Matrox was kind enough to send over an MXO2 Mini for us to try out.  After seeing the demonstration at the Matrox event in Orlando, I was excited to see what this little box could do – so I gave it a test drive.

I was amazed by the results.  The video below highlights some of the features of the MXO2 Mini.

Installation

The Matrox MXO2 Mini was a breeze to install.  Just don’t download the wrong driver software like I did. I was using the MXO2 software instead of the MXO2 Mini software.  I would like to think it was a common mistake, but no.  I just picked the wrong one.  After I selected the proper software, the installation process was less than 10 minutes.

You can install this on a Mac or PC and you can either choose to install it on your laptop with an Express Card slot or on your desktop computer with an empty PCIe slot.  When you purchase the MXO2 Mini, you can choose which installation method you want (Express Card or PCIe card) and Matrox will include it in the package.  It’s also good to note that you can purchase them separately if you want to move the Mini between your laptop or desktop.  Pretty convienent.

It’s also important to note that this will only work with a laptop computer that has an Express Card slot or a desktop with a PCIe slot.  If you’re using an iMac to do your editing, you’re out of luck.  You’ll have to find another way to get component, composite, s-video and HDMI into your system.

Capturing video

The Matrox MXO2 Mini captures Component HD or SD, S-Video or Composite video along with analog audio. The connections are standard RCA jacks for both video and audio.  It will also capture HDMI video and audio – this is my favorite part.  If you have a camera or deck with an HDMI connection, you’re in for a treat.  It’s a nice simple connection.

Another note here – there is no machine control available with this device.  You can go out and get an RS 422 to USB converter to add machine control to your Final Cut System using the MXO2 Mini.  I haven’t tested this but in theory it should work just fine.  If you’re concerned with machine control and frame-accurate editing  you may just consider stepping up the Matrox product line.  There is a comparison chart that you can download from the Matrox website that shows each product and their features.  The MXO2 Mini is designed, in my opinion, to be a device that you can grab and go.  It’s perfect for traveling with your mobile edit system and not something that you will be using to cut multi-camera shows.

The Matrox Software

When you install the Matrox drivers, you also install an MXO2 Mini utility program.  This is where you can choose the type of video signal you want to capture.  If you hook up a VHS deck to the back of the Mini using a standard RCA cable (red, white and yellow) you simply choose the “composite” setting from the drop-down list.  If you’re using component video (Green, Blue, Red + Red and White for audio) as your source, simply connect it to the back of the Mini and choose “component” from the drop-down list.  It is very simple to use.  If you don’t know the difference between component, composite, s-video and HDMI then read our post on component, composite and digital signals.

Matrox software utility

HDMI to a monitor

Another great feature of the hardware (and software) is the ability to calibrate the output of your edit system to any consumer HD monitor.   It’s not as precise as using a professional HD video monitor, but it’s pretty darn close.   If you like to tweak things to near perfection then this is definitely something that will work for you.

Codec selection

Matrox includes some great codec choices within the software that install directly into Final Cut or Premiere.  Now, I can’t vouch for Premiere because I have only tested this on a Final Cut system but it definitely integrated nicely. There are some smaller bitrate codecs that will save you significant space when capturing HD to your system.  This works well when you are not concerned with heavy effects work, compositing or significant color correction.  It is especially nice if you want to save yourself the trouble of editing native HDV.  Some of you may like to do that – I don’t.  It has always been a complete nightmare for me so I capture everything HDV to ProRes.  When I’m on the road and away from my primary edit suite, this has always proved to be a challenge.  HDV to ProRes over firewire works well, but it’s definitely not 100% for me.  Since Final Cut only supports HDV to ProRes 422 (147Mbps) – you’re stuck having to use almost four times the storage space of native HDV.  Having an I/O box around that allows me to capture real-time to any codec that I choose is a better way to go.  The full list of installed codecs is below – it’s pretty impressive.

The list of codecs installed with the MXO2 Mini

Playback

The Matrox MXO2 Mini handles playback like a champ.  For my tests, I chose to capture to ProRes LT and I never received a dropped frame warning during playback of an edited sequence.  I was using a Lacie drive connected via Firewire 800 for all of my tests and it proved to be a solid performer with the ProRes LT codec.

MAX H.264 Hardware

The Mini that I was testing included the MAX h.264 hardware acceleration architecture.  This is special hardware that Matrox has developed to accelerate the encoding of h.264 video files.  If you encode files for the internet or do any Blu-ray authoring, this is the section that should interest you the most. Matrox claims “faster than real-time” performance from their MAX hardware – so I decided to do some testing.  My results were impressive.  I encoded a one minute video using three different methods – for iPod/iPhone, HD for web delivery and Blu ray.  All three tests were done with and without the MAX hardware.  Here are my results:

H.264 Acceleration Test

Source Video – 1280 x 720p ProRes LT – 1 minute in length

Without Max Hardware

• 1280 x 720 h.264 quicktime (8 Mbps) – 3:51
• 640 x 360 h.264 quicktime (1.5 Mbps) – 4:00.6
• Blu ray 1280 x 720 h.264  (35 Mbps) – 7:01.6

With MAX hardware

• 1280 x 720 h.264 quicktime (8 Mbps) – :51
• 640 x 360 h.264 quicktime (1.5 Mbps) – :58.2
• Blu ray 1280 x 720 h.264  (35 Mbps) -  1:19.2

The results are astounding!  Faster than real time on two out of three and nearly four times faster (seven times faster for the Blu ray encode) than the laptop’s processor alone!  Absolutely amazing.  It’s funny to watch the compression happen because it starts off like any other Compressor project . . . then it gets faster . . . then faster . . . then it’s done.  What a time-saver!

Matrox’s Datasheet

The tests that I did above were using some standard outputs that I have to make on a regular basis.  Matrox has obviously spent some time doing their own tests.  I have added the conclusions to those tests below.  You can find this information on Matrox’s website.

Conclusion

The Matrox MXO2 Mini is definitely a solid piece of hardware that will not disappoint.  At just $450 for the Matrox MXO2 Mini without the MAX hardware you have a solid I/O device that can capture just about any source a client will throw at you.  Also, Matrox’s calibration software will allow you to monitor your video properly to any HDMI monitor.  The choice of codec and bitrate will fit any project that you might face and the HDMI in and out is a dream if you’re neurotic about your cabling – especially when you’re editing on location.  However, it is the MAX hardware that steals the show – faster than real time and nearly three to four times faster than the laptop alone.  It’s also seven times faster than my Blu ray test, which blows my mind!  For around $850 you get the luxury of having the MAX hardware on board.  In my opinion, if you do any encoding for the web or Blu ray authoring, you have to spend the extra money and get the MAX hardware built-in.   The time you will save will justify the price difference after just one project.

Disclosure

Production Apprentice’s product reviews are not endorsed by the manufacturer and are not paid advertisements.  All reviews are completed by one of our editors and are set up to re-create actual working environments and real-world situations.  If you have any questions regarding our review process please contact us at info@productionapprentice.com.