Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (
More info?)
Dipu wrote:
> "Tiny Tim" <_tim_dodd@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:<jAiqc.5581$NK4.553963@stones.force9.net>...
>>
>> I have been editing photos and home DV successfully for the last
>> three years using ......
>>
>> Dell Inspiron 8000 laptop with Pentium III 900 processor
>> 512MB RAM
>> 30GB 5,400 rpm disk
>> 32MB nVidia Geforce2go video card
>> Win XP Pro (Win Me initially)
>> Firewire port for capture and replay.
>> DVD ROM
>> CD/RW
>
>
> Thanks a lot for your comments. I have a couple of questions:
>
> 1. What is the impact of the video card brand/memory on video editing.
> I know it is important for 3D games but not sure what it implies for
> video editing.
> 2. Do I need to have to Firewire port or the DVD burner built into the
> laptop? Can I add them as add ons later? I am more used to adding
> interface card to desktops. I am not sure how that works in laptops.
> 3. How do you compress the video for 700 MB CDs? Is it in VCD format?
> What tools do you use?
>
> Thanks.
>
> -Dipu
As I understand it (and I'm happy to be corrected).....
1. The video card is really not an issue for DV editing as it is not used to
generate complicated lighting/shadow/texture/fog effects, anti-aliasing etc.
etc in real time. All the work is done in the editing software and it is the
CPU that gets loaded with the job of creating your edited output. Thus a
fast CPU would be useful!! Having said that, I used to use MGI Videowave,
which had a number of usability faults in V4 release (like no timeline!),
but had a neat feature called "smart rendering" or something like that. This
basically meant that when you were just cutting and splicing sections of DV
without actually adding effects or changing the audio then there were no
calculations required and no rendering. The software just extracted the
relevant bits from the file source file(s) and joined them together for
final output. In this situation the limiting factor was disk speed (would be
aided by having separate disks for source and target data). However, other
software, like Microsoft Movie Maker 2, seems to insist on re-endering every
single frame, whether it has been edited or not. This approach is painfully
slow with my little PIII 900.
Remember that for games playing the video frames must be calculated for
display in real time, and at high enough frame rates to make the video
watchable. With video editing, unless you want to see the effects of video
generated in real time for instant viewing (you need a dedicated custom
video capture/rendering card for that (I think)) then there is no need for
out and out video performance. Even if the editing process only generates
one frame per second (unwatchable) it will nonetheless eventually yield the
final edited file that can then be played back/watched in real time after it
is generated.
2. You don't need them to be built in, as both can be added through PCMCIA
andor USB 2 adapters, but it keeps things much neater and avoids hardware
conflicts/incompatibilities if the laptop already comes with them. I believe
that in some cases USB2 is replacing Firewire for capture and newer
camcorders have USB2 connections (I don't know whether that is instead of or
in addition to Firewire).
I use my laptop on the coffee table in the living room and do not have a
dedicated "workstation" area. Thus it is bad enough to have a power lead.
Adding a cable to connect the fully charged camcorder is an acceptable
constraint but I would not want wires and power supplies all over the place
on my coffee table. Apart from that it is probably cheaper to buy a laptop
with the features built in than to add them separately at a later date.
3. I don't bother compressing video for CD. I've tried VCD and that is just
unwatchable - pixelated beyond belief when watching on a TV screen. I've
also tried SVCD but I'm also unhappy with that as well. It's nearly bearable
but you only get about 20 minutes on a CD and it isn;t quite good enough
IMHO to bother. I guess DIVX would give good results as it certainly does
with DVD rips but having read up on the subject it looks to be a very drawn
out process and I simply couldn't be bothered. It would be far easier (and
better quality and more compatible) to burn to DVD instead of CD.
Up till now I have saved all my final cuts to s-VHS tape for easy home
viewing. Once I get a DVD burner then I shall re-capture from s-VHS and burn
to DVD and will obviously master to DVD in the future.
I would add that I only do DV editing occasionally, of home movies, and only
for basic titles and cut/splice so I can get away with the system I have. If
I was doing this professionally or frequently or adding lots of effects
then I would need a lot more disk space and a much faster processor. Indeed,
if that was the case I would probably abandon the laptop idea and have a
proper workspace and a PC more suited to the task with some big fat 7,200
rpm drives and an Athlon XP 64 or P4 3.0GHz+ processor etc. etc. I could
then have a lower spec laptop that would be fine for mobile internet, email
and Word/Excel.
HTH,
Tim.
I think I will be mostly doing simple frame
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