http://maingear.com/boutique/pc/configureP...p?idproduct=554
...any other suggestions or thoughts? I'm pretty much at an impasse here.
Thanks.
Full Version: Non-mac Video Editing Laptop
I'm looking to pick up a new laptop for video editing. The input for the video would come from a Canon Vixia HG20, so it'd be HD video. I can't use a Mac because there are other non-Mac programs that I need to be able to run on the same system. I have little to no idea what, exactly, I will need system-wise, but this is one of the better options I've located:
http://maingear.com/boutique/pc/configureP...p?idproduct=554
...any other suggestions or thoughts? I'm pretty much at an impasse here.
Thanks.
http://maingear.com/boutique/pc/configureP...p?idproduct=554
...any other suggestions or thoughts? I'm pretty much at an impasse here.
Thanks.
Do you want to do professional video editing (Final Cut Pro level) or just personal low-end stuff? I've heard good things about Pinnacle Studio, but admittedly I've never used it. Only video editing I've done was on Final Cut Pro. It does come in three versions, from cheap to expensive. It looks like that laptop you have would be able to run the Ultimate with the best processor it comes with, or the cheapest version with the cheapest processor.
QUOTE (Trevize @ Aug 9 2009, 05:04 PM) 
Do you want to do professional video editing (Final Cut Pro level) or just personal low-end stuff?
It'll be very basic editing... cutting and splicing, re-ordering it, adding occasional "captions", etc. Nothing huge or professional, no special effects or touching up colors, changing backgrounds, etc.
Looks like it's pretty damn good for just that, then. 
QUOTE (Trevize @ Aug 9 2009, 05:12 PM)
Looks like it's pretty damn good for just that, then.
Sweet, thanks! I'm also probably going to upgrade the memory from 4GB to 8GB just to make sure things run smoothly.
QUOTE (Ovid @ Aug 9 2009, 01:16 PM)
QUOTE (Trevize @ Aug 9 2009, 05:12 PM)
Looks like it's pretty damn good for just that, then.
Sweet, thanks! I'm also probably going to upgrade the memory from 4GB to 8GB just to make sure things run smoothly.
More memory is always good. You might wait for someone who does video editing on PCs to respond though... like I said, I've only ever used macs.
If I had to get a PC Laptop myself, and I had the cash, I'd so be getting a Toshiba Qosmio.
The computer in the link you provided is actually pretty overkill if you just want to do video editing with it (Unless you're going to be working on movies with several hundred million dollar budgets and will be handling an insane amount of video all at once... But I would assume that computer would handle even that without problems).
Really all you need for home video editing is going to be 2GB of ram, a decent video card, a ton or hard disk space, and a decent CPU. Oh, and you'll need either a USB port or a firewire port (I prefer USB), but those come standard on pretty much any laptop these days (Generally USB on PCs and Firewire on Macs).
Really all you need for home video editing is going to be 2GB of ram, a decent video card, a ton or hard disk space, and a decent CPU. Oh, and you'll need either a USB port or a firewire port (I prefer USB), but those come standard on pretty much any laptop these days (Generally USB on PCs and Firewire on Macs).
Nice computer, and definitely overkill for end-user video editing. But hey, it WILL get the job done; of that be sure.
I have a Compaq Presario circa 2004, with AMD Turion, Nvidia Nforce 610M, 320 GB HDD and 8GB of memory. I do just fine with 3D rendering (Blender, 3D maxs and Terragen) video editing (CinePaint, GIMP, QTPFS, Kino, Cineralla) and a few others. The only time I typically find the system running sluggish, is trying to keep Firefox open with a full set of tabs (8 or 9) while running one of those in the background.
If my little Paq can do it, surely that Maingear can too.
Word of advice though; If you're going to do a lot of video editing/file transfers with that computer, do NOT get an SSD. IT'll wear out pretty quickly. (compared to a true HDD)
I have a Compaq Presario circa 2004, with AMD Turion, Nvidia Nforce 610M, 320 GB HDD and 8GB of memory. I do just fine with 3D rendering (Blender, 3D maxs and Terragen) video editing (CinePaint, GIMP, QTPFS, Kino, Cineralla) and a few others. The only time I typically find the system running sluggish, is trying to keep Firefox open with a full set of tabs (8 or 9) while running one of those in the background.
If my little Paq can do it, surely that Maingear can too.
Word of advice though; If you're going to do a lot of video editing/file transfers with that computer, do NOT get an SSD. IT'll wear out pretty quickly. (compared to a true HDD)
QUOTE (Penquin @ Aug 9 2009, 07:54 PM)
Word of advice though; If you're going to do a lot of video editing/file transfers with that computer, do NOT get an SSD. IT'll wear out pretty quickly. (compared to a true HDD)
Hmm. I didn't know that, thanks!
Would the "Western Digital Scorpio Black 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache - SATA II" be a better choice for hard drive, then? I don't think that one is solid state... What kind of effect will that have on performance?
Thanks for the detailed answers, guys, I know very little about this stuff and every little bit helps.
QUOTE (Ovid @ Aug 9 2009, 04:10 PM)
Would the "Western Digital Scorpio Black 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache - SATA II" be a better choice for hard drive, then? I don't think that one is solid state... What kind of effect will that have on performance?
Nice cache, and speed on it. The performance should be noticeable over an SSD in read/write times. The size will also be extremely useful in editing videos. For say a 'feature' length clipping (1:20 min raw size 2-4GB), after a lot of changes and re-masterings, you'll easily reach 8 or 9 GIGs, if you're keeping shots between edits.
Kind of relevant (From Slashdot.com):
QUOTE
A common concern with the current crop of Solid State Drives is the performance penalty associated with block-rewriting. Flash memory is comprised of cells that usually contain 4KB pages that are arranged in blocks of 512KB. When a cell is unused, data can be written to it relatively quickly. But if a cell already contains some data, even if it fills only a single page in the block, the entire block must be re-written. This means that whatever data is already present in the block must be read, then it must be combined or replaced, and the entire block is then re-written. This process takes much longer than simply writing data straight to an empty block. This isn't a concern on fresh, new SSDs, but over time, as files are written, moved, deleted, or replaced, many blocks are a left holding what is essentially orphaned or garbage data, and their long-term performance degrades because of it. To mitigate this problem, virtually all SSD manufacturers have incorporated, or soon will incorporate, garbage collection schemes into their SSD firmware which actively seek out and remove the garbage data. OCZ, in combination with Indilinx, is poised to release new firmware for their entire line-up of Vertex Series SSDs that performs active garbage collection while the drives are idle, in order to restore performance to like-new condition, even on a severely 'dirtied' drive.
QUOTE (Ovid @ Aug 9 2009, 11:01 AM)
I'm looking to pick up a new laptop for video editing. The input for the video would come from a Canon Vixia HG20, so it'd be HD video. I can't use a Mac because there are other non-Mac programs that I need to be able to run on the same system. I have little to no idea what, exactly, I will need system-wise, but this is one of the better options I've located:
http://maingear.com/boutique/pc/configureP...p?idproduct=554
...any other suggestions or thoughts? I'm pretty much at an impasse here.
Thanks.
http://maingear.com/boutique/pc/configureP...p?idproduct=554
...any other suggestions or thoughts? I'm pretty much at an impasse here.
Thanks.
Most Windows programs are simple enough to run on a Mac using DarWine. Well worth the effort to be able to use Apple hardware.
QUOTE (shalishaska @ Aug 11 2009, 05:51 AM)
Most Windows programs are simple enough to run on a Mac using DarWine. Well worth the effort to be able to use Apple hardware.
I keep hearing that Macs are better for video editing but what is it exactly that makes them better suited for it?
(this isn't a rhetorical question, I really don't know)
QUOTE (Ovid @ Aug 11 2009, 11:05 AM)
QUOTE (shalishaska @ Aug 11 2009, 05:51 AM)
Most Windows programs are simple enough to run on a Mac using DarWine. Well worth the effort to be able to use Apple hardware.
I keep hearing that Macs are better for video editing but what is it exactly that makes them better suited for it?
(this isn't a rhetorical question, I really don't know)
There's a tremendous amount of debate going on about which platform is better. But when it comes down to it, Apple users can run both Avid and Final Cut Express (Windows can only run Avid) on a much more stable OS, with access to hardware that's faster then just about any PC (the fastest clocked Windows speeds are actually on a Mac Pro using bootcamp
). And if you really need to run Windows programs you have lots of options - setting up a virtual machine, dual booting, or DarWine.The deal-breaker for me and PC's is that Vista is just about the worst OS ever created, I would rather using a pen and paper then have to slog through that crap. However, you can get a PC that will handle all the video editing you need, its just never going to be as easy, convenient, or efficient as a Mac.
[/fanboy rant]
QUOTE (shalishaska @ Aug 11 2009, 05:49 PM)
(the fastest clocked Windows speeds are actually on a Mac Pro using bootcamp )
)I was actually looking at software compatibility for the other stuff I need to run and it all apparently runs under Bootcamp. Is Bootcamp just a separate Windows partition or is it an emulator? I'm guessing from what you said that there's no speed issues related to running Windows programs under Bootcamp?
Thanks for all the help!
QUOTE (Ovid @ Aug 11 2009, 12:35 PM)
QUOTE (shalishaska @ Aug 11 2009, 05:49 PM)
(the fastest clocked Windows speeds are actually on a Mac Pro using bootcamp )
)I was actually looking at software compatibility for the other stuff I need to run and it all apparently runs under Bootcamp. Is Bootcamp just a separate Windows partition or is it an emulator? I'm guessing from what you said that there's no speed issues related to running Windows programs under Bootcamp?
Thanks for all the help!
The former. Bootcamp is a way to run Windows natively with mac hardware with its own partition on the HDD. When you turn on your computer, you'll be given the option to boot up into OS X or Windows. And no, there aren't any speed issues.
Glad I could help, I hope I've converted another person away from Micro$oft.
QUOTE (shalishaska @ Aug 11 2009, 07:43 PM)
Glad I could help, I hope I've converted another person away from Micro$oft.
Har, I don't use Microsoft anyway, I run Linux at home, but there are certain programs I need for work that run only in Windows that I just can't get away from. =/
QUOTE (Ovid @ Aug 11 2009, 01:17 PM)
QUOTE (shalishaska @ Aug 11 2009, 07:43 PM)
Glad I could help, I hope I've converted another person away from Micro$oft.
Har, I don't use Microsoft anyway, I run Linux at home, but there are certain programs I need for work that run only in Windows that I just can't get away from. =/
My dad has a high end mac-book pro, and he runs both Windows XP Pro and Ubuntu with virtual machines inside OS X at the same time, so he has access to programs from all three OS's at once. This might be the best setup for you as well.
QUOTE (Ovid @ Aug 11 2009, 03:17 PM)
QUOTE (shalishaska @ Aug 11 2009, 07:43 PM)
Glad I could help, I hope I've converted another person away from Micro$oft.
Har, I don't use Microsoft anyway, I run Linux at home, but there are certain programs I need for work that run only in Windows that I just can't get away from. =/
Programs like what?
I find that I can typically do anything I need on the Linux box, that in the past I 'needed' Windows for.
About the only proprietary software/closed source apps I use, would be Adobe flash, and LightZone. ( I got it back when it was still free to Linux users
). QUOTE (Penquin @ Aug 12 2009, 03:29 AM)
Programs like what?
Biotrace programs, mostly, for measuring heart rate, respiration, skin conductance, EEG/EKG, - like that.
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