Editing station --- where to start?
 

I need to build a new editing station.

I haven't followed technical advancements over last couple years, so I have no idea where to start...

(P.S. I've read the previous threads on this topic and they are really good.)

What I need (It's OK to laugh)
1. Cheapest possible.
2. Able to edit HD
3. Reliable.

Specific questions:
1. Best editing package? Premiere Pro 1.5, FCP, or Avid?
2. What DVD writing software, hardware?
3. Do I need separate sound editing software or is what's already in the editing packages good enough?
4. Best hardware components.

And last of all...
Should I switch to Apple? Seems like very doc filmmaker I know is using FCP. I just want to get my editing done quickly, reliably and cheaply.

The last version of Premiere that I used was 6.0.

Thanks in advance,
Tony Levelle

You stated cheapest possible. For your purposes and where your at right now I say Get an apple G4 with FCP. It already has the HD capability and if you have problems you stated other people use it so they can help you out.

I have been thinking very seriously about G4 option. The upgrade from Premiere to Pro is 199, without any additional hardware. Maybe a used G4 makes sense.

Particularly since all i'll use it for is editing.

Thanks
tony

Try find a used G4 with Dual processors- It can run both OS X and OS 9. The New G5's only work with OS X. Look into Ebay to see if you can find a deal there. Or possibly the Recycler in your area.

Besides you don't need to purchase a audio card since everything will be done via firewire. If you want to take advantage of higher sound capabilities then I would get a M-audio 1010 with breakout box and put in the PCI card into your computer. Also Apple just bought out Logic for sound sequencing so now Logic doesn't support PC's anymore and it is strictly APPLE.

You could get Vegas + DVD on a PC. Vegas is my favorite NLE and really powerful if you know how to use it. Some people find it easy to use (try the demo, and check out the shortcut keys sticky at the top of the vegas forum here). It's also pretty stable and has virtually no configuration problems.

Pros to Vegas/PC
audio tools- the best of any NLE. Vegas started out as a multitrack audio editing app.

really powerful tools all in one NLE. It has great compositing and color correction tools.

comes with DVD encoder and authoring software in the Vegas+DVD bundle.

good price/performance. With a 3ghz+ Pentium processor, you can't get anything faster at its price point (except for Edition).

Cheap.

Stable. It is fairly stable on its first release, unpatched. Final Cut and Premiere are bad in that regard. Avid gets broken by certain Windows updates.

No configuration issues.

Downsides to Vegas
More expensive systems are arguably better.

Macs are (in my opinion) easier to use.

With a Mac, you don't have to worry about viruses or spyware or adware.

Doesn't edit HD??? (vegas does edit HD, although you likely can't afford HD. You are probably talking about HDV???)

2- Where to get a PC:
You could go with Newegg and buy parts and throw together the computer yourself. Or you can go with a vendor like Monarch Computers, which'll charge you $50/75 to build the machine and street prices for the parts.

If you can build your own, you can also put together a cheaper system if you take advantage of a Dell hot deal. Check sites like gotapex.com for a Dell 4600 with a Pentium (NOT Celeron) processor, hopefully 3.0ghz+. Buy the very base model since the upgrades are very overpriced, and throw your own parts in.

I priced a mac with the same config it was double the price of this.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...6494&CatId=120

What exactly do you want to be able to edit? If you're interested in working with HDV material, the PC platform is currently leaps and bounds ahead of Macs for this purpose, although this should equalize somewhat later this year. For "real" HD editing, your best choices are probably Adobe Premiere Pro for PCs or Final Cut Pro HD for Macs. You might also want to take a look at Pinnacle Liquid Edition 6 and Canopus Edius Pro 3, each of which offer some interesting feature sets.

Do you have a realistic budget in mind? You'll easily get more for your money on the PC platform, but the Apple G5 iMacs are a decent deal for basic editing and DVD production.

> What exactly do you want to be able to edit?

DV. I'm working on a documentary.

> Do you have a realistic budget in mind?

No. Production ate up most of my budget. (good question)

> The Apple G5 iMacs are a decent deal for basic editing and DVD production.

I agree.

After thinking it through, and looking realistically at my budget I think I'm going to go with Premiere Pro. I can upgrade from 6.5 cheaply, and use my existing PC's until I can afford to build a new machine. When I have an actual HDV project (maybe with Sony's new camera) I will worry about HDV. Until then, I'm going to focus on finishing what I have on my plate right now.

Thanks to everyone for the help, and for the good advice. It is appreciated.