HD video editing - considerations
by Maukka
on
Jul 15, 2005 at 1:18:59 pm
I saw a demo of the new "sub 2000 USD" Sony HDR-HC1 HD camera. Fabulous! I am seriously considering buying. But I know nothing about HD video editing.
Could anybody tell me what are the minimum requirements for editing HD video on PC? How fast a processor? How much RAM? How much disk space (compared to editing DV) is needed?
Anything else I should take into consideration (again, compared to DV editing with which I am familiar with)
Re: HD video editing - considerations by David Newman on Jul 15, 2005 at 3:33:27 pm
Generally the PC needs to be modern (fast memory & decent clock speed), however there is no rule that applies to all the HDV editing solutions. You will need to check out the minimum system requirements (MSR) for each of the NLE systems out there. Also the performance and quality at the MSR will differ from vendor to vendor. Sorry purchase descisions are not easy.
On the PC the popular NLE are Sony Vegas 6.0 and Adobe Premiere Pro 1.5.1. Both offer HDV support in their stock configurations. These are good starting points. If you desire more quality and more editing performance my company, CineForm, offers HDV acceleration solutions for both.
Re: HD video editing - considerations by Maukka on Jul 15, 2005 at 5:31:07 pm
Thanks!
until now I have used Media Studio Pro; it also has a HDV plugin available. I have a computer with ADM +3000 processor, 512RAM, and several bg outside disks for storage. So for regular DV editing I am fine. I was just wondering if the move to HDV would imply a serious investment also on computer hardware front. But from what you say I understand that this is not the case. My equipment should basically do the job, right?
Re: HD video editing - considerations by RobRoy on Jul 16, 2005 at 5:24:32 am
The data rate for HDV is the same as DV so storage requirements are the same and if you can capture DV OK then you'll be fine for HDV.
The issue with HDV is that it takes a LOT of CPU power to decode the native m2t stream.
Two ways around this, use an intermediate codec such as the Cinform one in either PP or Vegas or use proxies. There's a rather clever tool for Vegas called GearShift (around USD30) that lets you edit almost any res proxy but when you want to say do CC at the click of a button you make the adjustments on the native file then click again to keep working with the proxies.
Preview monitors can be an issue if you want full res preview of HDV as only the 23" LCDs support 1920x1080.
