I have up to $1000 to spend. I'm looking for any suggestions as to the minimum specs for a rig that will allow me to edit my HD tapes smoothly. I've bought many PCs from Dell, are there other better online stores to spec out a system? Do you think $1000 is enough?

Thanks,

Have you considered building it yourself? What NLE are you using (or will use)?

Yes I have considered building it myself, even though I've never done it. I'm wary of having incompatible parts. Therefore, I thought about using a step by step tutorial like this one http://www.maximumpc.com/article/build_your_own_no_compromises_1_500_pc

Granted, it's $1500, but I bet I could scale back on certain things and be at $1000. What do you think of the MaximumPC list of parts? Overkill for HD editing? As for the editing software, I was planning on Pinnacle Studio. I've had some experience with an older version of PS, and will buy their latest release. I don't know about any other software, so I'm all ears.

Thanks,

It certainly isn't overkill. There's not much you could scale back on and be happy with the results...

Is $1k enough? To edit HD?

Well, you're gonna need at least two drives. There's $250. You're going to need a decent monitor. That's another $300. You're going to want at least 2GB of RAM, so there's $100. So we're at $600 and we haven't bought a motherboard, a case to put it in, or a processor to go on it.

Even if you build this rig yourself, $1k isn't even in the ballpark. Double that and you're getting closer to a system that won't choke when you add a few effects and transitions.

Notice that machine you linked us to has only one hard drive? And no DVD burner? How do you plan to get the finished product off the machine? Print back to tape? Also note, it has no monitor listed either. In fact, it doesn't even seem to have a firewire port so how would you even connect the camera to capture the video?

You just aren't going to get there for $1k or really even $1500.

These (high quality) parts will get you a nice (pretty fast) machine for editing HD (with 2 hard drives):

Video Card & Motherboard (video onboard this MB) - $102.44
http://www.clubit.com/product_detail.cfm?itemno=CA4830739

CPU (2.5ghz AMD quad) - $235.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103249

Memory (4GB) - $69.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820211188

Case - $106.75
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119137

Power Supply (650 watt) - $94.99 (after rebate)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005

Windows XP (home edition) - $89.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116056

Hard Drives (750GB X 2) - $259.98 ($129.99 X 2)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152100

DVD Burner - $35.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135163

Total for above - $995.13 (shipping included in prices)

You also need a monitor, keyboard and mouse.

This is a nice 22" low cost monitor ($240.10 shipped):
http://www.clubit.com/product_detail.cfm?itemno=A4693007

This is a decent low cost keyboard/mouse combo ($17.49 shipped):
http://www.clubit.com/product_detail.cfm?itemno=CA3847086

I'd suggest also getting Cineform NEO HDV (for $219.95 + shipping):
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/499842-REG/Cineform_N2040DL_NEO_HDV_v3_Software.html

Well guys, I apologize. I had a brain freeze and forgot to add that I already have: 3 spare HDs of 500 GB each, a 24" LCD monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers. So I'd like to spend the money on: case, motherboard, CPU, RAM, video card, sound card, power supply unit, Windows XP.

Robert: many thanks for putting together that list. My concern is any probable incompatibility and configuring the whole system. From the article I linked to, it's pretty straightforward, but that's because they've done it WITH those parts. Do you anticipate any problems with your list, since I assume you haven't actually put those exact parts together?

I build lots of computers (used to do it for a living). I haven't used that motherboard yet, but I just got one. I don't expect to have trouble with it. Gigabyte makes good quality motherboards (and feedback at Newegg is real good on that particular board - price is lower at ClubIT though). I have a Phenom running in this machine that I'm on right now (and it works fine). The newer Phenoms do fix a bug that can cause rare problems with the first Phenoms that were released. I suggest using the one I linked to (newer version - they just bumped the price up $8 dollars though). That power supply, memory and DVD burner I suggested is top notch (always use a top notch power supply - will save you grief). The Samsung hard drives have worked fine for me. I avoid Maxtors and try to shy away from Western Digital.

With the parts you already have, you can easily build a nice editing machine, for under $1K.

Norris,

Without the need for a Monitor or hard drives, that $1k is a bit tight, but certainly doable. What NLE are you using? The reason I ask is because some don't use the GPU at all (like Sony Vegas) and money is better spent on a good CPU, while others use the GPU extensively and would benefit from a fast graphics card.

So Take Robert's list, knock off the hard drive, add a better graphics card, and up the Cineform to the 2k edition, and you should be golden. Or if you go store-bought, then try to find something with similar specs.

The onboard graphics on that particular motherboard are decent. That is actually one of the first motherboards made with a built-in GPU that has some kick (very cost effective). That 2.5ghz Phenom quad is not slow either (even though the Q6600 Intels might be a little bit faster, it's not a huge difference really). The reason to go with that combination is that it is extremely cost effective, offering very nice overall performance for editing with just about any NLE.

[QUOTE=Perrone Ford;857063]

What NLE are you using? The reason I ask is because some don't use the GPU at all (like Sony Vegas) and money is better spent on a good CPU, while others use the GPU extensively and would benefit from a fast graphics card.

QUOTE]

I was planning on getting Pinnacle Studio, but now I'll do some reading on Cineform. Is it user friendly? I'm a novice, so the better the user interface, the easier and more involved I want to get with my projects. If the editing software is too complex and has a steep learning curve, it's not for me.

Thank!

I was planning on getting Pinnacle Studio, but now I'll do some reading on Cineform. Is it user friendly? I'm a novice, so the better the user interface, the easier and more involved I want to get with my projects. If the editing software is too complex and has a steep learning curve, it's not for me.

Thank!

Cineform is not an NLE. It's a codec. A very good one. But you can think of it in the terms as WMV or Quicktime. It's just "visually lossless" unlike those two. And it's easy to edit too so it takes some overhead away from your processor.

For me, it's worth it's weight in gold.

What camera are you using Norris?

I have the Canon HV10.

Cineform is not an NLE. It's a codec. A very good one. But you can think of it in the terms as WMV or Quicktime. It's just "visually lossless" unlike those two. And it's easy to edit too so it takes some overhead away from your processor.

For me, it's worth it's weight in gold.

Can you summarize for me what Cineform does? The way I understand video editing is: I will transfer video footage from my camcorder into the PC. The footage on the tape is in HDV format, once on the hard drive, it can be in any format I choose, but some people recommend that I use avi. After editing/rendering I can output back to tape as HDV, or burn on a SD DVD, or leave it on the hard drive. Is that correct? So where does Cineform fit in this work path? What I really want to do eventually, maybe by year's end, is to put the HD edited video on a Blu Ray disc.

Thanks!

Cineform (on PC) is a type of AVI file that is slightly compressed. Native HDV on a hard drive is a poor type of file to edit in for a variety of reasons. So generally people suggest you convert it to a better file type. There are a variety of better file types. Cineform is one of them. It's high quality, easy for the machine to work with (fast) and takes up less space than many other types of files.

Make sense?

The Cineform files are definitely easier for your PC to work with, but they are much bigger than the native HDV files coming from your camcorder -- about 3 to 4 times the size. Generally about 50-60GB per hour.

Even with all that, I'd never cut without it.

Good point Adam. When I said smaller, I meant versus uncompressed AVI or lossless AVI.

You would use Cineform's HDLink to capture your video from the camcorder, and convert the captured video to AVI files encoded using Cineform's codec (conversion automated by HDLink). You would then edit those files. That will speed up editing performance nicely (more than spending a couple hundred dollars extra on the CPU would help), and Cineform's codec is visually lossless, so the video will not degrade visually even if you re-compress several times in post.

Robert, Adam, Perrone: OK I understand the function of Cineform now, to capture video and encode it to avi using Cineform's visually lossless codec, which is more efficient (less stressful) on the CPU. However, if I have a budget to stick to, to save $200, I can use my NLE (whatever that may be, something like Ulead Video Studio Plus 11.5) can still do the capturing, can still do the encoding to avi, albeit with a not so elegant proprietary codec as compared to Cineform, right?

Yep, you got it. Cineform is a luxury. Well for most of us it is!

Robert, Adam, Perrone: OK I understand the function of Cineform now, to capture video and encode it to avi using Cineform's visually lossless codec, which is more efficient (less stressful) on the CPU. However, if I have a budget to stick to, to save $200, I can use my NLE (whatever that may be, something like Ulead Video Studio Plus 11.5) can still do the capturing, can still do the encoding to avi, albeit with a not so elegant proprietary codec as compared to Cineform, right?

You don't need Cineform. You would probably find it very cost effective (when looking at total hardware/software cost/performance of your editing system) and Cineform will give you better overall image quality if you do multiple renders for a single project. Cineform offers a 14 day trial. I'd suggest you try using it, after you've edited a handful of videos, so you've got some idea of what you are doing first (rather than waste the Cineform trial period while you are getting up to speed using your NLE).

When you are finished editing your videos, rather than compress them to HDV and save that back to tape, I suggest you compress the final versions with WMV or H.264 and burn a standard DVD with those video files. You'll get better quality, save head wear on your camera and a blank DVD is a lot cheaper than a MiniDV tape.

I suggest you compress the final versions with WMV or H.264 and burn a standard DVD with those video files.

If I do this, what is the best scenario video quality, assuming the total file size is still under the 4.7 GB capacity of a blank DVD? Is it about 480p?

Thanks,

Norris,

If you are burning a DVD to play in a DVD player, then this will not work. DVD spec is Mpeg2 not WMV or Mpeg4. The new Blu-Ray spec utilizes these newer codecs.

If you are looking to store your videos on DVD media like it's a data disk, then I'd say you could get a rate of about 2GB per hour with very high quality 720p.

Here's the thing though. If you are going to make a playable DVD or Blu-Ray, you are going to have to compress your video into the standard format to do that. You want to do that with as clean an original as possible. That means you REALLY don't want to compress to Mpeg4 or WMV, and then use those files later to make your DVD or Blu-Ray. You want to go back to your AVI to do that.

But that AVI file will be pretty large. There are options to compress it down some, but it's still going to be large. There is where Cineform shines. It shrinks down those large AVI files to something reasonable, without losing the quality. It's terrific for writing out master files.

I've also been looking for an HD editing PC. I've been watching for a deal on www.delloutlet.com. I've had real good luck with them in the past. Mainly watch for "Scratch and Dent" computers - they have the lowest price for the features, but are harder to get (they're snapped up pretty quick.) I've bought several "scratch and dent" workstations from them over the years and have never found either a scratch or a dent!

Idealy, I'd like an XPS 420 with Intel quad-core, 3-4GB ram and at least a 500GB drive. Other nice features would be a Blue-Ray burner and 512MB+ of video RAM.