So I'm supposed to build a video editing bay . . .

[lastig21]

and have never built anything this highend before, so I would like a little guidance if you have anything to offer. From what I understand, she doesn't do any 3d rendering yet, but she would like to keep that option open for the future. She currently does alot of filtering video streams with Premiere and encoding them with smaller codecs. She also does alot of Photoshop work. Her parents are giving this to her as a college graduation present, and lets just say they are not hurting for money. She doesn't want to go completely overboard though.

I am mostly likely going dual processor on this computer, so which cpu would be better for the task at hand - P4 or Athlon MP.

I have also decided to put in 512megs of ram, but let me know if this computer will need more memory than that. The type of ram will depend on the type of cpu's I choose.

I will also use two harddrives in this setup, so she will not be writing/reading from the same drive when encoding. SCSI doesn't offer the size to price ratio, but do you think I should go with the JB drives from Western Digital? Are they worth the price in this type of application?

What type of video card is recommended for this type of workstation? Should I go with the high end 3dLabs or Quadro (or another highend)/ midrange 3dLabs or Quadro/or simply a Geforce 3/4 or Radeon. I believe Matrox makes highend cards as well. What type of applications demand the highend graphics cards. Does it sound like she will ever need one of the highends?

I also need to include the cards to link her to her accessories. Does anyone know what equipement is used to record vhs/digital video tapes onto a harddrive? There is supposed to be a player that will accept either, and she said she wants one of those.

Should I be concerned with USB 2.0? If I were to put an Audigy in this computer, would the firewire port be sufficient for transferring video to the computer?

Thanks in advance

 

[Diable]

Go with a dual Xeon based system. I built mine in January and its been 100% stable and problem free, not one compatibility, driver or hardware problem. 512mb of ram should be enough for a video and photo editing workstation but 1GB would be better. That way Photoshop will never uses the hard drive when working with large files.

For what this machine will be used for JB or SCSI drives are not needed. Any 7200rpm ATA100 drive is fast enough to capture video and with a large amount of main memory app's shouldn't page to the hard drives while editing or encoding.

Unless she's heavy into Maya, Softimage or CAD a Quadro or Wildcat isn't needed either. A GF3-4 can handle light 3D encoding and play a few games when she's bored

The Sony WV-DR7 is a dual deck VCR that will take mini and standard DV and S-VHS tapes plus it has a built in Firewire port so transfering video to the computer is easy. JVC also makes a DV deck(the BR-DV600UA)with built in Firwire thats pretty cool but it doesn't take full size DV or S-VHS tapes like the Sony unit but its cheaper $2600 vs. $4000.

USB 2.0 is a none issue since no DV cam or deck uses it and I doubt any will.

 

[lastig21]

Thanks for the help Disable, that really did clear some stuff up. I am strongly thinking about the Radeon 8500DV (64meg version). I liked the features it offered, and should be good enough for what she wants to do. I know the 128meg version is quite a bit faster during gameplay, but she's not a big gamer.

I was also leaning towards the xeons based on their future with hyperthreading.

I'll check to see if she needs full size Digital Video Tape capability or not. I think most of her stuff uses the mini dv tapes.

 

[rmblam]

My 0.02

Tiger MP or MPX
Dual MP's (the 1.2ghz are under $100)
1GB DDR Registered
Tekram DC390U3W SCSI Adapter.
1 x Seagate X15-36LP 18GB (best performer, use main partition for OS, clicks can be annoying. Otherwise an 18gb Atlas 10kIII)
1 or more Atlas 10kIII's in 36GB or 73GB

With the SCSI interface I can bang away with my OS, defrag a capture drive, capture on another, and burn DVD with the IDE interface at the same time. I am not confident all IDE would handle that as well. Defragging a speedy SCSI is so much nicer, I must say. Get it if you can afford it, but it is not "mandatory". I guess it depends on her needs. You could get a number of WD 120GB drives and add an IDE card for more ports too. It is horribly long waiting for those beasts to defrag though. A 36GB SCSI drive is a nice size for capture; defrags fast. I like the idea of the 120GB drive(s) for storing, but not active work.

Pioneer DVR104 (or A04 same) DVD-R(W) burner.

I like the Radeon 8500DV features, but would she use them?


Good luck