Video Editing PC - Recommendations (1 Viewer)

[RomanSohor]

Hi everyone,

It's budget time at my college and I need to request a new computer.

I am going to be doing video editing, capturing from DV via IEE1394 and I'll be exporting mostly to 320 X 200 RealMedia or Windows Media clips, for streaming off of an HTTP server.

I currently have a PIII 700, with a capture card and Premiere 6.5, but I have lots of problems with random boops and beeps in my audio, and capture glitches. I know my hard drive setup really can't support 720 x 480 capture - I can't get it to capture in 320 x 200 for some reason.

So,

What specs would you recommend in a computer, and what software would you recommend I use?

I do some advanced editing when I do edit - putting still photos over the narration, some titling, etc. So I'd like some kind of A/B style software like Premiere.

But I'd like something a little cheaper than premiere if possible.

Thanks for your help!

 

[Scott L]

So you already have Premiere 6.5 but want something cheaper? Ulead offers some editing software for a better price. Alternatively you can get a firewire card + Premiere bundle for $270 here using this coupon.

Big harddrives are dirt cheap these days, less than a buck per gig, so consider capturing in 740x480 for archival reasons. You may have good results streaming at something like 480x360.

Since you're getting a whole new puter consider an AMD 2500+ and a good motherboard with firewire ports, LAN, and maybe even sound on-board. Frees up a lot of PCI slots. Look at the nForce2 mobos, especially the popular Asus model.

 

[Seth--L]

First, make sure that you take advantage of student/educational discounts.

What you'll need:
-Large HD - at least 100 GB (It's best to just buy an external that is used exclusively for your video footage)
-At least a 7200 RPM HD
-At least 512 MB RAM
-Recent processor and video card

As for software, go for the gold and get Avid Xpress Pro. It will outlive your new computer. Only $399 for students.

 

[John_Berger]

I don't buy it for a picosecond. I have had zero, zip, nada capturing problems for over two years with my AMD XP 2400+ system running a VIA chipset for DV capturing and DVD authoring. Oh, and I didn't have a problem when I was using an Athlon 1.4 GHz before that running - you guessed it - VIA chipsets. Sounds more like Intel marketing to me.

 

[JasenP]

Agreed. In regards to video capture and editing, NForce chipsets have no edge or advantage over a Via chipset.

 

[Scott L]

Just some evidence: http://www6.tomshardware.com/motherb...e2-400-07.html

The nVidia2 seems to better gaming-wise but for DV encoding VIA wins out.

 

[Patrick Larkin]

Have you considered a Macintosh? It comes with everything you need and iMovie is pretty robust. Plus, if you are in science, you can run all the Unix stuff as well.

 

[John_Berger]

I've been using the Pinnacle Studio Deluxe AV/DV PCI bridge for almost two years. Never had a problem with it on my AMD/VIA Asus motherboard.

 

[John_Berger]

Yeah, but anyone who is trying to do heavy work while doing video capturing is asking for trouble anyway. So, you're not making a very fair analogy. Anyone who decides to pound their system while trying to do video capturing is being plain stupid as far as I'm concerned. We *ARE* talking Windows, after all. A UNIX-style operating system it's not.

 

[Aaron_*P]

For video editing I use Premiere 7. I only have an Athlon XP 2000+ and 1 GB PC 2100 DDR RAM with a Geforce FX 5200 128MB DDR card and although reliable it crawls. Get the fastest thing you can afford. That's generally the bottom line for video editing as it is one of the most system intensive things out there.

 

[Glenise]

You can get the free version of Avid from here.
It's for XP or OSX only.
Free is cheap!

http://www.avid.com/freeDV/index.asp