What is the best PC (either 3 thousand dollars or below) for Video Editing? I currently have a 1.6ghz. 512meg RAM Sony Vaio, but it was unstable with Pinnacle’s Video software (Which is likely more the fault of Pinnacle, but I digress). What I need to do with the PC is capture video, edit video and output it to a DVD to play on DVD players (I already have the DVD burner). Thanks!
Oh, and I also wanted to gather opinions on this Alienware which was built for my needs (allegedly).
http://www.alienware.com/System_Pages/2001dv.aspx
Though I’m concerned by the use of a Pinnacle product on the PC, Pinnacle has never given me anything but headaches. Thanks.
Best consumer-level system for video editing: Apple iMac + iMovie + iDVD.
Best professional-level system for video editing: Apple PowerMac + Final Cut Pro + DVD Studio Pro.
Any answer that does not have the words “Apple” or “Mac” in there is second-rate at best. 
-cackle- snob. 
Avid Express is fairly stable, and Pinnacle should have been as well. Okay, so - where is the Choke Point in your system right now? That will go a long way towards answering your OP.
I use a Macintosh TiBook ( real Titanium, not one of the 2003 aluminum TiBooks, which by all rights should be called an AlBook 
). G4 single processor. 512 Megs, 120 Gig External HD. Final Cut Pro III. I will admit freely here, that I detest that machine with a burning fire. However, when it does work, it’s kind of magical.
Then again, when the Space Shuttle makes it to Landing, it’s kind of magical too… :rolleyes:
I’d contact Pinnacle, write them a deeply layered e-mail. ( Seriously now ). Lay out the details of your data stream, from Point of Origin ( typically a Mini DV Cam ) to DVD Burner. They may well be able to spot immediately the choke point in the system. Make sure you tell them the iterations of your release. i.e., dont’ say " I own Pinnacle Pro II" Tell them, " I own Pinnacle Pro II, release II.350, as it reads on the Install Disks. Also, the Batch Numbers off of the inner 1/4 inch of the Install Disks are as follows: "
You may have bad CD’s, and nothing more. Good luck, let us know how it goes.
Cartooniverse
Unless you’re set on a Windows-based system for other reasons, I’ve gotta echo rjung. If you’re serious about video editing, it’s hard to beat a PowerMac and Final Cut Pro. I learned on a professional, high-end AVID system, and after just a short time with Final Cut Pro, I came to prefer it. And if you don’t need some of the high-end features (like if you’re just outputting straight to DVD, you can probably do without the 24-frame EDLs FCP can produce), you can spend several hundred dollars less and get Final Cut Express. And if you’re just making basic DVDs, iDVD will work fine for you.
A decent G4, Final Cut Express, and iDVD will cost you less than $3000.
And yes, Cartooniverse, I am a snob, but only when it comes to video editing, when only the best will do!
Here’s the deal, my pinnacle works fine until I start rendering a DVD. It works its way about half through then freezes, I tried every get aroudn there was, it was just a glitch in the system. There there were other, copious glitches (not just my computer, they were known software glitches) that pissed me off, plus their technical help is shit.
Anyways, about this G4, Final Cut Express, and iDVD… I haven’t used an Apple in years, so is it really the best choice for me? Also, what is the software capable of? For my DVD needs, I need to make custom menus for DVDs, which link to various portions of the DVD. As for video, I need to be able to insert titles, transitions, image overlays, etc (standard fair I suppose) into my movies. Are these programs capable of this? Thanks so much!
Mind if I pose another Q? No? GOOD!
What would be required if I wanted to do what ** Duderdude2** wants to do, but then I want to be able to run the resultant DVD through a stand-alone duplicator and get copies with the same functionality of the original?
(think hours of old family videos, lots of sibs/cousins)
I have to agree with everybody here when they say that Apple makes the best video editing rigs. I do a lot of video editing and I have 3 computers… An Apple iMacDV 400, and an Apple dual processor G4 533 Digital Audio workstation and a Dual Athlon rig I built myself and custom configured. It is true to say that the Athlon rig is by far the fastest out of the 3 and I use it for Mpeg-2 encoding sessions and multplexing dvd’s… the Apples, however, are much, much more easy to use and the learning curve with all of Apple’s programs are much less than that of AVID systems or Adobe’s apps. I just bought Final Cut Express and it is the best program I can think of for a limited budget such as yours.
But one very important thing wait to buy a G5!!! These machines will be THE fastest machine out on the market by far… everything is side of a dual opteron system… and I’m really not too sure about that… in fact, it will be very close. Once again you could probably custom configure a dual opteron system that’s faster, but you’ll have to really know what you’re doing. I love helping people find a good rig, so tell me what you’re looking for and I can help you configure your perfect Apple/PC video editing rig. (In fact I just configured an built a rig for a friend today… and got a another one coming for another friend tomorrow…)
OK, putting my knee-jerk anti-Apple reactions aside, I’d love some honest opinions on this. Assume the learning curve isn’t a factor. Assume I’m a masochist who likes using complicated software with steep learning curves. Is there any reason for me to use a Mac over a PC for video editing? Are there things you can do with a Mac that you just can’t do with a PC because the hardware or software doesn’t exist, or something like that?
I’ve just started to scratch the surface of video editing on my PC and while the setup I have now is woefully underpowered, it’s still good enough for turning old VHS source material into VCD’s and cleaning it up. But I want to eventually go beyond that - way beyond. I want to know if I’ll be able to stick with the Wintel platform I’m so familiar with (and, say, Adobe Premiere/AfterEffects) or if I’m just shooting myself in the foot by not getting a PowerMac and a copy of Final Cut Pro. But most importantly, why?
Oh, what I wouldn’t give for pro-grade video editing software for Linux…
I would say a custom system. Do you build PC’s? I have a small home network with OS partition switching and multiple monitors for video editing. I just add new hardware for the functions that I want to have input and output and seek out whatever software I’d like for the moment.
There are professional capture boards that are available for the mac that are just simply not there for the pcs… now, we are talking $3000 plus just for some of these boards, (voodoo) but most professional editing shops are now Final Cut Pro only shops! Hard to believe given the state of the mac just a few years ago, but it’s true… add that in plus the fact that whatever software you use with your pc you can also get for your mac, it makes the mac a better choice… and now that the G5 (powerpc 970) is out, the mac is just as fast if not faster than anything out on the pc side. Sure I could custom build you an excellent dual athlon for cheap, but it would not be as good as the mac solution… all things considered… but it would still be a damn good rig.
That’s okay, Anamorphic.
Your member name alone buys you a barrel-ful of goodwill from this Doper.
Just sign me, “Swing and Tilt”
So could someone give me a quick run down of the features supported by Final Cut Express and iDVD? Thanks.
Apple’s consumer stuff (iMovie + iDVD) will do almost all of this out of the box – the latest version allows you to specify chapter markers" in your videos that get picked up in iDVD. You also have a lot of latitude in customizing your DVD menus and screens, though there are some limits. iMovie does titles and transitions out of the box, and there are numerous inexpensive third-party plugins to do image overlays and other effects if you want.
Naturally, with the pro-level stuff (Final Cut Pro + DVD Studio Pro), you have total control and can do anything you dream up.
I would love to use a Mac to edit video, but until Adobe sees fit to give a no- or low-cost sidegrade so that I can change all my existing Adobe software from Windows to Mac, it’s just not gonna happen.
I simply don’t have the budget to go out and buy Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere, Acrobat, Streamline, and InDesign all over again, not to mention my non-Adobe apps such as Dreamweaver and HomeSite.
Ditch Apple and stick with a PC… and then ditch Pinnacle and pick up Adobe Premiere.
Why ditch Apple? Not enough customizability. Build your own system. Toss a 3.2 ghz P4 in there, complimented by 2 gigs of RAM, and a pair of 200-gigabyte hard drives RAIDed together to function as one (to double the access speed). The “mysticism” of Apple machines is highly overrated, in my experience.
Why ditch Pinnacle? Because I can shit on a CD and that’ll make a better video editor.
SPOOFE, I like where you’re going. What do you think of the Alienware I linked earlier?
http://www.alienware.com/System_Pages/2001dv.aspx
You can add the 1 gig of ram you mentioned and a few other things.
“What I need to do with the PC is capture video”
From what? A vcr? A camcorder with s-video?
Easiest way for me is a Panasonic Dvd recorder @ $350.00 ($500 for one with a IEEE port) Capture right to it, edit up to about 1000 scenes, paste, cut, copy, automatic chapter & menu creation. Any fine editing I can do later putting the dvd-r into a computer, then its like a 4.4 gig file not a 50 gig one from capturing to HD :-0
Handy, I’ll be recording from a VCR. The program you mentioned doesn’t seem to give too much freedom though, unless I misunderstood you.
Ok, I think i’ll have to go with a PC. I mean, all of my image programs, etc are on the PC, plus I know how to navigate windows better. So what video software should I look into for the PC?