2 breakout box as your input device, from the Input

Source

list, select the type of input you want to capture (Component,

Composite, or S-Video). This will be set to Component when capturing

analog video for an HD project (not supported on RT.X2 SD).

Remarks

$ If you selected DV-1394 as your input device, the name of the DV-1394

device connected to your breakout box will appear in the

$ If Matrox RT.X2 can’t detect your source device when you start a capture,

Input Source box.

you’ll receive an error message. Either black video will be captured or the capture won’t be able to start until a valid input signal is present. In either case, you must make sure that your source device is switched on and properly connected to the breakout box to properly capture the video.

$ Matrox RT.X2 sets the Input Format to NTSC or PAL for an SD project.

If you’re working with a 1440× 1080i project, your analog source video must be full-size 1080i (1920×1080), but it will be captured to 1440× 1080i format.

6 From the Input Aspect Ratio list, select the aspect ratio of your source

video (4:3 or 16:9). For example, to capture video that was recorded using the standard TV screen format, select recorded using the widescreen 16:9 format, select capture settings for an HD project, the

4:3. To capture video that was

16:9. If you’re defining

Input Aspect Ratio will be set to

16:9.

7 Under Capture Format, select your desired capture format from the list. If

you’re capturing to an .avi file from a DV-1394 device, video will be captured to native DV or HDV format (the

Capture Format will be set to

Native DV/HDV). If you’re capturing to an .m2v file, the Capture Format

will be set to

Matrox MPEG-2 IBP.

¦NoteThe capture formats that are available in the Capture Format list

depend on your project’s video format. For more information, see “Supported

video compression formats” on page 187.

$ Matrox DV/DVCAM Captures video to DV or DVCAM format.

$ Matrox DVCPRO Captures video to DVCPRO format.

Defining your Capture settings

$ Matrox MPEG-2 I-frame Captures video to MPEG-2 intra-frame format

using the 4:2:2 Profile @ Main Level at a selected data rate (SD resolution only). For the best results when capturing video clips on which you’ll be applying chroma key effects, you should use this codec instead of a DV codec.

$ Matrox MPEG-2 I-frame HD Captures video to MPEG-2 intra-frame

format using the 4:2:2 Profile @ High Level at a selected data rate (HD resolution only). This is the only capture format available to capture analog video for a 1440× 1080i project.

8 If you’re capturing to a Matrox MPEG-2 format, click the Configure button

to configure your MPEG-2 settings. For details on the available settings, see

“Selecting your MPEG-2 I-frame settings” on page 39, or “Selecting your MPEG-2 IBP settings” on page 41. Once you’ve configured your settings,

click

OK to return to the Matrox Capture Settings dialog box.

9 Select Use Automatic Gain Control (AGC) if you want the gain of your

composite or S-Video input signal to be adjusted automatically to compensate for very bright or dark images. This improves the brightness or contrast of your picture.

10 Click OK to save your settings and return to the Project Settings dialog

box.

Chapter 3, Defining Your Adobe Premiere Pro Settings

Specifying your audio capture settings

You can specify various audio capture settings, such as to specify your input source and the type of audio files (either stereo .wav or mono .wav) that you want to create when capturing audio on Matrox RT.X2.

Remarks

• When you capture to an .avi file on Matrox RT.X2, the clip’s video and audio are saved to the .avi file, and the clip’s audio is also saved to one or more separate .wav files. You could choose to edit the separate .wav files using audio post-processing software, such as Adobe Soundbooth.

• When you capture to an .m2v file on Matrox RT.X2, the clip’s associated audio is always saved to one or more separate stereo .wav files.

°To specify your settings for capturing audio in Adobe Premiere Pro on

Matrox RT.X2:

1 Choose Project > Project Settings > Capture.

2 From the Capture Format list, select Matrox AVI to capture to an .avi file,

Matrox M2V to capture to an .m2v file (for SD projects only).

3 Click the Configure button, then click the Audio Capture Settings tab:

4 If you selected the RT.X2 breakout box as your video input device (see

“Specifying your video capture settings” on page 28), you must also select

the source from which you want to capture audio. Your audio source must match the audio input where you connected the cable labeled TO AUDIO CARD IN from your RT.X2 breakout box as explained in your Matrox RT.X2 Installation Manual. For example, if you plugged the TO AUDIO CARD IN connector into the Line-In jack (or corresponding jack) on your sound card, select

Line-In from the Input Source list.

Defining your Capture settings

Remarks

$ If all available audio inputs don’t appear in the Input Source list, select

List all audio inputs. If your audio input connection does not appear in

the list, you must unplug the TO AUDIO CARD IN connector and connect it to an audio input on your sound card that appears in the list.

$ If your analog audio source appears with an * beside it in the list, your sound

card does not have matching audio inputs and outputs. In this case, choose the audio source with an * that matches your audio input, make sure that your source is playing back audio, and click

Advanced Settings. In the

provided dialog box, select an analog audio passthrough. If you can hear audio, then you’ve selected the correct analog audio source and passthrough. If you can’t hear audio, try selecting a different analog audio source and/or passthrough.

$ The Capture Format (bit-depth) for your captured audio files is set to

16-bit.

5 If you don’t want the VU meters to be displayed each time you configure

your Matrox RT.X2 capture settings or open the capture, clear

Show VU meters. This option is selected by default. For

Capture panel to start a

details on using the VU meters, see “Monitoring audio levels for capture” on page 33.

6 Under Capture Files, indicate whether you want to capture to stereo or

mono audio files, and select which channels you want to save to separate .wav files.

$ From the File Type list, select Stereo to save your captured audio to stereo

.wav files, or capturing an .m2v clip, the

$ From the Filename lists, select which stereo pairs or mono channels you

Mono to save your captured audio to mono .wav files. If you’re

File Type will be set to Stereo.

want to save to your .wav files. When capturing from a DV-1394 device, you can capture up to two stereo files or up to four mono files. Select

None

if you don’t want a particular .wav file to be created. When Matrox RT.X2 saves each .wav file, it assigns a .Stereo.wav or .Mono.wav suffix to the base name you gave for the associated video file. For example, if you’ve named your video file MyFile.avi, the associated stereo audio files would be named MyFile.Stereo1.wav, MyFile.Stereo2.wav, etc.

Remarks

$ The channels that you choose to save to the first stereo.wav file or first two

mono.wav files will be embedded in the associated .avi file. When you import your .avi file to the

Project panel, the clip’s separate .wav files will

also be imported, and the embedded audio in the .avi file will be ignored. The clip’s .avi file and first associated .wav file, however, will appear as a single Movie clip in your project. The embedded audio in the .avi file will

Chapter 3, Defining Your Adobe Premiere Pro Settings

be used only if the .avi file does not have any associated .wav files. Therefore, if you perform audio post processing on your .avi files, make sure you delete the associated .wav files so that only the embedded audio in the .avi files will be used in your project.

$ When performing an audio-only capture, Matrox RT.X2 supports capture

of only one stereo pair. Your first stereo or first two mono channels will be saved to a single stereo .wav file (any other channels will be ignored). When RT.X2 saves the .wav file of an audio-only capture, it does not assign the .Stereo.wav suffix to the filename.

7 Click OK to save your settings and return to the Project Settings dialog

box.

Monitoring audio levels for capture

If you select time you configure your Matrox RT.X2 capture settings or open the

Show VU meters on the Audio Capture Settings page, each

Capture

panel to start a capture in Adobe Premiere Pro, VU meters will be displayed to let you monitor the levels of your currently selected audio input source.

Clipping detectors

Peak level indicators

As you play your audio source, the color of the input level is green at or below –12 dBSF, yellow between –12 and –6 dBFS, and red above –6 dBFS. The clipping detectors will “light up” (become red) whenever audio clipping occurs. The peak level indicators are thin lines that show the highest level recently reached. These indicators will show the peak level for about two seconds or until a higher peak level is reached.

If needed, adjust the audio level on your source device to keep the average input level between –30 and –10 dBSF. You can also use Windows Volume Control to adjust your audio input levels as explained in “Setting your system’s volume

levels” on page 16.

Defining your Capture settings

Notes about capturing to Matrox .m2v files

When capturing to Matrox .m2v files, keep the following points in mind:

• Automatic scene detection (Scene Detect) is not supported, but batch capture is supported.

• The associated .wav files for your .m2v clips are not automatically imported to the

Project panel.

• When performing a batch capture of .m2v clips, the captured video and audio clips won’t be automatically imported to the clips using batch capture, the captured clips will be imported automatically only if you choose to delete the original media files from disk.

• It’s recommended that you don’t add handles (extra frames) to your captured .m2v clips. If you do, the handles will be appropriately trimmed from the video when you add the clip to your sequence, but the handles won’t be trimmed from the associated audio.

• An associated .xmp metadata file is created for all captured and logged (offline) .m2v clips. These files are created in your specified video capture folder, and contain time code and other information that you provided for your .m2v clips, such as tape name, description, and scene. You can open the .xmp files in Adobe Bridge. Take care not to delete the .xmp files and always keep them with their associated .m2v files. Otherwise, you won’t be able to batch capture logged .m2v clips, and the time code information won’t appear for your .m2v clips in the

Project panel.

Project panel. If you recapture

Chapter 3, Defining Your Adobe Premiere Pro Settings

Capturing HDV material on Matrox RT.X2 SD

On Matrox RT.X2 SD, you can capture native HDV 1080i/p (1440×1080i/p) material over the 1394 interface in an SD project using Adobe Premiere Pro’s HDV capture feature. Depending on your project’s video format, you can capture:

• HDV 1080i/p @ 29.97 fps material in an NTSC or 486p @ 29.97 fps project.

• HDV 1080i/p @ 25 fps material in a PAL or 576p @ 25 fps project.

• HDV 1080p @ 23.98 fps material in a 486p @ 23.98 fps project.

Your HDV clips will be downscaled when you scale the clips to your project’s frame size for realtime playback as explained in “Mixing SD and HD clips in a

project” on page 20.

°To capture HDV 1080i/p material on Matrox RT.X2 SD:

1 Make sure that your HDV device is properly connected to the 1394 port on

your Matrox RT.X2 breakout box.

2 Choose Project > Project Settings > Capture.

3 From the Capture Format list, select HDV Capture, and click OK.

4 Choose Edit > Preferences > Device Control.

5 From the Devices list, select DV/HDV Device Control.

6 Click Options and make sure that your device control options are correctly

set as explained in your Adobe Premiere Pro documentation.

7 Click OK to save your settings.

8 Capture your HDV clips as explained in your Adobe Premiere Pro

documentation.

Capturing HDV material on Matrox RT.X2 SD

Exporting to a Matrox .avi file

Several software codecs are included with Adobe Premiere Pro so that you can export your video to different formats. Your Matrox RT.X2 system adds several Matrox codecs to the ones included with Premiere Pro. Because the Matrox codecs use your RT.X2 hardware to accelerate rendering, they can export video much faster than when you use a software codec.

The supported formats for exporting to a Matrox .avi file depend on your project’s video format as follows:

Project video format Supported export format(s)

NTSC NTSC

PAL PAL

486p @ 23.98 fps 486p @ 23.98 fps or NTSC

486p @ 29.97 fps 486p @ 29.97 fps or NTSC

576p @ 25 fps 576p @ 25 fps or PAL

720p @ 23.98 fps 720p @ 23.98 fps, 720p @ 59.94 fps, 486p @ 23.98 fps, or

NTSC

720p @ 25 fps 720p @ 25 fps, 720p @ 50 fps, 576p @ 25 fps, or PAL

720p @ 29.97 fps 720p @ 29.97 fps, 720p @ 59.94 fps, 486p @ 29.97 fps, or

NTSC

720p @ 50 fps 720p @ 50 fps or PAL

720p @ 59.94 fps 720p @ 59.94 fps or NTSC

1440 × 1080i @ 25 fps 1440× 1080i @ 25 fps or PAL

1440 × 1080i @ 29.97 fps 1440 × 1080i @ 29.97 fps or NTSC

1440 × 1080p @ 23.98 fps 1440 × 1080p @ 23.98 fps, 1440 × 1080i @ 29.97 fps, 486p

@ 23.98 fps, or NTSC

1440 × 1080p @ 25 fps 1440 × 1080p @ 25 fps, 576p @ 25 fps, or PAL

1440 × 1080p @ 29.97 fps 1440 × 1080p @ 29.97 fps, 486p @ 29.97 fps, or NTSC

For example, if you have an NTSC project, you must select an NTSC codec. If you have a 1440 ×1080i @ 29.97 fps project, you can select a 1440 × 1080i @

29.97 fps codec to export to HD format, or you can select an NTSC codec to downconvert the HD video to NTSC (this includes appropriate color space conversion from HD to SD). RT.X2 SD supports exporting to SD format only.

°To export your sequence to a Matrox .avi file:

1 Choose File > Export > Movie. Click the Settings button, and from the

File Type

2 From the Range list, select an export range, then select any additional export

list, select Matrox AVI.

options.

Chapter 3, Defining Your Adobe Premiere Pro Settings

3 From the menu on the left side of the dialog box, choose Video.

4 From the Compressor list, select the compression format you want for your

exported file.

¡ Important The Matrox codecs are listed in all supported SD and HD

formats. The format is shown in brackets beside the codec name, such as

[NTSC]. Make sure you select a Matrox codec in one of the supported video

formats for your project as listed in the above table.

$ Matrox DV/DVCAM Renders video to DV or DVCAM format.

$ Matrox DVCPRO Renders video to DVCPRO format.

$ Matrox MPEG-2 I-frame Renders video to MPEG-2 intra-frame format

using the 4:2:2 Profile @ Main Level at a selected data rate (SD resolution only).

$ Matrox MPEG-2 I-frame HD Renders video to MPEG-2 intra-frame

format using the 4:2:2 Profile @ High Level at a selected data rate (HD resolution only).

5 If you selected Matrox MPEG-2 I-frame or Matrox MPEG-2 I-frame HD,

click the

Configure button to select your MPEG-2 I-frame settings. For

details on the available settings, see “Selecting your MPEG-2 I-frame

settings” on page 39.

6 From the Pixel Aspect Ratio list, select the setting that matches the aspect

ratio of your material:

$ D1/DV NTSC (0.9) For NTSC or 486p material that uses the standard

TV screen format. If you’re downconverting HD video to NTSC or 486p format, the video will be exported in letterbox mode.

$ D1/DV Widescreen 16:9 (1.2) For NTSC or 486p material that uses the

widescreen 16:9 format. If you’re downconverting HD video to NTSC or 486p format, the video will be exported as anamorphic (horizontally compressed 4:3) video.

$ D1/DV PAL (1.067) For PAL or 576p material that uses the standard TV

screen format. If you’re downconverting HD video to PAL or 576p format, the video will be exported in letterbox mode.

$ D1/DV PAL Widescreen 16:9 (1.422) For PAL or 576p material that

uses the widescreen 16:9 format. If you’re downconverting HD video to PAL or 576p format, the video will be exported as anamorphic (horizontally compressed 4:3) video.

$ Square pixels (1.0) For all HD material (except 1440× 1080i/p) that is

not downconverted.

$ HD Anamorphic 1080 (1.333) For all 1440× 1080i/p material that is not

downconverted.

Exporting to a Matrox .avi file

7 It’s recommended that you do not select Recompress. This retains the

quality of your video. It also optimizes the speed of the export because realtime video segments that have no effects will be copied directly to disk without recompression, assuming that the compression and video format of your video clips matches the format to which you’re exporting.

8 Choose OK to save your export settings.

¦NoteExported audio will be embedded in your .avi file and also saved as

one or more separate .wav files in the same folder as your .avi file. Matrox RT.X2 does not support audio-only exports to an .avi file.

Chapter 3, Defining Your Adobe Premiere Pro Settings

Selecting your MPEG-2 I-frame settings

When you select the Matrox MPEG-2 I-frame or Matrox MPEG-2 I-frame HD format to capture or export your video using Adobe Premiere Pro, you can specify various settings for the MPEG-2 I-frame compression.

°To select your MPEG-2 I-frame settings:

1 Click the Configure button. This displays a dialog box similar to the

following:

2 Drag the Data Rate slider until your desired data rate is displayed. The

higher the data rate you select, the better the video quality will be. The range of available data rates depends on whether you’re using the Matrox MPEG-2 I-frame HD or SD format.

¡ Important Depending on the capabilities of your system, you may drop

frames if you select a data rate higher than about 90 Mb/sec.

3 To apply advanced settings to your MPEG-2 I-frame file, click the

Advanced button.

¦NoteThe default advanced settings should provide good results for most

applications. We recommend that you change these settings only when needed for special purposes.

4 Under Rounding Type, select one of the following:

$ MPEG-2 Rounds the AC coefficients up to the nearest whole number

when calculating the quantization coefficient.

$ Matrox Custom Truncates the AC coefficients to the lowest whole

number when calculating the quantization coefficient. In some cases, this setting may yield less artifacts in graphics.

5 Under DC Precision, select the bit-depth precision of the DC intra block.

Selecting your MPEG-2 I-frame settings

¦NoteThe higher the DC precision value that’s used to capture or render

your video, the more likely that the DC content will be increased at the expense of the AC content in the encoded stream. This may result in lowering the overall quality of the compressed stream at a specified data rate.

6 Under Zig Zag Type, select one of the following:

$ Regular Sets the regular (default) zig zag scanning pattern of the AC

coefficient of the DCT block as defined in the ISO/IEC 13818-2 (figure 7-2) specification documentation.

$ Alternate Set s an alternate z ig zag scanni ng pattern of the AC coefficient

of the DCT block as defined in the ISO/IEC 13818-2 (figure 7-3) specification documentation. Use this setting when capturing or rendering video at a high data rate (that is, at a data rate of about 25 Mb/sec for SD video, or 90 Mb/sec or higher for HD video).

7 Select the Force Frame-based DCT setting to render macroblocks as

frames rather than as fields. In some cases, graphics will yield less artifacts if this option is selected.

8 Click OK to save your settings.

Chapter 3, Defining Your Adobe Premiere Pro Settings

Selecting your MPEG-2 IBP settings

When capturing video to a Matrox .m2v file using Adobe Premiere Pro, the capture format is set to Matrox MPEG-2 IBP. You can specify various settings for the MPEG-2 IBP compression.

°To select your MPEG-2 IBP settings:

1 Click the Configure button. This displays a dialog box similar to the

following:

2 Under Data Rate (Mb/sec), you can select the encoding type and data rate

for the MPEG-2 IBP compression.

$ Encoding type From this list, select one of the following:

• Constant bit rate (CBR) Video is compressed at your selected target

data rate, which is useful when you need to limit or predict the size of your .mxf file. However, if your video is very complex (such as scenes with many colors or sharp edges), you’ll need to select a high data rate to avoid having frames of very blocky video in your file.

Selecting your MPEG-2 IBP settings

• Variable bit rate (VBR) Video is compressed at varying data rates

based on the complexity of the video. The target data rate you select is used as the average data rate for the compression.

$ Min, Tar g et , and Max sliders Use these sliders to select your desired data

rate. The higher the target data rate you select, the better the video quality will be. Only the

bit rate (CBR)

Tar ge t slider will be available if you selected Constant

. If you selected Variable bit rate (VBR), all three sliders

will be available so that you can set the minimum, target, and maximum data rates for the video compression.

3 Under GOP Structure, you can customize the GOP structure for the

MPEG-2 IBP compression as follows:

$ GOP length Determines the number of frames in the GOP (Group of

Pictures).

$ Subgroup length Determines the subgroup length of B-frames and

P-frames in the GOP, after the initial I-frame. For example, a subgroup of 3 appears as “BBP,” and a subgroup of 2 appears as “BP.” The available subgroup lengths depend on your selected GOP length.

4 Under Profile, the 4:2:0 profile is selected, which uses 4:2:0

luminance/chrominance sampling and is suitable for broadcast transmission and distribution on DVD.

5 Under Motion Estimation, drag the slider to adjust the quality of the

motion estimation used for the video compression. The default setting gives good results for most video. However, if you have a lot of fast motion in your video, such as fast-paced sports footage, you can get better results by dragging the slider to the right (towards

Slow/High quality). This improves

the quality of the motion estimation, but decreases the speed of the video compression. Alternately, if you have mostly slow-paced video, you may want to drag the slider to the left (towards

Fast/Low quality) to decrease

the quality of the motion estimation and speed up the video compression.

6 Click OK to save your settings.

Chapter 3, Defining Your Adobe Premiere Pro Settings

Exporting using Matrox Media Encoder

You can use Matrox Media Encoder to export clips from a sequence in the

Timeline panel to various formats for specific media delivery, such as Windows

Media or RealMedia streaming media format, or MPEG-2 format for DVD or Blu-ray Disc. For example, you can use Matrox Media Encoder to export video from your sequence to an MPEG-2 Elementary (.m2v) file that’s suitable for use with Adobe Encore. Matrox Media Encoder provides the same export formats as Adobe Media Encoder, and benefits from hardware acceleration on Matrox RT.X 2 .

To avoid having inverted fields in your exported files when exporting material for DVD or Blu-ray Disc, you must select the appropriate field order for the export according to your projects’s video format as shown in the following table:

Project video format Field order

NTSC Lower

PAL Upper

486p @ 23.98 fps and 29.97 fps None (Progressive)

576p @ 25 fps None (Progressive)

720p @ 23.98 fps, 25 fps, 29.97 fps, 50 fps, and 59.94 fps

1440 × 1080i @ 25 fps and 29.97 fps Upper

1440 × 1080p @ 23.98, 25, and 29.97 fps None (Progressive)

None (Progressive)

°To export material using Matrox Media Encoder:

1 Start Adobe Premiere Pro and open the project from which you want to

export material.

2 If you want to export only part of your sequence, drag the ends of the work

area bar so that it extends over the length of the area you want to export.

3 Choose File > Export > Matrox Media Encoder.

4 Select the export format you want from the Format list. For example, to

export material for DVD, select

5 Select a preset from the Preset list that matches the type of export you want

MPEG2-DVD.

to perform (a summary of the settings will be displayed in the

Settings

6 If you selected an MPEG-2 DVD or Blu-ray Disc export format, click the

Video tab and make sure that the appropriate field order is selected as shown

dialog box).

in the above table.

7 Click OK, specify a name, location, and export range for the export, then

click

Save.

Exporting using Matrox Media Encoder

Export

The export settings are the same as provided for Adobe Media Encoder. For details on using these settings, see your Adobe Premiere Pro documentation.

Exporting using Matrox Clip Notes

You can use Matrox Clip Notes to perform an accelerated export of your sequence to a PDF file. For example, you can export your sequence to Windows Media format and have the video embedded in a PDF file that you can send to reviewers for their comments.

To export material to Matrox Clip Notes, select the sequence you want to export and choose same as provided for Adobe Clip Notes. For details on exporting to a Clip Notes PDF, see your Adobe Premiere Pro documentation.

File > Export > Matrox Clip Notes. The export settings are the

Setting up Matrox DV/HDV device control

Matrox DV/HDV device control lets you control DV-1394 devices when capturing or exporting material to tape in Adobe Premiere Pro.

¦NoteTo capture HDV material on Matrox RT.X2 SD, you must use Adobe

Premiere Pro’s DV/HDV device control as explained in “Capturing HDV

material on Matrox RT.X2 SD” on page 35.

°To set up Matrox DV/HDV device control:

1 Choose Edit > Preferences > Device Control.

2 From the Devices list, select Matrox DV/HDV Device Control.

3 Click Options and make sure that your device control options are correctly

set as explained in your Adobe Premiere Pro documentation (the options are the same as those provided for Adobe Premiere Pro’s DV/HDV device control).

4 Click OK to save your settings.

You can now use device control when capturing or exporting material over the 1394 interface (make sure that your device is set to Remote or VTR mode). For details on how to capture material in Adobe Premiere Pro, see your Adobe Premiere Pro documentation. For information about exporting material to tape using device control, see the next section.

Chapter 3, Defining Your Adobe Premiere Pro Settings

Exporting your sequence to tape

Your Matrox RT.X2 system lets you export your Adobe Premiere Pro sequence to tape using DV-1394 or RS-422 device control. You can use Matrox DV/HDV device control to control DV-1394 devices. For RS-422 devices, you can use Adobe Premiere Pro’s serial device control as explained in your Adobe Premiere Pro documentation.

Preparing your tapes for recording

To use device control, the tape on which you’ll be recording your material must contain continuous and consecutive time code. You can stripe your entire tape with time code by recording black video for the duration of the tape.

¦NoteThe format of your DV tape must match the format you’re recording. For

example, if you set your DV-1394 device to record in DV/DVCAM format, your tape must be striped entirely in DV/DVCAM format. Mixed format tapes are not supported.

Avoiding missing frames when exporting to DV tape

When performing an export to tape on some DV-1394 devices, a delay may occur between the time the device starts recording and the time that Adobe Premiere Pro starts to play back your project. This may result in the first video frames of your project not being recorded to tape. To ensure that your export to DV tape does not miss any frames, you can delay the playback of the project that you are exporting.

To do this, you will need to do a test export with your DV-1394 device to determine the number of frames that are missing from the start of your project on the DV tape. In the Adobe Premiere Pro

Delay Movie Start and enter the number of frames you’ve determined are

missing from your project multiplied by 4 (to convert the value to quarter frames). If needed, adjust this amount until you obtain a frame-accurate or near frame-accurate export to tape.

¦NoteIf your exported video is frame-accurate, but you’re missing audio at the

start of your project on the DV tape, simply add a few frames of black and silence at the start of the sequence. If you do this, you may not need to use the

Movie Start

E x po r t To Ta p e dialog box, select

Delay

Exporting your sequence to tape

Exporting to DV tape using DV-1394 device control

You can use Matrox DV/HDV device control when exporting your Adobe Premiere Pro sequence to a DV-1394 device. DV-1394 export to HDV, however, is not supported for 720p projects.

°To export your sequence to tape over the 1394 interface:

1 Open the project and activate the sequence you want to export to tape.

2 Make sure your DV-1394 device is properly connected and turned on.

3 Unless you’re exporting to an HDV device, make sure that you’ve enabled

the DV-1394 output for export to tape and selected a DV-1394 output format as explained in “Selecting your DV-1394 output settings” on page 27.

¦NoteIf you’re exporting to an HDV device, Premiere Pro will detect that

you’re using an HDV device when you perform the export to tape and the video will be exported in native HDV format. (Matrox RT.X2 SD does not support exporting to an HDV device.)

4 If you’re using a camcorder, switch it to VTR mode.

5 Load a striped recordable tape into your DV-1394 device.

6 Make sure that you’ve set up Matrox DV/HDV device control as explained in

“Setting up Matrox DV/HDV device control” on page 44.

7 Choose File > Export > Export to Tape.

For information about exporting your sequence to tape using Adobe Premiere Pro, see your Adobe Premiere Pro documentation.

Chapter 3, Defining Your Adobe Premiere Pro Settings

Creating an SD project in 16:9 format

When editing on Matrox RT.X2, you can choose to work with SD source video that’s been recorded in either the 4:3 standard TV screen format, or the widescreen 16:9 format.

°To create an SD project in 16:9 format on Matrox RT.X2, do the following:

1 Record your video onto tape with your camera set to the widescreen 16:9

format. The video will be recorded as horizontally compressed 4:3 (anamorphic) video.

2 Start Adobe Premiere Pro and select the appropriate Matrox widescreen

preset (such as create on Matrox RT.X2 will be displayed with the correct proportions when viewed in 16:9 format.

3 Capture your video clips as you normally would. Select the 16:9 display

option on your NTSC or PAL video monitor to “unsquish” the video and play it back in widescreen format without distortion.

4 If you create animations, titles, or graphics for your project using a program

that lets you set the pixel aspect ratio, use the appropriate setting for 16:9 display:

$ For NTSC or 486p video, set the pixel aspect ratio to 1.185.

$ For PAL or 576p video, set the pixel aspect ratio to 1.422.

If you can’t set the pixel aspect ratio, create your image at 864×486 for NTSC or 486p video, or at 1024×576 for PAL or 576p video. After you’ve created your image, resize only its width to 720. When you resize the image, your text or graphic will appear elongated on your computer screen.

DVCPRO Widescreen). This ensures that the effects you

5 Edit your project as you would a standard 4:3 project.

¦NoteBe aware that if your video monitor is displaying in 4:3 format, certain

effects may appear elongated because of the horizontal scaling. Setting your monitor to 16:9 will display the effects with the correct proportions.

6 Record your finished project onto tape. Remember that you’ll need a

monitor capable of displaying material in 16:9 format to properly view your master tape.

Creating an SD project in 16:9 format

Your notes

Chapter 3, Defining Your Adobe Premiere Pro Settings

Chapter

Setting Up Realtime Effects

with Adobe Premiere Pro

This chapter explains how to set up realtime effects using the Matrox realtime plug-in for Adobe Premiere Pro.

Available effects

The Matrox realtime plug-in for Adobe Premiere Pro lets you:

• Set up spectacular realtime Matrox effects and transitions. The plug-in includes color corrections, chroma keys, luma keys, 3D DVEs, page curls, shadows, and many more effects.

¦NoteCertain effects will be available only if you have a display card that

supports the Matrox hardware-accelerated effects. For more information, see

“Enabling and disabling the Matrox hardware-accelerated effects in Adobe Premiere Pro” on page 169.

• Change various effect settings, and add or modify keyframes to customize your effects.

• Transform and crop your realtime effects.

• Create realtime graphics overlays using single-frame graphics files with an alpha-key channel.

• Set up certain Adobe Premiere Pro effects in real time, including fades (Video Opacity), DVEs (Motion), Black & White, Timecode, and Garbage Matte effects.

• Apply realtime speed changes to video clips.

• Set up many Adobe Premiere Pro transitions in real time when using SD video, or accelerate many Adobe Premiere Pro transitions when using HD video.

• Use and modify clips that have Matrox Flex CPU effects applied to them interchangeably between Adobe Premiere Pro and Adobe After Effects. For example, you can apply a Matrox color correction to your clip in Adobe Premiere Pro and import that clip into Adobe After Effects and vice versa. The effect will remain intact, and can be modified in both applications.

Realtime means that you can play back and record your effects onto tape without having to render them. This gives you creative freedom to experiment with different effects and change your mind as often as you want. You’ll instantly see the changes you make on your video monitor. Effects in Adobe Premiere Pro other than those listed above are not realtime, and therefore require rendering. For guidelines on setting up your realtime effects, see “Matrox RT.X2 realtime

guidelines” on page 149.

When you install Matrox Mx.tools, all the Matrox effects are added to Adobe Premiere Pro, and the Matrox Flex CPU effects are added to Adobe After Effects. You set up Matrox effects in your productions the same way as other effects included with your Adobe software. For example, you apply a Matrox transition to your clips in Adobe Premiere Pro just as you would any other type of

Chapter 4, Setting Up Realtime Effects with Adobe Premiere Pro

transition, except that the controls provided let you create a Matrox transition, as is explained in this chapter.

For instructions on how to apply effects to your productions in Adobe Premiere Pro or Adobe After Effects, refer to your Adobe documentation.

¡ Important To use the Matrox realtime plug-in for Adobe Premiere Pro, you

must have defined your Adobe Premiere Pro settings for use with your Matrox RT.X2 system, as explained in Chapter 3, “Defining Your Adobe Premiere Pro

Settings.”

How to apply a Matrox video effect in Adobe Premiere Pro

The Matrox realtime plug-in for Adobe Premiere Pro allows you to apply many realtime video effects to your clips. To apply a Matrox video effect to a clip, drag the desired effect from the

Effects panel onto the clip in the Timeline panel.

By default, the Matrox video effects are found in the

Effects

¥Tips

• You can also apply preconfigured Matrox video effects found in the Matrox

Effect Presets

• If you can’t see the see the

Effect Controls panel, choose Window > Effect Controls.

bin under Presets.

Effects panel, choose Window > Effects. If you can’t

Matrox bin under Video

How to apply a Matrox video transition in Adobe Premiere Pro

In Adobe Premiere Pro, the Matrox wipe transitions are found in the Matrox bin under

Video Transitions in the Effects panel.

There are numerous methods to create transitions in Premiere Pro. Use the method that works best for you to apply your Matrox wipes. For information on applying transitions, see your Adobe Premiere Pro documentation.

How to apply a Matrox video effect in Adobe Premiere Pro

Transforming your clip

Many of the Matrox effects allow you to adjust the scale, position, and rotation of a clip by applying various transform settings. You can adjust the transform settings in two ways:

• Use the transform controls in the you want.

• Work directly in Adobe Premiere Pro’s Program Monitor For example, click the desired transform button ( or Rotation Center Offset), then click and drag within the Program Monitor to make your adjustments. To do this, you’ll need to activate the transform controls for use in the Program Monitor. For more information, see “Transforming a clip in the Program Monitor” on page 54.

¦NoteIf you are working with the Matrox crystallize, shadow, mask, mask

blur, mask mosaic, or shine effect, the transform settings will apply only to your mask or shadow and not the entire clip.

Effect Controls panel to adjust the settings

using your mouse.

Position, Scale, Rotation,

Using the transform controls

To apply various transform settings to your clip using the transform controls in the

Effect Controls panel, click the triangle next to the Transform property to

expand it:

You can enter the values you want in the text boxes or drag the appropriate sliders.

•

(X, Y, Z) Position Use these controls to position your clip on the x

(horizontal), y (vertical), and z (depth) axes. Values of (0,0,0) pixels align the center of your clip with the center of the screen, and positions are measured from this point. You can enter positive or negative pixel values to move your clip right or left (x), up or down (y), and forward or backward (z).

Chapter 4, Setting Up Realtime Effects with Adobe Premiere Pro

• (X, Y) Scale Use these controls to make your clip smaller or larger.

Full-screen size is represented as 100%. You can shrink your clip to 0% or enlarge it to 1000%. Note, however, that by enlarging your clip, the resolution may become blurry. You can adjust the size controls individually, or if you select Adjusting the percentage on the x and y axes changes your clip’s width and height, respectively.

¦NoteSome effects, like Matrox surface finish, include a Z Scale property

that allows you to adjust the depth of the effect.

•

(X, Y, Z) Rotation Use these controls to set the number of times the clip

spins. Each rotation of 360° produces one spin on the selected axis. You can have positive or negative rotation from -360° to 360°.

•

(X, Y, Z) Rotation Center Offset Use the Rotation Center Offset

controls to set the pivot point, or center of rotation, of your clip on the x (horizontal), y (vertical), and z (depth) axes. When applied, your clip spins around this point. You can use positive or negative pixel values to offset your clip on each axis.

In the illustrations below, notice how different rotation of the cube.

Fixed Aspect Ratio, you only need to adjust the x axis.

Rotation settings are

Offset values can affect the

Figure 1: Offset at 0,0,0

In Figure 1, the where the x, y, and z axes meet. In Figure 2, the to 100, thus moving the cube and the pivot point to the right, so when the cube is rotated, it has a wider arc when spinning around the axes.

Offset values are (0,0,0), so the center of rotation for the cube is

Figure 2: Offset at 100,0,0

Offset value for the x axis is set

Transforming your clip

Transforming a clip in the Program Monitor

You can use your left mouse button to resize, position, and rotate your clip directly in the Program Monitor. Effects that support transforming a clip in the Program Monitor have the Transform icon to left of the effect name in the

Effects Controls panel.

Transf orm icon

¦NoteWhen working with some effects, the Transform icon lets you

manipulate your clip directly in the Program Monitor to set up your effect instead of adjusting transform settings as explained in this section.

To activate the transform controls in the Program Monitor, click the Transform icon or the name of the Matrox effect in the manipulation mode buttons will appear in the upper left corner of the Program Monitor:

Position

Scale

Rotation

Effect Controls panel. The direct

Precision Mode

Rotation Center Offset

Select the transform setting you want to adjust by clicking the appropriate button (

Posit ion , Scale, Rotation, or Rotation Center Offset). Precision Mode is

available only in the Program Monitor and allows you to make precise adjustments with the currently selected transform setting.

The following table shows the available mouse controls for working in the Program Monitor.

Action Result

Left mouse button Adjusts x and y axes

SHIFT+left mouse button, drag left or right Adjusts x axis only

SHIFT+left mouse button, drag up or down Adjusts y axis only

CTRL+left mouse button, drag up or down Adjusts z axis only

For example, if you want to alter the position of your clip on the y axis only, first click the

Position button, then press and hold SHIFT while dragging the mouse

up or down in the Program Monitor.

Chapter 4, Setting Up Realtime Effects with Adobe Premiere Pro

Cropping your clip

Many of the Matrox effects allow you to apply crop settings to your clip. To apply crop settings, click the triangle next to

¦NoteIf you’re applying a Matrox effect that doesn’t provide the Crop

property, you can apply realtime cropping to your clip using Adobe Premiere Pro’s crop effect (available in the

Video Effects bin under Transform). The

Premiere Pro crop effect will remain realtime unless you enable the option. For more information about using Premiere Pro’s crop effect, see your Adobe Premiere Pro documentation.

Crop to expand the property list.

Zoom

The controls under values you want in the text boxes or drag the appropriate sliders (

To p , Bottom).

•

Crop Left Crops the left edge of your clip.

•

Crop Right Crops the right edge of your clip.

Crop let you crop any edge of your clip. You can enter the

Left, Right,

• Crop Top Crops the top edge of your clip.

•

Crop Bottom Crops the bottom edge of your clip.

Select Crop Displays a dialog box in which you can apply your crop

• settings. For details, see “Using Select Crop” on page 56.

•

Stretch to original size Select this to stretch the cropped area to the

original size of your clip. For the Matrox cube effect, this option is not available because the cropped area is automatically stretched to fit the original size.

Cropping your clip

Using Select Crop

To apply crop settings to your clip using the Select Crop dialog box, click the triangle next to the button:

¦NoteWhen working with the Matrox cube effect, Select Crop is available

only for the primary source.

Select property to expand it, then click the Select Crop

The

Select Crop dialog box allows you to crop your clip in two ways:

• Click and drag directly in the

Select Crop window to create the rectangular

cropping area.

To resize your cropping area, drag any side of the rectangle. For example, drag the right side of the rectangle to crop the right edge of your clip. To resize the entire cropping area at once, drag one of the corners (the corner that’s diagonally opposite the corner you are moving will remain stationary).

•Use the

Left, Right, To p, and Bottom controls to crop any edge by a given

number of pixels. You can enter values in the text boxes or drag the sliders to resize your crop area. For example, drag the

Left slider to crop the left edge

of your clip.

Chapter 4, Setting Up Realtime Effects with Adobe Premiere Pro

Applying a mask to your effect

Many of the Matrox effects allow you to add a mask to define the area where you want to apply your effect. For example, you may want to apply a color correction to only one area of your clip and leave the rest of the clip untouched.

Adding a mask to the chroma or luma key effect and selecting

Outside Mask

lets you disable keying in the area outside the mask so that only

Transparent

the underlying image appears outside the mask. For example, you can define a mask area where you want the keying to be performed, and show only your underlying image outside the mask. This is useful if you’re having problems keying on an area at the edges of your foreground image.

°To adjust the mask properties:

Click the triangle next to Mask to expand the property list.

The properties under

Mask let you control the area on the clip where you want to

apply the mask. You can enter the values you want in the text boxes or drag the appropriate sliders (

•

Left Adjusts the left edge of your mask.

•

Right Adjusts the right edge of your mask.

Left, Right, To p, and Bottom).

• To p Adjusts the top edge of your mask.

•

Bottom Adjusts the bottom edge of your mask.

Select Mask Displays a dialog box in which you can apply your mask

• settings (see “Using Select Mask” on page 58).

•

Invert Inverts the mask so that your effect is applied outside the mask,

instead of within the mask.

Applying a mask to your effect

Using Select Mask

To apply a mask to your Matrox effect using the Select Mask dialog box, click the triangle next to the button:

Select property to expand it, then click the Select Mask

The

Select Mask dialog box allows you to apply a mask in two ways:

• Click and drag directly in the

Select Mask window to create the rectangular

area where you wish to apply the mask.

You can resize the mask area by dragging any side of the rectangle. For example, dragging the right side of the rectangle adjusts the right edge of the mask area. To resize the entire mask area at once, drag one of the corners (the corner that’s diagonally opposite the corner you are moving will remain stationary).

•Use the

Left, Right, To p, and Bottom controls to adjust any edge of your

mask by a given number of pixels. You can enter values in the text boxes or drag the sliders to resize your mask area. For example, drag the adjust the left edge of your mask area.

Chapter 4, Setting Up Realtime Effects with Adobe Premiere Pro

Left slider to

Creating a primary color correction

Color correction is important for all productions, whether you want to achieve continuity when cutting between shots, ensure broadcast safe levels, or establish and emphasize a “look.” Matrox color correction provides basic proc amp control, three-way color correction complete with master, shadows, midtones, and highlights control, and input and output level control. You can also easily match colors with a reference shot. For more information about color matching, see “Matching colors between two clips” on page 70.

¥Tip Adobe Premiere Pro includes a workspace setup that is optimized for

working with clips and effects to facilitate color correction. To prepare your workspace for color correction, choose

Correction

°To set up a Matrox primary color correction:

Click the triangle next to Matrox Color Correction (Primary) or Matrox Color

Correction (Primary - Advanced)

Window > Workspace > Color

to expand the property list.

¦NoteThe RGB Curves and Tonal Range settings are available only with the

advanced versions of the Matrox primary and secondary color correction effects. Because the advanced versions of these effects require additional system resources, you should apply them only if you want to use the

Tonal Range settings.

Enable Split View Select this option to split your clip into two sections in

•

RGB Curves or

the Program Monitor and on your video monitor. One section will display your clip as you adjust the color correction controls, and the other section of

Creating a primary color correction

the clip will remain unchanged. For more information, see “Using Split

View ” on page 61.

¡ Important This option is for preview only. You should clear it before you

render your clip, otherwise the split will appear in your video output.

•

Proc Amps The processing amplifier (proc amp) controls allow you to

adjust different aspects of your clip:

$ Hue Adjusts the tint of the colors in the image.

$ Saturation Adjusts the saturation (vividness) of the image’s colors.

$ Contrast Adjusts the difference in luminance between the lightest and

darkest areas of the image.

$ Brightness Adjusts the level of black in the image.

RGB Curves Lets you use curves to adjust the red, green, and blue color

• channels of your clip individually, or use a master curve to adjust all color channels simultaneously. For more information, see “Using RGB curves” on page 63.

•

Color Balance These controls let you adjust the mixture of colors in your

clip.

$ Tonal Range Allows you to fine-tune the tonal ranges of your clip by

reducing the range of pixels included for shadows, midtones, or highlights. For more information, see “Adjusting tonal range” on page 65.

$ Graphical Allows you to see a graphical representation of your changes

when you adjust the color balance settings. You can also modify most of the color balance

settings directly within the graph. For more information,

see “Using the color balance graph” on page 66.

$ Numerical Lets you adjust your color balance settings numerically by

entering values in the text boxes, or by dragging the corresponding sliders. You can adjust the

• Master (Hue, Saturation, and Luminance) Affects all areas of your

Hue, Saturation, and Luminance for each tonal range.

clip from the lightest white to the darkest black.

• Shadows (Hue, Saturation, and Luminance) Affects the darkest

areas of your clip.

• Midtones (Hue, Saturation, and Luminance) Affects the areas with

tones between the darkest and lightest areas of your clip.

• Highlights (Hue, Saturation, and Luminance) Affects the lightest

areas of your clip.

• Luma Mapping

$ Graphical Allows you to see a graphical representation of your changes

when you adjust the luma mapping settings. You can also modify the

Chapter 4, Setting Up Realtime Effects with Adobe Premiere Pro

luminance of your clip directly within the graph. For more information, see

“Using the luma mapping graph” on page 72.

$ Numerical Lets you adjust the luma mapping settings numerically by

entering values in the text boxes, or by dragging the corresponding sliders.

• Input Levels (Black and White) These controls let you fine-tune your

clip’s brightness and contrast by changing the luminance value that represents black, white, or gray. Doing so expands or compresses the range of luminance levels in your clip, which increases or decreases your clip’s tonal range.

For example, by increasing the black value, you set black in your clip to a higher luminance value, which compresses the luminance range and darkens your clip proportionally.

• Output Levels (Black and White) These controls let you map the

values under

Input Levels to any level of black and white. You can

reduce contrast in your clip, or reverse the luminosity of your clip by setting black to a higher value than white.

• Gamma Use this to adjust the midtones in your clip without adjusting

black or white.

•

Mask Allows you to apply a mask to your effect. For more information,

see “Applying a mask to your effect” on page 57.

Using Split View

The Split View option allows you to split your clip in two for preview on your Program Monitor and your video monitor. One section displays your clip as you adjust the color correction controls, while the other section of the clip remains unchanged.

There are two ways to enable Split View. You can select the option in the Program Monitor

Effect Controls panel, or work directly in Adobe Premiere Pro’s

using your mouse.

Enable Split View

Working with Split View in the Program Monitor

To activate the Split View controls in the Program Monitor, click the Transform icon ( ) beside the name of the Matrox color correction effect

Controls

panel. The Split View button will appear in the upper left corner of the

Program Monitor:

Split View button

Enable Split View by clicking the Split View button. You can then drag the handles on the corners of the split rectangle to define the area you want to split. You can also drag the split rectangle to move it to a specific region of your clip.

Creating a primary color correction

in the Effect

The area within the split view rectangle will display any color correction you make, while the area outside remains unchanged.

In the following example, the split view rectangle has been moved to display the color correction in the area surrounding part of the Chinese character on the wall:

Remarks

• The Split View option is for preview only. You should disable it before rendering your material, otherwise the split will appear in your video output.

• If you are working in Adobe After Effects, you should enable mode so that any movement of the split rectangle is reflected in the

Composition panel as it occurs.

• If you enable Split View and create a mask outside the split view rectangle, you will not be able to see it. The mask will only be visible when you move the split view rectangle directly over it. If you invert a mask that is not in the split view rectangle area, the whole clip will be inverted since the mask is ignored.

Chapter 4, Setting Up Realtime Effects with Adobe Premiere Pro

Live Update

Using RGB curves

¦NoteThe RGB Curves settings are available only with the advanced versions

of the Matrox primary and secondary color correction effects.

With RGB curves, you can individually adjust the red, green, and blue color channels across the entire tonal range of your clip, or adjust all three color channels simultaneously with a master curve. RGB curves allow you to achieve color effects that would be difficult, if not impossible, to achieve using the

Balance

channels in each tonal range. For example, you can easily add a red, green, or blue tint to your clip, or use the master curve as a way to adjust the brightness and contrast of your clip.

Each curve is displayed on a grid with the horizontal axis representing the input or current pixel value, and the vertical axis representing the output value of the pixel after the curve adjustment is applied. By default, a curve starts as a straight line with two end points, one at the bottom left of the grid (shadows), and the other at the top right of the grid (highlights). Before any adjustments are made, each point on the curve has the same input and output value.

settings, and also give you a high degree of control over the color

Color

0 Default end point

(shadows)

1 Default end point

(highlights)

Creating a primary color correction

Click the R, G, or B button to select the curve corresponding to the color channel you want to adjust, or click the the curve to obtain your desired effect. For example, click the

Master button for the master curve, and then drag

R button and drag

the top right end point towards the top left of the grid to increase the slope of the curve and add red to the clip. Drag that same point towards the bottom right of the grid to decrease the slope of the curve and remove red from the clip. Clicking the

Enable button will show/hide any adjustments you have made to the RGB

channels at any time (you do not need to click

Enable to start adjusting the

curves).

¥Tip For increased precision, hold down the ALT key while you drag the curve,

or the

CRTL key to change your cursor into a crosshair that will help you align

your curve to the grid.

You can add up to 14 control points to each curve in addition to the two default end points. These control points act as anchors that allow you to lock your curve so adjustments can be applied only to specific tonal ranges. Click on a curve to add control points, and hold the

SHIFT key while clicking a control point to

delete it (end points cannot be deleted). Adjusting the points in the top right area of the grid affects highlights, the middle area affects midtones, and the bottom left area affects shadows. For example, the following S-shaped master curve adds contrast in the midtones range, without creating any completely black or white areas.

Chapter 4, Setting Up Realtime Effects with Adobe Premiere Pro

If you want to reset the Master, R, G, or B curve to its default setting at any time, click the appropriate Reset button.

Red curve Reset button

¥Tip By applying a mask to your clip, you can adjust the RGB channels for that

specific area of your clip, or invert the mask to isolate that same area from being affected by your RGB adjustments.

Adjusting tonal range

¦NoteThe To na l R an g e settings are available only with the advanced versions

of the Matrox primary and secondary color correction effects.

Using the tonal range curves allows you to fine-tune the range of pixels that are affected when you make a color correction to the shadows, midtones, or highlights of your clip using the color balance graph. For more information, see

“Using the color balance graph” on page 66.

The histogram shows the distribution of pixels in each tonal range of your clip. In the following example, the histogram represents a clip with a high amount of shadows (left), a lesser amount of midtones (middle), and an even lesser amount of highlights (right).

0 1 2

0 Shadows 1 Midtones 2 Highlights

Click the corresponding to the tonal range you want to adjust, and then drag the curve as desired to reduce the number of pixels to be included in each tonal range.

¦NoteYou cannot increase the number of pixels in a tonal range. For example,

you can’t extend the shadows curve into the highlights range.

Shadows, Midtones, or Highlights button to select the curve

Creating a primary color correction

Using the color balance graph

The color balance graph allows you to modify the Color Balance settings for each tonal range directly within the color maps. You can also perform an auto balance or a color match using the buttons beneath the color maps. For more information, see “Performing an auto balance” on page 69 and “Matching colors

between two clips” on page 70. Depending on which color map you use, you can

adjust your clip globally, or only the shadows, midtones, or highlights.

You can drag the handle in the center of any color map to adjust the color balance (

Hue and Saturation) for a specific tonal range, such as to adjust the color

balance globally throughout your clip using the color balance of only the shadows using the

Master color map, or adjust the

Shadows color map. Drag the

handle toward a color you want to increase in your clip, or away from a color you

Chapter 4, Setting Up Realtime Effects with Adobe Premiere Pro

want to decrease. For example, if you move the handle towards red, you also decrease cyan by the same amount, as shown in the following diagram:

MAGENTA

RED

YELLOW

GREEN

BLUE

CYAN

¥Tip For increased precision, hold down the ALT key while you drag the handle.

If you want to reset the color balance (

Hue and Saturation) setting, click the

Reset Color Balance button under the color map you are using.

Reset Color Balance button

To adjust the luminance for a tonal range, drag the corresponding luminance slider under the appropriate color map. For example, if you want to adjust the

Creating a primary color correction

luminance for only the shadows, drag the luminance slider under the Shadows color map.

Luminance slider

Chapter 4, Setting Up Realtime Effects with Adobe Premiere Pro

Performing an auto balance

Before matching colors, you can perform an auto balance on your target clip to automatically apply a color shift to your clip to compensate for different lighting conditions. To do this, click the color map and use the eyedropper to select the area you want to correct in your clip. For example, to balance your clip’s highlights, click the button under the

Highlights color map, and click (or click and drag) on the

lightest area of your clip. The auto balance is performed immediately.

Auto Balance button under the corresponding

Auto Balance

Auto Balance button

¦NoteTo perform an auto white balance, click the Auto White Balance button

under the

Master color map, and click (or click and drag) on a white or light gray

area of your clip.

Creating a primary color correction

Matching colors between two clips

You can perform a color match to match colors between two clips (such as skin tone, sky, etc.). The color match lets you select colors from a reference clip to match to your target clip. You can affect the colors globally (

Shadows, Midtones, or Highlights.

You can select the colors for your reference color and match color by either clicking the Color Picker button or the eyedropper.

Master), or just the

Color Picker button

Eyedropper

The eyedropper can be used in two ways:

$ Click the eyedropper button and click on the desired color in your clip.

$ Click the eyedropper button and click and drag anywhere on your clip to

create a rectangular area containing the color you want to select. The selected color will be an average of the pixel information contained within the rectangle.

°To perform a color match:

1 Prepare your workspace for color correction by choosing Window >

Workspace > Color Correction

2 Open your target clip (clip that contains the colors you want to correct) in the

Source Monitor.

¦NoteFor best results when using a target clip that has multiple effects

applied to it, create a nested sequence and open it in your Source Monitor before performing the color match. For more information about creating nested sequences, see your Adobe Premiere Pro documentation.

3 Apply the Matrox Color Correction effect to your target clip on the

timeline.

4 Use the controls under the Reference Monitor to move to a frame in your

reference clip that contains the colors you want to match.

5 Use the controls under the Source Monitor to go to the frame in your target

clip that contains the colors you want to match to your reference clip.

Chapter 4, Setting Up Realtime Effects with Adobe Premiere Pro

6 Select a reference color from your reference clip by using the Reference

Color eyedropper under the color map you want to affect (

Shadows, Midtones, or Highlights).

Reference Color eyedropper

Master,

For example, to match a very dark color in your reference clip to your target clip, click the Reference Color eyedropper under the

Shadows color map,

and click (or click and drag) on the desired color in your reference clip.

7 Select a match color from your target clip in the Source Monitor window by

using the Match Color eyedropper under the corresponding color map (

Master, Shadows, Midtones, or Highlights).

Match Color eyedropper

Creating a primary color correction

Using the luma mapping graph

To modify your luma mapping values directly in the graph, click the triangle next to the

Luma Mapping Graphical property to expand it:

•

Map This is the default view when you first expand the Graphical

property. You can drag the handles in the graph to adjust the

Output levels for black and white, as well as the Gamma.

Input and

0 Input

Black Level

Chapter 4, Setting Up Realtime Effects with Adobe Premiere Pro

1 Input

White Level

2 Output

Black Level

3 Output

White Level

4 Gamma

• Plot Click this button to plot the luminance values in the current frame of

your clip to the histogram (the plot will reflect any color correction changes you’ve made). Each luminance value present in your image appears as a vertical line in the histogram. A longer line indicates a higher amount of pixels in your image of that line’s luminance value. You can drag the handles in the graph to adjust the well as the

Gamma.

Input and Output levels for black and white, as

0 Input

Black Level

Auto Black Click this to define the darkest pixels in your clip as black.

• The intermediate luminance values are proportionally redistributed.

• Auto White Click this to define the lightest pixels in your clip as white. The intermediate luminance values are proportionally redistributed.

¦NoteIf you want to restore the default luminance values at any time, click

the Restore Default Values button.

1 Input

White Level

2 Output

Black Level

3 Output

White Level

Restore Default Values button

4 Gamma

Creating a primary color correction

Creating a secondary color correction

Matrox secondary color correction offers all the properties found in Matrox primary color correction, with the added capability of limiting the color correction to a specific range of pixels using the selective key properties. For example, secondary color correction can be used to change the color of a dress, deepen the background sky color, or to achieve an effect where only one object or person remains in color while the rest of the image becomes black and white. For details on how to isolate a color and make the rest of the clip black and white, see

“Creating a color pass effect” on page 84.

¥Tip Adobe Premiere Pro includes a workspace setup that is optimized for

working with clips and effects to facilitate color correction. To prepare your workspace for color correction, choose

Correction

°To set up a Matrox secondary color correction:

Click the triangle next to Matrox Color Correction (Secondary) or Matrox

Color Correction (Secondary - Advanced)

Window > Workspace > Color

to expand the property list.

¦NoteThe RGB Curves and Tonal Range settings are available only with the

Tonal Range settings.

Chapter 4, Setting Up Realtime Effects with Adobe Premiere Pro

RGB Curves or

• Enable Split View Select this option to split your clip into two sections in the Program Monitor and on your video monitor. One section will display your clip as you adjust the color correction controls, and the other section of the clip will remain unchanged. For more information, see “Using Split

View ” on page 61.

•

Proc Amps The processing amplifier (proc amp) controls allow you to

adjust different aspects of your clip:

$ Hue Adjusts the tint of the colors in the image.

$ Saturation Adjusts the saturation (vividness) of the image’s colors.

$ Contrast Adjusts the difference in luminance between the lightest and

darkest areas of the image.

$ Brightness Adjusts the level of black in the image.

•

RGB Curves Lets you use curves to adjust the red, green, and blue color

channels of your clip individually, or use a master curve to adjust all color channels simultaneously. For more information, see “Using RGB curves” on page 63.

•

Color Balance These controls let you adjust the mixture of colors in your

clip.

$ Tonal Range Allows you to fine-tune the tonal ranges of your clip by

reducing the range of pixels included for shadows, midtones, or highlights. For more information, see “Adjusting tonal range” on page 65.

$ Graphical Allows you to see a graphical representation of your changes

when you adjust the color balance settings. You can also adjust and modify most of the color balance

settings directly within the graph. For more

information, see “Using the color balance graph” on page 66.

$ Numerical Lets you adjust your color balance settings numerically by

entering values in the text boxes, or by dragging the corresponding sliders. You can adjust the

• Master (Hue, Saturation, and Luminance) Affects all areas of your

Hue, Saturation, and Luminance for each tonal range.

clip from the lightest white to the darkest black.

• Shadows (Hue, Saturation, and Luminance) Affects the darkest

areas of your clip.

• Midtones (Hue, Saturation, and Luminance) Affects the areas with

tones between the darkest and lightest areas of your clip.

• Highlights (Hue, Saturation, and Luminance) Affects the lightest

areas of your clip.

• Luma Mapping

$ Graphical Allows you to see a graphical representation of your changes

when you adjust the luma mapping settings. You can also modify the

Creating a secondary color correction

luminance of your clip directly within the graph. For more information, see

“Using the luma mapping graph” on page 72.

$ Numerical Lets you adjust your luma mapping settings numerically by

entering values in the text boxes, or by dragging the corresponding sliders.

• Input Levels (Black and White) These controls let you fine-tune your

For example, by increasing the black value, you set black in your clip to a higher luminance value, which compresses the luminance range and darkens your clip proportionally.

• Output Levels (Black and White) These controls let you map the

values under

Input Levels to any level of black and white. You can

reduce contrast in your clip, or reverse the luminosity of your clip by setting black to a higher value than white.

• Gamma Use this to adjust the midtones in your clip without adjusting

black or white.

•

Mask Allows you to apply a mask to your effect. For more information,

see “Applying a mask to your effect” on page 57.

•

Selective Key The selective key settings allow you to apply the color

correction effect to a specific range of pixels in your clip. Performing a selective key is similar to performing a chroma or luma key, however, with a selective key you are applying color correction to the keyed area instead of transparency. For example, if you use the selective key properties to select red as your in your clip. You can enable each keyer (

Hue color, the color correction will be applied to the red regions

Hue, Saturation, and Luma)

individually, or enable all three at the same time to get the desired results.

$ Graphical Allows you to see a graphical representation of your changes

when you adjust the selective key

Numerical settings. You can also modify

the settings directly within the graph and perform an auto key. For more information, see “Using the selective key graph” on page 79.

$ Numerical Lets you adjust your key settings numerically by entering

values in the text boxes, or by dragging the corresponding sliders.

• Hue Key This type of key lets you select areas to be keyed (affected by

the color correction) based on their hue.

$ Enable Select this to enable the Hue Key properties and hue key

indicator in the selective key graph.

$ Hue Use this to rotate the indicator around the perimeter of the color

spectrum so that you can select different hues (colors) on which to key.

Chapter 4, Setting Up Realtime Effects with Adobe Premiere Pro

$ Aperture Use this to widen or narrow the aperture of the indicator

to increase or decrease the range of colors on which you want to key.

$ Softness Sets the amount of softness applied to the range of colors

specified in the aperture region.

• Saturation Key This lets you select colors to be keyed (affected by the

color correction) based on their saturation value. Pale colors have a low saturation value, while vivid colors have a high saturation value.

$ Enable Select this to enable the Saturation Key properties and

saturation key indicator in the selective key graph.

$ Low Clip Use this to select the lower saturation values to be keyed.

$ Low Gain Use this to set the range of saturation values you want to

be partially affected based on the value set by the As you increase the

Low Gain setting, more pixels are partially

affected by the color correction. If you decreas e the

Low Clip control.

Low Gain control,

less pixels are partially affected.

Low Gain setting of 100 provides the widest range for maximum

color correction. Alternately, a gain setting of 0 creates a key where saturation values are either completely affected or left untouched. You can think of the

Low Gain control as defining an “Affected to

Untouched” range for keying the pale colors in your image.

$ High Gain This control is similar to the Low Gain setting, except

you use it to set the range of higher saturation values you want to be partially affected based on the value set by the you increase the

High Gain setting, less pixels are partially affected

by the color correction. If you decrease the pixels are partially affected.

You can think of the High Gain control

High Clip control. As

High Gain setting, more

as defining an “Untouched to Affected” range for keying the vivid colors of your image.

$ High Clip This control is similar to Low Gain, except you use it to

select the higher saturation values to be keyed.

¦Note The values you can select using the Low Clip and Low Gain

controls are dependent on the

High Clip and High Gain controls, and

vice versa. This prevents the low and high controls from keying on the same values.

• Luma Key This type of key lets you select areas to be keyed (affected

by the color correction) based on their luminance value.

$ Enable Select this to enable the Luma Key properties and luma key

indicator in the selective key graph.

$ Low Clip Use this to select the lower (darker) luminance values to

be keyed. A

Low Clip setting of 0 represents black, and a setting of

Creating a secondary color correction

255 represents white. Intermediate settings represent different shades of gray, from very dark to very light gray.

$ Low Gain Use this to set the range of luminance values you want

to be partially affected based on the value set by the As you increase the

Low Gain setting, more luminance values become

Low Clip control.

partially affected by the color correction.

Low Gain setting of 100 provides the widest range for maximum

color correction. Alternately, a gain setting of 0 creates a key where the luminance values are either completely affected or left untouched. You can think of the

Low Gain control as defining an “Affected to

Untouched” range for keying the dark areas of your image.

$ High Gain This control is similar to Low Gain, except you use it

to set the range of luminance values you want to be partially affected based on the value set by the

High Clip control. You can think of the

High Gain control as defining an “Untouched to Affected” range for

keying the lighter areas of your image.

$ High Clip This control is similar to Low Clip, except you use it to

select the higher (brighter) luminance values to be keyed.

¦Note The values you can select using the Low Clip and Low Gain

controls are dependent on the

High Clip and High Gain controls, and

vice versa. This prevents the low and high controls from keying on the same luminance values.

• Invert Key Select this to invert the key selection, giving you the

opposite result of what you originally selected.

• Show Key as Output Select this to display the matte used to define

your selective key region. This enables you to further refine your key. Areas that are completely affected by the color correction are white, untouched areas are black, and gray areas are partially affected.

• Expand Outside Mask Applies the color correction settings outside

the mask area. This setting is especially useful when setting up a color pass effect where you have several objects of the same color but want to retain the color for only one object. For more information, see “Creating

a color pass effect” on page 84.

Chapter 4, Setting Up Realtime Effects with Adobe Premiere Pro

Using the selective key graph

The selective key graph allows you to modify your selective key settings (Hue

Key

, Saturation Key, and Luma Key) directly in the graph. You can also

perform an auto key.

•

Map This is the default view when you first expand the graphical property.

You can drag the handles to move the indicator to different regions in the graph to adjust the

In order to see the indicator and handles, you have to enable the key setting you want to use. For example, if you want to adjust the you need to click the

Enable

the

option in the Hue Key numerical properties. In the following graph,

Hue properties have been enabled.

Hue Key, Saturation Key, and Luma Key settings.

Hue Key properties,

Hue button in the selective key graph or select the

Plot Click this button to plot the colors and luminance values that are

• present in the current frame of your clip. You can drag the handles to move the indicator to different regions in the graph to adjust the

Saturation Key

, and Luma Key properties. The luma plot histogram shows

Creating a secondary color correction

Hue Key,

each luminance value present in your image as a vertical line. A longer line indicates a higher amount of pixels in your image of that line’s luminance value.

•

Hue Click this button to enable or disable the Hue Key properties (Hue, Aperture and Softness). When enabled you will be able to see the Hue Key

indicator and handles to modify the Hue Key properties in the selective

key graph.

0 Hue 1 Aperture 2 Softness

•

Sat Click this button to enable or disable the Saturation Key properties

(

Low Clip, Low Gain, High Gain, and High Clip). When enabled you will

Chapter 4, Setting Up Realtime Effects with Adobe Premiere Pro

be able to see the Sat Key indicator and handles to modify the Saturation

Key

properties in the selective key graph.

0 Low Clip 1 Low Gain 2 High Gain 3 High Clip

•

Lum Click this button to enable or disable the Luma Key properties (Low Clip

, Low Gain, High Gain, and High Clip). When enabled you will be

able to see the properties in the selective key graph.

Lum Key indicator and handles to modify the Luma Key

0 Low Clip 1 Low Gain 2 High Gain 3 High Clip

¥Tip For both the Saturation Key and Luma Key properties, you can lock

and move all the handles at the same time in the selective key graph by pressing lock and move either the and High Clip handles.

SHIFT and then dragging any handle. If you press CTRL you can

Low Clip and Low Gain handles or High Gain

Creating a secondary color correction

¦NoteIf you want to reset the hue, saturation, and luma key properties to the

default settings at any time, click the appropriate Reset button.

Saturation Key Reset button

•

Show Key Click this button to display the matte used to define your

selective key region. This enables you to further refine your key. Areas that are completely affected by the color correction are white, untouched areas are black, and gray areas are partially affected.

•

Auto Key Click this button to automatically key on the most common

color at the current frame (except gray). Selecting for the

Hue Key, Saturation Key, and the Luma key properties.

Auto Key affects values

Alternately, you can use the auto key eyedropper to select a color on which you want to key.

Auto key eyedropper

• The auto key eyedropper can be used in two ways:

$ Click the eyedropper button and click on a color on which you want to key.

$ Click the eyedropper button and click and drag anywhere on your clip to

create a rectangular area containing the color on which you want to key. The selected color will be an average of the pixel information contained within the rectangle.

You can further refine your auto key color by using the plus and minus eyedroppers.

Plus and minus eyedroppers

For example, if you selected light red as your auto key color and would like a dark red color in your clip to be included in the auto key, you can use the plus eyedropper to select that dark red in your clip. To remove colors from your auto key, use the minus eyedropper.

¦NoteThe Show Key mode and any color correction applied will be

temporarily deactivated in the Program Monitor when using an eyedropper.

Chapter 4, Setting Up Realtime Effects with Adobe Premiere Pro

This allows you to see the original colors of your clip before any modifications were made.

•

Indicator Click this button to turn the indicator lines on or off.

•

Handles Click this button to turn the handles for the indicator lines on or

off.

Creating a secondary color correction

Creating a color pass effect

You can use the Matrox secondary color correction to create a color pass effect to convert your clip to black and white, with the exception of one specified color. This can be useful if you want to isolate a single color to make it prominent.

In the following example, the pink color of the girl’s shirt has been retained, while the rest of the clip has been converted to black and white:

Pink shirt is isolated, while the rest of clip is grayscale.

°To perform a color pass effect:

1 Click the Auto Key eyedropper in the selective key graph and click and drag

anywhere on your clip to create a rectangular area containing the color you want to isolate.

2 Under Proc Amps, set the Saturation to 0.

3 Select Invert Key.

If you have more than one object of the same color but you want to isolate only one of those objects, you can apply a mask and use the option to isolate the area that contains the color you want to remain intact. For example, if you have a clip that has two roses that are the same red and you would like only one of them to remain red, you can do the following.

Expand Outside Mask

°To perform a color pass effect using the Expand Outside Mask option:

1 Click the auto key eyedropper in the selective key graph and click and drag

anywhere on your clip to create a rectangular area containing the color you want to isolate.

2 Under Proc Amps set the Saturation to 0.

3 Select Invert Key.

4 Apply a mask surrounding the colored object you want to remain intact (see

“Applying a mask to your effect” on page 57).

5 Select Expand Outside Mask.

Chapter 4, Setting Up Realtime Effects with Adobe Premiere Pro

Creating a 3D DVE effect

The Matrox 3D DVE effect lets you position your clips anywhere in 3D space while adding soft edges and rounded borders with color gradients in real time.

¦NoteIf you want to create a picture-in-picture effect, the move & scale effect

will provide a sharper picture (see “Creating a move & scale effect” on page 120). To apply rotation to your effect, you must use the 3D DVE effect.

°To set up a Matrox 3D DVE effect:

Click the triangle next to Matrox 3D DVE to expand the property list.

Transform Use these properties to apply or change various transform

• settings, such as the position, scale, and rotation settings of your clip. For more information, see “Transforming your clip” on page 52.

•

Border Settings Allow you to create a border or soft edge on your clip.

$ Border Outside Softness Lets you adjust the softness of the edge of

your clip or outside edge of your border. The higher the softness value, the less sharp the edge becomes. If your clip is skewed, you may get more desirable results using the

$ Border Outside Skewed Softness If you altered your clip so that the

Border Outside Skewed Softness control.

perspective is skewed, you should use this option to apply softness to the edges of your clip.

Creating a 3D DVE effect

$ Border Type Allows you to select the type of border you want (None,

Flat, Gradient, or Alpha Edge). Click the triangle on the right to expand

the list of border types.

lick here to select your border type

¦NoteThe Alpha Edge border type is for use with alpha-keyed graphics

only.

$ Border Width Use this control to adjust the border along the X and Y

axes simultaneously. The higher the value, the wider your border becomes. If you clear

$ X Border Width Use this control to adjust the border along the X axis.

Fixed Aspect Ratio, you can adjust each axis individually.

The higher the value, the wider your border becomes.

$ Y Border Width Use this control to adjust the border along the Y axis.

The higher the value, the wider your border becomes.

$ Border Inside Softness Sets the border softness on the inside edge of

your border. The higher the softness value, the less sharp the edge or border becomes.

$ Border Outside Color Use the color picker or eyedropper to select the

color you want for your border, or the outside edge of your border if you selected

$ Border Outside Transparency Sets the transparency of your border, or

outside edge of your border if you selected

Gradient as your border type.

Levels range from opaque (0) to fully transparent (100).

¦NoteThe next two properties (Border Inside Color and Border Inside

Transparency

) are available only if you selected Gradient as your border

type.

$ Border Inside Color Use the color picker or eyedropper to set the inside

color of your border, which will create a gradient between this color and the outside color of your border.

$ Border Inside Transparency Sets the transparency of the inside color

of your border.

$ Round Corner Size Allows you to round the corners on the edges of

your border.

$ Corner Point Offset Allows you to move the position of the corner

points of your border so that you can create various shapes for your 3D DVE. Negative values bring the corner points towards the center of the clip, while positive values move the corner points outward.

Chapter 4, Setting Up Realtime Effects with Adobe Premiere Pro

• Crop Allows you to crop the edges of your clip. For more information, see

“Cropping your clip” on page 55.

Enhance Sharpness Lets you adjust the sharpness of your clip.

•

Creating a 3D DVE effect

Creating a 4-corner pin effect

The Matrox 4-corner pin effect lets you anchor each corner of a video or graphics clip onto points in an underlying clip, even if the underlying clip is angled or skewed. You could use this effect, for example, to overlay a video clip onto an underlying clip of a television screen.

°To set up a Matrox 4-corner pin effect:

Click the triangle next to Matrox 4-corner Pin to expand the property list.

To p Le ft and Top Right Corner Use these controls to horizontally and

• vertically position the top left and right corners of your clip.

•

Bottom Left and Bottom Right Corner Use these controls to

horizontally and vertically position the bottom left and right corners of your clip.

¥Tip You can easily position each corner of your clip directly in the

Program Monitor. To do this, click the Transform icon ( ) beside

Matrox 4-corner Pin in the Effect Controls panel. A cursor will appear at

each corner of your clip in the Program Monitor. Drag these cursors to position the corners of your clip.

•

Edge Softness Lets you apply softness to the edges of your clip. If your

clip is skewed, you may get more desirable results using the

Softness

•

Skewed Edge Softness If you altered your clip so that the perspective is

skewed, you should use this option to apply softness to the edges of your clip.

¡ Important Skewed Edge Softness is not supported on clips where any

corner is positioned beyond the boundaries of another corner. In order for the

Skewed Edge Softness to work correctly, your clip should be a flat plane

with four visible corners.

•

Crop Allows you to crop the edges of your clip. For more information, see

“Cropping your clip” on page 55.

control.

Skewed Edge

Chapter 4, Setting Up Realtime Effects with Adobe Premiere Pro

• Preview Settings You can select the following options for previewing

your effect:

$ Show Cursors Displays a diamond-shaped cursor at each corner of your

clip on your video monitor only. These cursors can help you precisely determine where each corner is located. Each corner has a different colored cursor as follows:

• Top Left: Red

• Top Right: Green

• Bottom Left: Blue

• Bottom Right: Orange

$ Show Color Frame Only Displays a semi-transparent shape that

represents the clip to which you are applying the 4-corner pin effect. This is useful if you’re positioning an alpha-keyed title, for example, and you need to see the edges of the clip.

$ Color To select a different color for the color frame, use the color picker

button or the eyedropper.

¥Tip The Show Color Frame Only option is provided as a viewing aid

while setting up your 4-corner pin effect. However, you can choose to leave it selected to create a unique lighting effect, such as to create a flashlight beam.

•

Enhance Sharpness Lets you adjust the sharpness of your clip.

Creating a 4-corner pin effect

Creating a blur/soft focus effect

The Matrox blur/soft focus effect lets you create unique effects and simulate camera defocus.

°To set up a Matrox blur/soft focus effect:

Click the triangle next to Matrox Blur/Soft Focus to expand the property list.

Blur Amount Use this to change the amount of blurring in your clip.

•

Source Blend Factor Use this to superimpose the original image on top

• of your clip after you’ve applied blurring. A value of zero will show only the blur result, and a value of 100 will show only the original image. Anything in between will result in a blending of the blurring with the original image, therefore creating a soft focus effect.

•

Lock Colors Select this option to proportionally increase or decrease the

red, green, and blue color gain. For example, any adjustments you make to the

Red Color Gain will be used for the green and blue color gain as well.

Red Color Gain Lets you increase or decrease the red present in your

• image.

• Green Color Gain Lets you increase or decrease the green present in your

image.

• Blue Color Gain Lets you increase or decrease the blue present in your

image.

Crop Allows you to crop the edges of your clip. For more information, see

•

“Cropping your clip” on page 55.

¦NoteIf you are working in HD, the blur/soft focus effect may require

rendering based on certain setting combinations.

Chapter 4, Setting Up Realtime Effects with Adobe Premiere Pro

Overview of the chroma key effects

You can use the Matrox realtime plug-in to apply a chroma key or chroma key shadow effect to make certain areas of a foreground image transparent based on a color in that image, so that an underlying image can show through.

In the following example of a chroma key effect, our foreground image is a video clip of a woman sitting in front of a green backdrop, and our underlying image is a video clip of a sand dune:

Foreground image

By chroma keying on the particular shade of green in the backdrop of the foreground image, the backdrop area becomes transparent and the corresponding area of the underlying image shows through in the composite image as follows:

Underlying image

Result of chroma key

¡ Important The chroma key shadow effect includes controls for fine-tuning

shadows in your effect. It is best to use the chroma key shadow effect when you are performing a chroma key without any additional effects. If you want to apply additional effects to your chroma key, you will get more desirable results by using the chroma key effect without shadow controls. For example, if you want to apply a DVE to your chroma key, you should use the chroma key effect and not the chroma key shadow effect.

Overview of the chroma key effects

Creating a chroma key or chroma key shadow effect

To set up a Matrox chroma key or chroma key shadow effect, click the triangle next to

Matrox Chroma Key/Matrox Chroma Key Shadow to expand the

property list:

•

Graphical Provides a graphical representation of the chroma key controls

that you can use to select your key colors, and also lets you perform an auto key.

$ Map Lets you select your key colors within a circular graph that contains

a color spectrum.

$ Plot Displays a plot of the colors present in your clip so that you can

select the particular colors on which you want to key.

$ Show Key Click this button to display the matte used to create your key

effect. This enables you to further refine your key. For example, when you display the matte, your key color (such as green) appears as black, and opaque areas appear as white. If you notice some white spots that you want to key, you can adjust the key controls until the undesired white spots disappear.

Chapter 4, Setting Up Realtime Effects with Adobe Premiere Pro

Matrox Electronic Systems RT-X2 User Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual

Introducing Matrox RT.X2

Welcome to Matrox RT.X2

Matrox RT.X2 SD key features

Matrox RT.X2 and RT.X2 LE key features

About this manual

Style conventions

How video formats are expressed

Other documentation

Working with .mxf, .mp4, and .avi Files

Working with native .mxf files in Adobe Premiere Pro and After Effects

Steps for using .mxf files in your projects

Working with native XDCAM EX (.mp4) files in Adobe Premiere Pro

Displaying information for clips in Windows Explorer

Thumbnails preview

Additional file details in Windows XP

Creating Matrox EZ-MXF files for playback with VFW applications

Panasonic P2 folder structure

Creating Matrox EZ-HDV AVI files for playback of large HDV clips with VFW applications

Converting a 32-bit .tga sequence to an .avi file with alpha

A note about running other programs with Adobe Premiere Pro

Setting your system’s volume levels

For Windows Vista

For Windows XP

Loading project presets

Setting up your scratch disks

Displaying warnings in Adobe Premiere Pro’s Events panel

Mixing interlaced and progressive clips in a project

Mixing SD and HD clips in a project

Defining your General settings

Selecting options for accelerated Premiere Pro effects

Specifying your video output settings

Selecting your DV-1394 output settings

Defining your Video Rendering settings

Defining your Capture settings

Specifying your video capture settings

Specifying your audio capture settings

Notes about capturing to Matrox .m2v files

Capturing HDV material on Matrox RT.X2 SD

Exporting to a Matrox .avi file

Selecting your MPEG-2 I-frame settings

Selecting your MPEG-2 IBP settings

Exporting using Matrox Media Encoder

Exporting using Matrox Clip Notes

Setting up Matrox DV/HDV device control

Exporting your sequence to tape

Preparing your tapes for recording

Avoiding missing frames when exporting to DV tape

Exporting to DV tape using DV-1394 device control

Creating an SD project in 16:9 format

Available effects

How to apply a Matrox video effect in Adobe Premiere Pro

How to apply a Matrox video transition in Adobe Premiere Pro

Transforming your clip

Using the transform controls

Transforming a clip in the Program Monitor

Cropping your clip

Using Select Crop

Applying a mask to your effect

Using Select Mask

Creating a primary color correction

Using Split View

Working with Split View in the Program Monitor

Using RGB curves

Adjusting tonal range

Using the color balance graph

Performing an auto balance

Matching colors between two clips

Using the luma mapping graph

Creating a secondary color correction

Using the selective key graph

Creating a color pass effect

Creating a 3D DVE effect

Creating a 4-corner pin effect

Creating a blur/soft focus effect

Overview of the chroma key effects

Creating a chroma key or chroma key shadow effect