Matrox Video Products Group understands the importance of having a good show at NAB, and it’s up to staff at its Montreal head office to organize the company’s presentation at the Las Vegas trade show. But the digital video hardware/software manufacturer, which specializes in realtime editing, DVD authoring and Web streaming applications, sees success lying in more than just an eye-catching booth.

‘We believe more in substance than splash,’ says Tony Manolikakis, senior product specialist for Matrox’s DigiSuite Series of editing platforms, aimed at broadcasters and high-end post houses on down to event videographers. ‘We’re not going to go [to NAB] just to make a lot of noise and not have anything to follow up with. It’s critical to have a presence, support the dealers who bring their customers and help educate those customers on what’s happening.’

Matrox will be demonstrating the addition of a channel of 3D DVE (digital video effect) to the capabilities of DigiSuite, for realtime 3D effects. As is, DigiSuite is compatible with other vendors’ compositing, animation and editing software, and it comes bundled with the Adobe Premiere video-editing tool. Three other companies have pledged platform support: Bethesda, MD’s in-sync, makers of Speed Razor digital editing software; Anaheim, CA’s United Media, which offers the Online Express realtime nonlinear DV editing system; and Geneva, Switzerland’s IMC, manufacturers of the Incite nonlinear editing system.

Manolikakis feels these partnerships enable Matrox to cover a lot of customers, noting, ‘Each of the editing systems is slightly different, so they each tend to appeal to slightly different types of editors. It’s great for us to have support industry-wide.’

Compatibility

According to Manolikakis, compatibility is the name of the game, and DigiSuite’s open architecture is due to its working with native ADI files, which allow it to support 3D animation, compositing and sound packages.

‘There are very few people who use only one application anymore – not just for sharing files, but even for one individual suite,’ he explains. ‘They’ll edit in Adobe Premiere, then do audio effects in [Sonic Foundry] Sound Forge or Pro Tools, then come back and do some compositing in Adobe After Effects, then put everything together with titles on another system. We always felt it was critical to have at least file-level compatibility for different applications.’

Manolikakis says the system is ideal for broadcasters, ENG and small studios that require multipurpose systems excelling in animation, audio and DV editing. Clients often use DigiSuite on music videos and broadcast design, and high-profile customers include New York media design shop Eyeball on the Floor and Hollywood CGI production studio Digital Dimension, which used the system on a recent Super Bowl opening.

Matrox’s NAB booth will also feature its RTMac hardware for users of Final Cut Pro, Apple’s editing, compositing and F/X application on the Power Mac G4. Manolikakis explains that with the product, users ‘can load graphics onto the timeline, and if it’s video resolution, you can play them back in realtime – you don’t have to render.’

Desktop systems are having a growing impact in the post world, including at higher-end studios, even if those studios may not be upfront about it.

‘They’ll put the [Discreet] Flint and Flame in the front office for everyone to see, and they’ll have the lower-end stuff in the back,’ Manolikakis says.

He adds the RTMac is particularly useful for offlining and especially DV editing. If the user is editing natively via Apple FireWire, the serial bus that enables a digital camcorder to be plugged into the computer, the quality is as good as what was originally acquired.

Much of the emphasis of Matrox’s two previous Vegas visits was on the uphill battle of showing clients how they can incorporate DVD into their offerings.

‘We thought DVD would be bigger in the minds of editors and people doing production,’ Manolikakis says. ‘Although everyone wanted to know about it, when I asked how many of their customers had actually asked for DVD or how many they had actually delivered, 95% of them said one or none.’

NAB gives Matrox an opportunity not only to see what its customers are up to, but also to check out the competition.

‘There’s no doubt that’s one of the things we’re going to do,’ the product specialist says. ‘We’re going to look around – ‘These guys are making a lot of noise about that, but we don’t think it’s important,’ or ‘We have the same ideas and that’s something we want to do.’ It’s one of those industry get-together situations.’

Manolikakis admits the majority of companies at NAB find themselves hard-pressed to live up to every claim they make, especially regarding delivery dates.

‘We’ve been guilty, as have most people, of thinking we would be able to get something out and then we haven’t,’ he says. ‘It’s never been in a deliberate manner, but it happens. [Releases] are much more complicated than they seem.’

The most important thing about the event, he says, is touching base with customers.

‘There’s nothing like having somebody sit there and say, ‘This is what I’m doing and this is what I need.’ That feedback is huge.’ *

-www.matrox.com