Editing with Pixela 3.0SE at DVinfo.net

Tom O'Farrell · April 7th, 2008, 01:55 AM

Hello All; I am a newbie here.
I am leaning towards a HF10 but wonder about editing AVCHD.
Has anybody with a HF10 or HF100 gained enough experience to comment on the capabilities of Pixela 3.0SE that comes bundled with the camera?
I expect it can do simple editing but what options do we have for saving or exporting.
For the web, say at 320x240, and for making DVD's other than blu-ray.

Tom O'Farrell.

Chris Hurd · April 7th, 2008, 08:18 AM

I have Pixela and have been using it a little bit. Haven't had a chance to thoroughly explore it yet. It seems to work, but even on a 3GHz PC with 1GB RAM it's still a bit ponderous. You need the fastest, most powerful personal computer you can afford in order to work effectively with AVCHD.

Tom O'Farrell · April 7th, 2008, 01:34 PM

Yes Chris I realise I need to build a new computer for AVCHD. Presently I'm using MiniDV (DV25) and editing with both Adobe Premiere and Moviemaker (for it's savings options which are many under the XP sp2 version).
If I go the AVCHD route I'm planning to build a computer with a Q6600 quad core CPU on an Asus mobo, probably the PK5E-wifi series, with a NVidia 8800 Video card and 3 7200RPM drives of 750GB each on raid0, also with 4GB of ddr2 memory.
Perhaps I am asking this question a bit early as the HF-10 is only just on the market.
But my present cameras are at the end of their life and I need to buy something soon.

Bruce Foreman · April 11th, 2008, 12:10 AM

I have an HF100 on order from Dell, my son works for them and had talked me into checking out their "refurbs" on their outlet pages.

I wound up with an XPS420 with quad core 6600 processor, 4GB RAM and an ATI card with 256MB on it. Pinnacle says quad core is the minimum for editing the full HD AVCHD. I'll be finding out how it goes when the camera comes in.

Florin Andrei · April 11th, 2008, 02:24 AM

I just got my HF100.
My PC is not quite the latest, but it works OK with Pixela.

Anyway, I don't like this software. Maybe my workflow is very file- and scene-oriented (one scene is one file is one chapter on the DVD/BD). Maybe I just need to figure out how to use Pixela in a file-oriented fashion. But I'm under the impression that I will have a hard time using this application. It seems like it assumes a certain fixed workflow and does not let you stray from it.
And by the way, where's the frame-by-frame forward/rewind? I can't believe an editor doesn't put that feature on a couple big buttons. Maybe it doesn't have that feature at all - which would be awful.

In any case, after you install it, dig through the menus - there's a place where it verifies for updates. There's an update released on March 25, it fixes a bug related to files >2GB (no, not THE bug discussed on this forum, just related).

Tom O'Farrell · April 11th, 2008, 10:58 AM

I read that some NLE's benefit from multi-core CPU's (Premiere) and some (Vegas) do not, they rely on RAM instead.
Interesting that Pinnacle recommend quad core for AVCHD.
I don't know about Pixela 3.0SE that comes bundled with the Canon.
I have read heavy criticism of Pixela as being a lightweight NLE.

April 7th, 2008, 01:55 AM	#1
Tom O'Farrell Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Sarnia. Ontario. Canada. Posts: 25	Editing with Pixela 3.0SE Hello All; I am a newbie here. I am leaning towards a HF10 but wonder about editing AVCHD. Has anybody with a HF10 or HF100 gained enough experience to comment on the capabilities of Pixela 3.0SE that comes bundled with the camera? I expect it can do simple editing but what options do we have for saving or exporting. For the web, say at 320x240, and for making DVD's other than blu-ray. Tom O'Farrell.

April 7th, 2008, 08:18 AM	#2
Chris Hurd Obstreperous Rex Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: San Marcos, TX Posts: 27,366 Images: 513	I have Pixela and have been using it a little bit. Haven't had a chance to thoroughly explore it yet. It seems to work, but even on a 3GHz PC with 1GB RAM it's still a bit ponderous. You need the fastest, most powerful personal computer you can afford in order to work effectively with AVCHD. __________________ CH Search DV Info Net \| 20 years of DVi \| ...Tuesday is Soylent Green Day!

April 7th, 2008, 01:34 PM	#3
Tom O'Farrell Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Sarnia. Ontario. Canada. Posts: 25	Yes Chris I realise I need to build a new computer for AVCHD. Presently I'm using MiniDV (DV25) and editing with both Adobe Premiere and Moviemaker (for it's savings options which are many under the XP sp2 version). If I go the AVCHD route I'm planning to build a computer with a Q6600 quad core CPU on an Asus mobo, probably the PK5E-wifi series, with a NVidia 8800 Video card and 3 7200RPM drives of 750GB each on raid0, also with 4GB of ddr2 memory. Perhaps I am asking this question a bit early as the HF-10 is only just on the market. But my present cameras are at the end of their life and I need to buy something soon. __________________ Tom O'Farrell.

April 11th, 2008, 02:24 AM	#5
Florin Andrei New Boot Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Palo Alto, CA Posts: 9	I just got my HF100. My PC is not quite the latest, but it works OK with Pixela. Anyway, I don't like this software. Maybe my workflow is very file- and scene-oriented (one scene is one file is one chapter on the DVD/BD). Maybe I just need to figure out how to use Pixela in a file-oriented fashion. But I'm under the impression that I will have a hard time using this application. It seems like it assumes a certain fixed workflow and does not let you stray from it. And by the way, where's the frame-by-frame forward/rewind? I can't believe an editor doesn't put that feature on a couple big buttons. Maybe it doesn't have that feature at all - which would be awful. In any case, after you install it, dig through the menus - there's a place where it verifies for updates. There's an update released on March 25, it fixes a bug related to files >2GB (no, not THE bug discussed on this forum, just related). __________________ Florin Andrei http://florin.myip.org/

April 11th, 2008, 10:58 AM	#6
Tom O'Farrell Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Sarnia. Ontario. Canada. Posts: 25	I read that some NLE's benefit from multi-core CPU's (Premiere) and some (Vegas) do not, they rely on RAM instead. Interesting that Pinnacle recommend quad core for AVCHD. I don't know about Pixela 3.0SE that comes bundled with the Canon. I have read heavy criticism of Pixela as being a lightweight NLE. __________________ Tom O'Farrell.

April 11th, 2008, 12:10 AM	#4
Bruce Foreman Trustee Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: San Angelo Texas Posts: 1,518	I have an HF100 on order from Dell, my son works for them and had talked me into checking out their "refurbs" on their outlet pages. I wound up with an XPS420 with quad core 6600 processor, 4GB RAM and an ATI card with 256MB on it. Pinnacle says quad core is the minimum for editing the full HD AVCHD. I'll be finding out how it goes when the camera comes in.