Planning to make the XH-A1 plunge. A few remaining questions...

Tom Films

Active member
So i'm planning to upgrade my fleet from SD to HDV with the XH-A1. I want to cover all bases before this, so I have a few remaining questions...

1) Will I need to upgrade my PC in order to edit HDV video? And if so what is recommended for my specific PC and situation?

Dell Dimension 3000
Intel Pentium 4 3.00GHz
1022MB Ram
Intel 82865G Graphics Controller

Currently edits SD video a-ok.

2) I edit in Premiere Pro 1.5, effects in After Effects 6.5 Std, author in Encore 1.5. I've heard both ways whether Premiere 1.5 supports HDV video. Does it? Will I need to upgrade all three programs to support HDV?

3) What additional software will need to be purchased in order to effectively work with HDV footage? I've heard numerous recommendations for AspectHD. Is this really necessary? Is it better & more cost effective to upgrade your hardware or go with a tool such as ApsectHD?

4) The HDV footage I shoot with this camera won't be released to the public until September of 2008 (16 months from now). I know there is no magic future predicting crystal ball, however what is your opinion on the market 16 months from now? Will consumers be setup for HD DVD's yet? Whats your take?


Regards!
Tom
 
1) You will probably need slight upgrades to your PC if you are editng many layers of video with effects. Cineform is a must, though. Google Cineform AspectHD.

2) Not sure... I imagine they all edit Cineform files but I'm not positive about 24f.

3) Answered in #1. AspectHD is a must.

4) I imagine you will be good-to-go making HD DVDs in 16 months and it would be safe to say most of your customers will be able to watch them.
 
Thanks for the response!

What PC upgrades would be recommended to my current setup?

Also how much larger are HDV files compared to SD AVI's? What do you guys recommend for a storage device. Right now I have alittle over a TB at my disposal.
 
you will to step up your video graphics array to atleast 256MB discrete video just because of AE renders. If I were you i'd update more than vga otherwise you will be upgrading down the road once more. so a core2 duo cpu, ddr2 mem, a mean video card, a good mobo.
 
HDV and SD are pretty similar in file size. It's the codec that ties your machine down. HDD space is completely dependent on how much footage you will be dealing with at a time.

I can't tell you what PC to get because it is different for everybody. A dual-core anything would be nice, and quad cores will be getting more affordable very soon.
 
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