First Real Time Editing Platform for Apple's Power Mac G4 and Final Cut Pro

MONTREAL, CANADA (Mar. 14, 2001) -- Matrox Video Products Group today announced the release of the Matrox RTMac real time editing card for Apple's Power Mac G4 line. For use with Apple's new Final Cut Pro 2, RTMac provides real time editing features at a price of $999 US in North America. The "Matrox Flex 3D" architecture of RTMac exploits the graphics performance of Matrox accelerator technology to provide broadcast-quality effects and 32-bit, uncompressed, animated graphics in a dual-stream, native-DV editing environment.

"We have begun shipping Matrox RTMac cards to fulfill the backlog of orders and to stock the distribution channel," said Spiro Plagakis, Matrox vice president of sales and marketing. "The product will be available for purchase from authorized dealers and distributors worldwide in just a few days."

"I've beta tested the Matrox RTMac in two systems, my older Power Mac G4 450 and my brand new Power Mac G4 733 MHz with SuperDrive. I've actually finished a few projects already including a broadcast commercial for a local affiliate," said David Saraceno, principal and creative director at MotionLaw, a Spokane, Washington-based project studio. "The real time effects greatly simplify and accelerate the editing process. RTMac gives me more time to be creative. I thought the quality of the analog capture was excellent and I still can't believe I can do opacity in real time."

About Matrox RTMac
Designed with the needs of corporate communicators, educational facilities, digital filmmakers, and multimedia producers in mind, Matrox RTMac is fully optimized for Final Cut Pro 2 and seamlessly integrates into Power Mac G4 computers. Editors work with three layers of video and graphics in real time and create broadcast-quality effects instantly, without rendering. Pixélan Software's OrganicFX Lite is bundled with Matrox RTMac to provide a selection of unique transitions.

In addition to the productivity boost from realtime editing, the RTMac also brings other important benefits to streamline video production workflow. Matrox RTMac complements Apple FireWire support built into Power Mac G4 computers with analog video capture and output. Using the RTMac breakout box, source material from analog devices can be digitized for use in DV editing projects. Finished projects can be recorded to videotape in real time for distribution. Full resolution viewing on an NTSC or PAL video monitor is supported without the need to connect a DV device to the Power Mac G4. Dual-screen editing is an added benefit of Matrox RTMac. Users simply connect a second computer monitor to increase their Final Cut Pro workspace.

About Matrox
Matrox Video Products Group creates digital video hardware and software for real time editing, DVD authoring, and web streaming applications. For more information visit www.matrox.com/video.