Computer for video/audio editing.

[jsbush]

A friend asked me for advise on a good system (under 2000$ canadian with monitor) for video and audio editing.

Here's what I had in mind:
Shuttle AK31
Athlon XP 1600+ (retail)
256megs of ram
40gig hard drive
SB Audigy
52x cd-rom (don't know which kind yet)
floppy
24x burner (don't know which kind yet)
Video card (I have no clue what to put).
17" or 19" Samsung.
Aopen midtower

What video card could be best for video/audio editing and a bit of animation?

 

[tigerwannabe]

i've been very happy with my vivo radeon 64MB DDR. even though it's an older model now, it fits the bill nicely. i'd vote for that or maybe the newer radeons. don't know about the geforce line of cards--never had one.

 

[Eug]

Video: Matrox G450 Dual Head (not good for 3D though)
Audio: SB Audigy is a good choice because it includes a Firewire port. Dunno how good their Firewire support is though.
19" monitor capable of very good quality at 1600x1200x85 Hz. Ie. not a cheap monitor. He can add the second monitor later.
Minimum 512 MB RAM.

 

[Pariah]

I believe he is asking for advice on a capture card, which would sort of eliminate the G450, if he is looking for an all purpose card. The ATI AIW are basically your only choice, which isn't bad as they are good products. What your friend wants to do will narrow down your options further. After that your next concern should be fast large amounts of storage, then fast large amounts of storage, then more fast large amounts of storage. 40GB is not going to cut it. 256MB of RAM is skimping a bit too, get as much as will fit within budget. A 24x CDRW and 52 CDROM drive are not essential parts for A/V editing. Pick slower speeds to save money to put towards more RAM and HD space. Make sure to get a good set of speakers too, Boston Acoustics or Video Logic Sirroco's if budget permits. Steer clear of Klipsh and Logitech.

 

[Eug]

<< I believe he is asking for advice on a capture card, which would sort of eliminate the G450, if he is looking for an all purpose card. The ATI AIW are basically your only choice, which isn't bad as they are good products. What your friend wants to do will narrow down your options further. After that your next concern should be fast large amounts of storage, then fast large amounts of storage, then more fast large amounts of storage. 40GB is not going to cut it. 256MB of RAM is skimping a bit too, get as much as will fit within budget. A 24x CDRW and 52 CDROM drive are not essential parts for A/V editing. Pick slower speeds to save money to put towards more RAM and HD space. Make sure to get a good set of speakers too, Boston Acoustics or Video Logic Sirroco's if budget permits. Steer clear of Klipsh and Logitech. >>


Yeah that's true re: capture card. However, if it's DV editing all one would need is the Firewire port, supplied by the Audigy. I guess a more clear idea of what he needs would help.

 

[hoihtah]

i'm not sure how much of video and how much of audio you're trying to do...
and also at what level.

but as someone already mentioned...
you'll be better off with at least 512 mb ram.
and as for hard drive, a single ide will suffice if you're not doing anything major.
but if your budget can handle it, getting 3 hds...
1 for os.
2 for video editing. in raid.
which means... you'll have to purchase an ide raid card.
or you can switch your mobo to something that already has an ide raid built in.

if you are very very serious about video editing...
then you should also look into non-linear editing card.
the cheapest one will cost you about 500-600.

check out videoguys
they are one of the best at what they do.

 

[hoihtah]

oh... i almost forgot...

again... i'm not sure exactly what you mean when you say audio editing.

are you trying to do recording with your machine or just edit?
if you're trying to do audio recording...
are you trying to do multiple track recording?
or just single source?

........................

going back to video editing...
if NLE cards are out of your budget...
you might want to also consider upgrading your cpu abit...
and go for VegasVideo 3 by sonic foundry... it's the next best thing to NLE cards.
... well some do argue that once cpus become faster ... the need for nle will decrease.
but i don't think you can say that just yet.... not even with amd 2000+.

and don't even think about o/c'ing your cpu... unless you're really comfortable doing it.
these softwares are very picky... and NLE cards are even pickier.
setting up to work perfectly can be a big hassle... hence, lots of people go with apple when it comes to a/v editing.

 

[jsbush]

This guy is a high school history teacher who knows next to nothing about computers. So the video editing won't be anything major.

What he asked me for was something that he can do video/audio? editing with, he also mentioned that he might be teaching it in the years to come.


So a Radeon AIW and 512megs of ram would be enough?


He has two kids I think, so I would suppose he would want desent 3d perfermence to.


Thanks.

 

[Pariah]

A Radeon AIW would be a very good choice. It runs games pretty well and has nice video capture abilities. The AIW Radeon 8500DV is the most capable card in all aspects and quite a bit better performer in games, but at $315US it may be a bit out of budget. I would still recommend getting a larger HD, 60GB or even 80GB are only a few dollars more than a 40GB.

 

[Pariah]

Just to clarify, the AIW Radeon and AIW Radeon 8500DV are different cards. The AIW Radeon is a previous generation card that sells for about half of the 8500DV.