posted
I'm about to buy a new computer. I already own a digital video camera, but in the past I haven't been able to edit and create movies using my computer. The computer would crash unless I was working on a video clip less than about 15 seconds.
So my questions are:
What hardware do I need to include in the new computer to make it easier to edit DV,
What is the best software to use.
Please limit your answers to PC solutions as I'm limited to that based on other constraints. Thanks so much for your help!
Posts: 270 | Registered: Apr 2004
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I use Adobe Premiere Pro. It seems to work pretty well.
I'd say the 3 things you would want in terms of hardware are:
A) Lots and lots of hard drive storage B) Fast hard drives C) A good amount of memory
I've got 2 hard drives on my computer. Both are SATA drives...120Gig and 160Gig. If I could do it over again, I'd have gone even bigger, especially on the second drive. Video takes up a LOT of space. For optimum performance, they recommend having a separate actual hard drive for each of your media types. In other words, a drive for the video, a drive for the audio, and a drive for the editing program itself.
On the memory front, I'm not sure what is actually necessary, but I went with 1.5 gigs. I vaguely remember reading somewhere that 512 was the minimum and a gig was recommended, but I'd have to go look it up.
posted
Oh, of course you will want to have a firewire port that is easily accessible to transfer your footage from your camera to the computer.
My computer has a little panel on the front of the case that has firewire as well as a couple of extra USB's. Very convenient. It beats the heck out of going to the back of the case all the time.
Posts: 194 | Registered: Mar 2003
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posted
Also, as large of a monitor as you can afford. Multiple monitors would be even better.
Alternatively, get a nice sized monitor and have a video output from your video card to a TV.
With all the editing stuff on the screen, it cuts down on the real estate available for viewing your video sources. It is best if you can move the video to its own monitor. (or TV, which is actually a little better because you get to see a much closer representation of what the finished product will look like)
Posts: 194 | Registered: Mar 2003
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I can get Adobe Premier Pro 7 for about $90 but the new 1.5 costs upwards of $500. Will the older version do enough to get by?
Posts: 270 | Registered: Apr 2004
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posted
Actually, I think that is the version I have, so I would think that it would be just fine. At least I hope so.
I don't even remember what the features are for 1.5... I remember that it didn't seem to be worth the cost of upgrading at this point.
Oh, and one thing to think about:
I actually used the Adobe "Classroom in a Book" training thing for Premiere Pro. The book has its pros and cons, but if you are new to video editing, then it might come in handy. The problem with the book is that they have some errors in the text that can be a little irritating. It isn't too hard to figure out what you are supposed to do, but it is annoying. However, for the most part it is pretty good to get the basic concepts down. You may want to check with your local public library and see if they may have a copy of it?
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