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Video Edit Magic
v4.47
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Configuring your PC for Digital Video
Editing |
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The past decade has seen a revolution in the digital
world with faster processors,
bigger hard drives, and
large amounts of RAM
becoming commonplace due
to sharp price cuts.
These rapid strides in
PC technology, in
combination with
advanced editing
software like
Video
Edit Magic, have made it possible for anyone to create professional
looking digital video. |
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Video Editing is a resource hungry
activity. If you
have an older PC, or you
want the editing process
to be as enjoyable and
exciting as the finished
product, you should
consider updating your
PC to optimize it for
video editing. Before
starting on an upgrade
program, you might want
to consider some basic
advice. |
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Optimizing your PC for editing |
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Let the Professional
do it:
If you are not confident about upgrading and installing new hardware
yourself, call a professional. |
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Warranty issues:
If you bought a PC
recently,
check with
the
manufacturer
to see
whether
changing the
hardware
would affect
the
warranty. |
| 3. |
Useful documentation:
Go through all the documentation that came along with the PC, like
user
manuals
and installation guides. This might help you in deciding which components
need to be upgraded. |
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The first step in
digital video editing is
getting your video
footage into the PC. If you have a
tape-based camcorder or
an analog video camera,
you will need to convert the analog video to a digital
form which can be understood by the PC.
For this you may need
some or all of the
following equipment: |
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Video Capture Cards |
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Video
capture
cards
let you
record
from an
analog
camcorder,
VCR, or
DVD
player,
to the
computer's
hard
drive.
The
capture
card
digitizes
the
source
signal
(a TV
signal)
and
creates
a video
file for
playback
on the
PC.
The
quality
of the
video
depends
on the
video
capture
card, so
you
might
want to
get a
good
quality
capture
card
from a
reputed
manufacturer.
Many
video
adapters
for
newer
PCs
already
include
a TV-in
capability.
Also,
some
video
capture
equipment
is now
available
as an
external
device
that
connects
to the
computer
using
USB 2.0,
not an
internal
card.
All of
them
have the
same
function:
to take
TV
signals
and turn
them
into
files. |
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NOTE:
If you have a
FireWire connection on
both your camcorder and
PC then you do not need
a video capture card. |
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FireWire
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Almost all
recently-manufactured
camcorders
have a
FireWire
port (also
called IEEE
1394 or
iLINK).
The FireWire
port
connects
your
camcorder to
the PC.
Using
FireWire,
you can
carry out
high speed
data
transfer.
This is
ideal for
video, since
the signal
stays
digital
throughout
the transfer
without any
loss of
image
quality. |
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Storage space
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Digital Video can take
up a great deal of hard
disk space. One hour of
uncompressed (DV-AVI)
video can take 13
gigabytes (over 13,000
megabytes) of storage
space! If you're going
to do much video
editing, you will
definitely want extra
room for your video
files. Hard disk prices
have continued to drop
while their capacities
continue to increase, so
adding another drive is
more and more
affordable. |
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Dedicated storage space
for your video on a
secondary hard drive or
an external drive also
frees up space on the
system drive.
Filling the primary
drive can interfere with
Windows operations, so
this is an important
factor. You can
also
compress your video
files. |
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RAM
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One of the biggest resource shortfalls
when using an older PC
faces in video editing is during the rendering process. The rendering process
(which is
also
referred to
as
make movie
process) is
the final
step of a
video
editing,
when all
the source
files
(including
video,
audio,
effects,
transitions
etc.) are
combined
into a
single video
clip. You
can speed up
the
rendering
process, and
also improve
the overall
editing
experience,
by getting more RAM. |
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Display - Monitor and Video
card
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To enrich the editing
experience you may want
to use a higher quality
monitor. Important
factors when editing
video are the sharpness
of the image, and the
size of the monitor.
The Video Edit Magic
window has three
sub-windows, and
displays a lot of
information. A larger
monitor lets more
information show at one
time, makes the Preview
window clearer and more
useful, and lets more of
the Timeline fit onto
the screen at a
reasonable Zoom. Flat
panel monitors are
currently very popular,
due to a sharp decrease
in their cost.
They also consume less
power and take up less
space on your desk than
the older-style CRT
monitors. |
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The video card creates
the signals that control
the monitor—it's the way
the PC tells the monitor
what to display. The
video card and monitor
together determine the
quality of the picture.
Video editing generally
does not require a video
card upgrade, unless
your current card can't
display at a
sufficiently high
resolution. |
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Optimizing Windows XP
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It is recommended that you work with Windows XP
or newer for video
editing. This
gives you stability and
good multimedia support.
These versions also
manage system memory
better than older
editions of Microsoft
Windows. |
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Updating video drivers |
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Software applications control the hardware
components in your PC by using drivers. Outdated drivers can cause system
slowdown and the occasional crash. |
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Updating the drivers, especially the video display
drivers for the display card, is a recommended practice. You can update drivers
by using the Automatic Update feature in Windows XP. The Automatic Update
feature updates
Windows drivers for hardware components
from major manufacturers. You can also visit the hardware
manufacturer's website for driver updates. |
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Disable screen savers and
power settings
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Disable screen savers,
and change the power
settings (turning off
automatic hard drive
shutoff, standby, and
hibernation), so that
the editing process
(especially the capture
or the rendering) is not
interrupted. |
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Its essential for any
artist to have the right
tools. Once you
get your hardware right,
with Video Edit Magic
you will even surprise
yourself with the
wonderful videos you
create. |
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So, why not enjoy a more complete and satisfying
editing as well as overall PC experience by upgrading your system? |
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