Video Editing Rig

[TyphonX]

A friend of mine wants a cnew computer, mainly for video editing. She is not a proffessional, but is into film and owuld be like to be able to do it. I am used to putting together computers for either students who dont need it for anything strenous or gamers, and I am not sure what empahasis should be placed on the machine concerning video editing, although I have heard it is quite intensive. Her budget is $2000 CDN (approximately $1700 US). The biggest item I am unsure of is the video card...she obviously does not need a gaming level card, but with video editing does it matter? THnak you in advance ofr your help.

 

[cdogg]

Yes, this does matter very much.

For a beginner or novice, I would recommend the Matrox line of cards, specifically the x.10 or the x.100.

You can compare their features out on the Matrox site. A gaming card excels in 3D architecture that use OpenGL or DirectX instructions. But for video editing, you need a card that can apply special effects in real time using hardware encoding. Having a hardware encoder makes a PC less dependent on the CPU.

Don't get me wrong. Any PC sold today can do video editing. But with one of those bad boys I mentioned, you can accomplish a lot of special effects in a short amount of time, or preview the shot before going through the tediously long encoding process. Basically, it just saves time! Plus, some models come with light versions of Adobe Premiere.

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884

 

[Nelviticus]

A huge, fast second drive will make like a lot easier too, plus huge amounts of memory. Video editing is one of those activities that really gets a lot better the more hardware you throw at it.

Once you get to the encoding stage a single-core CPU will perform slightly faster than an equivalent dual-core one (note equivalent), but with a single-core the machine won't be very responsive while it's doing its encoding stuff, which can take ages.

To get the price/performance right you need to balance:

- Graphics card: for speed of applying effects as per cdogg's post;
- Hard drive space: the more you have the more video you can work with (video in DV format takes up HUGE amounts of space);
- Memory: the more you have, the less your editing app will have to keep reading video from the hard drive;
- CPU speed: has far and away the most significant impact on the time it takes to encode your masterpiece once you hit the 'go' button. Personally if cash were limited I'd go for a slower dual-core CPU than a faster single-core just so that the machine will be usable when encoding.

I'd spend the money in that order.

Regards

Nelviticus

 

[BadFrog]

I've always heard Mac's were the ideal machine for video editing kind of stuff. Has that changed recently?

"Once you can accept the universe as matter expanding into nothing that is something, wearing stripes with plaid comes easy"
Albert Einstein

 

[cdogg]

BadFrog,
That was true of Mac's just a couple years ago. But as bus speeds and memory bandwidth continued to increase in the x86 PC, Mac's lost a lot of ground and growth stalled. Unless you have a top-of-the-line Mac from the last two years, it's not going to be anything near what the average PC can do today.

Nelviticus,
I agree pretty much except for the part regarding dual-cores. It depends on the software being used. Adobe Premiere, for example, can multithread itself to take advantage of multiple CPU's. Not many apps can do this, but I believe Premiere is one of them. So in this app, a 3.2GHz dual core should be able to outperform its single-core cousin up to 3.6GHz or so.

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884

 

[carpetbelly]

hey, if you can... go for a quad core G5 mac but for her price, I see no reason why she couldnt pick up a 2nd hand G5 dual core machine which is obviously spending the budget when you could do with upgrading it slightly (like memory etc) but these machines are still the best for vid editing, gfx work.

I personally do a lot of vid editing as a hobby (use premier and some linux based vid editing software).

As said above, as good a chip as you can afford (I'd be with Nel on this, go for dual core, bit slower but more useable machine while rendering etc).

As much memory as you can put on your board and as fast as it can be.

I'd personally love a pair of SATA raptors, raid'ed up on raid0, to see how it would perform then maybe another pair of 500gig drives or something for storage after the editing process.

I have 600gig in my machine and i've nearly eaten all the way through it.

A matrox card would be great for vid editing, but I use my machine for so many things (and wanted a half decent machine for games too) I went for a good gforce g6800...

Would love to get a matrox too though, just to try it out.

I'd suggest, a good monitor too though! If you're staring at a screen for long periods looking at detail, it does help imensely!!!

 

[gbaughma]

If you're going to go for that kind of $$$, I'd get a Video Toaster.

http://www.newtek.com

I see the new VT4 is out.



Just my 2¢

"In order to start solving a problem, one must first identify its owner." --Me
--Greg

 

[carpetbelly]

you;d have to buy quite an old toaster for that money... then you'd still need a good bit of storage (and kit I would say) to use it properly.

If it's just for a hobby then a good PC will be fine with a good vid editing package.

Plus with a toaster, you're limiting yourself. You have a good PC for vid editing, you can also produce DVD's with it. Buy a lightscribe burner and professional looking DVDs can be made. DVD menu production etc etc.

So as powerful as toasters are, they're expensive and limit yourself to what you can do with it obviously.

 

[gbaughma]

Buy a lightscribe burner and professional looking DVDs can be made. DVD menu production etc etc.

Ick. For the extra money you spend on Lightscribe CD's, I'd rather buy printable CD's and inkjet print them. At least then I get color. Lightscribe only does b/w, and the discs are more expensive.

So as powerful as toasters are, they're expensive and limit yourself to what you can do with it obviously.

Normally, I don't argue with people about stuff on here; everyone has their own opinion. However, you evidently haven't looked at the new toaster. Here's some of the things it can do.

o Professional, real-time, broadcast quality editing
o Live switching, including chroma-key and luma-key
o Live graphics, scrolling credits
o Hundreds of transition effects, real-time, no "wait while rendering" and hope your effect looks correct
o XLR Audio inputs into the mixing console (Audio professionals will appreciate this)
o Importing of digital video from firewire cameras, etc.
o Multiple input sources, for both audio and video
o Always broadcast D2 quality
o Storyboard editing, and once again, no waiting to "render"
o Streaming of media (to RealPlayer, etc), even of LIVE media
o Of COURSE you can burn to a DVD
o LightWave included, an industry-standard 3-D rendering system (Used on Babylon 5, SeaQuest, RoboCop series, and dozens of other shows)

See, the difference between a toaster and just an editor on a PC, is the toaster is a combination hardware and software solution. The Toaster itself is a card inside of a high-end PC, which does all of the video processing, switching, mixing, etc. instead of making the CPU do the work. Because it's a hardware solution, there's no waiting for the rendering of your project.

I've used a toaster in both live production and editing. As a non-linear editor, it's easy to use (although slightly different from, say, Adobe Premiere), and gives true broadcast quality (that's better than DVD quality, btw). Since the new Toaster platform runs on Windows 2000+, you have all of your DVD mastering abilities, etc.



Just my 2¢

"In order to start solving a problem, one must first identify its owner." --Me
--Greg

 

[cdogg]

gbaughma,
You obviously have some experience in this area. So I have a question for you...how does a toaster stack up to Matrox cards such as the x.100 or the newer Parhelia (which has multiple monitor support up to 3)? Just looking for a brief comparison in terms of price and features.


Thanks,

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884

 

[ceh4702]

I think the video editing software needs to be considered.

You have to be able to import the video.

You might also want to be able to watch TV and import that.

Watch out for cards that only have drivers for Win MCE. Their may be pros and cons about that as well. Windows MCE lets you use 2 hardware encoders/tv tuners at once. You can view and watch another video source at the same time.
Also may need dual monitor support for TV out or whatever.

There are probably lots of cons as well.

If you do not like my post feel free to point out your opinion or my errors.

 

[Pixelchik]

I am a non-professional novice video editor and have been using an older Matrox RT2500 card with Adobe Premier 6 for a couple of years and I have no complaints. I have produced everything from DVD authored corporate videos to weddings and I've been happy with the results. However I have also heard good things about the Vegas 6 video editing software, which I think is strictly PC based and can use any OHCI compatible i.LINK® connector*/IEEE-1394DV card (for DV capture and print-to-tape).

 

[LawnBoy]

Wow, I can't believe the toaster is still around. Is it still running the Amiga hardware?

 

[carpetbelly]

Well, I can pick up lightscribe cd's and dvd's for hardly any cost price over normal cd's and DVDs. And I prefer that to colour inkjet labels, personal preference really on that one.

Also, with the budget said above I just wouldnt touch a toaster for that price. And though the newer ones can do an awful lot of stuff that's just out of the price range (assuming nothing is already owned).

Don't get me wrong, I'd say toaster everytime if you have the budget. Sort of wishing I hadn't got rid of my old amiga and toaster years ago when I thought I'd get out of this sort of thing. That was a lovely little set up I had.

 

[gbaughma]

Yeah... I had a toaster running on an Amiga 4000.... quite sweet. But even sweeter was the Toaster II.

No, the Toaster isn't still running on Amiga hardware... it's running on 2000+/XP Pro now.

Check out the specs on the new Toaster 4 at

http://www.newtek.com

Just my 2¢

"In order to start solving a problem, one must first identify its owner." --Me
--Greg

 

[carpetbelly]

ahhh a toaster on a 4000... that was my old set up! I loved that thing, and still kicking myself about selling it but I got offered some good money at the time.

Gonna go cry now thinking about that old setup of mine...