Typical system requirement for Home Viedeo Editing

[qwert]

I have Sony PC100 digital camcorder and would like to do some video editing. What are the general requirements for a pc to do video editing?

I have been looking at the SONY VAIO RX580. It seems to have every thing I need for video editing except that the maximum size of RAM memory is limited to 512k and a slow hard drive. Do I really need to go beyond 512k for video editing? All new systems today seem to start with 1gig of RAm. What do those RAM used for? Will this 512K RAM significantly limit my option in future expansion? Is there a way for me to expand the RAM memory by some kind of memory expansion card? For ~ $1500 the RX580 system is equiped with P4 1.8g, 512k RAM 80G hard drive, DVD-RW, Firewire, and Sony Flash card reader. I havenot been able to find an equivalent system at that price. I would appreciate hearing any comments on this system or recommendation for another system.

Many thanks

qwert

[johnbmx4christ]

thats a pretty good puter, except i hate sony , but as for requirements.its good except it only has 1 hard drive. its better 2 have 2 hard drives with a raid card for capture.as for the ram thats plenty.most of the time the ram is used for your "real time" editing.like for when you scrub etc. i saw one puter that was close.its an hp intel p4 1.7 gig 512 DDR ram-which is better than sdram-80 gig hd dvd,cdrw, but i think the dvd is just a rom.

[onerose]

johnbmx4christ is right if you want to do it right this is my system

intel 550
512 ram
matrox video card
dv 500+
adaptec 29160 scsi card
9 gig scsi
18 gig scsi
30 gig ide
80 gig ide
7 gig ide o/s only
pioneer A03 dvd burner
cannon gl1 dv cam
and i still dont have enough hard drive space
i prefer scsi but these new ide's seem to work good luck,remember it's a costly habit and you get what you pay for
oh buy the way i built if my self and saved a bunch of $$$$ sony, getway, dell, like to charge for there name

[johnbmx4christ]

thank you one rose for the info..i am gonna build one but am still looking at stuff...i know how to use the puter pretty good but am learning what stuff is still
i have an idea of the basic stuff i want.
asus mother board(not sure which model yet)
pentium 4 with either intel chipset or via
2 ibm 40 gig hd just for capture with raid 0
2 maxtor hd(not sure what size)just for storage
matrox g450 etv or equivalent dual monitor and tv card
i am not rich so the cam is gonna be a sharp vl-wd250 or 255
soundblaster audigy platinum ( i want a digi 001 but its too much)
dvd burner, dvd rom. cd burner and i might reload win 98.
also is gonna be ddr ram
i am so stupid i dont know the difference between scsi and ide
thats it so far.

[onerose]

goodluck johnbx4chist like i said it's a costly hobbie i do wedding videos, that helps with the cost. if you can, you want to capture video to scsi it just works better there are many tutorials on the difference of scsi vs ide scsi is faster and cleaner for video capture, with the money it cost for 2 40gig u can buy a 80gig. raid's are not nessary unless u need more than 2 movies on on your drive, 1 2hr video's about 30 - 45 gigs uncompressed avi i also use rd-ram much faster than sd or ddr if you can deal with a intel mother board but most important for your o/s win 2000 you can not capture a full dv or vhs tape with out it win 98 has a 2gig limit have fun shopping

[johnbmx4christ]

thx for your post..i will look into the ram thing...doesnt win 2000 have a 4 gig limit?

[onerose]

no it's 2 terbityts (more than we need to worry about )

[gez]

onerose, does windows XP have the 2 terabyte limit and if not can it be altered.
gez@athlonxp.fsnet.co.uk

[onerose]

yes win xp pro does !

[qwert]

johnbmx4christ, onerose, and gez

Thanks for the replies. It is very informative. I guest I won't pursuit the SONY RX580. I am very interested in seeing what Johnbmx4christ is puting together and perhaps copy his configuration. I have never put a system together but it does'nt sound so difficulty.

johnbmx4christ - would greatly appreciated hearing from you once you have decide on the system. Information on pricing and source will be very helpful. Have you decided on what type of DVD format you will go with? I hear that HP and Pioneer are not compatible with each other. Do yo know which format (DVD-r, DVD+r, DVD-WR) is more universal?

Many thanks

qwert

[johnbmx4christ]

sorry qwert, i wasnt trying to shoot down that puter...me hating sony is a personal thing and if you want that puter then get it.i am still looking into all the compatibility problems with the stuff i want.i wont start on it for another month or so.the sources will be a combo of internet and frys.and i might look at some pawn shops for the stuff that doesnt matter much.i know for sure without a doubt its gonna be under 1000 american dollars, cause i might wait a little bit longer for the dvd burners to come down a bit more in price.
you guys wont believe the system i use now and i do pretty cool vids..except for the fact that i am using an analog camera right now the quality will go up as soon as i can get a digital one.i have to totally tweak my stuff to get it to look good but no one ever realy knows.
just for the heck of it heres what i have now
compaq presario 7470
amd k-6 533 mhz
1 16 gig hard drive 5400 rpm
a 2x cd burner
a hitachi 16x dvd rom
i capture with a belkin usb composite
it sounds old and slow but it works and i am mostly concerned with stability than speed. my puter is very stable.
i use multiple programs to do vids.i use premier 6 but i also use ulead cool 3d for some titles i also use v dub for some stuff, ulead video studio 4,mgi video wave
i use cool edit for sound effects and general sound tweaking.
tmpg to encode

[gez]

tried windows xp profesional, think you'll find it's a 2 gig limlit for the file size.....................

sorry to bring bad news.

Gez

[onerose]

what file format did you use if it's fat 32 thats why, you need to format your os and capture disk ntfs for 2 terabyts limits i use win 2000 pro with no problems
yo johnboy if it works thats all you need not a bad puter (as you call it)

[cplevel42]

Win xp is just fine for DV. I use it with no problem. The max file size is 2tbite. Get a system with raid enabled mother board (important!) , 2 big HDs, and atleast 512 MB mem. A good capture card would be a pinnacle or an ATI all in wonder. The 8500-DV 64MB is fine.

[johnbmx4christ]

.looking back at my post..its a bit funny..my puter turned out totally different..asus a7v333 with the via kt333 chipset(no onboard raid) thermaltake volcano 5 fan..3 ibm 40 gig hdd..2 running on a promise fastrack pci raid card..1 hd for the o/s. amd xp1800+.ati radeon 8500dv..tdk velocd 40x..hitachi gd7500 dvd rom..the aluminum case has 4 hdd bays .4x 5 1/4 bays and 2 floppy slots...lots of fans and 350 watt power supply..the case was 60 bucks...in total the puter with monitor , keyboard and everything was about 1000 us dollars..thats only cause i got the radeon when it was about 300 bucks.also running xp pro, premier 6.0.