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What editing equioment will $1500 buy ?

B

Brummie

I will say immediately - I sincerely apologize for asking a question that I know must have been asked many times before. I have really read so many replies to others that my head is spinning because they get very technical. I am NOT in any way a techie and need someone to treat me as a complete newbie as far as the equipment is concerned. I claim to be a photographer and nothing more :) SO here is my basic question:

What will $1500 buy me in the way of CPU, Graphics card, Memory etc to edit my HDV footage with relative simplicity? Anything? Suggestion as to particular pieces would also be handy.

Thank you very much folks.
 
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I'm not going to make any specific recommendations, as visual editing isn't my area. My comment is going to be that as your budget decreases ease of use also decreases, as does speed. A slower CPU will obviously take longer to render. There are inexpensive workarounds, but they will require some extra effort on the part of the user.

dagrunoffice2.jpg
 
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Yes my friend. Thanks for the reply. I know that in life there are compromises and in this case I will have to make some. I am just hoping that for the money I have there are some compromises that will not greatly affect the needs I have :(
 
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Personally, I'd hire an editor for that amount.

Maybe a low end power/mac book and either final cut studio 2 or express 4.

A better idea might be an older avid box, but I guess it all boils down to your level.

Do you know your stuff when it comes to editing? Are you still learning the ropes? Somewhere in between? I'd plan my purchase accordingly.
 
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jeremy said:
Personally, I'd hire an editor for that amount.

Maybe a low end power/mac book and either final cut studio 2 or express 4.

A better idea might be an older avid box, but I guess it all boils down to your level.

Do you know your stuff when it comes to editing? Are you still learning the ropes? Somewhere in between? I'd plan my purchase accordingly.
Click to expand...

Well hiring an editor may produce a better final result but that is for one project and then what? I feel that I am reasonably competent with my Premiere Pro work. I can turn out pretty good short films but now that I have entered the HD spectrum my editing computer is not going to be fast enough and that is why I am trying to upgrade the equipment within my modest limits.
 
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So, let's back up. Give us all the details of what you have already and what experience, if any, you have with working with video. Also your goals; do you want to edit, do CGI, color correction, audio, etc. In other words we really want to get to know you!

And please, when I say details give us chapter and verse. For instance, my current audio set-up is a Mac Pro Dual 1.8 running Pro Tools LE 8.0, DIGI-002, ADVC-100, (each runs on its own firewire port)... you get the idea.

If you're running a PC OS you are using would also be pertinent.

One thing that you will most definitely need for video; LOTS of disk space!
 
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Wait a minute.. I can build a great system that will easily edit 1920 x 1080 video from my T2i .

I would get get an i7 mobo combo from Frys for $250, 4gb Ram $120, 3- 1TB SATA drives $300, DVD burner $60, 1GB Video card $60, Case $100, 28" Monitor $300, 19" Monitor $100,Sound card $60, 5 channel speaker system $150... OK Im over the tax.

OK... however if you want to do the high bitrate stuff the pros use on the big dog cams you will need more memory.

Software FREE !, Linux & Cinelerra to edit, Audacity for sound, Synfig for animation, Blender for 3D animation FX , Cinepaint for high end graphics, there are TONS of audio programs for linux if you want high end.....nuff said................ I admit Im "out there" according to most here.






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Are you a student? Students get current software for cheap.

If you already know Premiere, stick with it. It's the most powerful NLE available right now. CS5's engine will handle a lot more video with a lot less power, but a used version of CS4 may be better for budget.

Find a used iMac on craigslist that fits the description for under $1k, spend a little on more ram then $500 on CS5 Production Premium Student. If not a student, CS4 on eBay.
 
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Thanks everyone for chipping in with the suggestions. I was a student 55 years ago :) I am now an old timer who tries to hang on to his knowledge. I have been a pro still photographer since the 1950s and have had sojourns into films via 8mm 16mm and SVHS and then into SD for the last four years. Now I have a Canon XH A1s and am dabbling at the HD stuff. I have just finished a fifteen minute drama and now am faced with the editing and thus my initial question.

My knowledge of the hardware is abyssmal. The computer set up I have at the moment is very amateurish and consists of Pentium 4 (3 Ghz) 1 Ghz Ram and Premiere Pro 2 (old).
That's about all I know.

I really appreciate your offers of help. It is most appreciated. I think I have found someone to build it for me so now (within my modest budget), I am going to have to find the appropriate CPU, RAM, Graphics card that I can afford and hope that it will suffice.

Thank you all very much.
 
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PaulGriffith said:
Are you a student? Students get current software for cheap.

If you already know Premiere, stick with it. It's the most powerful NLE available right now. CS5's engine will handle a lot more video with a lot less power, but a used version of CS4 may be better for budget.

Find a used iMac on craigslist that fits the description for under $1k, spend a little on more ram then $500 on CS5 Production Premium Student. If not a student, CS4 on eBay.
Click to expand...

Paul: Good idea. I might give craigslist and ebay a try. Thanks.
 
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I would also recommend a i7 box with Vegas. You wouldnt out grow this system for years.

Parts from Newegg.com for an i7 cpu, motherboard, DVD burner, 1gb graphics card, 4gb of ram, case, power supply and win7 is less than $1000. You could run dual HD TVs as monitors this way also.

Vegas has a gentle learning curve and is as powerful as Premiere and Final Cut any day.
 
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Brummie;

If you are going to try craigslist, I would suggest you look at eBay, you'll probably come out better.

If you like Premiere, stay with what you know and get a good recent upgrade of Premiere (eBay).

I think the issue you will have to look at most is: will your computer be able to handle the load of editing a project. Because even film shorts can take up LOADS of space on your hard drive or even an external hard drive. You also should get as much RAM as possible, I don't know how far you will get with 1Gz.

-- spinner :cool:
 
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Brummie said:
Well hiring an editor may produce a better final result but that is for one project and then what?
Click to expand...

That will depend on the project and what you are doing with it.

In my case I hired an editor (my producer did actually) then I spent a year or so switching back and forth between the festival circuit and writing. Now I have another project starting up and I'll do it all over again.
 
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Well, you guys all jumped in with advice for which I am very grateful. I know that this is what these forums are all about and it is comforting to know that, for the main part, the suggestions are going to be invaluable.
After all the comments I made a decision. Alcove Audio nailed it about the choice of any two from three :) Cracker Funk also got me thinking about getting it built.

Bottom line is that I had to up the ante somewhat. I am getting it built and it will cost me $2078.
It consists of:
Core I7 @ 3.06Ghz
GTX 470 Graphics Card
Asus Motherboard (supporting up to 24GB RAM)
12GB Ram
3 x 500GB Drives (1 for the OS, 2 for RAID0 for the video editing)
1 x 2TB Drive (for storage of files that are complete)
Windows 7 Professional 64bit
Mid-Tower "Cooler Master" Computer case
850W Power Supply (for extra power in case I add more components down the line)
Blu-Ray Burner

Also just upgraded to Premiere CS5

Hopefully I made the correct decision and I will start editing my latest film after the holidays.

Merry Christmas to you all.
 
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Brummie said:
Well, you guys all jumped in with advice for which I am very grateful. I know that this is what these forums are all about and it is comforting to know that, for the main part, the suggestions are going to be invaluable.
After all the comments I made a decision. Alcove Audio nailed it about the choice of any two from three :) Cracker Funk also got me thinking about getting it built.

Bottom line is that I had to up the ante somewhat. I am getting it built and it will cost me $2078.
It consists of:
Core I7 @ 3.06Ghz
GTX 470 Graphics Card
Asus Motherboard (supporting up to 24GB RAM)
12GB Ram
3 x 500GB Drives (1 for the OS, 2 for RAID0 for the video editing)
1 x 2TB Drive (for storage of files that are complete)
Windows 7 Professional 64bit
Mid-Tower "Cooler Master" Computer case
850W Power Supply (for extra power in case I add more components down the line)
Blu-Ray Burner

Also just upgraded to Premiere CS5

Hopefully I made the correct decision and I will start editing my latest film after the holidays.

Merry Christmas to you all.
Click to expand...

Impressive. Color me jealous!
 
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