[niccam]

Hi I edit using a Panasonic S-VHS MS5 camera,ave-5 mixer, HS800 video recorder and an amiga computer If I had to change to a PC setup still using the MS5 S-VHS camera
1.what program would be best?
2. Is there any rendening time?
3. is there any lost in picture quailty from importing into the PC and out again?
4. what size of HD and prossecer needed P1/ P2/ P3?
sorry for so many questions but I would like to change over to PC Editing
PS. I am talking about 2-3 hours of video each time
Thank you

[MarkE19]

Hi, lets have a go at these then:

1. Best programme really depends on what you are looking to achieve and on your budget. At the top you have Adobe Premiere or Vegus Video costing in the region of £4-500. You then have loads of programmes costing £30-100 like Pinnacle Studio 8 which is very highly regarded.

2. YES! The faster the PC the shorter the renedering, but on a 1-2 hour edit with multiple wipes, titles, conversion to MPEG etc you are looking at leaving it running overnight.

3. There will be a little, but the better the cables you use the less it will be. Once on the PC there should be no loss of quality.

4. If you can afford it get a P4 or even duel AMD Athlons to spedd up rendering etc. If capturing as an AVI file (this is the standard on PC's) then every 4 minutes of footage takes 1Gb of disk space, so you will need plenty. Best option is to have a separate disk just for captured video with no programmes on it.

Welcome to the wonderful world of PC video editing (or nearly anyway!). Have a search of this forum as there is loads of advise on just about everything. If in doubt then just give us all a shout.

Mark.

[niccam]

Thanks Mark for replying , I`ve read that Studio 400 does not have any rendening time is that true and whats this program like? Thank you

[niccam]

Hi Mark I`ve just notice that you have a Panasonic 830 whats your view on this machine.Thank you

[MarkE19]

Personally I find the 830 a great SVHS VCR. The only thing I would add to it would be TBC for poor quality recordings.
Compared to my old Sony the PQ is far better and the colour just so vivid (well not compared to a DVD, but hey it is only a VCR).
If you need TBC then I believe the JVC's all or nearly all have this and cost around the same as the Panny, but other than that its a great player (TiVo does most of the recording!).

I`ve read that Studio 400 does not have any rendening time is that true and whats this program like?

I've never used or heard of Studio 400 so have no idea what it is like, but it will NOT have 'no rendering time' (unless it is hardware bassed) as this is down to the processor crunching numbers and can not be eliminated by software. There are some hardware codec cards that can vastly reduce the rendering times and may even add real time for analogue, but I think DV output still needs to be rendered.

Mark.