Thinking of doing Video for Ext 2, what stuff do I need? (1 Viewer)

[Aslightissue]

Hi,

I'm thinking of doing a film for ext2 next year. I have Vegas 5, and I can get access to a camera with tripod, etc, but what's bugging me is the computer to edit it on.

I have a Pentium 4 2.66GB with HT, Radeon x1600(256mb), 512mb DDR400 RAM and an 80GB HDD. Now, I figure I'd need more RAM to do video editing, but how much more? Probably need an external harddrive, too.

But I have to leave this computer at home when I go to university, so I'm thinking, maybe I should just buy a notebook computer now and an external harddrive, then do my video editing on that and I'll have it when I go to uni. Can anyone give me some pointers? What kind of specs do I need for video editing. I'm guessing onboard video doesn't do the job properly?

Thanks

 

[BradCube]

Hi,

The specs of your system are really dependant on what type of editing you want to do. If it involves special effects, and multiple programs open, you may definatley need an upgrade. 512Mb will be barable if your only using Vegas for editing. (ie not multiple applications open) although 1gb would certainley keep things running a fair amount smoother. I have 2Gb's of RAM in this system and still found myself with memory issues. I'm not your typical case scenario however, so I doubt you will be running into the same problems I did.

Storage will definatley be a concern for you however. You mentioned that you had an 80gb drive so I would definately reccommend adding an extra internal or external drive. MiniDV footage will run you at about 13GB/hr which adds up very quickly. That doesn't include any test renders or actual working for editing mind you so your requirements will be up from that again. Again, I'm not your typical case, but I had 400gb of space last year and still found myself coming in tight toward the end.

I would not recommend buying a laptop for editing purposes. It can be done, but your costs will escalate pretty quickly to buy something sufficient. If your only just getting into video editing, it may not be worth the extra cost. I would upgrade your desktop system for this year, and then work out what to do next year depending on your needs. Its also going to depend a lot on your budget I suppose.

Hope that helps in some regard. Let me know if you need anything more.

Brad

 

[cblok]

Your computer equipment sounds pretty reasonable. Quite a few of my EXE2 students last year did their films on computers with less grunt.

Things you might want to consider upgrading is your RAM, grab another 512MB and that should be sweet and as the previous poster stated, hard drive is another issue.

I gather you don't have 80GB free? Windows and other assorted stuff is probably taking up a big chunk of that so you might want to consider grabbing more hard drive. I picked up a 320GB beast for $140 recently so its not too much of a commitment.

What I've found with video editing is that video cards seem to be very oriented towards gaming so most video editing software doesn't really take advantage of the video card hardware. The biggest difference you'll find is an upgrade to the CPU, but yours should be fine. Extra RAM will make a small difference and allow you to do a bit more multitasking.

Way back in the day when I made my video I was using a Pentium 3 733Mhz with 512mb ram and 20GB of hard drive. Yes it was a struggle, but it got done and was possible, though with cheap hardware at the moment and thirsty software I wouldn't recommend it.

Just a quick tip in regards to video cameras: try to stear clear of those DVD camcorders. The quality isn't great and they are an absolute pain to edit with. I imagine that the hard drive camcorders are equally painful.

Good luck with your project! I run workshops covering all the aspects of making a film for Extension 2 English from early scripting and storyboarding, right through to filming and editing. I can also bring together an experienced crew with professional cameras, sound and lighting to take care of the technical side in order to realise your idea as clearly as possible. This gives you the opportunity to fully take on the role of director without being distracted by the fiddly technical stuff. Its still early days but let me know whether you would like some tutoring or workshopping for this subject as its best to start early. I'm very experienced and last year alone was tutoring 10 Extension 2 English Video students.

Regards,

Chris

writers_blok_productions@hotmail.com (spaces are under-scores)