[thelist] Advice on video editing
Shawn K. Quinn
skquinn at speakeasy.net
Tue Dec 7 09:53:34 CST 2004
On Tuesday 2004 December 07 08:15, Brooking, John wrote:
> Hi, all,
>
> Hope this isn't off-topic. (Video editing produces output that can
> be posted to websites, eh? ;-) ) My sister is interested in getting
> some video editing software for her husband for Christmas, and asked
> me for some advice because I "know about computers".
Quick aside here: I encounter this mentality and is a huge irritant.
Because I am known as the computer geek, I'm expected to know how to
program every model of VCR and TV by other people in the family. I have
taken to asking for the owner's manual, sometimes just to stall for
time, sometimes because I actually don't know how!
Same with computers; I quit running Windows on my PCs a couple years ago
now, and people seem to think "computer expert" implies "Windows
expert" (it does not).
> Of course, I know nothing about video editing; I don't even own a
> camcorder. thought maybe some here might have some quick thoughts. The
> situation is that her husband owns a Sony Digital Handycam and a Dell
> 4600 Series, but he's not a video professional, so I'm assuming this
> will be mostly for home use.
This is a good assumption. Generally "professional" camcorders cost
$2000 or more.
> First, software. She's seen reviews for Pinnacle Studio 9, ULead
> VideoStudio 8, and Roxio Easy Media Creator 7. Anyone had experience
> with these, and can recommend them? Or any other recommendations?
I will tell you I had some really bad experience with one of Pinnacle's
older offerings. No idea about the others.
This is not really a recommendation, but I personally use Kino on Debian
GNU/Linux.
> Also, neither of us are certain about connection the camera to the
> PC. I did a little reading on "Firewire", which my sister saw
> referenced somewhere, and also on MemoryStick technology, which Sony
> mentions on its product description for the camera. Are either/both
> of these technologies involved in interfacing the camera and the PC?
Memory Stick is a storage medium for still photos and perhaps short
clips. "Firewire" is an Apple trademark for IEEE 1394 and that would be
the connection technology.
> Probably the PC doesn't have an interface for either of them already,
> so I'm assuming that a card of some sort will have to be bought for
> whatever technology the camera requires?
Some new PCs might have a 1394 port. It will probably be next to the USB
connectors if it does. If not, 1394 cards are pretty cheap.
It might be a good time to buy a separate hard drive just for holding
the video for editing. Five minutes of DV format video takes up a
gigabyte, so that's 12 gigabytes for a full hour-long tape.
--
Shawn K. Quinn
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