Best Video Card for video editing and animation design?

[Stang289]

I am building a system for my sister whom is going back to college to learn to design educational software and programs. From what I have read about the cirriculum it involves animation and video editing. I am looking for a video card for around $100-$150(Maybe a little more) that will best accomplish these tasks. She said she does not need the dual monitor feature, but I think once she gets further along in the cirriculum she may want to use a dual monitor setup. So, would I be better off going with a Matrox G450, ATI Radeon, or something else? I appreciate any information.
Thanks,
Stang289

 

[Stang289]

Anyone?

 

[jaybert]

I'd got for the all in wonder (radeon if you can spend $220). Its basically the best overall card all in one card

 

[codehack2]

If she really needs to edit the movies that she captures, avoid the AIW like the plague..

Spotty captures, captures that are in a nearly uneditable format (MPEG1/2), and lack of real editing software religate AIW to nothing more than a hobby card.

If she needs a real capture/edit card check out the pinnacle DC10plus. It can be found in most retail stores, & msrp's for about $100. This card should come with everything that she needs to get started. One word of warning though.. at the moment, there are no win2k drivers for this card.

Drop me a PM if you have more questions,
ch2

 

[codehack2]

I aslo posted some info in another thread that might help you.

ch2

 

[Stang289]

Thanks for the info CH2. That is a great thread that you linked.

 

[rbV5]

Captures work great on my AIW Radeon, and interestingly enough I can capture AVI as well as mpeg. Editing software is..well software, use what you like or can afford (educational versions are very reasonable) I also spend time with 3d applications as well as photoshop. I would say the AIW is an excellent choice.IMHO

 

[codehack2]

<< I would say the AIW is an excellent choice.IMHO >>



Like I said before rbv5, the AIW is great as a hobbiest card, if you have real work to do on a daily basis this card will eat you alive. Been there done that.. For giggles go post this message in the rec.video.desktop news group &amp; see what kind of replies you get. While your at it, check out the ATI news group and look at the number of people posting that they updated to drivers XXXXX and video capture no longer works. Messing around with video capture &amp; doing it on daily basis are two different worlds.

I'm not trashing on your AIW card, I just wouldn't want my grades/livelyhood ridding on this card.



<< interestingly enough I can capture AVI >>



There is more to this than just capturing in AVI.. It is the encoding codec that matters. The DC10+ uses mjpeg, which maintains a nice quality, managable size, and edits quickly. The DC10+ does this in hardware too. The AIW is using the standard VFW capture routine in Windows, which falls back to the host CPU. Again, not trying to knock the AIW, but I have seen countless people buy this card &amp; try to make it something it is not, &amp; in the end the only thing that they have to show for it are alot of frustrations.

Stang289..

If your sister needs a video editing card, get her a video editing card.

 

[fobbman]

Before you purchase the Pinnacle Systems DC10+ card, I urge you to check out their user forums. Audio and Video synch issues have plagued this card since it's release several years ago. I owned the card for nearly a year and tried several different sound cards, two different motherboards, and troubleshot until I literally cried. While it has a heapload of potential, unless you are making Godzilla movies A/V synch is important and this card has troubles with it.

If you have more questions about the card please feel free to ask. I know it inside and out and it's UGLY.

 

[codehack2]

fobbman,

Do you still have this card? How does it perform with the recent upgrades? I only used the card for about two months last year before moving on to a more robust editing package, and I never experienced the sync problems. I produced 3, 2hour, movies and they all turned out perfectly. Maybe I was just lucky?

Stang289..

If you have a bestbuy/officemax/office depot/compusa near you I would recommend taking this card for a test drive. You will know imediately if you have the problems that fobbman is talking about.

 

[Stang289]

CH2, there is a Office Depot, Office Max, Staples, and Circuit City close, I'll have to take a look to see if they have it.

 

[mudtunnel]

so, avoid the dc10+ and avoid the aiw?

stang289,

from what i've read on other threads and websites, more and more people are recommending to go with a &quot;stupid&quot; card for video capture and letting your cpu horsepower run the capture, rather than paying big money for a mpeg capture card. combining a simple video-in card with a free program like virtualdub is supposed to at least as good at capturing as with an aiw or a dc10+ using premiere or videostudio. one BIG caveat, i have not tried this setup myself, so get more opinions. one thing that i'd be concerned with when using a &quot;stupid&quot; card setup is syncing the video and audio. possible solution to your problem might be to get a wintv and run virtualdub to capture - edit using whatever (vegas video?).

then again, it might be nice to have a neater package deal like the aiw or the dc10+. but, going the &quot;stupid&quot; card route might be better over time as technologies improve - besides, tv!

 

[TungFree]

Stang289,
read this thread in this vid forum my ATI AIW thread
this is a wealth of information and rbV5 is one of the main contributors with success as his teacher and several other contributors with him have turned me and others around to respect the AIW radoin 32 DDR. There are several links to still yet other sources and a forum dedicated to video editing and software downloads with tutorials.

 

[rbV5]

codehack2, IMHO, any card that doesn't support win2k can't be considered a serious card for professional work. Many of the graphics applications I use won't even run on win9x. I understand about different codecs and video capture, but I'm not real familiar with mjpeg other than like all compressed video, editing can be a pain.

Have you tried Adobe Premiere with Terran cleaner? Now thats a video editing software package. Once you've captured the video, and my AIW Radeon captures uncompressed frames very well, Its more your cpu and memory than your video card anyway, and graphic applications run very well on my radeon.

Don't you also have to have a video card with the Pinnacle card? When you add the prices together and take into account that you have limited room in your dorm, and the AIW Radeon means you don't need a TV, that you can enjoy playing games when your done with your homework, hard to beat that combination.

 

[Stang289]

I appreciate all the responses to this post. I still have a couple of weeks before I order all the parts, so I can do more research. I checked out the Anandtech review on the Radeon and it looks pretty good.