Some questions from a new video capture user who has done some research BEFORE posting here ...

Hello,

This may be a long post but I need to get as much helpful information
as I can before I do anything more.

I know nothing about video editing but I was given the task to make a
weekly video for our church that is going on public access tv. So I
looked on the net and read product reviews but they really have messed
me up.

This is because the reviewers often say one thing is great (see
anything by ZD) then when you read what the actual users post after,
they all hate it. (Pinnacle for example.) I almost bought one before
reading all of the negatives about it.

So here are the facts of my situation ...

When we shoot the video, we will have 2 small DV video cameras; one
with an open mic and one with a wireless mic that goes into the
camera. I plan on firewiring the content of each weekly sermon into
the computer and then adding short edits here and there. IS this
smart? And how hard is it? Remember, I am clueless adn want something
pretty simple yet stable.

We have an HP M260 n Mediacenter computer (2.6 mhz, 512 mg ram, 120 gb
HD, windows xp). Inside it are these;

- nvidia geforge mx 440 agp graphics card w/64 ddr video memory
- windows movie maker
- windvd 4.5
- arcsoft showbiz dvd video editing software
- sonic mydvd home video recording software

Are these any good? Is showbiz even worth using or should I buy a
better package? Same with mydvd?

And if not, what should I do next? Should I take out the video and
sound boards? If so, I will need to change them but don't want to
spend too much money. What are good low end internal video boards?

ATI all-in-wonder 9200 is one that seems ok.

Or should I go with an external setup like:

Pinnacle DV Movie Box
Canopus Advc-100
Pinnacle dv 500 plus breakout box

I have heard bad things about each of these but could someone use
these external hardware devices and then just use a different software
program?

And what about a good software program?

Adobe Premiere 7.0
Pinnacle Studio 8.0

The pros and cons of each would be nice. I have done a lot of research
but I am even more confused with all the advice NOT on this group.
Everyone either likes or dislikes every major board or program out
there and no one item has overwhelming positives on it. (maybe
canopus) Hopefully, you will set me straight and what you all
recommend, I will do. Even if it means installing a new video board or
a new external box setup and all new software.

So if you had my computer what would you do? What would you use? What
would you take out and replace to make it good?

Thanks,

Terry

 

Terry,

It seems to me that you should go for some pretty competent equipment as you
will have to do multi-camera editing. This will take some time of learning
and training before you can master editing and at the same time have control
over maintaining synchronization between picture and audio.

Software: My preferable editor is Canopus Edius and I am also used to Adobe
Premiere Pro after working with Premiere from version 4.2. Windows XP is
fine. Moviemaker in Windows is not enough for this.

Hardware: I am not familiar with the PC you mention but you must definitely
get one or two additonal harddiscs spinning at 7200rpm or more. 120Gb is a
good size to go for. These discs should only be used for video data and for
scratch files. All system-, program- and private data should preferably be
kept on your main disc - the one you have now.
Your RAM is a bit low and it is advisable to increase it to 512 or 1 Gb.
This is good if you want to take advantage of the RT performance of Edius or
Premiere Pro.

I use a Canopus DV Storm2 myself which brings very good RT performance. The
Canopus Advc 100 is a very good piece of equipment I have read and it also
gives you access to the Canopus DV codec. If you go for Pinnacle 500 you
will not be able to use Premiere Pro because Pinnacle has stopped updating
the required plugins for Premiere after version 6.5. Otherwise both Pinnacle
500 and DV Storm has both analog and digital in- and output. DV Storm has
even DV out in RT.

If you go for an IEEE1394 card you will not have a lot of RT in Edius and I
am unsure how RT is in Premiere Pro.

One thing you always have to check is whether your PC motherboard and its
chipset is compatible with your capture card. You can get this information
from the usergroups or the vendor´s homepage. This is very important!

If you want to put your final video on DVD you are in for another learning
time before you can manage that but I guess that is a later story.

Finally - any editor you choose capable of what I expect you want to do has
a fairly steep learning curve but once you are familiar with it you can
produce very good professional like video.

Good luck!

Peter

 

If it were me I would start with whatever requirements the TV studio
has for audio & video format and media. Then work backwards from
there. It is likely that they can work with a large range of input, but are
setup and most comfortable with only a few.

Luck;
Ken

 

Terry:

My comments on your post, which was not really too long, seems like you have
done some homework:

"product reviews" - A wealth of information of all types if you haven't
already discovered these sites:

http://www.videohelp.com/
http://www.camcorderinfo.com/
http://videoguys.com/

"windows movie maker" - It's already on your system, play with it. I was
impressed. You may not use it for your final products, but it can't be beat
for cost and ability to create simple videos.

"Should I take out the video and sound boards?" - No. Not unless you really
have to for an absolute known problem or absolute necessity. Save your
money and reduce you chances of creating more problems. You have too many
things to work on as it is. My two systems have NVIDIA video cards.

"Pinnacle DV Movie Box" "Canopus Advc-100" "Pinnacle dv 500 plus breakout
box" - Unless things change drastically, I would and will eventually go
Canopus.

"Everyone either likes or dislikes every" - Yep. My theory: If I can
complete my project in Movie Maker which is free and cannot get Adobe
Premiere or Pinnacle Studio to run on my system, then Movie Maker is the
best. Also perhaps the products which sell 10 times as many products might
also have 10 times as many complaints.

"what would you do?" - I would start slow. You didn't mention how long
these taping sessions will be and how long the finished product will be. My
first digital video project at home was a slide presentation. It was an
experiment of what my home system could do. The 1 minute and 27 second
final product took me about 14 hours. I have had access to professional
equipment at work to just play with. You will encounter some obstacles in
your quest.

Good luck!

Rich

 

If it were me I would start with whatever requirements the TV studio

Ken

-----------

thanks,

great advice.

the tv studio is a public access and they take dvd, dv tape, hi 8,
svhs, the works.

but i think we are going to just burn the final copy onto a DVD+r and
store it.

and if you have any other advice about the software I would really
appreciate it.

that is where I want to have the most info as there are many different
opinions on them.

terry

 

(pete pack) wrote in message

The video card is sufficient for playback.
Windows Movie Maker is somewhat limited. Adobe Premiere is one of the
best applications for video editing, but also expensive.
WinDVD is just a DVD player, it doesn't capture video.
I cannot say if Arcsoft Showbiz or Sonic MyDVD are OK, I have not used
them. I have used Ulead DVD Movie Factory 2.0, which is pretty good.
I have also heard a lot of good things about other Ulead products,
too.

I am not sure about the latest ATI all-in-wonder card, but some of
those cards have problems with lagging sound and choppy video. I can
say for sure that the Canopus ADVC-100 or ADVC-50 are excellent for
capturing video. I have the ADVC-50 and it is flawless every time with
excellent quality. It will capture video and sound, and sends through
to a firewire card. You will still need software to handle the
capturing to file.

I can say for sure that a setup with the Canopus ADVC-50 and Premiere
6.5 works flawlessly. I'm sure there are other combinations that
others can provide, too.