Editing: Desktop Editing FAQ (page 2)

A. This is the granddaddy of all of the commonly-asked desktop video questions. If you follow Internet and newsgroup discussions you'll find that this question pops up far more than any other. The problem is that it's impossible to answer, for lots of reasons. Here are two big ones.

First, it's difficult to answer because desktop video production isn't one thing, it's a term that covers a vast range of tasks and processes. Different practitioners need different capabilities. And the system solution that's perfect for one user might easily be too much or too little for another. Even if you discover that your needs are very similar to others and you're tempted to shortcut the process by just following their advice, you'll quickly run into the second problem: State-of-the-art in the video arena is an unbelievably fast moving target. Generally speaking, get the fastest CPU and the largest hard drive(s) you can afford.

Twenty years ago, I had a friend who owned a high-end stereo shop. We used to talk about gear having a five to ten year product life span. Today, for most consumer electronics, especially video (think: DVD), the product life span might only be months.

For camcorders and computer-based editing gear, regardless of the brand or model you buy, this year's state-of-the-art is likely to become next year's closeout bargain.

We said it once and we'll say it again: Generally speaking, you should get the fastest CPU and the largest hard drive(s) you can afford. But even if your editing system is a couple of years (and a couple of technology revs) behind the current gear, it's probably still capable of turning out great video. And that's the point of the whole exercise, isn't it? If you're preparing to purchase your first editing system, don't fret too much about the fact that something newer will be appearing soon. Revel in the fact that nearly all desktop video equipment sold today is vastly more advanced than anything past generations of video editors could hope to acquire and use.

One sure truth is that the key factor in making great video isn't the equipment you use. The equipment doesn't make your video you do. So what you're doing right now (reading a copy of Videomaker , learning about the video editing process itself) is vastly more critical to your success than the specific equipment you use.

The very best advice you can get about editing equipment is to buy the best system you can afford, as quickly as you can, and get started on the real secret to becoming a successful videographer: experience.

• Digg This!
• del.icio.us
• Technorati
• StumbleUpon
• Reddit