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Canopus DVRex-M1
The first real DV solution for professional videography

We just got in our first batch of DVRex-M1s, and as luck would have it, Anthony from Canopus came in with a demo system for us to put through the paces. The system came configured in a PII 300 with 64 megs of RAM, 10GB Medea VideoRAID, 2GB Ultra Wide Barracuda SCSI drive and a Canopus 4 meg 3D graphics card.

We realize that this first look is dated, but since this review the DV Rex has only gotten better. New drivers support Premiere 5.1, NT and most DV cams. Even better, Rex Edit 2.03 is simply the fastest, most stable NLE software for editing DV footage on the Windows platforms!!

Videoguys' Top 10 reasons to buy DV Rex*

  1. The DV Rex is a great card.
  2. It is rock solid and stable.
  3. Hardware CODEC lets you mix analog and digital footage
  4. Hardware CODEC provides full screen, full motion video on computer monitor
  5. Dual CODECs (hardware & software) make DV Rex the fastest DV rendering. 1 second dissolve takes less then 5 seconds, compared to 12-20 software only codecs'
  6. Rex Edit. Not the most features, but definitley the most stable NLE software around
  7. Now supports Premiere 5.1 with timeline playback
  8. 4GB file limit and the ability to capture up to the capacity of your drive, continuously
  9. GREAT SUPPORT & UPDATES
  10. Rex User group - these guys are very helpful
* Videoguys actual post on rec.video.desktop 2/12/99

Let me tell you, this is the real deal. The video was awesome and the actual performance during editing is even more spectacular!! The DVRex-M1 uses the Sony hardware CODEC, but the folks at Canopus have added significantly to the performance. The board utilizes the new Philips 7146 PCI bridge chip, and as a result, we were able to view it on the computer monitor full speed, at ¼ screen up to full 720x480. We had no problem scaling the preview window to fit perfectly into our editing GUI. The card comes with a super cool breakout box. It can be installed into an available drive bay or used externally if you don't have the room. The breakout box has 2 DV jacks, S-Video in & out, composite in & out, plus 2 regular audio l/r inputs and 1 audio l/r out. (There are also 2 DAT jacks for future modules). When the VX1000 is hooked into it you get full deck control for capturing the video. During playback the video was always perfect and NEVER lost communication with the VX1000. We ran video through the VX1000 and from the DVREX-M1 directly. Same great results every time. We were able to scrub through the timeline and the video image remained rock solid through all outputs.

Speaking of scrubbing, the RexEdit software lets you use an IntelliMouse (the ones with the little roller in the middle) to actually scrub through the timeline at different speeds. Not only is this cool, but it really makes the editing process easier.

DV audio

The DVRex-M1 supports all 3 DV audio tracks at 32 khz and 2 audio tracks at 44 and 48. There is no transcoding or conversions. This means that the DVRex-M1 is simply the best and only solution for digital videographers that depend on perfect audio with their work. You can capture audio directly into any of the 3 sampling options using the breakout box. The RexEdit software is designed to take full advantage of the tremendous audio capabilities of DV. Basically, the software lets you create assemble and insert timelines that can be played back in real time without rendering. We were able to add and mix 3 different audio tracks and still preview and record out in real time.

DV editing

In addition to RexEdit, the unit comes with the full version of Ulead Media Studio Pro 5. This lets you add all kinds of cool transitions, effects and titles. The RexEdit audio function plugs into MS Pro, so you don't give up any of the audio capabilites of the DVRex. For those of you who want to know about render speeds, a 5 second dissolve took 2 minutes. (This is about the same amount of time it takes a software based DV system in my P200MMX). But from what I saw today, the best way to edit is to first render out the scenes with the effects in them, and then bring the new avi files into the RexEdit timeline. Why? Because the RexEdit software can play over an hour of video straight out to tape, working around the 2GB file limit, with perfect audio sync. We tested it by throwing a 15 second talking head shot at the very end of a 45 minute timeline. Audio sync was perfect, and we even layered it with a music track!! Canopus has gone further then unlimited playback, by introducing unlimited capture. Well, it is limited, but not by the OS or video for windows, but by the size of your hard drive!! We captured 45 minutes of video straight onto the 10 GB VideoRAID. Since I have no idea exactly how this was done, I'll call it a virtual avi file. The file was actually broken into 4GB files, with pointers to the next file. This is done automatically in REAL TIME. Yes, I said 4GB files. The engineers at Canopus have worked around another limitation that digital videographers were forced to live with!

Conclusion

Canopus DVRex-M1 is the professional digital videographers best choice. Yes, it is expensive, but the performance is worth every penny. It provides the most user friendly editing environment I have ever seen for DV. The video is full speed, full screen on the computer screen, out the FireWire and out the analog jacks. You can convert your analog footage to DV in real time and visa-versa. Add to this perfect DV audio integration, real time cut/insert editing, and the ability to capture and playback DV videos of any length, and you have a real winner!!

On Sale $2299 w/ Media Studio Pro
Stripped $2149 w/o Media Studio Pro
Exclusive Bundle $2499 w/ Adobe Premiere 5