Simple video editing computer

[ApacheChief]

My little sister wants to do a little video editing, she has a video camera with DS out (I believe)

What would be the cheapest (but still stable and efficient) system for editing video, and possibly playing a couple games over LAN?

 

[ApacheChief]

Bump.

 

[Smithyoffline]

a 866mhz is bare minimum for editing...

i would go for something similar like below

2.4ghz or amd equivilent (knowing pentium 4 is a faster chip for editing)

256mb at least pc3200

hard drive depends on the file stored

 

[ApacheChief]

Well she could store her files on my computer over the network (320 gigs of space)

Why not go pentium?

I'm looking for a cheap system, a 2.4ghz amd would be fairly spendy (look at around 500~ for the entire thing, peripherals included)

 

[thermalpaste]

486-DX @ 66Mhz, 8MB FPM-DRAM, 1 MB ISA card, and a 100meg hard drive.

 

[bendixG15]

You have to select the video editing software..
then you get the hardware.


Good Luck...

 

[Gurck]

Virtual Dub is free... I'm thinking a p4 2.4 minimum as well, keep in mind video encoding is almost entirely cpu-dependant, and can take quite a while... For instance shrinking a typical DVD down to CD size for backup purposes takes me 3-4 hours on a p4b 2.67. A couple games over the LAN is night & day depending if you're referring to say.. counter strike, or something like far cry. In the first case a cheap 9200 or 5200 is all the video card you need, which helps with expense.

 

[Blain]

Here's what kind of systems The Video Guys recommend for VE

 

[gsellis]

I would recommend the minimum processor at 1.6GHz (Intel). That is the line where AV captures to DV can occur at 30fps according to a source I can no longer quote (it has been about 3 years...)

As noted, find the software and work from there is the best approach. Does she have a digital video camera? I would consider:

Better than 2.4GHz or equivalent
At least 512MB mem.
2 drives, 60-160GB OS; 120-250GB for video
Pioneer 108 or NEC 3500 DVD drive
Firewire (IEEE 1394)
Optical mouse (Lots of dragging - if the mouse tracks funny, she'll hate it)
Something other than on-board video (9600+ or such).

Work up from there. If she does not have a DV camera, look into something like Pinnacle's Studio 9 with the AV card or better still, the Moviebox DV (the DV works better than the USB version according to some posts I have seen - I don't do much AV and use an All-In-Wonder when I need to).

 

[thermalpaste]

one of the main components often overlooked is the motherboard. Invest in a very good motherboard.
I would recommend a pentium-4 (though I hate intel) because p-4s are fast where video editing is concerned. GO for a minimum 2.4 Ghz with 512 Kb of cache.

 

[bendixG15]

You guys are getting carried away...

First post

My little sister wants to do a little video editing

 

[piasabird]

Asus P4P800SE <$115 (Deluxe with Firewire)
2.6c Gig P4 $190?
Corsair Value Select 1Gig Twin Pack of PC3200 $160?
DVD+-R/CDRW $80 Lite-on, Plextor??
Second DVDrom CDRW($41.00) LITE-ON
Floppy (May not be needed) ($10.00)
Sapphire Radeon 9800 Pro ($200) Or ATI AIW 9800 PRO ($300), Sapphire 9600 PRO/XT
Hard Drives. As much as you can buy. Maybe one 160 gig drive, 120 gig drive, or 80 gig drive. Add a second Large drive as necessary.

Note:
You dont have to have a fancy video card for video editing. You could get by with a $49.00 ATI Radeon 9000. This is the price I saw earlier today for this on www.newegg.com. Spend as much as the quality you wish to buy on the video card.

 

[piasabird]

Asus A7N8X-X($59.00)
Sempron 2000+ ($49.00) Or just the processor of choice
like a XP2800 which I have and like.
512Meg Crucial RAM ($80)
No Floppy
Flash Card READER ($30) (Optional)
CD/RW/DVDROM ($41.00)
ATI Radeon 9000 ($49.00)(I have one of these) (Mine is Sapphire) Alternative 9200 or 9600

Just look at the Bulding Guide for low-end system.

 

[addragyn]

if the cam is firewire she could just take it to an apple store and plug it in and go. they actually encourage this.