" Hi Mike... there is a NEW Beta update of Matrox RTMac -version 4.0 for Final Cut Pro (Mac OS X), with WYSIWYG support for Adobe After Effects and Discreet combustion/ Preview Release 4 (Release Candidate) - October 8, 2003
http://www.matrox.com/video/support/rtmac/software/home.cfm
Hope that will be good news for some of your readers?
Best wishes from New Zealand :-)
Stu"

The reports from their original beta driver release were not good (see below) but if any readers try the latest version let me know your results and system/OS info. Thanks.

original info from June 20th, 2003 follows)
Earlier today (June 20th) in the main site news page a reader sent a note about a beta OS X driver for Matrox's RTMac card. (See the RTMac drivers page where they note the beta OS X drivers - but to get to the download you have to be a registered owner and enter a username/password. See the Matrox info below also.)

Reader Reports: (most recent first)

Here's the first reader feedback on the PR4 Matrox RTMac OS X driver (driver page date Oct. 8th):

"Hi Mike
I installed the Matrox PR Release 4 Driver Update yesterday, (included in the package is a firmware update).

After resetting my FCP 4.0.2 prefs, I did some editing, and it seemed very solid.

The previous beta version had some issues, we had one or two kernel panic crashes, very ugly, but couldn't say what actually caused it. Otherwise it used to playback out of sync sometimes, then we'd adjust some setting and it was all OK again, but didn't seem any logic to it. However our workflow was not interrupted.

Now with what looks like the final Beta release, I tried to make FCP crash yesterday, but it was rock solid and so far has not exhibited any of the previous random defects. I will report back after a bit more hard out editing. Looking good!

Oh, we have a G4 Quicksilver Dual 800 1GB RAM twin Acard AHARD RAID (2 x IBM 60GB each) total 240GB running OS-X 10.2.6 Final Cut Pro 4.0.2. Quicktime 6.3 and DVD Studio Pro 2.0.1
Regards Stu"

(note - reports below were from using the June 2003 released driver)

" Hi Mike, We just tried installing the beta drivers for our RTmac (Which has been unusable for the past year due to no OSX drivers) and I must warn all owners of this card of the results.

Upon installing the drivers in OSX 10.2.6 with Quicktime 6.3 (minimum system requirements) it completely bombed out our system. Kernal Panics upon reboot and upon a second reboot trying to select a classic partition to remove the drivers we noticed the OSX partition no longer showed up. These drivers completely ruined our OSX install on our FCP machine and we must now re-format and reinstall everything.

I would highly recommend not installing them if your not looking for trouble. Matrox is not a company in the video industry known for its strong support. We also own a Matrox DigiSuite based PC and it has been nothing but problems from day 1 with little or no help from Matrox. They will definitely not be getting any more of our money in the future. As always thanks for the great site!
Sincerely -Brendt P.
(I asked Brendt for his system details)
System is a DP 800 QuickSilver, 1.5GB RAM, 360GB with a Geforce3 and a Radeon PCI running 10.2.6, FCP 3.0.4 and Quicktime 6.3."

I'm not sure what happened with this install or if booting from CD (OS X, Diskwarrior, etc.) could repair it. If any other brave soul tries these drivers (with a backup of your drive first just in case) let me know your results and system/OS configuration.

Other Reader's Experiences:

(added 7:30 PM)" I don't have time to do a full test now but I wanted to let you know that I successfully installed the Matrox Beta Drivers onto a G4 733 with OS X 10.2.6 QT 6.3 1.5 GB RAM and a Radeon 8500.
No problem whatsoever with the install, I had to update my firmware too. Like I said I haven't tested its functionality except to launch FCP 4 and see that the Matrox capture presets were listed. I'll do a more extensive test tomorrow and let you know the results. I'm really glad I can use this card now that it's essentially useless.
Matt"

" Mike,
Unlike the earlier report, I downloaded the drivers and had no problems with the install. My machine spec is almost identical to the user that reported major problems. I did however backup my HD as I do daily in any case. Drivers seem to perform according to the spec and bearing in mind that this is a Public Beta, no issues so far. I'm happy that at last, my RTMac is worth more than just an expensive slot filler!. Note: I am not using a partitioned drive, but dedicated hardware for OSX and OS9.
-Dileep "

I asked him for details on the system (model, OS version used, graphics card(s) used, etc.). It's good to have as much detail as possible on configurations especially when one user reports major problems and not another.

Matrox Info on these Drivers: Corey sent a copy of the Matrox email (or readme) on the beta drivers with more info/features/known issues _and_ recommending a backup of your disk before installing.

"Dear RTMac user,
Matrox is proud to announce that the BETA release of the Matrox RTMac drivers for OS X are now available for download. In addition to supporting Final Cut Pro 3, the BETA drivers will work with Final Cut Pro 4. Our BETA drivers also provide more simultaneous effects when using a recommended system.

You may download the Matrox RTMac OS X drivers at
http://www.matrox.com/video/support/rtmac/software/home.cfm

Important This software is provided as is. Tech support by phone will not be available. We recommend that you back up your system before installing new software and we recommend that you do not update your RTMac software if you're in the middle of a project. Please use the OS X Public Preview Reports section under the Software category on the RTMac user forum to report all of your findings (positive or negative). THIS IS NOT A FINAL RELEASE. Your feedback is important in helping us ensure that our software releases do not create any unforeseen problems.

New Matrox RTMac features:

• Supports up to four layers in real time - two video layers and two graphics layers (requires recommended system)
• Realtime processing for:
• up to two Motion effects on video or graphics
• opacity control on up to three layers
• System-wide sound input and output. (Any application can use RTMac to play back and record sound)

Recommended System Requirements
To take full advantage of realtime editing on Matrox RTMac, use the following recommended system configuration:

• 667-MHz or faster PowerPC G4 processor
• 512 MB RAM
• Greater than 1 MB combined L2 and L3 cache (per processor)
• 133-MHz or faster system bus

Known Limitations

If you change your External Video setting from Matrox RTMac to None, then exit and restart Final Cut Pro, playback will be jerky. If this happens, change the External Video setting back to Matrox RTMac, and then back to None. (Ref# 29280)

Files captured over the RTMac analog inputs have an A/V sync offset of about 2 to 4 frames. (Ref# 28883)

Occasionally, after rebooting your computer, playback will appear jerky, and the capture window will appear to jump up and down by a few pixels. If this happens, shut down (not restart) your computer, then turn the power back on. (Ref# 29084)

We are actively working to resolve these limitations for the final release.
The Matrox RTMac team"