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Building a DV Editing Workstation (Read 4644 times)
-Lucas-
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Building a DV Editing Workstation
Feb 25th, 2004 at 2:15am
 
I am shure this has been asked many of times before, but I could not find another post discussing this topic on this board. I also read the guide at http://radified.com/DV_NLE/dv_nle_1.htm but it seems to have many dead links, and seems somewhat outdated.

So my question is, for those who edit dv, what hardware specifications do y'all recommend for building a DV workstation?

I am looking for a complete list of hardware and recommended brand names from you. This is everything from the monitor, to the mouse, and the RAM to HD.

Also, I'd like your input for the video editing software. I'm looking at Vegas Video 4 + DVD or Adobe Premier.

If you have any comments for the filming side, such as recommended miniDV camcorders (I'm looking at DVX100A) and boom mics or anything else of such, it would be a big help.

Oh, and uh, assume I have a bank roll of $10k for all of this.

I look foward to y'alls comments.

-Lucas-
 
 
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Re: Building a DV Editing Workstation
Reply #1 - Feb 25th, 2004 at 3:36am
 
is that 'george' (star wars) lucas?

yeah, that guide is outdated. i thot i mentioned that on the first page.

the problem is that things change quickly in the field of video-editing, which makes it difficult to keep a guide current for more tha a few months.

for a system, friends have been starting with something like this:

http://radified.com/Articles/rad_rig_2003.htm

.. and customizing it to fit their needs & budget.

personally, i edit vdo with avid xpress dv:

http://www.avid.com/products/xpressdv/

which is nice, altho there is now a 'pro' version out:

http://www.avid.com/products/xpresspro/

heard that is still buggy, tho.

also heard that canopus makes some nice real-time cards:

http://www.canopus.us/US/products/Index/product_index.asp

i have used real-time cards from matrox and liked them:

http://www.matrox.com/video/products/rtx100xtremepro/home.cfm

vegas is a nice package to start with. can't go wrong there.

the number and power of products now available have changed much since I posted that guide, but the underlying principles remain the same:

use a dedicated boot for your editing system:

http://partition.radified.com/

install nothing there but what you need to edit video.

lots of hard drives with lots of space. you can never have too much.

scsi for boot. http://scsi.radified.com/

expect some pain in setting it up, but once you're editing, in the creative flowm there's nothing like it.

i prefer the canon gl2 for its film-like look:

http://www.canondv.com/gl2/

but that is merely personal preference.

it all depends what you're using it for.

Re: "Oh, and uh, assume I have a bank roll of $10k for all of this." u suk  Smiley

if you are just beginning, i would begin, like you said, with vegas, because it's probably the most painless .. then move up to a real-time card when you get proficient, and then to avid, which is what the pro's use. Or, if you're a madman, you can start with avid.

the idea is that you first decide what editing platform you want, and then build your system around it.

this might make for interesting reading:

http://radified.com/Articles/stability.htm
 
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-Lucas-
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Re: Building a DV Editing Workstation
Reply #2 - Feb 25th, 2004 at 11:55pm
 
RAD:

I appreciate your quick response. First I would like to ask about your comment about the Canon GL2. How does this produce a "film look"? I thought this camcorder only films in 29.97fps (NTSC). I am looking at the Panasonic AG-DVX100A which has a 24p feature.

Secondly, there is no way I would get an Avid. I plan on making short films as a hobby mainly. I may put them on DVD and sell them for $10 bucks (+s.h. of course;) online or soemthing. I grew up with an artistic "talent" and know I could make a nice looking nonpro (dare I say ametuer) film.

Therefore, I see right now the best camcorder I could get at a reasonable price would be a 3CCD miniDV cam, and an off the shelf editing program like Premiere. I have a SONY VIAO right now and it came wit Premier LE, so I am getting use to it, but I have read many reviews where people are switching right and left from Premier to Vegas, and not the other way around. I reckon I'd just need to download them demo to have a look-see.

I've only had two PC's since 1998, and have never built one myself. I had a bad experience once trying to install a CD burner at my folks house, then when the PC turned on, "Beeeeeeep.....beeeeeeep.......beeeeeeep", so i'm gitty when it comes to thinking of putting one together, but hey, there's a first time for everything.

I also looked at the page with the "Black Beast" how-to list. Although black is my color, that list seems pretty cheap. $250 for an NEC 19" monitor? Why that instead of a LCD?

NewEgg looks kinda low on their prices, and that black keyboard with aqua illumination looks pretty spiff. I'll definately take a look at all of it. It may be a while still yet before I get a PC put together.

Any other suggestions you have, on PC building, DV editing, or filming in general would be of help.

-Lucas-
 
 
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Re: Building a DV Editing Workstation
Reply #3 - Mar 5th, 2004 at 3:36pm
 
most dv camcorders capture 60 half-frames per second, for a total of ~30fps. but the canon can capture 30 FULL frames per sec, which they call Frame Movie Mode (cinema-like):

http://www.canondv.com/gl2/f_shooting_aspect.html

which is closer to what film captures: 24 full frames per sec.

wendy used it at film school at usc:

http://usc.radified.com/

and the other students commented how good it looked. they were using the school's sony trv-900. a similar dv camcorder.

if you get handy with avid, you could earn some decent coin.

if you get serious, you will quickly be looking for a real-time card, so you don't have to wait for rendering.

premiere is a good p[lace to start. i think most ppl begin editing w/ premiere. i think it was the first vdo editing prgm.

sonic foundry was nice enuf to send me a free copy of vegas & some of their other editing software. so i like to put in a good word for them when i can. altho now i think sony bought them out.

yeah, vegas is an upgrade to (better than) premiere. and vegas has an awesome audio-editing component.

crt's are still better for games, if you like to do that when you're done editing vdo. plus they're less expensive.

14 year old kids are building their own pc's these days. yes, you'll have some problems to work thru, but nothing you can't handle, and you'll learn a lot in the process, and get that pride-of-ownership that comes from working on a pc u built yourself.

my site supports real streaming, so i could post your movies when you're done. such as:

http://lagunacinema.com/DV/films.htm
 
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