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Pc for video editing

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  • 02-11-2007 11:34pm
    #1
    jayo2004
    Registered Users Posts: 359 ✭✭


    I have been asked to build a pc for doing video editing and was wondering could someone recommend some specs. The guy said he had a Matrox card in his old pc but that aint working anymore and would like another Matrox card in the new PC ( I have looked up the price of these and they are very expensive). He said he was using Adobe Premiere 6 and still wants to use it as he knows it best. He does weddings etc.. and records from video tapes to dvd etc... I dont know much about video editing so if someone can recommend some specs it would be a great help.


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    #2
    Shiny
    Registered Users Posts: 2,259 ✭✭✭Shiny


    Well, lots and lots of hardrive space for one.
    A budget would help.

    I see absolutly no point in getting a Matrox card.
    As you said they are expensive and are nowhere near
    the performance levels of ATI, Nvidia.

    If i was video editing again I would get :

    Intel Quad processor
    4 gigs of ram
    Vista 64bit
    2x74gig Raptor hardrives in Raid 0 (for editing + OS + apps)
    3x1TB hardrives in Raid 5(or 3x500GB in Raid 5 cheaper) for safe video storage
    A large case with massive cooling.
    The new 8800gt (Maybe a VIVO version "Video in/Video out")
    You might need a seperate VIVO card but he most likely has one of
    these on the old pc that you might be able to use.
    Make sure the motherboard has a firewire 800 port for transferring video.
    Sata based (and fast ) optical drive for his DVDs.

    Options for extra large budget:

    Increase number of drives in (Raid 0) to 3 /4
    That would be (4x74gig raptors in Raid0)
    or
    Get 2 "gigabyte iRams" and Raid0 them.
    They are basically a device that hold RAM
    that normally goes in your computer except
    they show up as a normal hardrive. They have
    a little battery in case there is a power outage
    as they memory is volatile and only stores info
    while it has power.
    So he could edit the video on the iRam and then
    move the finished product over to the Raid5 drives.
    So 2 of these in Raid 0 would give you a storage
    size of 8 gigs which should be enough for a chapter
    of a DVD of RAW video data.

    Increasing the amount of memory would never do any
    harm with video editing but if you do not have a 64bit
    version of vista(or XP64) then the computer will only
    "see" 3.2 gigs of the ram. The rest is wasted.

    Basically the bottleneck of your system is going to be the
    hardrives and you must use Raid as a means of reducing
    this.

    Any questions fire away. Everyone loves to talk about this stuff.:)


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    #3
    edanto
    Registered Users Posts: 2,809 ✭✭✭edanto


    Try and get him to allow something in the budget for a backup system that might involve two of these - http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=341190 - and some sync software.

    Will his budget stretch to what Shiny suggested above?


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    #4
    K.O.Kiki
    Registered Users Posts: 18,707 ✭✭✭✭K.O.Kiki


    Why the fvck would you recommend an 8800GT when it is a gaming card?

    VIVO cards can be had cheaper than that. And silent, too.

    Oh, and the easy option: Octo-core Mac Pro :p with external backup drives.


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    #5
    Shiny
    Registered Users Posts: 2,259 ✭✭✭Shiny


    K.O.Kiki wrote: »
    Oh, and the easy option: Octo-core Mac Pro :p with external backup drives.

    I have seen one of those in action.

    Dual 30" screens.
    Fibre Optic NAS with 2TB of storage in Raid.
    8 gigs or ram

    That was a year ago and it cost like 100k.
    It was built as a video editing setup for the
    film industry. :)

    I only recommended the 8800GT as it is best value
    for money at the moment. :p


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    #6
    jayo2004
    Registered Users Posts: 359 ✭✭jayo2004


    Would the 8800GT be better than Matrox? He said he likes the transitions he can use with the Matrox but I would imagine that its Adobe premiere thats providing the transitions?? I have an idea of the spec he needs now but I am not sure about which capture card to get. Is the 8800GT the cheapest option or the best option as I want to get the card first and build pc around that.


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    #7
    irlrobins
    Registered Users Posts: 7,541 ✭✭✭irlrobins


    Matrox cards are aimed at professional applications such as CAD, video editing i.e 2D apps. I'd be wary of anyone saying that an Ati or Nvidia card would be better as they are aimed at the gaming market (3D).

    Matrox cards are more expensive but they are highly reliable with good driver releases. The end user doesn't need all the bells and whistles that Ati and Nvidia cards would have.


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    #8
    jayo2004
    Registered Users Posts: 359 ✭✭jayo2004


    Hi,
    I have a bit more of an understanding what he is looking for now as i was down with him setting up a pc until I have this one ready for him. He has a Jvc dr-dx5sek (Minidv+dvd recorder) so I set him up to use dv pass thru so he can capture vhs etc... thru the Jvc and Firewire. Worked quite well.


    Everything is working fine using the dv pass thru but I would like to have some sort of backup for him if the JVC every broke.

    So he will be using the JVC via the firewire to capture when ever he is using his camera for weddings etc.. and all he needs then is something to capture vhs, old camcorders etc.. thru s-video and composite. I was looking at something like this http://www.adstech.com/de/products/API-555/productintro.asp.


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