how do you configure your pc for video editing?

liam421

Hi there,
I'm new to the forum and am looking for some help in setting up my pc for video editing.

I have in the last few months bought software (power director 9), and a camera (panasonic HDC-HS700).
I have used both to produce dvd's and avi files from family holidays etc.

I used the program a couple of times then it became unresponsive and was hanging all the time and so I uninstalled it. I don't want to reinstall it till I have done a bit more research as to how to optimise my system to run for video editing. So I guess I'm looking for someone with experience for ideas to improve performance and let me know if I've missed something.


My pc specs are.

<<< System Summary >>>
> Mainboard : Dell 0T568R
> Chipset : Intel P55
> Processor : Intel Core i7 860 @ 2800MHz
> Physical Memory : 6144MB
> Video Card : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260
> Hard Disk : ARRAY0 (1933GB)
> Hard Disk : ARRAY1 (68GB)
> Hard Disk : SAMSUNG HM641JI (640GB)
> DVD-Rom Drive : Optiarc DVD+-RW AD-7230S
> Monitor Type : Dell Computer DELL ST2310 - 23 inches
> Operating System : Windows 7 Home Premium Home Edition Media Center 6.01.7601 Service Pack 1 (64-bit)
> DirectX : Version 11.00
> Windows Performance Index : 5.9 on 7.9.

Looking forward to your replies.

All the best,

Liam

reece

nice spec. Buy premiere pro cs5 - optimised for 64bit machines. You won't look back

liam421

Thanks reece for your reply.

I guess I should say straight up I'm an amature enthusiast.
The PD9 software I downloaded is also optimised for a 64 bit system.
I don't believe I'd pay over a grand for the adobe premiere pro cs5 editing software at the moment.
At some stage I may make that leap forward but not now.

If you have any tips as to how you configured your systems hardware for editing I'd be really interested as to know what you did and why.

Thanks again reece,

Liam.

moomooman

I've used Cyberlink Power director a bit and honestly didnt warm to it, though I found their power producer software to be great.

I've tried so many free video editing programs and most were little or no use, but a co worker had advised me to try "Sony Vegas Movie Studio", so here I am passing on that tip.

I've been reading some reviews and it sounds like an all encompassing package.

I dont think there is anything special you need to do with your PC.

lastlaugh

Hi Liam,


First off I would change the display of Windows 7, it looks pretty but it drains resources.

1. Open Performance Information and Tools by clicking the Start button and then clicking Control Panel. In the search box, type Performance Information and Tools, and then, in the list of results, click Performance Information and Tools.
2. Click Adjust visual effects. If you're prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
3. Click the Visual Effects tab, click Adjust for best performance, and then click OK. (For a less drastic option, select Let Windows choose what’s best for my computer.)

There's also a few tips in the below link regarding killing off some services that may be running at start up but are not necessary and end up hogging resources. Be careful with these though.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/172351-2/optimize_your_windows_7_pc.html

liam421

Thanks all for your suggestions.

I have tried the demo version of sony vegas and thought it was very good. I went for power director 9 because a person who uses the same camera as mine found it easy to use.

Thanks for the link to the pcworld article, a lot of tips there so I'll have to do some reading.
Apart from shutting down non essential programs that use system resources are there other things I could do?

Thanks again for responding folks,

Take it easy,

Liam

lastlaugh

Hi Liam,

Your system's specs match what is required for Power Director 9 so I don't know if you can do anything else.

More RAM would help if you are doing intensive editing but I would say that the 6gig you have already would suffice.

Cheers.

Fionn

very similar to what i have running (Dell Studio XPS), although i have 8 Gb of RAM - it's like money you can never have enough!!


Also have two 1 terabyte disks - one in a HD enclosure and the other along with some smaller disks in an all in one HD Docking rig - not much probs with scratch disks.
I do have the luxury of a 30" LG Flatron, thats a dream to work on - it's great to work on anything from Vector Drawing apps to Photoshop to Video Editing!


Black Viper is a good site for optomising windows - i've used it in the past on XP and Vista machines.

good luck with the editing.

liam421

Thanks for the response lads,

Have gotten the system up an running editing small files all seems to be going fine at the moment with no negative issues.

Software seems to be running well. PC seems to be capable of handling the job.

I'll report back when I get some longer files into the editor.

I'll also have a look at black viper and see what else i can learn.

Thanks to all for the help,

Liam.:)

ScumLord

How big are the files your working with? It may help to cut them into smaller chunks before bringing them into the editing program. HD video eats resources.

liam421

Well ScumLord,

Thanks for the reply.

Typically the files are in or around 100 to 500 mb of AVCHD Video.

For example, a folder containing the files of my son learning to cycle his bike has 99 files, all pretty short in length time wise.

This would total 3.55 GB on the hard drive and that's what I'm gonna edit next.
I'm busy for a while so I'll let you know how I get on and if I have to split them in to chunks and how the system performs.

All the best,

Liam

ScumLord

Looking at some of my video they're between 40mb and 2gb. Even a lot of 40mb files can eat up resources. I have 16gb of ram and it's all used at times when editing in première, although that's off the top of my head it may include an open after effects project.