newbie

[greenx]

Hello, I just got into this video making stuff, I have done tons of super 8 in the long ago past, and been computer literate for about 15 years, so dunno what took me so long, but any how, I have pinnacle on my desktop and magix on my notebook…both the beginner versions…being an impatient knucklehead, I dove right in, and some how luckily got a nice 4 minute music video on my first try…now time to go back and learn some rules. 1. should I be turning off my firewall and virus protection when i edit, and burn ? 2. is there a good book to learn all the tech jargon ? 3. I usually make 3-5 minute videos, but what is the capacity I can do ? hypothetically : brand new computer: 2gb ram, 180 gb hd, windows vista home premium . any advice much appreciated. John

[brandon0409]

When it comes to video editing machines, I’m a MAC guy so I can’t help you there. They are the best for that.
With your Windows machine, from what I have read of other peoples woes, don’t use any flavor of Windows Vista. It is just to unstable. Especially with video editing. You’ll be lucky if you can keep anything open long enough to get anything done.

In regards to the Firewall question.
If you are going to be video editing, THE BEST THING you could do is a have a dedicated computer that you use only for editing. No internet surfing, game playing, etc. Just keep it off the internet… internet bad. X-D Maybe someone else can let you in on the woes of having a multipurpose machine.

PC Specs
You should have AS MUCH RAM as you can fit on your computer. With video editing, the more the better. I have 4GB but will soon be upgrading to 16 (MAC Pro).
Regarding the HD: First, you should have at least 2 drives. One for the operaing system and programs (we’ll call this the boot drive) and one dedicated to just housing the video footage.
Second: You should have at least 500 GB of hard drive space. Never try to edit MPEG video as it is so compressed you will certainly not like what you see in the end. Because of this, you will have to download raw footage to your computer. In Windows it will be .AVI. These video files will be 12GB per 1 hour tape (someone else please correct me if I’m wrong). You may be able to get by with 250GB drive but with the cost of storage falling you may as well stock up.

I would recommend getting a fast drive. Currently the 3Gb/sec 16MB cache is the best (affordable minus super pro drive) thing right now. I just bought a 500GB Seagate for $99 at Bestbuy.

Just my two cents. Hope this helps.

[Anonymous]

^^^Well I can only speak for myself but I have not had any issues with Vista and video editing. Not one crash.
I know that’s not what people want to hear…

[greenx]

thanks, and funny thing is Brandon, I did get this notebook intending it to NEVER take online, and just capture video when i travel, but on my other machine, which has pinnacle installed you CANNOT use pinnacle until you go online with it, and download the keys to unlock it…which bugged the hell outa me. but so far, the magix is working fine on the notebook. I do really simple amature stuff, I travel all the time, and i just make these little 4 minute vids of my trips with music is all. and Yeh, im a mac guy from way back…still have my powerbook 180c, I just don’t have the money latley to get a new mac. maybe after tax season.

[worb]

The only effect you will see having a firewall and virus protection running (or any app running in the background) is when you render the video. And it will just slow the process down and will not kill it. At least that is what I have found.

[Author]

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