purchasing post-production equipment

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I am currently filming a 2 hr. documentary in 24p and have yet to begin post-production. I am curious about what items I need to purchase (which computer, editing program, hardrive, cords, etc.).
Also, what stores have the best prices for these various items? How much will all this cost me?

Thanks!
 
Re: purchasing post-production equipment

That's a huge question that could lead to a flame war, MacxPC debate, FCPxAvid debate, Premiere users kickin' in, or just a lot of users not actually summing up the interest to help you due to the complexity of the subject.

The first answer I can give you is that there is no right answer. Only personal feelings/experiences that may apply to you or not. That being said, Let's start from the beggining.

Do you have absolutely no previous editing experience? Do you have some computer knowledge or do you know you can learn to operate a non-linear-editing program? Because you are about to spend some money.

First the computer/software part:

you can go with a Mac/Final Cut Pro solution,

a PC/Premiere
a PC/Vegas (a current favorite on the site)
or a PC/Avid Express

I'll make a brief summary fo the Mac area, my instrument of choice.

Macs are a little more expensive than PCs, if you count home users, but the difference falls to the most high-end systems. Have you used a Mac? I find them superior to PCs, some will disagree. For me, I just work best with them and the difference is well worth it. The software they can run Final Cut Pro is a Kickass software and I'm sorry to say, much easier/glitch free then the PC counterparts. Again some will disagree.

The higher you could go is get a PowerMac G5 Put some kickass internal HDs on it (You are going to need for your 2 hour doc) and buy FCP. That will probably cost you about 3-4K. And won't include a monitor, but you can get deals on CRTs for very little money these days, so we could stop at a total of 4.5K See I'm doing this top of my head, but as you can see the money will add up. A good computer is the most crucial part of your editing suite and much of the rest can be considered a luxury if you are able to cough the money for it.

the next thing is a VTR. You could use your DVX, but to capture a 2 hour doc (what will it be, 15/1) on your DVX heads is a very bad idea. So you have two options: Get a MiniDV deck like the DSR-11 or the JVC dual DV/SVHS (It's much inferior to the sony in quality, we have mixed feelings about it here on the boards) or get a cheap mini DV camera to use for the VTR. A Sony will cost you over another grand and the miniDV will cost you more 300 bucks...

If you still have money to spend and don't care about the new marvelous apple displays to spend it on, you should consider a reference NTSC monitor. It won;t come for less than another 500 Bucks, but can help you out with your editing by providing a true NTSC reference image that corresponds to the signal of the finished product. Computer monitors will hide the truth from you, so you'll at least need to plug an ol' tv set on your setup but the answer might not be as precise.

Anything other than those should come from your personal necessities, like control surfaces, sound mixers/sound monitors, and another bunch of crap those sick manufacturers make us buy...

Ah, you can make do with a lot less, if you change your computer setup, but you better have someone that knows about the subject to help you save where you really can afford.

What I gave is the turn I would take, I hope it helped.
 
Re: purchasing post-production equipment

Taub, you hit the nail on the head except for the PC Mac thing which in the interest of comity I will ignore. One thing you will certainly need is lots of disk storage space. At the local CompUSA, disks are about $1/gig or cheaper. To begin with, I would get a couple of hundred gig dedicated to your post activiites.

One cool thing about Vegas is that it does not destroy your original capture data when you edit. Costs little extra in space but worth it to preserve your original captures.
 
Re: purchasing post-production equipment

[quote author=taubkin link=board=Links;num=1094693943;start=0#1 date=09/08/04 at 19:21:57]
Macs are a little more expensive than PCs, if you count home users, but the difference falls to the most high-end systems. Have you used a Mac? I find them superior to PCs, some will disagree.
[/quote]

It all depends by what you mean by superior. Both systems are pretty similar, and both have their pros and cons, and they both can do the job.
There are software applications available only to the Mac, and others only available to the PC.

I prefer to edit on Final Cut Pro, but that doesn't make it superior to Premiere Pro 1.5 or Vegas. If you are editing DV, it doesn't make a difference what you are using. It is just a matter of preference.

Remember, it is how you use it, and not what you use.

It is all in the hands of the user.

All the best

Fidel.
 
Re: purchasing post-production equipment

[quote author=araujofh link=board=Links;num=1094693943;start=0#3 date=09/09/04 at 02:51:14]
I prefer to edit on Final Cut Pro, but that doesn't make it superior to Premiere Pro 1.5 or Vegas.

[/quote]

Oh, come on...we don't have to be that modest. Final Cut Pro is certainly superior to Premiere Pro 1.5.
 
Re: purchasing post-production equipment

[quote author=Bill_Bolton link=board=Links;num=1094693943;start=0#2 date=09/08/04 at 22:06:04]Taub, you hit the nail on the head except for the PC Mac thing which in the interest of comity I will ignore.  [/quote]

Thanks Bill for not turning this into a fight. I certainly got influenced by my personal opinions... But truth be told, I have edited a lot in FCP and some in Vegas. I will have to say maybe Vegas does the same for less, maybe Vegas has some nice features, and yes, Vegas handle sound infinitely superior than FCP, but still in terms of software design, intuitivity, workflow, I will never chose a Vegas System. Besides, I'm a Mac fan, what can I do...

But If anybody have other opinions, about editing suites please post. I don't want to give the impression that you *NEED* a Mac to edit video professionally, I was only saying that it was my preference.
 
Re: purchasing post-production equipment

I too have a Mac system, so I can't speak for the PC side of things. Whichever system you choose, you want to have at least 500GB of Hard Disk space for a feature length film.

If I had to pick a PC editing suite, I'd probably go with Vegas.  I've heard nothing but good things about it (though I haven't used it myself).

If you go with a Mac, get the following:
*Final Cut Pro HD.  It's phenomenal.  Costs $1000.
*Power Mac.  A dual 1.8GHz should be fine if you're working only in MiniDV.  That costs $2000.
*Add 1GB of RAM for $200 from http://www.crucial.com
*Add an additional 250GB internal Hard Disk for $300.
*Possibly add an external 250GB Hard Disk for $250 from http://www.LaCie.com
*Get a big CRT computer monitor; 22" if it'll fit.  Around $500.  http://www.viewsonic.com
*Get a pair of good speakers. $200. http://www.klipsch.com/product/product.aspx?cid=103
*Get a professional Sony NTSC monitor. $1000.  http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=310466&is=REG
*Cheap MiniDV camera for use as a capture deck.  Around $350 at http://www.bhphoto.com
*S-Video and Firewire cables.  Around $50 total.
*Surge protector for $30.

It'll all add up to around $6000.  You can certainly do it for less... and eMac with Superdrive is $999, so that's $1000 less, and take out $500 for the big monitor.  But the eMac's screen may be too small for editing (in my opinion), and the renders will take longer; G4 vs G5 processor.

If I'm missing something, I'll post again.  I hope this helps.
 
Re: purchasing post-production equipment

[quote author=J_Barnes link=board=Links;num=1094693943;start=0#4 date=09/09/04 at 03:32:42]

Oh, come on...we don't have to be that modest. Final Cut Pro is certainly superior to Premiere Pro 1.5.

[/quote]

:D, I haven't used premiere in ages, and since I heard good reviews about it, I thought it was maybe close to FCE.

How different is FCE from FCP?

All the best

Fidel.
 
Re: purchasing post-production equipment

[quote author=taubkin link=board=Links;num=1094693943;start=0#5 date=09/09/04 at 07:04:59]
But If anybody have other opinions, about editing suites please post. I don't want to give the impression that you *NEED* a Mac to edit video professionally, I was only saying that it was my preference.

[/quote]

Taubkin, you didn't give an impression that people need a Mac. Your explanation was perfect. But, you have to be specific when you say that Mac's are superior to PC's, because you may start a big debate.

Anyway, all the best

Fidel.
 
Re: purchasing post-production equipment

[quote author=J_Barnes link=board=Links;num=1094693943;start=0#4 date=09/09/04 at 03:32:42]

Oh, come on...we don't have to be that modest.  Final Cut Pro is certainly superior to Premiere Pro 1.5.  

[/quote]

They both benchmarked the same according to DV magazine....

I think Final Pro is just the preferred editing program for DV in the industry.
 
Re: purchasing post-production equipment

Bree, you also asked about what cables etc. you may need. Let me describe my setup: I shoot raw footage with DVX, put the tape into a Sony DSR-30 (replaced by a DSR-45) VTR deck. The deck is connected via firewire (ieee-1394) to a firewire adapter in my PC. I fire up the deck and my pc, and capture video from the deck into the PC where I use Vegas to edit. Vegas issues the fast forward, rewind and play commands and the deck responds. Cool no?

At no time do I try to capture from the camera, all that does is wear out the heads.
 
Re: purchasing post-production equipment

FCP vs FCE http://www.apple.com/finalcut/
FCE can't deal with 24fps

You can get it for $100 or 200 less if you buy a computer from Apple store.

Remember FCP has compressor, soundtrack, live type, etc

Also note to take a look at Production suite that includes FCP, Motion, DVD Studio.
 
Re: purchasing post-production equipment

You Mac heads are tiresome and ever-smug about your souped up and overpriced boxes of... oh wait, I didn't mean to start a war...
 
Re: purchasing post-production equipment

[quote author=Scottdvx100 link=board=Links;num=1094693943;start=0#11 date=09/09/04 at 21:35:22]FCP vs FCE http://www.apple.com/finalcut/
FCE can't deal with 24fps

You can get it for $100 or 200 less if you buy a computer from Apple store.

Remember FCP has compressor, soundtrack, live type, etc

Also note to take a look at Production suite that includes FCP, Motion, DVD Studio.[/quote]

Unfortunately I upgraded from FCP3 before this bundle came out.

Ok, so FCE is a DV only thing.

Thanks for the pointer.

All the best

Fidel.
 
Re: purchasing post-production equipment

FCE is nearly identical to FCP, it just handles only standard NTSC and PAL DV footage.

It doesn't come with any of the bundled aps that FCP does now, as stated above, but it's very functional for standard DV stuff.

It also doesn't do effects keyframing, however it still does motion keyframing. I think it's an incredible value for the price.
 
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