computer needs at DVinfo.net

Bob Zimmerman · July 31st, 2006, 07:24 AM

When I had my XL1s my old iMac worked pretty good, but now with HDV I wonder if this Powerbook is enough. I have 1GB of memory and 1.67GHz. Only 60GB hard drive. So I'm planing on buying a external hard drive. I can also bump up the memory two. I'm planning on buying the A1. It might not be the fastest but hopefully it can get me by for now.

Any suggestions?

Bob Zimmerman · July 31st, 2006, 08:33 AM

what can I get by with to edit HDV?

Michael Behr · July 31st, 2006, 08:45 AM

rendering might be a little slow but with the power book you should be ok...defantly go with the ram...and the external drive will have 2 be pritty big. ive never done HDV Editing my self. but ive looked in to it. you will defantly want somthing like 300 or 400 gig drive. the only thing i can think of is some times when you have an extenal drive with editing rendering can be come a little slower. i guess it depends on how big of projects you are working on. a 10 min video will be about as much as i personaly would want 2 work on with a power book.

Bob Zimmerman · July 31st, 2006, 08:48 AM

but if I have external hard drive space I can go longer than 10 mins, I hope?
I just talk to the Apple store and I should go up to 2GB of memory.

Michael Behr · July 31st, 2006, 08:56 AM

o ya you will have room for it. like i said with the 300 or 400 gig hard drive. but with the processor power. im not shure, like how fast rendering and exporting will be. and ive had some slow downs using external drives for big projects. not only with the drive corupting ( get a good well known external) but some times fire wire just isnt fast enough 2 keep up, so that might slow ur rendering speeds and what not.

Bob Zimmerman · July 31st, 2006, 09:18 AM

Well hopefully at sometime I can upgrade. I won't be doing any fancy stuff for awhile anyway.

Bob Zimmerman · July 31st, 2006, 10:10 AM

How much hard drive space does HDV take up. How many minutes to use up 1GB of hard drive?

Philip Williams · July 31st, 2006, 10:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bob Zimmerman

How much hard drive space does HDV take up. How many minutes to use up 1GB of hard drive?

25mb/s, exactly the same as DV. What does that boil down to, about 5 minutes a gig or so? Crap, my memory is shot.

Anyway, drive space is a non-issue with HDV. Maybe when moving into some of the intermediate formats it can become a concern on long projects. Rendering uncompressed 1920x1080 is where it gets really ugly...

www.philipwilliams.com

Bob Zimmerman · July 31st, 2006, 10:36 AM

that is good news.

Eric Hansen · August 2nd, 2006, 07:27 PM

I've got a PowerBook as well and I'm not going to lie to ya... It's pretty difficult to work with the HDV files and rendering. Right now I only have 512 mb of memory with another gig that should show up tomorrow. i'm hoping that this will make things a little easier. I'm also curious to see what Mac will introduce eventually that will replace the G5. anyway, good luck!

Eric Hansen

Michael Liebergot · August 3rd, 2006, 07:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eric Hansen

I've got a PowerBook as well and I'm not going to lie to ya... It's pretty difficult to work with the HDV files and rendering. Right now I only have 512 mb of memory with another gig that should show up tomorrow. i'm hoping that this will make things a little easier. I'm also curious to see what Mac will introduce eventually that will replace the G5. anyway, good luck!

Eric Hansen

The problem right now is processor power in order to work with the MT2 HDV files.
It is always better to work with an intermediary codec, whcih will enable you to edit just like SD video.
However your rendering times will for the most part be totally processor dependant and not RAM memory dependant. It's always good to have more RAM, but in general it won't give you and better render times.

Bob Zimmerman · August 3rd, 2006, 09:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Michael Liebergot

The problem right now is processor power in order to work with the MT2 HDV files.
It is always better to work with an intermediary codec, whcih will enable you to edit just like SD video.
However your rendering times will for the most part be totally processor dependant and not RAM memory dependant. It's always good to have more RAM, but in general it won't give you and better render times.

I'm kind of slow and need some more memory too when it comes to computers,,,but is there a way you change the intermediary codex?

Bob Zimmerman · August 3rd, 2006, 09:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eric Hansen

I've got a PowerBook as well and I'm not going to lie to ya... It's pretty difficult to work with the HDV files and rendering. Right now I only have 512 mb of memory with another gig that should show up tomorrow. i'm hoping that this will make things a little easier. I'm also curious to see what Mac will introduce eventually that will replace the G5. anyway, good luck!

Eric Hansen

I have a 1gig and will go to 2gig of memery which is what Apple recommeds for FCE-HD. I will use that for now since I can upgrade my FCE for only $99.

Michael Liebergot · August 3rd, 2006, 09:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bob Zimmerman

I'm kind of slow and need some more memory too when it comes to computers,,,but is there a way you change the intermediary codex?

As far as I know, the only intermediary codec for the MAC is the AIC (Apple Intermediary Codec).
For the PC you have a few, with the best probaby being the Cineform Intermediary Codec.

Peter Ferling · August 3rd, 2006, 12:49 PM

Unless your doing some elaborate color work, can't you guys just capture DV25 for edits, then relink to the HDV clips before render?

July 31st, 2006, 07:24 AM	#1
Bob Zimmerman Major Player Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Illinois Posts: 888	computer needs When I had my XL1s my old iMac worked pretty good, but now with HDV I wonder if this Powerbook is enough. I have 1GB of memory and 1.67GHz. Only 60GB hard drive. So I'm planing on buying a external hard drive. I can also bump up the memory two. I'm planning on buying the A1. It might not be the fastest but hopefully it can get me by for now. Any suggestions?

August 3rd, 2006, 12:49 PM	#15
Peter Ferling Trustee Join Date: May 2005 Location: Wyomissing, PA Posts: 1,141 Images: 57	Unless your doing some elaborate color work, can't you guys just capture DV25 for edits, then relink to the HDV clips before render? __________________ Pete Ferling http://ferling.net It's never a mistake if you learn something new from it. -------------------------------------------

July 31st, 2006, 08:33 AM	#2
Bob Zimmerman Major Player Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Illinois Posts: 888	what can I get by with to edit HDV?

July 31st, 2006, 08:45 AM	#3
Michael Behr New Boot Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Ft.Myers Florida Posts: 23	rendering might be a little slow but with the power book you should be ok...defantly go with the ram...and the external drive will have 2 be pritty big. ive never done HDV Editing my self. but ive looked in to it. you will defantly want somthing like 300 or 400 gig drive. the only thing i can think of is some times when you have an extenal drive with editing rendering can be come a little slower. i guess it depends on how big of projects you are working on. a 10 min video will be about as much as i personaly would want 2 work on with a power book.

July 31st, 2006, 08:48 AM	#4
Bob Zimmerman Major Player Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Illinois Posts: 888	but if I have external hard drive space I can go longer than 10 mins, I hope? I just talk to the Apple store and I should go up to 2GB of memory.

July 31st, 2006, 08:56 AM	#5
Michael Behr New Boot Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Ft.Myers Florida Posts: 23	o ya you will have room for it. like i said with the 300 or 400 gig hard drive. but with the processor power. im not shure, like how fast rendering and exporting will be. and ive had some slow downs using external drives for big projects. not only with the drive corupting ( get a good well known external) but some times fire wire just isnt fast enough 2 keep up, so that might slow ur rendering speeds and what not.

July 31st, 2006, 09:18 AM	#6
Bob Zimmerman Major Player Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Illinois Posts: 888	Well hopefully at sometime I can upgrade. I won't be doing any fancy stuff for awhile anyway.

July 31st, 2006, 10:10 AM	#7
Bob Zimmerman Major Player Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Illinois Posts: 888	How much hard drive space does HDV take up. How many minutes to use up 1GB of hard drive?

July 31st, 2006, 10:36 AM	#9
Bob Zimmerman Major Player Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Illinois Posts: 888	that is good news.

August 2nd, 2006, 07:27 PM	#10
Eric Hansen Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Eagle Mountain, Utah Posts: 97	I've got a PowerBook as well and I'm not going to lie to ya... It's pretty difficult to work with the HDV files and rendering. Right now I only have 512 mb of memory with another gig that should show up tomorrow. i'm hoping that this will make things a little easier. I'm also curious to see what Mac will introduce eventually that will replace the G5. anyway, good luck! Eric Hansen