<!–#set var="article_header" value="Digital Video Editing:
The Canopus DVRaptor-RT” –>
Introduction
Matrox, Pinnacle, Canopus and Dazzle are the heavyweights in the market for video-editing solutions. Until now, you had to shell out about $1000 for one of their semi-professional video-editing solutions. But now there’s the DVRaptor-RT editing card from Canopus, which is available with a software package based on Adobe Premiere for a mere $599. The solution offers over 38 real-time effects. Thanks to the well-tuned software, PC systems furnished with a CPU clocked at speeds of over 1600 MHz can squeeze many more effects out of the card with almost real-time processing capability. Although the DVRaptor-RT still doesn’t quite manage to outshine the Matrox RT2500 in all areas, users will be delighted to have a product that offers excellent value.
The Lowdown on the DVRaptor-RT
The DVRaptor-RT’s slot bracket sports cinch ports as well as an S-VHS port for video and stereo audio output. Here is where you can connect your additional monitor and/ or analog output device. The only input connector provided is an IEEE1394/FireWire port (i-Link), which means that there’s no way to capture analog signals. If you’re interested in converting analog AV material to a digital format, you can either purchase the analog-digital converter ADVC-100 or try your luck with a device from another manufacturer. So judging by its ports, the DVRaptor-RT is tailor-made for digital camcorders with FireWire connectors. In comparison, its competitor, the pricey Matrox RT2500, comes furnished with ports (breakout box included) that allow simultaneous digital and analog input/ output.
Ports on IEEE1394/FireWire Camcorders
Included IEEE1394/FireWire Cable
Canopus ships the package with a FireWire cable that can be connected to a suitable DV camera. The connected FireWire cable (black) in our test system leads to a Sony DCR-PC100E digital DV camera.
Installation
The following software comes bundled with the board
- Canopus driver for the DVRaptor-RT (Win 9x/ME/2000/XP)
- Adobe Premiere 6.0 (full version)
- XPlode Basics (plug-in for Premiere)
- QuickTime, Cleaner, Windows Media Player export, RealPlayer export
- Inscriber Title Express and Titledeko (plug-ins for Premiere)
- Sonic DVDit! 2.3 SE (DVD authoring software, light version)
After unpacking the card and software, it’s a good idea to install Adobe Premiere 6.0 first. Only afterwards should you install the card driver (application CD) and the other software packages (Xplode Basics and DVDit!). The reason for proceeding in this order is simple: the installation programs for the plug-ins begin by asking for a full version of Premiere to latch into. However, if you haven’t installed the programs in the right order, you’re in for a long, drawn-out installation. The DVRaptor can be installed and set up completely within 45 minutes. The process requires you to reboot your PC several times.
Installation, Continued
Once you’ve installed the hardware, you’ll see the DVRaptor-RT listed under “Sound, video and game controllers” in your device manager. The card had no difficulties running on our Pentium 4 test system, using a GeForce3 graphics board first, and then with a Radeon 8500 graphics board. We didn’t test the operation with any other graphics adapters. The Premiere plug-ins and the additional software will be discussed in the next section. Before putting a video system like this into operation, though, you should note that we generally recommend using two hard drives. One should be used for the operating system and applications, and the other should be used exclusively for video and audio files. The DVRaptor-RT can also be used with only one hard drive, although this creates bottlenecks when you work exclusively with the almost entirely uncompressed DV format.
Video Editing with Adobe Premiere
Adobe Premiere has set the standard for video-editing software. A large part of its appeal to users can be attributed to the ease with which hardware manufacturers can integrate their own tailored plug-ins into the software. The upshot of this is that users who already have experience with video-editing products and Premiere will find switching a snap. The plug-ins are the only thing to deal with after installing new hardware components, since Premiere’s standard features are retained in the new set-up.
Project Settings
Once it has been called up, Premiere asks you to specify your format preferences. There are two DV options given: PAL (Europe) and NTSC (America). Of course, if you prefer working directly with QuickTime or Windows Media, you can also select either of these formats. Be careful, though, since working in these formats might cause the quality of your material to suffer. If you’re working with raw footage, however, you should stick to the DV format as much as possible and then specify the export format you wish to use later.
The Canopus DV Codex works in real time with DV footage and is designed for capturing and editing sequences.
Timeline
The timeline is the most important video-editing tool in the entire software package. Select the video and audio clips that you plan to use from the Project Bin, drag them over to the timeline and drop them in the desired order. During this phase, you have the option of editing a particular scene before or during the processing phase.
Three timelines are provided for the videos – Video 1A, Video 1B and Video 2. With this structure, the best way of using the timelines is to place the clips on 1A and 1B consecutively. The middle timeline, labeled “Transition,” is reserved for transitions you select from an effects library. The “Video 2” timeline is available for additional effects, such as fading in text, pre-title sequences or end titles and credits.
Transitions
Let’s move on to the most important features supplied by the DVRaptor-RT card – the real-time effects.
The effects are listed as a plug-in under “Premiere” / “Transitions” / “Canopus.” In this section, you will find the options “Chroma key,” “Luminance key,” “Picture in Picture” and “Transition.”
We will now show you one example of how to perform a transition from Video 1A to 1B using the “Picture in Picture” effect.
A sample Video 1A is displayed in the monitor window. Depending on the options you’ve selected, the “smaller” 1B can appear within 1A (as a black square in our example). Users can utilize the following real-time effects and transitions (though not all are listed under the “Canopus” menu item):
- Chroma key
- Luminance key
- Picture in Picture
- Alpha Wipe
- Dissolve
- Blind Side, Wipe, Push
- Block, Box
- Circle, Clock
- Push Stretch
- Slide, also with an underscan option
- Stretch, also with an underscan option
- Stripe
Some additional explanation about these effects: by “real time,” Canopus does not mean that the processing capability of its card allows all of these effects to be displayed automatically, i.e., without extra rendering time. Instead, “real time” indicates that the processing time is approximately equal to the duration of the effect in the sequence.
Video Filters
Video filters can be used on any video track, allowing you to optimize or modify your footage as you wish. Twenty filters are rendered in real time:
- Color Correction
- Old Movie
- Motion Blur
- High Quality Blur
- Blur, Soft Focus
- Blend Effects
- Combine Effects
- Anti-Flicker
- Monochromatic
- Noise
- Chrominance
- Sharp
- Region
- Emboss
- Pencil Sketch
- Mosaic
- Solid Color
- Color Bars
- Matrix
Here is an example of the circle filter from the Canopus plug-in.
You can define the settings in this window.
Audio Filters
Just as with video tracks, you can edit your audio tracks, as well.
Example of the highpass filter, which eliminates bass, leaving only treble sound.
XPlode Basics Premiere Plug-in
The XPlode Basics package offers additional effects for Adobe Premiere. However, these effects can rarely be processed in real time.
Configuration menu. NVIDIA graphics cards are preferred.
Options for XPlode effects under Adobe Premiere.
A sample XPlode effect.
Capturing Raw Footage
This tool enables you to feed in DV video footage from a digital camcorder through the IEEE1394/FireWire port, and helps to set individual scenes off from one another and to add markers to footage.
Fading in Text, Pre-title Sequences, End Titles and Credits
To call up Inscriber TE Title, go to the “File”/ “New”/ “Inscriber TE Title” menu item. Although this application is part of the Premiere installation CD, it has to be installed separately. Effects such as text fade-ins, pre-title sequences, end titles and credits can be created with Inscriber TitleExpress. It boasts a wealth of templates. If you are creating titles with the DVRaptor-RT, though, you will have to render them first. In contrast, the Matrox RT2500 allows you to view the same titles immediately.
Alternative TitleDeko
The software package also offers an alternative program – Titledeko. However, it is by no means as easy to use as Inscriber TitleExpress.
Export Formats – MPEG 1/2, Cleaner, RealPlayer and Others
Finished projects generally have to be converted to a format that can be read by applications on other PC systems. Converting to and from other video formats remains a very time-consuming process! The only way to get around the entire conversion headache is to work with the capacity-gobbling DV format. The actual converting is performed by the CPU and generally lasts several times longer than the video itself, so it becomes an exercise in patience. For this reason, you should make sure that your system is based on a powerful processor, such as the Athlon (1 GHz or faster) or the Pentium 4. Time is money, after all.
Export Formats – MPEG 1/2, Cleaner, RealPlayer and Others, Continued
MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 formats are also available as output formats for the encoded footage. Of course, you are also free to choose DV, but this will take up substantially more space on your hard drive. DV remains a useful option if you plan to record your completed project onto a DV tape using a camcorder.
You can specify the bit rate and resolution under the “Video” tab.
There is also an “Audio” tab for the sound settings.
RealPlayer
The RealPlayer is a widely used format. The export assistant will help you to select your preferences as far as web-publishing data formats are concerned. You can also enter copyright information.
Windows Media Player
You can also export projects into the Windows Media Player format.
Cleaner
If making the settings for RealPlayer or Windows Media Player seems like too much of a hassle, you should check out the Cleaner. This is a utility that streamlines the entire export process using pre-defined settings.
Authoring with DVDit!
MPEG-2 videos can also be burned onto a DVD, which offers more storage space than the other option, a CD blank. Included with the software package, DVDit! SE 2.3 enables you to create professional-looking menus that appear on the screen when you pop a burned DVD into your DVD player. Above is an example of what such a menu might look like.
Conclusion: Excellent Value
The video-editing system Canopus DVRaptor-RT was designed with hobbyists and semi-professional filmmakers in mind. Users are given excellent value for $599, assuming that their PC platforms are based on a processor clocked at speeds of over 1600 MHz. Our tests showed that slower processors impede this product’s ease of use because many of the so-called “real-time” effects require you to have a powerful CPU. And although you still have to render some filters, we at THG consider the overall timeframe to be within acceptable limits. This also reveals the main difference between the DVRaptor-RT and the Matrox RT2500. The Matrox hardware supports a considerably larger number of filters and effects, allowing it to work more smoothly with slower CPUs. That said, PC systems that run at 1600 MHz and higher can be had for a song compared to last year’s prices. Products such as the DVRaptor-RT are at the threshold to a new renaissance.
The card comes bundled with a slew of plug-ins for the software package Adobe Premiere 6.0. The export tools for the RealPlayer, Windows Media Player, Apple QuickTime and generic MPEG-2 stream formats are particularly useful when it comes to distributing video productions. The signal processing capacity of the card boasts almost studio quality. The DVRaptor-RT runs under Windows 98/Me, 2000 and Windows XP.
