Newcomers to the practice of editing videos on a home computer often share the same experience: standing bewildered in front of shelves of retail video editing programs.
The palette of programs that promise to convert a computer into a video editing console is enormous. Before making a purchase, beginners should take into consideration what technical quality they will be expecting from their films and how much they’re prepared to spend. In the end, the price difference between amateur and professional setups can be significant.
For those who want to work more intensively with video editing, there’s no detour around a digital editing system. Analog editing systems inevitably lead to significantly diminished quality. Even for those who possess an analog camera, digital editing systems are usually worthwhile, although the film material will need to be digitized.
Any of the quicker video systems requires a modern PC with a processor rated at 500MHz or faster. There must be at least 20GB free on the hard drive, and at least 64MB of RAM installed in the computer. Amateur filmmakers will also need FireWire or a video editing card in order to connect the camcorder to the computer.
Would-be editors who already own a digital video camera will probably find that a FireWire card is the cheapest solution. FireWire cards normally go for about $100. Potential buyers should remember to look out for package deals when buying one of these cards, since software for film editing is often included with the card.
The editing software alone can often cost as much as a package deal. On the other hand, users with a larger budget may go for a video editing card with digital connections, a more powerful but expensive solution.
Amateur filmmakers who are still working with analog video cameras will definitely require a video editing card to provide a bridge to digital film editing.
The professional solution for advanced filmmakers are real-time editing cards, whose input and access ports can handle nearly every kind of analog and digital video and audio source. These cards compress film data during the import stage in real time and can save the user significant time.
Beginners who don’t trust themselves to install the video editing cards will also have to reach for their wallet to pay someone to install the card. Some can take advantage of prepackaged PCs that come with video editing hardware and software already installed at the time of purchase.
A number of firms, including Apple, Sony, Hewlett-Packard and Dell, offer PCs with integrated FireWire cards. Sony’s Vaio series of notebook computers comes with professional editing software preinstalled. You can plug the device in and get started right away.
Once the film preparation work is finished, a CD or DVD burner is often needed to store the enormous amount of data that digital film requires.
Until a few years ago, video editing was something for specialists only, whereas now the systems available are appropriate for beginners as well.
