'Digidesign Ignores Matrox!' Read all about it!

[K.B.]

Been having problems with the Matrox P750 (see this thread here )
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Matrox have written this to me -

Currently, the only audio testing we do is with Steinberg & Cakewalk related apps since they are constantly sending us their applications whereas Digidesign hasn't yet sent us any kind of pro tool version.

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C'mon Digidesign, send these guys an old 001 or something. There's good folk like me having to struggle due to a lack of proper communication.

[da BaSsTaRd!]

what's stopping matrox from buying a used 001 off ebay?

[K.B.]

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Ha ha.
Very good.
But the guys I spoke to at Matrox had never even heard of ProTools...
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And while I'm here...

Is anyone actually running the Parhelia with two VGA monitors, and outputting video to a third video monitor from within PTLE?

Why am I getting no response to this question? Is it the case then that no-one really can get the Parhelia to output to video under PTLE? So it's not just a P750 problem then.

[gerax]

Hi

I'm in the same situation as Karel with my P750...as Karel knows.
If they should purchase a soundcard for every app they would want to test their video cards's compatibility...well you get my drift.
Matrox isn't a newcomer to the market of PC and video, so they're well geared towards video apps, but Pro Tools was completely new for them. They've been on a long quest with Avid to create certified support for the Xpress DV.

It seems that Digi wasn't interested in collaborating with them to make Pro Tools implemented with their triple head video cards that could support Quick Time playback at full res on a TV monitor, mandatory feature for post work at which Pro Tools is considered "the standard", and such a feature has been available to Nuendo users by its first incarnation.
This lack of communication between HW and SW manufacturers only causes damage to the end user, in this case ME, who is about to start posting a DV feature and will have to find workarounds to have a decent sized picture to lock on and mix at...

C'mon Digi, give Matrox a ring and shake hands with them, all you could gain from this is only benefits

L.G.

[K.B.]

Over two hundred people have read this thread so far. Surely one of them must be a Digi techy chap who knows about these things.

Wanna tell us what, if anything, is happening about this issue?

Please?

[K.B.]

300 now.

Must be embarrassing to someone...

[froyo]

Hello. Karel so sorry, but I have been out of the loop as far as the DUC for about a month now. I usually like to dedicate 10 to 15 minutes to the DUC every day, but I haven't been able to do that in quite a while. So I hadn't come across your questions until now.

As far as I know, here is the answer. What you want to do is not possible. Or you need a Quicktime with a format that will play nice with the TV out of the Parhelia.

DUC member unsub1 claims he has his working well, but he must be doing something with the QuickTime.

Here is the long and the short of it. It's a self imposed limitation of the QuickTime Windows player. Apple chose to limit the Windows version this way. Some people say it is because Microsoft has some issues with the WMA player converting or playing .mov files. Regardless of what the issue is, this in fact is the reality.

Now when I came across unsub1's post saying he had his working, I assumed he had it kosher. Consequently I passed this information along on some of my answers. However, I do not have this setup, nor do I personally know anyone who does. So while it may work, it may be a QuickTime format, hit and miss, trial and error scenario.

This is what I received as an e-mail answer from David Sumich of Digidesign, one of the guys in charge of Devlopment on the PC side. And I quote

DV through Firewire. When I was at NAB one of your reps told me that this feature would not be in the upcoming release for XP. Actually he said it is not possible because it is a limitation Apple places on the PC version of the QuickTime player. Is this true? Did he mis-speak, or did I misunderstand? Can you explain what is going on here with DV through Firewire? Is this just the latest in the Microsoft vs. Apple pissing match? You know, QuickTime won't play .avi or .wmv files, the Windows Media Player won't play .mov files. And if this is the case, is it possible to implement the Windows Media Player as the video playback application inside of Pro Tools for PC's. That way we can have DV through Firewire. I always hear of Digidesign's desire to make an equal product for both platforms. It is things like DV through Firewire that make it impossible for that claim to be anything more than just marketing speak.

A - Because we use the QuickTime library on both platforms for video, the above statement is true. DV through Firewire is not possible. The way to get it to work would be to use Microsoft's DirectShow library, which would take a considerable amount of work for us. We are still looking into the right solution for us. We do plan to execute on something to make this more than just talk.

The paragraph on top is my question, the one below with the A- is his answer. Mind you this was NAB April '03. So far nothing. And notice that the talk centers on DV and Firewire. It does not refer to Quicktime on a different format and through the Parhelia TV out.

I haven't read your thread with the Matrox people. However if other applications can work with the Parhelia I am almost 100% positive it is because they are NOT using Quicktime. I repeat, I would be willing to bet that the other applications that work with the Parhelia are applications that are using something other than Quicktime as the video player application. I know for a fact Nuendo accomplishes this with a different video player than Quicktime.

The Windows Quicktime version has this problem. For the solution talk to Apple. As far as Digidesign is concerned, they should do as other applications have and use another (a Direct Show based) video player application. Most likely this will be Windows Media Player in my opinion.

However my comment still stands. As long as this situation (and many other Mac only features) remains, platform parity is nothing but 100% marketing speak. Plain and simple.

[aza]

It works for me!
Here's my setup: Parhelia 128(2 monitors stretched + TV out), AMIII, PTLE 6.1.1, WinXP SP1, QTreference mov's from Avid XpressDV and most important: QuickTime 6.3(6.5 doesn't work).
THE TRICK IS THAT YOU HAVE TO HAVE THE QUICKTIME WINDOW COVERED. Position the QT window inside PT at the bottom of the screen so it's almost covered by the taskbar. Same thing with the standalone QTplayer outside ProTools.
It's deffinetly a QT issue.

[jim33]

Just want to keep this thread on the front page so digi get this DV/Firewire thing sorted ASAP!

[gerax]

AZA

Now let me get this straight: you say it is working as it is supposed to do; one question, how do you set the video preferences in Quick Time? DCI or GDI (safe mode) ? That's a critical thing for me as I cannot even play movies in the preview window (that stays blank) if QT isn't set as GDI.
Every setting you made (on the Powerdesk HF menu too) would be a help.

The funniest thing (should we say pissing) is that those who are troubleshooting these SW and HW issues by trial and error are the end users, after we've paid for the product...

Thanx

L.G.