!@#!$%* Arghhh ,,,,,,Need Help in for a New System?

5 replies [Last post]
7-11
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Joined: May 29 2001

Hi All

Can all you fine people on this great board give me some sound (DV Capture)advice??? As you might guess a NewBee on the Scene!

Need to Get a new system (PC) but would like to get in to DV Editing!!!! but budget is a concern as Iam now out of work! but would love do some of this type of work to learn perhaps a different trade?? ....but back to the system...

Looking at Capture card Pinicale Liquid or a Canapus Storm ??? well??? a stupid coment already?
there are some PC boxes called ICE cube I think any good or just hype??? they say isdeal fo AV stuff or a normal tower case?

What CPU ? dual? HT? P4? AMD?
MOBO?? ASUS??
RAM?? type???
HD ??? two??? 120g??? each
DVD Writer -/+ R/RW ??? Sony???
Power Supply watts??
NetWork Card?
Sound Card?
Single ??? Twin LCD monitors??? 19"???
Liquid is a Vid Card??
or Premier Pro v 1.5 with Storm or can you still use this with Pinicale Liquid Card?
After Effects??
etc etc etc.......

Do you recomed building it yourself?

Please Help?

Thanks

7-11

Alan Roberts
Alan Roberts's picture
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Joined: May 3 1999

Are you aware that an XP PC probably already has capture and editing built in? Firewire ports are standard issue on laptops, and a generic OHCI firewire card can't cost more than £25 for a desk-top these days. XP has (not very nice, but functional) video editing in the OS. It's a good way to start.

Get my test cards document, and cards for 625, 525, 720 and 1080. Thanks to Gavin Gration for hosting them.
Camera settings documents are held by Daniel Browning and at the EBU
My book, 'Circles of Confusion' is available here.
Also EBU Tech.3335 tells how to test cameras, and R.118 tells how to use the results.

amukidi
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Joined: May 22 2003

"Do you recomed building it yourself?"

For what its worth, unless you really know what you are doing, and understand all the potential compatibility issues (and trust me, there's a few!!), then do not build it yourself. I did it once with the help of someone who knew a bit, total nightmare if you've got a brand new PC that you can't trust. There are plenty of cheap, powerfull machines about, off the shelf with a years guarantee - ok, they're not the cutting edge, but believe me they'll do the job.
This way you can concentrate on what's actually important - the quality of your shots and camera work. Blimey, can you imagine a load of cabinet makers meeting up, and never stop talking about chisels?

Sinclair ZX80, Prinz super-8 movie-cam, Microvitec Cub monitor.

7-11
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Joined: May 29 2001

>> Alan Roberts

XP Pro has Vid Capture ??? friend has a loptop with a very small Firewire socket connection??

Can I try this? from a Sony DCR - PC3E PAL ? to capture with Premier?

Thanks

7-11

neilw
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Joined: Sep 20 2001

I had the same query about two years ago and decided to buy a built system from Planet PC in Bradford. Found them very knowledgeable and touch wood the system has been great upto now. I went for the Matrox 2500, now rt i believe. Premier is a great place to start if the budget allows - and gives you all the tools you'll need to get started.

Good luck

plettner
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Joined: Sep 6 1999
Quote:
Originally posted by 7-11:
>> Alan Roberts

XP Pro has Vid Capture ??? friend has a loptop with a very small Firewire socket connection??

Can I try this? from a Sony DCR - PC3E PAL ? to capture with Premier?

Thanks

7-11

The smaller socket you see is a 4 pin FireWire socket (used mainly for portable devices such as cameras and laptops). You just need to check the FireWire socket on the camera (PC3 should have a 4 pin Firewire) and then head to the local computer shop and get a 4 pin --> 4 pin cable. When you get home, plug in the cable to the camera's Firewire socket and then to the laptop. Fire up the laptop and camera. Windows XP should then see a new IEE1394 deivce under Computer Management. Now start Prem. and I don't use Premiere so much these days so I can't guide you through its capture process.

At the very least you can start using Movie Maker to gain a feel for basic capturing and camera control.