Pixiq

When you are considering computer needs, it helps to break the hardware up into a few parts: the central processing unit (CPU), memory (RAM), storage, monitoring, and input/output (I/O).

CPU: Here, faster is better. There are two main specifications for computing chips: their speed in gigahertz (GHz) and the number of “cores.” Generally speaking, a higher number in GHz means a faster processor. For most computer systems, you can just look at processor speed. The second specification is how many cores a CPU has. Think of a core as a small CPU (or a small computer). CPUs have dual cores, quad cores, and eight cores (and probably by the time you finish reading this there will be 16 core chips). More and more applications being produced are multi-core aware and can speed up processing time by sending work to each core. Look for a multi-core processor with a speed of at least 2GHz. Macs now use the Intel processor that is popular in Windows machines. This is important to know because some new codecs and applications require Intel processors, a trend that will most likely continue in the future.

RAM: While you don’t need the kind of RAM that Photoshop requires as far as “scratch memory,” you still need to have enough memory to keep things running smoothly— usually this means around 2GB. Be sure to check the recommendations for your computer to see how the memory slots should be populated.

Storage: Storage is a critical factor for editing HD video. While still images are large, you generally work on only one at a time. With video, the computer is handling multiple images for each clip. Add in the fact that you are working on several clips at once in an edit, and storage quickly becomes an issue. To give you an idea of how big the files might be, consider that—depending on the editing codec used—one hour of footage might take up 12 to 60GB of storage. The storage also needs to be fast. The disc system needs to be able to serve up the frames of video fast enough (30 or 60 fps) to present your movie. If it can’t keep up you’ll drop frames and your video will stutter.

One way of speeding up storage is to use hard drives that spin faster. This way they can quickly find and access the data. Look for hard drives that spin at speeds of 5400 and 7200 revolutions per minute (rpm) and more. For video editing, try to keep to 7200 rpm or you’ll soon have playback with dropped frames. A second way of speeding up storage is to combine multiple drives so that they act as one. This is like adding more lanes to a highway, more cars can get where they need to go. This type of high-speed storage is called RAID. Professionals will use RAID systems to achieve this larger data stream, but it can be expensive and complicated to maintain. Fortunately, hard drive capacity has gone up while prices have come down. The best way to add storage to your setup is to use external drives. Using an external drive versus installing a drive into your computer allows you to quickly and easily add more storage by connecting a cable. USB is ubiquitous but offers slightly slower data transfer rates than FireWire. You also have to make sure there is nothing on the USB bus that could slow down the transfer speed. FireWire is standard on most Mac computers but needs to be added to some Windows machines. There are two speeds of FireWire, 400 and 800. If possible try and use a FireWire 800 connection to get better data rates when editing your video. This can help prevent the video from stuttering.

Video Monitoring: In order to edit video, you need to monitor the playback properly. This can be done on the same monitor as the one you edit from, or it can be done on a second monitor. A graphics or video card installed in the computer drives the computer monitor. You don’t need the latest, greatest graphics or video card; leave those to the computer gamers. The graphics cards won’t be doing much processing of video, so they don’t need huge amounts of memory either. You only need to ensure that the video card is able to drive your computer monitor at a resolution the monitor is capable of displaying. Also, if you want to use two monitors, you’ll need to make sure the card can handle two monitors. Audio Monitoring: While most computers come with audio cards that can handle video/ audio editing, the speakers often leave much to be desired. When editing, you should be able to monitor the audio and adjust the mix for proper levels. Hence, external speakers are a must. You can use headphones, but unless that is how your final video will be heard, it won’t be the same experience that your audience will hear. You don’t need a full surround sound theater system, but you should look for quality speakers that can produce a full spectrum of sounds.

Input/Output (I/O): At the end of your edit you will output your video, so you need to make sure you have the hardware to do that. If your main output is the web, then a broadband Internet connection is all you need. If you use a tape-based camcorder, you’ll need some way to capture, or ingest, the tape. The camcorder will come with either a USB or FireWire connection, so make sure you have the appropriate port available on your computer. If your camera records to a memory card, you’ll want to have a memory card reader that supports SDHC. If you are using the UDMA version of CompactFlash cards, consider using UDMA-enabled readers. While a non-UDMA reader will work, using UDMA readers allow you to use higher transfer speeds. DVD optical discs are another output option. However, the DVD-Video format—used for movies and typically played in a DVD player attached to your TV set—does not support HD video. You can convert the HD video to standard definition with a widescreen aspect ratio, but you will lose resolution. Blu-ray is the current optical disc technology that plays HD video. A single layer disc holds about 25GB (compared to 4.9GB of DVD).

Some editing applications come with modules that let you create Blu-ray discs. If the editing program you use doesn’t create Blu-ray discs, there are third party applications—like Roxio Toast 10 for Mac or Roxio Creator 2010 for Windows—that enable you to author and burn discs. Make sure that your computer has a Bluray burner in order to write to the discs. You can buy external Blu-ray disc burners that connect to your computer via USB or FireWire. If you use file-based recording (memory cards), Blu-ray is a good way to archive your footage.