Upgrading my system for better video quality

[spyros]

I have p4 3.2 64x Intel
3 Gb Ram
Graphic Card: Nvidia GeForce 6600 256 MB


I have made a clip in After Effects with Photos, Videos and some animation, I also I have used Adobe Premier Pro 1.5.
The quality that I get is not very good.
I am wondering if I bye a Video Card like Pinacle if I will have better quality?
I want to upgrade my computer but I don’t know what upgrade I have to do to increase the quality of my video.
I don’t want super quality like DVD movies but something in between.


Thank you

[thecoalman]

What is your source? what is the destination? what is....???


There's many things you can do to improve quality, a new video card is not it though unless you're rendering 3-D aniamtions or it has VIVO and you're using it for capture.

[greymalkin]

yes, you definitely need to upgrade your computer. send me that old crusty hardware you have...:P.

[smearbrick1]

I don't think your PC is the problem. Besides, if you aren't looking for DVD quality, what are you looking for? I'd imagine it's your monitor. Most people (who aren't all that savvy) are using cheap flat panel monitors which are great for surfing and general use, but suck when it comes to photo work and video work. If this is your problem, you may want to look into a quality CRT monitor. The picture quality is almost always better on CRT as compared to a flat panel (unless of course you want to spend over a grand on a flat panel.).

[spyros]

I do have CRT monitor.
I want to improve the rendering in After Effects and in Premier.
The video material that I use in my clip I have it in digital form. So I want a card that will render or export my project in DVD quality.
Please send me more details about the upgrade that you suggested me.
I have visited a Production Company witch produces professional video clips, and an employer told me that they use a video card of Matrox and it cost 8000$.
I want something cheaper that will provide me with better video quality.
Thank you

[spyros]

If the video card is not providing me with a better quality what can I do?
No I don’t use any 3d animation on my clip
I am new please help me !
Thank you

[thecoalman]

I have visited a Production Company witch produces professional video clips, and an employer told me that they use a video card of Matrox and it cost 8000$.

Those differe from your average video card and allow for real time encoding. That may help for quality if the onboard encoder is better than the one you are using now. More importantly they can encode real time so you can preview edited clips immediately. The point I'm trying to make is this. If you already have a digital source you can expect your DVD's to have simailr quality using a decent software encoder.


I've been looking into purchasing one myself, not to improve quality but for real time editing.

[d_unbeliever]

your hardwares are not the problem, maybe you need to improve your skill in using the softwares. search for tutorials of adobe products...
btw, if you don't have a place to throw those old hardwares of yours just give them to me
kidding aside i think your present hardwares are good enough...

[rallynavvie]

Yeah, your hardware only makes the work go quicker, it doesn't affect the quality because you're using software to do the work. And with how fast systems are these days you don't need a dedicated NLE with all the expensive hardware in order to do even HD quality work.

You need to get intimately familiar with the output settings in AE and Premiere. Those are professional apps so there are TONS of tweaks you can do to the output. The high-bitrate DVD MPEG2 output is plenty good for DVDs as long as your source is DV or better. If you're trying to edit and re-encode DivX or somesuch you're pretty much SOL since those are highly-compressed formats.

Anything that you didn't shoot yourself with a DV camcorder or isn't on a DV tape would also probably fall into that "utter rubbish quality" source too. Even cheapie DV camcorders don't look all that hot. A good 3 CCD camera is needed for the really good source video. So I guess in that respect having better hardware is better

[sitlet]

^^^ good post.

and plus, if you are editing dv (720x480), which most people do, that resolution is meant for a tv screen, not a computer screen. your computer screen probably has a resolution of 1024x768 or greater, so video is not going to look good on your computer unless the resolution meets or exceeds that. but when you watch it on your tv, it should look pretty good.

but of course, this is all speculation, because you have not provided us with any info. what is your video source, what settings are you using, what is your output destination?

[guns1inger]

Post some examples of the 'problem' clips and you might get some specific tips