I posted in another part of the forums that I discovered my lappy is just not going to cut it when ti comes to editing however, in doing some research, it looks like a lot of the better systems for video editing are going to cost me the arm and the leg I cannot afford to lose.

So, I am wondering what the video editing set-up is for most of the wedding videographers here. That is what I am going to be doing as well as short, indy flicks. I will be using Sony Vegas 10, I believe. Basically, I just want something that can create some of the quality videos I have seen over on Vimo. I need editing to be smooth in previews and not choppy and should be at least able to run 2 or 3 programs at the same time without much hassel. HD monitor, I imagine, is a necessity too.

Anywho, just trying to get some ideas based around what you folks are having success with. Thanks.

RJ

I'm kinda new to this but I have been using my Sony laptop with Sony Vegas pro 9 and haven't had any problems. I am able to capture HD footage and do multicam editing and haven't had any problems! I now u can spend a lot of money on editing stuff but this is what I use and u can do a desant job

Just bought a Dell XPS 17 laptop for HD editing....it comes with an i7 processor, 3 GB Nvidia Video card, 1 TB Hard drive 7200 rpm, 8 GB Ram DDR3 for only $1400.00..i think its a great buy considering i got it for almost $600 off..with no interest for 1 year :)

Cheers,

Kren
Vertical Video Works* Winnipeg Videography (http://www.verticalvideoworks.ca)

Robert

Editing with sony vegas pro 9 + 10 also premeire elements 8 + 9. the latter when running smooth is superb and not to be laughed at... takes all the mov files with a good spec computer. creates great menus without added software. I have i7 processor, 2 tb hard drive and 1tb external for dvd clients storage. 6 gig ram but need more. good quality motherboard and cooling system. nividia graphics.. HD monitor x 2 connected to each other. steve

Yeah, from what I have read i7 Intel is the way to go. I'm a bit worried about DELL, though. I have heard mixed reviews. I am heading out to a local computer shop now to take a look and get some advice.

Keep 'em coming, folks. The input here is much appreciated and, besides, give us all a chance to show off our editing systems. :P

Is i7 better than Xeon multi processors?

A custom PC desktop with Intel Q6600 quad-core, 4gb Ram, and a mid-level Nvidia Quatro graphics card from back in the day (probably worth next to nothing today). Sony Vegas Pro 10, PluralEyes, Magic Bullet Looks 1.4.

It does stutter sometimes, but not enough to go fork out $1k+ for a Core i7 system yet.

Are you shooting HDV or AVCHD/h.264? A lot will depend on that.

My Laptop, a 2ghz Core 2 Duo with 4bg RAM and 516mb graphics card can handle HDV fine in Vegas (not in Premiere CS3 though), even for full length wedding edits. However render times are huge - sometimes upwards of 24 hours which is why I got my desktop.

My desktop, a 2.8ghz Core i7 with 8gb RAM and 1GB Nvidea graphics card, handles HDV great, even with Premiere, AE and Photoshop all running simultaneously, and exports weddings at 3-4x realtime. It struggles with AVCHD though, so I still transcode all AVCHD footage to something else for editing.

You're lucky that you're using Vegas. as it has less demanding system requirements and for HDV you can probably get away with a good laptop. AVCHD or DSLR's however, will require you to get a powerful desktop and probably upgrade your software to CS5 if you want to edit natively.

So, I've visited two computer shops in the area. I guess I have upped my budget by $500 because finding anything managable for under $1000 seems impossible. Anyway, these are two different systems. Obviously, I am leaning towards the one that is $1500ish as opposed to closer to 2 grand. Of course, I don't know what any of this stuff means. :p

* * *

*Intel Core i7 Quad-Core Socket LGA1366, 3.06 GHZ, 4.8GT/s FSB, 8MB L3 Cache, 45nm
*Antec Three Hundred Gaming Case ATX 3.0/(6) 2xUSB Audio No PS
*LG GH24NS50 Black Sata DVD-Writer 24xDVD+R/-R
*Western Digital Caviar Black (WD1002FAEX) 1TB SATA3 7200RPM 64MB Cache (OEM)
*Gigabyte GA-X581-UF5 Socket 1366 Intel X58 Chipset Dual Channel DDR3 2200/1333/1066/800MHYz 4x PCI Express x16 Slots GigaLAN 8-Ch HD Audio 2xSata 3Gb/s+6x SATA 3Gb/s 2x USB 3.0+10x USB 2.0 ATX
*Windows 7 Home
*Samsung E2320X 23" Widescreen LCD Monitor, VGA, DVI-D 1920X1080, 5ms
*Corsair Enthusiast Series TX750 V2 High Performance 750w power supply
*G.Skill Ripjaws Series DDR3 1600MHz (PC3-12800) 12 GB (3x4GB) Triple Channel Kit (F3-12800CL9T-12GBRL)
*EVGA GeForce GTX 460 SE 1024MB GDDR5 (01G-P3-1367-TR) nVidia GeForce GTX 460 SE Chipset (720Mhz) 1GB (3600Mhz) DDR5 Dual Display DVI-I/Mini-HDMI PCI Express 2.0 Graphics Card
TOTAL COST: $1,541.27

OR

*Intel Core i7 950 3.06GHz 8MB LGA1366
*Asus SKT.1366 Intel X58 DDR3 ATX
*Kingston DDR3 PC3-12800 6GB Triple Channel Kit
*Asus GrForce GTX 460 DirectCU 1Gb GDDR5 256-bit PCI-E
*WD Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
*LG 10x Blu-Ray Burner / DVD-RW Sata w/Lightscribe Black
*Corsair HX Series 750w Power Supply
*Microsoft Windows 7 Home Prem 64 bit
*Antec VSK-2000 Mid-Tower
*LG E2340T-PN Black 23" LED 1920x1080 5Ms
TOTAL COST: $1,749.05

I would put the version of the operating system that your editing software specifies. Not all of them will work under Windows "Home" versions, premium, ultimate or otherwise. For example, Avid Media Composer. It has to do with the "Permissions" in Windows. Don't ask me to explain it, it's too complicated for me. Just save yourself some grief. Start with the requirements of your editing software.

Hope this helps.

By the way, from experience, the latest and greatest ain't always so great! I've learned to stick with what's been around for a while. Let someone else swat the bugs.

About three months ago purchased my new computer system and simultaneously upgraded from Vegas Pro 8 32 bit to Vegas Pro 10 64 bit.

Dell XPS 7100
12 gigs RAM
AMD Phenom II 1090t six core processor
Radeon 5870 HD 1 gig graphics card
2 TB 7200 rpm hard drive
Iomega Professional 7200 rpm 2 tb external eSATA hard drive
Blu-ray burner
DVD/CD burner
24" Dell monitor
M-Audio BX5a audio monitors

I went with a costume system set up is as follows

i7 950
Asus Sabertooth x58 board
12gb gskill 1600 cas 7
gtx 470
120 gb ssd
three 1tb drives one eternal 1.5 tb drive and one external 1.5 tb drive in fat 32 format so i can go back an forth with pc and mac
blu-ray burner
two 23" acer monitors

windows 7 pro 64 bit
and adobe master

At home:

Mac Pro
2 - 2.4 GHz Quad Core Xeons
6GB Ram
4 TB internal storage
3 TB Raid 5 External Storage
ATI Radeon HD 5770
Superdrive
LG Blu-ray Burner

Laptop:

Mac Book Pro
2GHz Quad Core i7
8 GB Ram
500GB 7200 RPM Drive
15" Hi Res Monitor
Superdrive
and Thunderbolt!

Both equipped with Final Cut Pro and Adobe CS5.

Laptop:

MacBook Pro 17" running Snow Leopard (March 2009)
2.93GHz Core 2 Duo
8GB Ram
320GB 7200rpm HDD
ATAPI Superdrive HL-DT-ST DVDRW GS21N (replacement under warranty within 12 months)
USB 2.0 Panasonic BD-RW BDR-TD02
USB 320GB HDD

Proposed Desktop:

iMac 27" would be nice

We use the MacBook Pro i7 and Final Cut. Awesome!