I was wondering if there are any special considerations to be aware of when selecting a processor for video editing. Is Pentium, Celeron, AMD better than another for this purpose?

I have recently purchased a JVC GR-DVL512. I am happy with the features but am having dirty head problems (only 2 weeks old) So I am considering returning it for a different brand. Could anyone reccomend a good alternative with similar features, for the same price. I live in the United States and spent $600 for the JVC 512. Any known reputable place on the web to get a good camcorder would be much appeciated.

Thanks for any and all insight.

-Jared

Generally, Pentium based systems seem to suffer less problems, although I personally use an Athlon which I've never had any trouble with. (Purchased after 2 pentiums went 'pop' in 18 months! ) A lot depends on how your system is configured. Mine is a dual boot system with win98 on one partition for the family's general use, & win 2000 on the other purely for video editing. It works well.
As for your camera purchase, as you're in the states, it'd be better to put that question to a 'stateside' forum surely? Our cameras this side of the pond are more expensive & usually different spec to US models. Not forgetting our TV system is different! buying a PAL model for use in NTSC land wouldn't be a good idea. Many moons ago, I made the same mistake, when I bought a camcorder on holiday in Florida. Luckily for me the staff at the store I bought it from were excellent, & took it back for a full refund. So I was only 'out' for the shipping back to the US.
Good luck!

Thanks for the reply Arthur, and the input. I have searched for a forum here in the states on the subject; but haven't had any luck finding a good "active" one. Do you know of any that I could check into?

Thanks, again
-Jared

You could try www.computervideo.net Go to 'self help' then choose either the DV doctor forums or the Computer Video forums. Either are excellent. They are UK based, but there seem to be a fair number of Americans post there. If you can get hold of Computer Video magazine, (I know it's sold over there) I'd recommend it.

Would strongly suggest you consider Pentium 4 PC.

I have one, and video editing, rendering etc is exceptionally fast.

Many companies like Ulead and Pinnacle have released patches to make full use of SSE2 instructions.

Much more reliable as well!

It all depends on the software that you run. If you are half serious then you will need something like Adobe Premiere. Software like this needs plenty of power. It will also use a second processor (not many off the shelf software will!). I have found that a dual processor based Athlon 1.2 MP system will knock the socks of a P4 2.0 and cost about the same.

[m@rk]

Just to put things in perspective, I run a Panasonic DV cam with oem firewire card and use Premiere 6 for editing.

I have just finished my holiday video which was about 45 minutes long.

My machine:

HP Brio
Intel Celeron 433MHz
512-MB RAM
40-GB HDD
On board 4MB Intel 810 graphics
Windows 2000 Pro

Capture is fine with no loss
Editing on the timeline (drag and drop) is fine
Creating titles is fine

When I come to push the final clip back to the DV cam, I just set it running and go and have a cup of tea/ meal.

It's the final rendering that needs all the CPU power but you tend only to do that once you have finished.

I did think about building a new PC for this (dual CPU etc) but to be honest, if it takes a couple of hours to render, so what. I can afford to let it run whilst I do something else.

It's easy to get carried away but don't forget, Premiere has built up it's reputation over many years. Many proffesional users will have been using it on Pentuim 200MHz PCs without problems.

Of course, if you can afford the latest & fastest CPU then go for it. Like any software, it will only make things better but don't fall into the trap of thinking that you have to have a 2GHz CPU for home video editing.

You're absolutely right networkguy. These days, if correctly configured, almost any spec PC is capable of NLE. By the way, as far as rendering goes, have you tried 'timeline playback' as an option? Saves precious HDD space.

Hi Guys,

I use a P3 1gig, running P6 and a RT2000 on ME, and the system runs well.

I believe most problems arise because of the other software that is installed, and if you can afford it, the solution is to have a NLE dedicated PC, or at the least a dual-boot system.

Before my present set-up I ran a Fast AV Master on a 350 P2, again without any problems.

The more you pay for your capture card, the more it will do, thereby taking pressure off the CPU, but I would say that all the CPU`s out there today are all capable of running a NLE system, the most important thing is how the PC is configured.

Dave