Digital desktop video
Find information and books about desktop video including non-linear editing and digital video production techniques
|
|
 |
Beginner's Guide to PC Video Editing
by Scott Raymond Brown If you're new to PC video editing then knowing where to start can be a bit daunting, so hopefully this guide will point you in the right direction.
To start with you will need a few items of equipment
Camcorders/Video Decks
Depending on your requirements or aims there are number of different solutions to discuss, so i will split these up into separate sections. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
1. If you are starting from new then I recommend buying a new digital camcorder, this will give you superior video and sound quality as well as making getting started in video editing very simple, so ideal for the beginner. There are thousands to choose from catering for various types of budgets.
2. You may already have an old video deck or camcorder which uses the old analogue outputs such as composite or s-video (be sure to check first what outputs you have). For this kind of setup you would need a capture card/analogue to digital converter, this is discussed in more detail further on in the article.
A PC for Video Editing
It is now possible to easily capture footage from your Digital Camcorder directly to your PC and edit it. If you looking at buying a new PC or building a new one then the currents spec's are more then powerful enough, a typical spec PC these days is a P4, 512Mb Ram, 80Gb HDD, Windows XP or something along those lines. You could always use your existing PC if you have one, but i wouldn't recommend using anything below a PIII 600.
Additional Hardware
When transferring video from your camcorder to your PC there are a number of additional things to consider depending on the type of camcorder your using. |
|
|
|
|
|
If you’re using a digital camcorder then all your need is a firewire card (also known as an IEE1394 card), a lot of current PC's have these as standard now, otherwise you will need to purchase the card separately. Some of these will come bundled with editing software such as Adobe Premiere but this really depends on which card you buy and how much you spend, once your camcorder is connected to your firewire port windows will automatically recognise your Digital Camcorder.
If your using the old analogue camcorder then you will also need an analogue to digital converter, see the section on video editing cards below.
Speed?
Its worth considering your Pc's Processor speed, the speed will effect the rate your video will encode, encoding is where your DV video clips are converted into a more compressed format, for example DVD's are encoded to MPEG2. So the faster the better really. Also consider the amount of RAM in your PC, 256Mb would be the minimum.
Extra Hard Drive Storage
Its worth considering having an extra dedicated drive for your video footage, remember that five minutes of DV footage uses 1GB of hard drive space so consider a large capacity hard drive such as an 80Gb or 120Gb, also consider the disk drive RPM, at least 7200RPM would be recommended. If your PC supports it (most new ones do now), then a Serial ATA (SATA) drive will offer increased date transfer rates of up to 150MB/sec compared to 100 or 133 offered by the IDE drives, you may also consider a SCSI drive if you’re PC has an SCSI adapter as standard.
DVD/CD Burners
If your planning on putting your film onto CD-ROM (VCD), or DVD then a CDRW or DVDRW is an essential piece of kit, most new pc's may have a CDRW or DVDRW as standard, to burn your DVD, you'll need DVD authoring software.
Video Editing Cards
If you have and older analogue video camera/deck then an analogue USB or PCI capture cards will suffice.
These dedicated analogue to digital converters take process of conversion away from the CPU and therefore speeds up transfer.
If worth getting a quality capture card as the cheaper cards can produce mixed results,
The Video Editing Software
This is where all your creative work starts and the creative work starts, you can capture video from your camera, edit the captured clips, arrange them into a sequence, add transitions, credits and a soundtrack, titles and when your ready export your movie back to the camera or a suitable encoded file format (DVD, VCD etc).
Founder of http://www.avmechanic.co.uk, offering a free friendly helpful community for anybody that needs computer help or help with PC editing products
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Find books about digital desktop video How to Do Everything With: Digital Video by Frederic H. Jones
"covers the practical side of using a digital video camera, camcorder, and video editing software.."
Digital Compositing for Film and Video by Steve Wright
"presents techniques, tricks, and solutions for dealing with badly shot elements, coloration artifacts, and mismatched lighting.."
Non linear video Editing (DV Editing Series) by Bryce Button
"learn the importance of timing, emotion and art in assembling a cohesive project that tells a story with the appropriate flow and pace.."
CyberRookies: Making Digital Videos by Ben Long
Learn the art of digital video production
Digital Movies with Quicktime Pro by John Farrell
Teaches how to use Quicktime Pro to make digital movies from concept to delivery
Avid Express DV 3.5 Editing Avid Technology
"A full video editing course is featured in this hands-on book.."
Producing Great Sound for Digital Video by Jay Rose
"The entire book is fascinating and is packed with useful information and tips.."
Digital Moviemaking: All the Skills and Techniques You'll Need to Turn Your Passion into a Career Scott Billups
"an excellent reference for experienced filmmakers who want to produce industry-quality films using digital equipment.." The Complete Guide to Digital Video Mark Towse
"gives both beginner to good intermediate DV officionado's all the info about every aspect of DV.."
303 Digital Filmmaking Solutions Chuck Gloman
"film-school in a nutshell.." Final Cut Pro Bible Zed Saeed, J.J. Marshall, Jeffrey Chong
"If you're serious about video editing, this book and Final Cut Pro 4 are the tools you need.." Digital Non Linear Desktop Editing by Sonja Schenk
Detailed tutorials teach users the entire editing process
|
|
|
|
Make money from your hobby
“Using your present hobby or favorite pastime as your business base has many benefits. Why? Because any business you decide to become involved in should be doing something you LOVE something you believe in, something that you would work at NO MATTER what income it would generate...” read more |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Websites related to digital video making www.videography.com
Video information website jam-packed with articles, product reviews and the latest video related news about upcoming events etc. www.digitalproducer.com
Digital Producer Magazine is the first choice of professional digital content creators using computers for digital video, special effects and 3D animation. indyfilm.buried.com
The Independent Film Network is designed to offer independent filmmakers with a free forum to help promote their work and to stay in touch with their fellow film makers and fans.
|
|
Digital video dealers www.videokit.co.uk
Preston media are dealers in digital camcorders and professional video equipment and accessories www.dvc.uk.com
Digital Video Computing provide a good range of video editing equipment and software www.videogear.co.uk
Professional DV and HDV Equipment Sales www.jessops.com
Leading high street retailer of all things related to video and photography |
|
|
|
|
World of Hobbies - the quick reference site for hobby books, dvd videos and hobby related information
Find books and information on making digital videos, digital sound and desktop video non linear video editing |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|