Hey Guys and Gals

This is my first thread and I need your help. I love this forum and it has helped me a great amount in accumulating footage. For the past 3 years I have spent a considerable amount of time fiming in Wyoming and Montana. I started by renting an xl h1 because we wanted to wait for the XHA1 to come out before we purchased. It was a decision based on weight and portability because of the mountainous terrain that we film in.

I have accumulated about 100 hours of HD content and am ready to sit down and edit. I'd much rather be out collecting cool footage but it's time to create something with the footage. I was wondering what type of sytem I could buy that would be adequate for editing using Adobe P or Edius. I don't want to spend more than 1800 -2500. I already have 2 monitors. I'm relatively new to editing so I don't want to spend an arm and a leg on someting that is beyond my skills. I would rather learn it in a year or two before I make a huge financial commitment.


Thank You Very Much!!
Terry



The headline doesn't really depict our work but was put there to sell papers!!

http://www.greatfallstribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070923/NEWS01/709230302

Does your budget INCLUDE your software, or is it just for the CPU?

Does your budget INCLUDE your software, or is it just for the CPU?


CPU. I'm also wondering if Ulead 11+ would be adequate for the first year?

I'd much rather be out collecting cool footage but it's time to create something with the footage. I was wondering what type of sytem I could buy that would be adequate for editing using Adobe P or Edius.

I do most of my HDV editing using Edius on a Dell Latitude D820 laptop which cost me $2500, and there are plenty of less expensive computers which could handle the task. Just make sure you get something with a decent dual-core processor like the Intel T7400 (laptop) or E6600 (desktop), 2 GB of fast RAM, and at least 256MB of dedicated video memory. HDV editing performance with Edius can be significantly improved by capturing to the "HQ" editing codec, which increases storage requirements to about 40 GB per hour of footage (instead of 12 GB for native HDV). So figure about $1500-2000 for a decent editing system plus a few hundred for some large hard drives, and you're good to go.

By the way, some laptops will run for a few hours with an optional second battery, so you could be out in the woods getting great footage and then take a break to do some editing. :-)

CPU. I'm also wondering if Ulead 11+ would be adequate for the first year?

For about $250.00 or so you can be into Vegas 8. Last time I looked this was still available--- Do that by buying Vegas 6 (7?) at BH Photo for about $ 99.00, then upgrading to Vegas 8 for $135 through Sony on line.

Terry,
I realize you mentioned you have monitors and you mentioned Adobe or Edius. However, if you don't already own the software you might want to consider an iMac and FCP Express. It will fit your budget and give you a great system to get started and grow with.

If you already have the software, I'd then suggest the pc options others have posted.
--JL

You guys are great! Keep throwing out suggestions to help with my choices.
I just don't want to get something that won't be able to handle HDV properly and slow down my work. There's nothing more I dislike than to have to wait for the cpu to do it's thing.

Terry:

With HDV in the PC environment, you can get by with a slower rig by using Cineform intermediate codec editing. You can actually capture and convert on the to that codec using NeoHDV and then edit in Vegas. Neo HDV flips the image if you are using a 35mm adapter, and also does pull down if you are shooting with something like the HV20 or V1u, to give you 24p. Neo HDV runs about $250.00. The Cineform intermediate codec files are larger files than "native" HDV m2t files, but are frame accurate, and easier to play back and edit, putting less load on your processor to preview and render. i have been running it on a self built older AMD 3800+ Dual core board on bought as a combo at Frys almost two years ago, and it is doing fine. I'm sure a new Intel Core Duo would be faster, but point is, the Cineform system works great with a wide variety of machines.

I put up a wishlist on newegg.com that has all the components for a new CPU that is very similar to my own that I built about six months ago. It centers around the Intel Q6600 which is the quadcore similar to my 2.4GHz dualcore system. I believe it is a complete system (minus monitors) for $1100 without shipping. Even if you don't build your own systems, the list should be a decent comparison to a pre-built system that should be fine for HDV. You can easily get a system to edit HDV for under $2000. Add $500 for software and you are still under budget with a complete system.

Go to newegg and search wishlists for "HDV system" posted on 10/11/2007.

I just priced a similar system from Dell for $2700 but that includes a $500 gaming video card and 3 years support and 3 years accidental damage insurance. Build a similar model with the Q6600 processor without the expensive video card and you should come in under your budget.

I'm looking at an iMac 24 inch 2.8GHz Intel Core 2 Extreme w/2gb memory, 500gb hard drive 8x double-layer superdrive ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO with 256mb memory for $2299..free shipping. That should handle editing short 5-10 minute shoots shouldn't it? Tks..bob