What I got, what do I need?

[Joe Hanna]

I'm thinking about a new camera (canon A-1 HD). If I do make the leap what will, in your opinion, will I need for editing (hardware, software etc. etc.)

Here's what I've got for a work station.
Windows XP Home Edition
ACPI uniprocessor PC
Pentium (R) 4 CPU 2.66 GHz
2.66 GHz 768 RAM
Two hard drives 40 GB for Editing - 80 GB for storage.
Nvidia GeForce FX5200
Nec DVD + RW ND 1100A
Pinnacle Studio 9

This setup works pretty well for SD work but HD is scary to me. as I said before in other post I'm on a fence here don't know wheather to stay on my side of the pasture or try some greener grass?

Let me know if I have left out any info on the system. I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed on Computer lingo.

A wish list of item's and cost would be greatly appreciated

[Devin Termini]

Joe,
I guess the big question for you is "will my system edit HD?"

Since you've decided on the XH-A1, I suspect that you will be editing HDV material. With that in mind, the answer to the question above is 'probably not'.

Your computer might be able to process the HDV material, but as HDV is a processor-intensive codec, so it will be remarkably slow. You're going to need much more ram than just 768MB. I highly recommend 2GB at a minimum, 4GB is preferred.

Do you have a plan on using Pinnacle to edit or would you buy a different NLE as well? I'll admit I'm not very familiar with Pinnacle, will it edit HDV?

If I were building a new edit system it would have (All prices in US dollar.):

-Intel Q9300 or Q9450 processor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115043
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/Produc...tCode=10007854
-2GB DDR2 ram (at this price get two pairs for a total of 4GB!)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145590
- Intel Socket 775 Motherboard (with RAID support)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131225
- 1 system drive between 200 and 500 GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148309
- 2 Video drives 500GB each in RAID 0
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148294
- nVidia Geforce Graphics Card (be sure to get a Quadro if you do lots of compositing)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130334
- 450W or higher power supply. I prefer PC Power and Cooling, although there are many other companies that make good power supplies. (This unit is currently $90 off, good price!)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817703005


Those components would be the inner workings of the new machine that could handle HDV material well. The total for the above components is $1081, but keep in mind that this number does not include an operating system ($140 for XP Pro OEM) or a case (anywhere from $50-$150).

Hope this helps, best of luck.

[Joe Hanna]

Thanks Devin for your response, No I do not plan to use pinnicle it will not edit HDV. So if I buy all of the products you advise are you saying not to upgrade my present system but just build a new one? I have 2 other Computers here at home one is a dell that just sits around and collect dust.

Should I take all of the proposed componets and apply them to that system?
I won't be able to buy every thing at once but could piece the system together over some time.

At least I would have the camera and work in SD untill I finish my upgrade.

Again thanks for your advice
Joe

[Devin Termini]

As I see it, at this point it wouldn't make a lot of sense to upgrade your current system.
The system you have now likely has DDR (as opposed to DDR2) RAM. Also it probably does not have SATA connections for the hard drives.

The processor socket may still be the same (LGA 775), but I doubt that the motherboard would support a modern dual or quad core processor.

The system I have detailed in my last post will indeed provide a good platform for editing HDV material. By no means is it the minimum needed. It is also probably worth looking at computer manufactures, to see if they offer similar systems. Even though it may be fun to build your own systems, it is also good to have a warranty too.

Take a look around at computer component retailers. Newegg.com and tigerdirect.com are a couple that come to mind.

To effectively edit HDV media, you can certainly get by with less than what I detailed in the above post.
For example, one of my systems that edits HDV material well consists of:
- Intel E6400 processor
- 1 dedicated system hard drive, 1 dedicated Video hard drive
- 2 GB RAM
- nVidia 7600 GT

Just curious, you said you wouldn't use pinnacle to edit. What software were you thinking of going with?

[Joe Hanna]

From reading most of the post here FCP looks to be the most popular. Do you have any suggestions?

In addition if it's not too much trouble what desk top system at newegg do you like as a good hd editing package?

[Joe Hanna]

[QUOTE=Joe Hanna;868248]From reading most of the post here FCP looks to be the most popular. Do you have any suggestions?

In addition if it's not too much trouble what desk top system at newegg do you like as a good hd editing package?

No need to reply on this one, I think I will contact one the the DV Sponsors and price out a turn key system. I think this is the best way to go for me.
Thanks for all the advice
Joe

[Bruce Foreman]

Originally Posted by Joe Hanna

Thanks Devin for your response, No I do not plan to use pinnicle it will not edit HDV.

Pinnacle Studio 9 won't but 11 will, and upgrades to 11 have fallen in price (Studio 11 plus $29.99 and 11 Ultimate $59.99).

I recommend the plus version as the bonus stuff with the Ultimate may require more system resources than you may have for awhile.

Version 11 has been working with Canon HV20 HDV on an AMD Athlon 64 x 2 dual core 4300+ processor (don't know what that equates to in GHz speed, sorry) without being too slow. You just have to give it background render time and not get in a hurry.

My new Dell with Intel Q6600 quad core 2.4GHz is handling 1440x1080 AVCHD ok, needs 2.66GHz to handle 1920x1080.

For now Pinnacle still offers me more ease of editing and more options without having to transcode to intermediate codecs for HD editing.

Hope this gives you info you can use.

[David Kennett]

I got Studio 11+ at Best Buy for $50 a few weeks ago. It still had $100 on the box, but rang up at $50. Got to read those Sunday Adds!