HVX200 Editing Suite

El Gato Negro

El Gato Negro

Well-known member
Wanted to ask fellow HVX200 for thier advice and suggestions for an editing pc computer that would handle HVX200 footage. Most of the project I will shot will be on 720p footage. Did a few searches on DELL and HP but none tell you if they can handle 720p HD. I will also get a HD LCD Monitor. My price range is around $2,000.00-$3,500.00. I really don't want to buy one until Windows Vista comes out. Thank you in advance.
 
Vista requires a very powerful pc (according to beta testers). Probably your budget for such a pc + HD LCD + editing software is to tight.
 
Cees Mutsaers said:
Vista requires a very powerful pc (according to beta testers). Probably your budget for such a pc + HD LCD + editing software is to tight.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the reply. The $2,000 - $3,500.00 is just for the desktop alone. I have another form of credit that I will use for the monitor. I guess what I what to know as well is the minium requirements to have a smooth editing flow. I most like use AVID or Premiere Pro 2.
 
There will be quite a bit of hardware and software that initially will not work with Vista. I know for a fact that Premiere Pro 2 does not currently work on Vista.
 
Buy the best you can- ie, fastest processor, good graphics card, since most upcoming editing software uses gpu for rendering, about 4 to 8 gb of ram (more should be overkill), and lots of internal and external storage. I would suggest 1 tb internal and 2 tb external. 7200 rpm drives are essential. Having a firewire 800 input is a plus. Don't forget to purchase for yourself either a Blu-ray or an HD-DVD Burner. You want to deliver your HD content somehow, and these are both good solid solutions.

For editing, following Barry Green's advice, and, like Mcgeedigital suggested, Edius Broadcast is the best HVX solution.

I would also suggest getting an average lcd for your main display, and a Good LCD or crt for viewing preview and editing footage.
 
I will second (or third) Edius, in terms of p2 workflow, compatibility, and power. That doesn't mean Edius is the best NLE out there or anything like that. I do think it handles p2 integration better than one could hope for, though.

As far as a system. I am editing on a 2500 dollar laptop (core duo 2.16ghz, 2gig ram) and about a 400 dollar investment for eSATA expresscard. eSATA Thecus dual HDD enclosure and 2 SATA II 320 gig drives in a raid 0.
Couldn't be happier.
You can run an additional monitor as well. I am. The 20.1" on the laptop and a 22" 2nd display.
3k or so for laptop and accessories. 1k for EDIUS Broadcast 4 (now version 4.1 + xplode pro 4.5), and whatever monitor you want.

Of course you can do the desktop route. The point is, for 2500 you should be able to get a pretty smoking system, with plenty of storage space, that should handle dvcpro just fine (In EDIUS anyways. I don't know about the others.)

Any of the next generation dual core's ought to do you alright, from what I have seen with my system.
Core duo, core 2 duo, Xeon, whatever.

Minimum 2 gigs ram. whatever for your system drive, and 500 or beyond for your editing drives (As much as you can budget)

Jason
 
For a real badass HD edit rig, I'd probably budget about 20-25 grand. Mind you, it's easy to spend money you haven't got ;)
 
Buy a refurbished Macbook pro laptop from apple for $1500. They include warranty and they should be able to run vista when it comes out and they currently run windows xp.
Having a laptop will give you alot of flexibility. You can use it on set with your hvx200. You can also use an external monitor and your laptop monitor at the same time. This setup will run dvcprohd flawlessly and at 720p you can preview it 1 to 1 on the laptop monitor. Get the dell 24" monitor for about $650.

I would recommend final cut pro as a editing platform.
you can get FCP for $1299. FCP is now equal to or better at dvcprohd from the hvx that Edius.

Do not buy the best you can afford! Also don't rush to vista till it is at least 3 months old. Vista will not make your movies better. Balance time and money. Are you editing long form work? Documentaries,concerts,interviews, etc. Well you don't need a fast machine at all the old powerbooks will work for you. But you will need more memory and storage space to manage all that footage. Are you doing short commercials or music videos with lots of effects, video clips, and color correction? If so you will need faster storage and faster processor to render all the changes. Don't buy the cream of the crop unless it provides you with some extreme advantage over current products.

take some video editing classes, shoot a short, read some books and you will make way better movies than everyone else.

Link to refurbished apple macbook pros: http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/6394003/wo/2x6DMMOUVql22F4XvDG1Z6bTOg4/2.0.0.21.1.0.8.7.1.0.1.1
 
To start off, I'm a Mac user... I use FCP with my Macbook Pro (which is currently for sale, if you decide to go that route)... If you're a PC user and decide to stick with PC, definately wait for Vista, or get something with a FREE vista upgrade, like a good dell... If you are going with windows, 100% GO WITH EDIUS... Avid is nice, but Edius kicks ass... If you want to go with Mac, FCP is very nice.. You can consider purchasing my MacBook Pro with all the software you will ever need for Video and Audio Production left on it... PM me if you have any questions about either MAC or PC
 
This is what I'm building for Avid 5:
1 Asus P5N32-SLI Premium/WiFi-AP or P5B Deluxe/WiFi-AP
1 Intel E6700 CPU
1 Ninja CPU heatsink
2 x 1GB Kingston Memory SDRAMS
2 nVidia GeForce 1400 Video Cards
2 Thermaktake Video Card coolers (Quiet)
8 Western Digital 500 GB SATA disk drives (Quiet)
1 Antec P180B Comp case
1 600W SLI power supply (Quiet)
1 PCMCIA to PCI Adapter Card

This is more than enough according to Avid's web site.
I will have a mirrored 500GB system/render drive and a 2.5TB clip drive.
I'll also start with 1 video card and only add a second if I need it.
Noise is very important, look at silentpcreview.com for advise on component
selection .

Bob
 
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