Is it worth the money. I'm considering Cineform instead becuase they focus on quality.

Anyone have experience of both?


Is RTX2 a stable solution in the past I've had a very bad time with fussy Matrox boards.

Matrox is fussy, but if you build the computer according to their recommended HW specs it's rock solid.

RTX2 was extremely picky and unstable with Premiere Pro 2. With CS3, it's much, much better, but be ready for some quirks (even on turnkey systems certified by matrox). ANY HW based product has some.

It's invaluable when you do broadcast stuff and lots of quick-n-dirty editing. Color corrections, effects, fades, it's all really realtime. Its monitoring capabilities and analog component I/O are great.

It DOES NOT accelerate rendering (to WMV, DV, MPEG, whatever) itself in any way, as would Matrox like you to believe.

Be aware though, that Matrox AVIs could be incompatible with other apps than Premiere. While this seems to be fixed in latest drivers, there are problems still.

The Bottom Line is: buy RTX2 for quick jobs, weddings, corporate stuff or local broadcast. Buy Cineform for anything else - compositing, advanced CC, filmmaking, music videos and creative stuff.