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video card for video editing? 1
- Thread starter silvere
- Start date
Unless you're going top-of-the-line (like the Matrox x.100), the video card is not going to matter much. Its only function will be to capture video. ATI has had a long reputation with having the best quality on a budget. I'm not sure about Nvidia's latest, but back before the GeForce4 came out, video capture on their cards was horrible.
The software included with budget cards won't give you much in terms of editing. But the software is what ultimately determines what you can do in the end, not the card!
~cdogg
[tab]"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources"
[tab][tab]- A. Einstein
The software included with budget cards won't give you much in terms of editing. But the software is what ultimately determines what you can do in the end, not the card!
~cdogg
[tab]"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources"
[tab][tab]- A. Einstein
Just an added thought, ADS makes a PCI card called the PYRO PlatinumDV which is a very nice video editing card with firewire ports. It comes with Adobe Premiere 6.5 software. It's a bargain at around $250, since the Adobe software alone sells for much more. You'll still need a graphics card, but this is a nice add-on for professional results.
If I'm not mistaken, the ADS Pyro PlatinumDV has been discontinued here in the U.S., although some stores do still have a couple in stock. From doing a quick search, there are only a few left being sold with Adobe Premiere 6.0 ($300), while the rest that I saw came with either Premiere Pro or 6.5 costing $500 or more. The newer ones are now referred to as Pyro Professional.
Just don't forget that you must find a card that's going to have the right inputs that you need, whether it be firewire, USB, or analog.
~cdogg
[tab]"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources"
[tab][tab]- A. Einstein
Just don't forget that you must find a card that's going to have the right inputs that you need, whether it be firewire, USB, or analog.
~cdogg
[tab]"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources"
[tab][tab]- A. Einstein
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1
- #6
It might be an idea to be clear on a few basic concepts. Video production consists of three main areas - capture, editing, and rendering/export. Of these, capture is extremely hardware dependant, you need a fast CPU and a fast harddrive - if you are working with a DV camera then as norty303 says - get a PCI firewire card, if you are working with analogue then you are generally better off with a dedicated capture card. There are some AGP cards that have video in and are suitable for capturing but the quality and capability of these is generally less than you could achieve with separate components that cost the same. Modern DV capture though shouldn't use the video card - it is a fast stream to disk through the firewire port (hence the need for a fast CPU & harddrive) with the video only handling the video signal to monitor. Capture is the most important part of the process as you must not get any dropped frames or no amount of editing will help!
Editing is software/hardware dependant - again, fast CPU and hardrive are the hardware elements that matter most. If you just want to do simple editing without too many effects such as transitions, filters etc and if you don't need lots of extra channels for audio and video then relatively cheap software such as Ulead Video Studio works fine - if you want all the extra's then Adobe Premiere, Ulead Media Studio or Vegas Video are the way to go - different people have different opinions about which is "best". Bear in mind that the learning curve on these products is quite high!
The last part - rendering - is very cpu intensive. Modern AGP cards all have their own processor on the card - with varying amounts of RAM. Basically the more RAM the better! This will speed up the rendering process (which can be very slow) and save you hours of time with large videos.
I personally use a Geforce4mx card - Asus V8170 - with 64Mb onboard. It is not the newest now - but works fine. If I was going to get a new one today I would go for a 128Mb RAM card - either NVidia or ATI - there really isn't a lot of difference and whatever you buy today is going to be out of date by next week!!
Kim.
'Everybody is ignorant - only on different subjects.'
Will Rogers.
Editing is software/hardware dependant - again, fast CPU and hardrive are the hardware elements that matter most. If you just want to do simple editing without too many effects such as transitions, filters etc and if you don't need lots of extra channels for audio and video then relatively cheap software such as Ulead Video Studio works fine - if you want all the extra's then Adobe Premiere, Ulead Media Studio or Vegas Video are the way to go - different people have different opinions about which is "best". Bear in mind that the learning curve on these products is quite high!
The last part - rendering - is very cpu intensive. Modern AGP cards all have their own processor on the card - with varying amounts of RAM. Basically the more RAM the better! This will speed up the rendering process (which can be very slow) and save you hours of time with large videos.
I personally use a Geforce4mx card - Asus V8170 - with 64Mb onboard. It is not the newest now - but works fine. If I was going to get a new one today I would go for a 128Mb RAM card - either NVidia or ATI - there really isn't a lot of difference and whatever you buy today is going to be out of date by next week!!
Kim.
'Everybody is ignorant - only on different subjects.'
Will Rogers.
- Thread starter
- #7
thank you everyone for your suggestions and thank you very much Kim for the much needed education. I looked around a little and SAPPHIRE ATI RADEON 9600 256MB for $127 is what I came up with. do you guys think this is what I need? I already have premiere, so I don't need bundled software. I will also be putting in a xp2600+ and Dual Channel PC3700 DDR 1GB.
thanks again for your time
Andy
thanks again for your time
Andy
It is quite true that everyone will have their own opinion on what's best - that's the beauty of having this forum to discuss it!
Kim did a nice job summing it up for you. Now that we know a little about your system (pretty fast CPU and RAM), there's no need to speculate.
First of all, you need to get a card that has "video in". The Sapphire ATI Radeon card only has video outputs. If you can give us a price range on what you're looking to spend, I may be able to make a few suggestions.
I have an old ATI 64MB DDR Vivo which used the outdated Radeon 7200 graphics chip. For being as old as it is (3+ years), I'm able to capture video easily and at good quality on my P-III 800MHz PC. Just about any current ATI or Nvidia card out there that has video inputs will do. I wouldn't worry too much about the card, just as long as you know it has inputs and that your hard drive has plenty of space (video files can get quite large)!
Now keep in mind that adding effects to your captured video is the second step. This is where it can get time consuming. Rendering effects to a 5-minute clip can easily take half hour or more, depending on the type of effect and the speed of your PC. That's why there are professional cards out there like the Matrox one I mentioned earlier. Those kinds of cards can easily run you $500 or more, but render effects in real time. What does that mean to you? Well, a 5-minute rendering will take 5 minutes instead of a half hour or more - it's that simple.
If you've got the time and don't plan on doing a whole lot of video editing, then there's no need to buy a professional card. But these are the options you need to consider.
![[thumbsup2]](/data/assets/smilies/thumbsup2.gif "[thumbsup2] [thumbsup2]")
~cdogg
[tab]"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources"
[tab][tab]- A. Einstein
Kim did a nice job summing it up for you. Now that we know a little about your system (pretty fast CPU and RAM), there's no need to speculate.
First of all, you need to get a card that has "video in". The Sapphire ATI Radeon card only has video outputs. If you can give us a price range on what you're looking to spend, I may be able to make a few suggestions.
I have an old ATI 64MB DDR Vivo which used the outdated Radeon 7200 graphics chip. For being as old as it is (3+ years), I'm able to capture video easily and at good quality on my P-III 800MHz PC. Just about any current ATI or Nvidia card out there that has video inputs will do. I wouldn't worry too much about the card, just as long as you know it has inputs and that your hard drive has plenty of space (video files can get quite large)!
Now keep in mind that adding effects to your captured video is the second step. This is where it can get time consuming. Rendering effects to a 5-minute clip can easily take half hour or more, depending on the type of effect and the speed of your PC. That's why there are professional cards out there like the Matrox one I mentioned earlier. Those kinds of cards can easily run you $500 or more, but render effects in real time. What does that mean to you? Well, a 5-minute rendering will take 5 minutes instead of a half hour or more - it's that simple.
If you've got the time and don't plan on doing a whole lot of video editing, then there's no need to buy a professional card. But these are the options you need to consider.
~cdogg
[tab]"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources"
[tab][tab]- A. Einstein
In the spirit of discussion!!
cdogg - I believe that your comments are really only applicable to analogue video capture - i.e from older VHS cameras and some early DV cameras that actually outputted only to video (no firewire). As far as I am aware most modern (last 2 years or so - especially here in Japan) cameras have firewire/iLink/IEEE1394 (whatever you like to call it) output AND ordinary video output to connect direct to a TV. With IEEE1394 the camera streams to a AVI or MPEG file directly onto harddisk (or any other format the software handles) - it doesn't need the video in on a graphics card. So this discussion of what is best depends on the camera being used in the first place. If you want to capture from a video deck or older camera that does not have an IEEE1394 interface - then yes - you need video in on the card. If you only capture from an IEEE1394 interface - you don't. I have a DV camera with IEEE1394 and I don't have video in on my card. I personally think that the extra cost of video inputs is better spent on more RAM onboard which helps at the rendering/export stage.
silvere - bearing in mind what I am saying about the difference between analogue and DV - the RADEON card should be fine. With that amount of power on the card, rendering should also go quite fast! If you are intending to also capture from a VHS deck or camera - then cdogg's comments are completely valid.
Kim.
'Everybody is ignorant - only on different subjects.'
Will Rogers.
cdogg - I believe that your comments are really only applicable to analogue video capture - i.e from older VHS cameras and some early DV cameras that actually outputted only to video (no firewire). As far as I am aware most modern (last 2 years or so - especially here in Japan) cameras have firewire/iLink/IEEE1394 (whatever you like to call it) output AND ordinary video output to connect direct to a TV. With IEEE1394 the camera streams to a AVI or MPEG file directly onto harddisk (or any other format the software handles) - it doesn't need the video in on a graphics card. So this discussion of what is best depends on the camera being used in the first place. If you want to capture from a video deck or older camera that does not have an IEEE1394 interface - then yes - you need video in on the card. If you only capture from an IEEE1394 interface - you don't. I have a DV camera with IEEE1394 and I don't have video in on my card. I personally think that the extra cost of video inputs is better spent on more RAM onboard which helps at the rendering/export stage.
silvere - bearing in mind what I am saying about the difference between analogue and DV - the RADEON card should be fine. With that amount of power on the card, rendering should also go quite fast! If you are intending to also capture from a VHS deck or camera - then cdogg's comments are completely valid.
Kim.
'Everybody is ignorant - only on different subjects.'
Will Rogers.
Yes, that's true. My comments only apply to analog video capture, like from a VHS tape deck, TV, or a camcorder that doesn't have firewire or USB ports.
If you have a digital source for video, then don't worry too much about the video card and as Kim said, be sure to get plenty of onboard DDR SDRAM (128MB or more). Remember, however, that non-professional cards (cost < $400) won't be able to render that many effects onboard the GPU. Instead, a bulk of the rendering time will be determined by the CPU, RAM, and hard drive specs.
My last 2¢ on this one...
[LOL]
~cdogg
[tab]"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources"
[tab][tab]- A. Einstein
If you have a digital source for video, then don't worry too much about the video card and as Kim said, be sure to get plenty of onboard DDR SDRAM (128MB or more). Remember, however, that non-professional cards (cost < $400) won't be able to render that many effects onboard the GPU. Instead, a bulk of the rendering time will be determined by the CPU, RAM, and hard drive specs.
My last 2¢ on this one...
[LOL]
~cdogg
[tab]"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources"
[tab][tab]- A. Einstein
- Thread starter
- #11
the guy I'm building this pc for is only using a dv cam in firewire. so I think I'll go ahead and get that card. I really appreciate your help!Just to chuck a little spanner into the cogs.....
I capture from my DV camera by Firewire HOWEVER since I got my Sapphire Radeon 9100 vivo (8500 rebadged and nice and cheap and very effective I might add!!) I've also been capturing analogue footage for mixing with my DV stuff. I didn't realize this when I got the camera but as I started to explore video editing it opened up more possibilities. It may be something to put to your client as it's not any more expensive really to address it at this point. I'm running an xp2000 and 640mb DDR 2100 and have no problem with dropped frames, etc.
I capture from my DV camera by Firewire HOWEVER since I got my Sapphire Radeon 9100 vivo (8500 rebadged and nice and cheap and very effective I might add!!) I've also been capturing analogue footage for mixing with my DV stuff. I didn't realize this when I got the camera but as I started to explore video editing it opened up more possibilities. It may be something to put to your client as it's not any more expensive really to address it at this point. I'm running an xp2000 and 640mb DDR 2100 and have no problem with dropped frames, etc.
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