Blu-Ray - Matrox Compress HD - BDR-203
 

As you can see this is a three part query:

I need to burn Blu-ray disk, I have had some success using Share directly from FCP to create AVCHD DVD's that work with Blu-ray players. I'd be very interested in others experiences with this.

I'd also like to hear from anyone using the Matrox Compress HD card and how you burn to Blu-ray.

And finally is anyone using the Pioneer BDR-203?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Hey Chuck

Dont have any need for BluRay personally, haven't ever used the FCP7's Share to BluRay function, don't have a CompressHD nor do I have a BDR-203 .. think I must be in the wrong thread.

FWIW, I do have a Matrox MXO2 MAX box though (which has the CompressHD hardware embedded in the form of onboard Matrox MAX encoding chips). As noted, I don't do BluRay (have zero need for it meself) but I can tell you broadly how it works in that you use the the normal Share menu (or Send To > Compressor and Export > Using Quicktime Conversion methods) to target your encoding, that being a Matrox MAX / Compress HD H.264 for BluRay preset ... then after the box/card has blazed through the encoding you can use a third party app such as Adobe Encore CS4 or Roxio Toast 10 to author and burn your disc without re-encoding

Plenty of info on their website and in many product reviews across the web

Best
Andy

Andy -

How do you like the speed and quality of the MAX technology?

(By the way, very cool name!!)

The quality and speed are excellent Andrew .. have a look at Craig Seeman's review here:
Matrox CompressHD races to the H.264 finish line : Matrox Video Systems

I am using the Panny BDR-203 and like it. So far, it has just worked. I have used the HD MPEG-2 preset, with stream set to blu-ray, and higher bitrates, and am very happy with the results. I wish I had opted to get the MAX in my MXO2mini.

Thanks for the replies. Here are my first impressions.

There was a minor glitch installing the Matrox MXO2 Mini, I installed the 1.6 driver that didn't work, removed it and installed the 1.5.1 driver and everything is working well. I have an MXO2 at work and I really like these cards.

My company purchased the CompressHD card and I'm testing it at home, I don't want to upgrade all of our editors to FCS3 yet, otherwise I would have purchased the MiniMAX. I have not created a Blu-ray yet but I have rendered several HD H264s, this thing is fast and the quality looks good.

I have had a couple of issues, no show stoppers but if anyone else has experience this, I installed the BDR-203 into a Lantec external enclosure that has USB2 and eSata. The USB works but I can't get the eSata to work. When I unplugg it from the eSata I get an error message so I know the computer sees it but it doesn't appear on the desktop when I insert a CD. I didn't see any jumpers, there are some dip switches on the Lantec but no mention of them in the instructions. Does the BDR-203 have to be set up as slave/master for the eSata to work?

Also, can you burn a Blu-ray disk from Compressor 3.5? If so how?

I read Ken Stones tutorial about Compressor 3.5 and made and burned three Blu-ray's (so far). Thanks Ken.

It all worked like a charm.

Is it just me? I don't understand why producers and consumers aren't clamoring for Blu-ray. It looks amazing.

The difference between SD-DVD and Blu-ray is as significant as going from black and white to color.

OK I guess its just me...

where can i find the tutorial will it work for compressor 3 or only 3.5???

Google Ken Stone, he has a ton of tutorials that are great for helping evaluate technology like this.

I'm not sure, but I can't think of any reason it wouldn't work with Compressor 3.0. Go to Matrox's website, choose Video/MXO2 MAX/support/user forum. Technical support is really quite good about answering questions there.

Oops, actually it depends on what your asking, I can't think of any reason why CompressHD wouldn't work with Compressor 3.0, BUT, if your asking about creating an AVCHD disk that can be played in a Blu-ray player then yes you will need the latest FCS3. The "Share" functionality referred to here is only available in the FCS3 [FCP7 and Compressor 3.5].

Edit: I can't type...

I agree that it looks amazing but most consumers either do not have a large enough TV or sit too far away from the screen to fully appreciate the Full HD resolution of BluRay.

I have ordered a CompressHD card that should be arriving today, and I have a question before I open the box. I've been reading more about this thing, and can't find a straight answer if this will allow me to directly burn a BD in Compressor 3.5 using the "share" function. I see lots of references about encoding "files for blu-ray", but burning in share is conspicuously absent. The apple menu's are preferable for my purposes, as it lists the chapters with the name in the chapter tag instead of the messy amateurish menus that Toast makes. I don't have Encore and getting it isn't really an option right now. I bought this thing because Compressor was taking forever to burn disc, and I keep getting errors after 8-10 hours of encoding.

So my question before I unseal a $500 item is, will the CompressHD card encode files so I can burn BD's in Compressor using the share function? I want a BD burned on a BD disc that will play in a set top player, and I don't want to use Toast or buy another software package.

How about asking the manufacturer directly rather than hoping to find a third-party answer?

Also, did you see this page about the product which seems to answer your question:

Matrox MAX - Matrox MAX H.264 encoding performance with Apple Compressor 3.5