How much power do you really need?

Erik Phairas · February 8th, 2009, 11:14 AM

my tower was only 900-1000 bucks so it's not expensive compared to some other high end computers. Vegas 8.1 is pretty pricey at 400-500 bucks but I don't have to convert the 16mbps AVCHD to anything..

Larry Horwitz · February 8th, 2009, 02:15 PM

Just to clarify, the major virtues of Nero 9 compared to Sony Vegas when editing and authoring AVCHD are:

Nero is much less expensive, frequently showing up for less than $50.

Nero has "smart rendering" which allows it to produce AVCHD disks much faster than Vegas, often 10 times faster, if the clips being assembled are only being trimmed and spliced together.

Nero requires a less powerful CPU.

Nero can make AVCHD disks on low cost red laser DVD blanks with a low cost ($30) burner which play in both BluRay plaers as well as the Sony PS3.

On the other hand, Vegas is a much more competent editor with a lot more features.

Larry

Kraig Hawkins · February 9th, 2009, 01:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Robin Davies-Rollinson

I can vouch for that. I'm editing all my AVCHD files in CS3 easily - don't have the need to buy CS4 now.
I've got Premiere Elements 7 as well which does edit AVCHD, and in the export comparisons I've made, I can't see the difference between the Cineform converted files and the original AVCHD files.

So for you guys using Neo Scene, how long does it take to convert an AVCHD file (say a 10 minute file) to a Cineform .avi? And does using Cineform make HDV editing easier also? Or just AVCHD?

Thanks,
Kraig

Jon McGuffin · February 15th, 2009, 10:22 AM

Kraig,

It's hard to judge time of converstion because, frankly, every system is so different. I have an i7 based system at 3.0Ghz... Converting a HMC150 2 minute clip took less than 2 minutes, probably less than 1 minute.. So I'd say - in general - it should be faster than real time.

Using cineform on AVCHD files I think is *absolutely* the way to go. You need to get those files out of that highly compressed state. I convert everything I shoot into Cineform including HDV as well. Performance on the timeline is dramatically improved using Cineform over AVCHD however their is a small performance hit editing in Cineform over HDV in my experience.

Jon

Kraig Hawkins · February 16th, 2009, 09:44 AM

Jon - thanks for the info. Sounds like Cineform is the way to go...especially for AVCHD. But I'm curious why you convert your HDV into Cineform if there isn't a performance gain?

Scott Owens · March 4th, 2009, 12:28 PM

Anyone here have any experience using AVCHD UpShift from Vasst? How does it compare to Cineform or Neo Scene as for as preformance and quality? I myself am thinking of taking the plunge to AVCHD and am researching as much as possible; My computer config below:

Computer Config by ADK of Kentucky.

# ADK Intel - Core i7 920 2.66GHz Quad Core with HT 8meg cache Workstation
# Motherboard - Corei7, 12GB/DDR3 1600, 2x PCI, 2 x PCIE x16, 3 PCIE, TI firewire, 6 Sat
# Case - ADK - Tower: EATX 7 3.5" bay, 5 x 5.25 Bays up to 13 HDD's with hot swap bay
# Memory - Corsair - 2Gig DDR3 1600 1.65v DOMINATOR 8-8-8-24
# Memory2 - Corsair - 2Gig DDR3 1600 1.65v DOMINATOR 8-8-8-24
# Memory3 - Corsair - 2Gig DDR3 1600 1.65v DOMINATOR 8-8-8-24
# Hard Drive1 - SEAGATE - 500G 32Meg Sata II Perpendicular ST3500320AS
# Hard Drive2 - SEAGATE - 1000 GB Seagate Raid 0 Array (2x 32 cache 500GB)
# Hard Drive3 - SEAGATE - 1000 GB Seagate Raid 0 Array (2x 32 cache 500GB)
# Video1 - PNY GeForce GTX285 1024MB: The NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 285 graphics card
# Video2 - Matrox RTX2 Board Only: Includes the Matrox RT.X2 editing card, audio/video
# CD/CD-RW/DVD - LG GSA-H55NK: 22X SecurDisk DVDRW 16x DVD and 48x CD. Dual Layer
# Operating System - Microsoft Vista64 Business OEM with COA and disk
# Adobe CS4 Production Premium: includes After Effects, Premiere Pro, Photoshop, Audition,
# Encore DVD,& Illustrator
# 3 - Dell 24" Flat-Screen Monitors

How would you rate my computer as far as ease of use of the AVCHD .mts files editing natively in Premiere Pro CS4?

Thanks guys.

P.S. I am also looking for sample AVCHD .mts files that I can download and use for
experimentation; would like something longer in duration, say 15-25-30min., etc.
Please let me know if you can aid me is this regard.

February 8th, 2009, 11:14 AM	#16
Erik Phairas Major Player Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Las Vegas, NV Posts: 628	my tower was only 900-1000 bucks so it's not expensive compared to some other high end computers. Vegas 8.1 is pretty pricey at 400-500 bucks but I don't have to convert the 16mbps AVCHD to anything.. __________________ EX3, Q6600 Quad core PC - Vista 64, Vegas 8.1 64bit, SR11 b-cam

February 8th, 2009, 02:15 PM	#17
Larry Horwitz Major Player Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Eggertsville, NY Posts: 528	Just to clarify, the major virtues of Nero 9 compared to Sony Vegas when editing and authoring AVCHD are: Nero is much less expensive, frequently showing up for less than $50. Nero has "smart rendering" which allows it to produce AVCHD disks much faster than Vegas, often 10 times faster, if the clips being assembled are only being trimmed and spliced together. Nero requires a less powerful CPU. Nero can make AVCHD disks on low cost red laser DVD blanks with a low cost ($30) burner which play in both BluRay plaers as well as the Sony PS3. On the other hand, Vegas is a much more competent editor with a lot more features. Larry

February 15th, 2009, 10:22 AM	#19
Jon McGuffin Major Player Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Carlsbad, CA Posts: 634	Kraig, It's hard to judge time of converstion because, frankly, every system is so different. I have an i7 based system at 3.0Ghz... Converting a HMC150 2 minute clip took less than 2 minutes, probably less than 1 minute.. So I'd say - in general - it should be faster than real time. Using cineform on AVCHD files I think is absolutely the way to go. You need to get those files out of that highly compressed state. I convert everything I shoot into Cineform including HDV as well. Performance on the timeline is dramatically improved using Cineform over AVCHD however their is a small performance hit editing in Cineform over HDV in my experience. Jon

February 16th, 2009, 09:44 AM	#20
Kraig Hawkins New Boot Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Round Rock, TX Posts: 8	Jon - thanks for the info. Sounds like Cineform is the way to go...especially for AVCHD. But I'm curious why you convert your HDV into Cineform if there isn't a performance gain?

March 4th, 2009, 12:28 PM	#21
Scott Owens New Boot Join Date: May 2007 Location: New Orleans, Louisiana Posts: 13	Anyone here have any experience using AVCHD UpShift from Vasst? How does it compare to Cineform or Neo Scene as for as preformance and quality? I myself am thinking of taking the plunge to AVCHD and am researching as much as possible; My computer config below: Computer Config by ADK of Kentucky. # ADK Intel - Core i7 920 2.66GHz Quad Core with HT 8meg cache Workstation # Motherboard - Corei7, 12GB/DDR3 1600, 2x PCI, 2 x PCIE x16, 3 PCIE, TI firewire, 6 Sat # Case - ADK - Tower: EATX 7 3.5" bay, 5 x 5.25 Bays up to 13 HDD's with hot swap bay # Memory - Corsair - 2Gig DDR3 1600 1.65v DOMINATOR 8-8-8-24 # Memory2 - Corsair - 2Gig DDR3 1600 1.65v DOMINATOR 8-8-8-24 # Memory3 - Corsair - 2Gig DDR3 1600 1.65v DOMINATOR 8-8-8-24 # Hard Drive1 - SEAGATE - 500G 32Meg Sata II Perpendicular ST3500320AS # Hard Drive2 - SEAGATE - 1000 GB Seagate Raid 0 Array (2x 32 cache 500GB) # Hard Drive3 - SEAGATE - 1000 GB Seagate Raid 0 Array (2x 32 cache 500GB) # Video1 - PNY GeForce GTX285 1024MB: The NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 285 graphics card # Video2 - Matrox RTX2 Board Only: Includes the Matrox RT.X2 editing card, audio/video # CD/CD-RW/DVD - LG GSA-H55NK: 22X SecurDisk DVDRW 16x DVD and 48x CD. Dual Layer # Operating System - Microsoft Vista64 Business OEM with COA and disk # Adobe CS4 Production Premium: includes After Effects, Premiere Pro, Photoshop, Audition, # Encore DVD,& Illustrator # 3 - Dell 24" Flat-Screen Monitors How would you rate my computer as far as ease of use of the AVCHD .mts files editing natively in Premiere Pro CS4? Thanks guys. P.S. I am also looking for sample AVCHD .mts files that I can download and use for experimentation; would like something longer in duration, say 15-25-30min., etc. Please let me know if you can aid me is this regard.