Six Ways to Soup Up Your Computer for Video Editing (page 2)

3. Buy more RAM

Unless your system has the maximum amount of RAM you can put into it - and if it's a newer system, that's a lot of RAM - consider purchasing more. Video editing can potentially make use of about as much RAM as you can install, and both system performance and system reliability are enhanced when you install more. It's one of the least expensive ways to upgrade your system and see very real results in terms of performance. Today's video editing computers often have 1 GB or more, but 256MB is often sufficient.

4. Perform Regular System Maintenance

System maintenance is a simple way to keep your system running smoothly. Start by defragmenting your dedicated video hard drive between projects. Watch for critical software and driver patches and updates online. You might even consider completely re-installing the operating system once a year or so. In both the Windows and the Mac world, it's a good idea to make use of a drive maintenance utility, such as Tech Tools or Drive 10. These offer simple diagnostic and maintenance utilities that can tell you if a drive has a problem, as well as help you fix problems with performance or reliability.

5. Enable Write Cache on your Capture Drive

Capture drives provide better performance if you enable Write Caching. This can provide a smoother flow of information from the video capture device (FireWire or digitizer card) to the hard drive. In Windows, you can often locate the drive's Device Properties in the Control Panel's Device Manager and enable Write Caching. Unfortunately, this is not universally true or even a possibility on all drives or systems.

6. Disable Unnecessary Programs

Whether you have a Mac or a Windows machine, your computer automatically runs a number of programs when it starts up, and keeps those programs running in the background. As you install more and more software on your computer, there's a likelihood that you'll have more of those little programs running in the background. Each one takes up a little bit of system resources and compromises performance. Virus checkers are a good example. They do provide a much-needed service, but if you can keep your computer off a network and off the Internet, and keep from installing any questionable software, you may not need a virus checker on your video-editing computer. Other programs that run in the background that are often overlooked include instant messaging applications and file sharing software. Bottom line: keep only those programs running that are necessary for keeping your operating system running smoothly and disable all others.

Determine Your Needs

If you primarily edit home videos, you'll probably only want to worry about optimizing system performance on an as-needed basis. In other words, if it isn't broken, you probably don't need to fix it. If, on the other hand, you intend to pursue videography as a business, you'll undoubtedly want to keep your machinery in excellent working order, optimized and maximized in performance in every way that your budget will allow. This will not only save you heartache and frustration, it'll save you time and money and could make the difference between success and failure.

Sidebar One: Making the Most out of Windows XP

It's a great new look and feel for Windows, but is it right for video editors? The answer is "it depends." XP is a major improvement over Windows 98 (or 95), but you are probably OK if you are running 2000. If you keep the following pointers in mind, you'll have much better success at creating a finely-tuned computer for video:

• Upgrade all of your drivers to the XP-compatible version. This includes drivers for your motherboard, peripherals, monitors, video display adapters and video capture cards. Many manufacturers have now released XP-specific drivers, but if you have hardware from a company that hasn't done so, you should consider taking the opportunity to upgrade that piece of hardware.
• Give your video editing software priority. XP allows you to give certain software applications priority for processor and memory usage. Doing this for your video editing programs may speed up rendering time and minimize crashes.
• Turn off visual effects. XP makes use of enhanced animation effects for such mundane operations as opening and closing a window. Turning these off will make more system resources available for video editing and playback.