HD Video editing, how to build the best PC to edit vid

[Jimmyfro5]

Hi!
Newbie here. I have a Dell Inspiron with 12g RAM, but dell doesn't let user dedicate enough ram to video card. What specs gear capacity do u reccomended when building a PC for fast responsive video editing? I use video wave and Sony Vegas. Even with 12gig ram I can't preview edits in real time; it studders freezes while audio plays.

[ManiKz]

You'll want a PC with a decent CPU to be able to edit without a problem in Vegas. Rendering/encoding on the CPU will give better results than rendering/encoding on the GPU.

[smrpix]

The processor is far more important than the video card, you don't say what you have. If your media is stored on your system drive that also creates bottlenecks. The type of files you are editing is (I'm betting) the biggest culprit - you also haven't given any information about that.

Vegas itself is well-written for squeezing the maximum performance out of whatever hardware you have.

Lots of great information at videoguys.com. Check out their DIY section.

[Jimmyfro5]

Thanks for the reply. Nothing I'm currently using is working well, so I'm ok with starting from scratch. I use a Sony digital cam that captures at 1080i .mov files. I mix those with HD iPhone vids and render to wmv9 1080 videos.

[Cornucopia]

Vfr from the phones is part/much of the problem. Convert first to cfr intraframe intermediate files and you should notice much quicker responsiveness.

Scott

[Jimmyfro5]

Thank you Scott
You are talking a bit over my head with the cfr intra frame? Can you recommend a converter utility or dumb down that term? I can covert to WMV, AVI, etc.

[budwzr]

Scott's saying you need to decompress the source to achieve better playback.

In Vegas, you can Loop a section and it will gradually build up into a realtime display in the preview window. But the best solution is to decompress.

Try AviDemux to transcode.

Keep in mind, even if the source media is decompressed, if you add fX, it will slow down playback. At that time, a render will solve that. Vegas Pro has a "Render To New Track" function expressly to address that need.

Digital media has a much longer re-render cycle than the old tape/film systems. You need to build your project up like a pyramid. Use the Sony .MXF format to enable "Smart Rendering".

[PuzZLeR]

If we stick with just building a PC, and hardware, look into SSD drives. Working on a much faster drive reduces the "sticky" factor, and the editor's timeline/preview should move much more smoothly. Yes, SSD is indeed less unit storage for the price, but who cares? Your PC is a workstation, not your cabinet. You can always archive externally to (what is still known as) "regular HDD", or good optical media. (Yet, SSD prices have been dropping in recent years anyway.)

As per decompressing video, yes, another viable solution, and one that many professionals do. I personally would just use lossless formats if so, like HuffYUV, but others here may suggest better ideas.

And speaking of, what's happening to GoPro? Although not free, CineForm would have been a suggestion of mine to look into, but things have been changing drastically for them in recent years, and now they're not making it anymore?

(Then again HuffYUV is no longer developed either, and I still use it...)

[Jimmyfro5]

Thanks guys
What are the pre-decompressing steps? I remember training on sony vegas, and they recommended down-converting? and then restoring HD data to the source video after editing. Hi
I've been using Video Wave for years. I like many of it's tools and tricks, but it has always been slowww. I use a 64bit Dell Inspirion with 12gig ram and dual core processor. Maybe it's more than just defragged available hard drive space or video card efficiency/capacity. Can anyone recommend the best file type for editing 1080 HD video? My sony captures AVCHD .mts video. I also use iphone .mov files and mix them in my production.
1. Should I pre-convert video to X format before editing?
2. Does anyone recommend down-converting or decompressing before editing, and then restoring HD video data after rendering?
Thanks in advance.

[budwzr]

Can anyone recommend the best file type for editing 1080 HD video?

Yeah, Vegas MXF. Thats Mpeg2, and enables SmartRender.

If you want to do proxy editing, yeah you can use lowres copies. Look for the proxy making tool in the top toolbar.