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Does downloading and editing from a camcorder require very large resources? If the processor is 2.8GB or 3GB Intel P4 or AMD 3.0GB with 7200 rpm HDD and 128MB Radeon card is 512MB PC3200 400mhz dual channel RAM enough or should we be looking at 1GB? My husband needs to keep the cost down of a new computer I am helping him configure online.
Depends if you intend to change what format the video is going to. Like if it comes off the cam in avi and you plan to convert to mpeg or the other way around . What you have is likely fine it should do it fairly nicely with possibly an addition of 512 of ram later. Also which Radeon card?
My husband knows absolutely nothing about video editing and I do not know much but he wants to buy a camcorder and a decent computer and he has a budget which I am trying to keep to at the same time as giving him the computer he wants. I am quite worried as he knows very little about computing and has been using Millenium for the past few years and has never used a digital still camera although. He gets lost in the simplest photo editing software and has no patience with reading the books. So I do not know what he will be doing but I bet I will be constantly rescuing him as I do now! I do know that he hopes to film steam railway and old bus rallies plus our Cat.
The Radeon card has to be the cheapest 128MB one.
Well thats likely the Radeon 9250 then. Seems to me the lesser one 7000 isnt avaliable in 128 only 64 megs. You may want ot have em try the video program in windows XP called movie maker. He will do a lot better in XP thats a given at least.
Resources or the lack of just increase the time it takes to render the finished video. Pinnacle or movie maker are pretty easy to use. What you do need is scads of hard drive space. Pinnacle does some compression on the captured video - means that 7 minutes produces a 1.5 gigabyte file... this you then edit and render down into DVD format to get 1 to 2 hours on a single sided single layer (4.7gb) dvd.
If he is willing to learn, what I did with my father is showed him every step, and at each step made him write down what he did in his own words. The next day we tested those words to see if he could follow them - he could. He now happily captures and edits his own video with pinnacle.
Have you cosidered a video camera that writes straight to DVDR and plays back on a standard DVD player [that is compliant with that format]?
an example would be the Sony DCR-DVD91
http://www.dealtime.com/xPF-Sony_Cam...ttery_NP_QM91D
The card is 128MB DDR ATI RADEON X300SE PCI EXPRESS or might upgrade to 128MB NVIDIA 6600 if the extra thirty quid justifies it.
My husband has learning difficulties and even as a trained teacher I cannot push him too far. Because of his various illnesses and present disabilities, two cardiac arrests, the drugs he is on and his pain he is unable to concentrate for long and also forgets very easily. He even finds navigating Windows and finding his files hard and is quite freaked out about having to learn XP. I have got him a graphic book from the Library which he says will help when the computer comes but he cannot relate to the content now. Many years ago before he was ill he was streets ahead of me and was programming Spekky stuff. BTW he cannot write now, only enough to sign cheques etc. and can just about move his mouse and hit one key at a time. I have to keep things as simple as I can so Archer thanks for the suggestion about considering a video camera that writes straight to DVDR and plays back on a standard DVD player which he has. That seems to solve the problem and I need not order a bigger computer than he needs. Does he still need a firewire card?
He needs to find a camcorder that he can handle easily because he has nearly lost the use of his hands so I think I am going to have to visit Jessops with him to try them out, then make an excuse and buy online where I bought my new Fuji E500 digital camera because Jessops are expensive. I had it demonstrated at Jessops but bought if fifty quid cheaper at http://www.internetcamerasdirect.co.uk/
Hi Morselady it looks like your poor husband has a difficult time ahead of him he is lucky to have a very understanding and loving wife :thumbs:
Given all that you have said I see great difficulty for him in using a video camera as they require a degree of dexterity and understanding for even some of the simplest features this said I hope you do find a model which suits your needs.If you dont mind me asking what uses are you expecting to make of the camera?
Thanks for your kind words Archer. I am afraid my husband spends much of his time sitting in front of his portable TV watching videos and DVDs and his great love is steam railways. We are lucky enough to live right on the main line to North Yorkshire etc and he has visited there and wants to go again and to one or two other accessible preserved railways and take a camcorder. He wants to do this himself and despite his problems he is very stubborn about wanting to do what he can.
I will also be using the camcorder to film our cat and my walks to places my husband cannot go like the bluebell wood and the valley but it will be his and will have to suit him first.
If the camera writes directly to dvd, then if the new computer has a dvd drive, you can rip straight from the dvd if you wanted to edit something. Firewire though is always useful... it's not just for dv capture. If you can afford it, then get one to save having to add it later. This then would give you the option of being able to use anyone's dv camera and make a copy of the pictures for yourself.
DV cameras are small and fiddly, if he is stubborn enough he will find a way around it. PS anything higher than a radeon 7000 will do fine for video processing...the best video cards have hardware mpeg2 encoder/decoders, but as I say, this only speeds up the rendering process and I don't think time is an issue... or is it?
Thanks Noo. The card will be either a 128MB Radeon X300SE or the 256MB X600 or possibly a 256MB Nvidia card, this last option is my preferred one. I have quotes for computers saved at Evesham, Dell and Watford all around the same price and favour Evesham. I am just trying to decide if he really needs lGB of memory or if I can save him fifty quid by ordering 512MB. I have asked him if he multitasks and he said no and says he never has more than three windows open at once and usually only one. So my favoured lineup is
3GB P4,160GB HDD which I shall partition for him so he has a large data drive, 128 Radeon or 256 Nvidia as they are nearly the same price, 512MB RAM and dual optical drives one CDRW the other multi layer DVDR/RW, Firewire, Floppy, Modem. Networking is onboard as is 7.1 surround sound so no need for a sound card as my husband plays his computer through a hi fi amp anyway.
Regarding time being an issue yes and no. He has all day but on the other hand he gets very annoyed if he is kept waiting and I am sure having spent over £700 on the new computer will expect appropriate results but I will try and explain that some processes do take time.
Then I will see if we can find a camcorder he can use and I have told him they are small and he might find it difficult to use but he still wants one.
As hes going to be doing a lot of multimedia work Morselady Id go for the IGB it will improve the processing speed no end as video editing eats memory.
My husband has now ordered his new computer from Evesham and is very happy with the spec below
3GB P4,160GB HDD, 128 Radeon X300SE, 1GB RAM and dual optical drives one CDRW the other multi layer DVDR/RW, Firewire, Floppy, Modem. Networking is onboard as is 7.1 surround sound no need for a sound card as he plays his computer through a hi fi amp. Works 8 and XP home. I am giving him my present 17" digital CRT monitor because I want a new one when I order my new PC.
Should be fun, he is insisting that he sets it up without my help as he says it's his computer. Doesn't he know how much I could charge for my services and how lucky he is to have a geek in the house :devil:
Thansk All.
Hey you mean he's expecting it to work? What fun is that? :D
Well thats one new customer now all you need to do is work out how much a call out fee is going to cost him :D