Descent Computer Configuration For Editing?

S

Sharp-Shooter

Active member
Hi Friends,

First I would like to congratulate and thank this forum and all the users for having such a fantastic website. I took two long months to decide whether to buy a PD170 or DVX100A,before I found your website, after which there was no doubt it had to be DVX100AE. Yes I decided for an "AE"
1. for Higher Vertical Resoultion and
2. 25p for future projects in mind.

After exhausting all my savings in the camera, now is the turn for editing. I presently have an Intel P2 with 1Ghz and 512MB RAM, two hard drives, one 20 GB and 40 GB.

I wish to do simple editing, no fancy special effects and wish to have your expert guidance.

Is what I have enough? if not, what is the least computer configuration required to peform basic editing functions using Adobe Final Cut or similar. As I am tight on budget please suggest the bare minimum config. so I could either upgrade or trade ...Thanks guys and Finally

I love your work, am a very frequest visitor to screen grabs and every clip is see...I am like....... Thats some TALENT... ::)

Keep up the good work.

Regards
 
Re: Descent Computer Configuration For Editing?

It would work, but if you're going to be in any way serious, I would not try to edit on anything less than a P4 2GHz (or equivalent) and 512MB RAM (preferably DDR). Yes, you can do it with less, but it would be needlessly painful. (Insert comments here from everyone editing on their 1.3 GHz laptops.)

Also, I'd recommend at *least* 60GB in a dedicated drive for video data.

Final Cut is an Apple NLE. Adobe's NLE is Premiere.

Are you planning to do a *lot* of projects intended for PAL audiences?
 
Re: Descent Computer Configuration For Editing?

Thank you very much for your input. Yes most of my target audience is PAL.

Another quick question, when I download from the video camera to the computer, edit stuff, and transfer it back to the camera from the computer using firewire., will I lose any picture quality.

Thank you once again
 
Re: Descent Computer Configuration For Editing?

You won't, unless you mess it up yourself in editing. ::)

Multiple layers, effects, and mixdowns can cause generational losses, but that happens with more complex editing.
 
Re: Descent Computer Configuration For Editing?

Take this with a grain of salt, I'm a Mac user and we all know how much faster Macs are ;-)

I spent lots of time editing fairly complex projects on a 667 MHz G4 laptop, and currently use a 1GHz G4 Laptop. Basically, I've not ever felt limited in capability... only in patience. For very simple projects (importing, trimming, a few fades, etc.) there's no problem. Anything with extensive rendering I schedule for overnight.

This can be limiting, but when you get good at scheduling, it's... OK. If you want to test different filters and such, it's pretty lousy, because you have to render, wait, look, change a setting, render again...

So I'd say: if you really are sticking to simple things, your system may be fine; though I'd definitely upgrade the drives. Get two 7200 RPM drives of 80GB or more, and keep 'em clean. Or partition them so that each has a frequently-erased temp partition and a long-term storage partition. Then, make sure that when you're exporting final files, you go from one drive to the other... this is an instant doubling of speed.

Did I mention you'll want to export to a self-contained file before writing back to tape?

Anyway... what I'm saying is: get the drives, they'll always be useful; and try it. I think it's doable if you really need to save money. For simple things you may not notice it; for more complex things, you'll have to schedule carefully. Since I have a day job, and the computer sits around for hours every day anyway, I've been fine with this arrangement.

Good luck,
Barry
 
Re: Descent Computer Configuration For Editing?

i have been using dps velocity with a p4 2.4 and editing on this system is fantastic
 
Re: Descent Computer Configuration For Editing?

I haven't done any long videos... no more than ten minutes or so, but because I haven't wanted to delete any of my old projects I used up a 160 GB drive and am now using a second 250 GB drive as well. In my opinion, even for small project, a 20 and 40 GB drive won't cut it. And with the hard drives being so cheap, you could spend less than a hundred bucks and get yourself a nice sized hard drive.

But if I were you, I would just go ahead and get a faster computer with a larger drive. A P2 would drive me the looney bin waiting for the rendering, but if you are more patient maybe you will stay more sane...
 
Re: Descent Computer Configuration For Editing?

Yes.. if you are on a really tight budget, your first priority should be a new drive. Those 20 and 40gb drives you have right now may be 4800rpm drives, and may have some problem keeping up with uncompressed video coming from the camera. Also, a 20gb drive will only hold about an hour and a half of uncompressed DV.

Back in the day I used to edit on a 600mhz Pentium, and at the time I thought it was fast as hell.. so it all depends what you are doing and how much patience you have. If you only do straight cuts and no color timing, you may be fine.

You can however, get some pretty good deals on barebone systems that should get you up to speed with minimal investment, such as

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicat...ils.asp?EdpNo=112146&Sku=E400-C2684&CatId=118
 
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