The Personal Computer has come along way since its inception and is
now a central component in many household's across the globe.
However, as far as the PC has come over the years it is only with
recent advancements in technology and PC hardware, that the
average home computer has been able to enter the realm of digital
home entertainment. For example, in order to create a dazzling
digital movie masterpiece, not only do you need to have an easy to
use and feature-rich software (such as
CyberLink PowerDirector Pro), you also need
to have the right hardware equipment to go with it, such as a fast
processor, video capture card (for analog to digital video
capture) or a Firewire card (for digital video capture), a
relatively large Hard Drive, etc. To process and edit video on
the PC, you firstly need to have the video content captured onto
the PC and have it converted into digital format (if it is not
already) through a video encoding process. Though more and more
PCs today come ready for video editing, the necessary hardware
components may not be available on your PC and thus will need to
be purchased separately and installed on your computer.
Currently the most commonly used hardware equipment for video
editing can be divided into two types: Analog and Digital.
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Video Capture Card
(for Analog video): A Video Capture Card is needed
for importing analog video onto your PC from sources such as a
TV, VCR or analog camcorder, and transforming the content into
digital video format.
IEEE 1394 Firewire
(for Digital video): The new digital video standard
for capturing content from a digital video source is called
IEEE 1394 Firewire. With an IEEE 1394 Firewire card installed
on your PC, you will be able to directly connect your DV
Camcorder to your PC and transfer the contents directly in
digital format. The advantage for capturing video digitally is
that it eliminates the complex process of converting
traditional analog video to digital format, which leads to a
loss in video quality.
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Additional Hardware Specifications
In addition, you will also need to ensure that you have the
following hardware items: |
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Large Hard Drive
Space: One of the most important components to
working with digital video on the PC is the Hard Drive. When
working with digital video in high quality, the file sizes can
be quite large and thus require a great deal of storage space.
For example, one hour of pure digital video can occupy about
13 Gigabytes of Hard Disk space. If you convert your files to
MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 they will take up less space, but the files
are still rather large. The ideal solution would be to have a
hard drive capable of storing 10 GB. Since your HD will also
need to contain other files, such as your other software
programs and project files, it is probably best to have two
Hard Drives, and use one specifically for video editing
purposes.
Note: Your HD should have an RPM of at
least 7200.
Fast
CPU Processor: Most of today's PCs are fast enough
to edit video fairly comfortably, but if your PC is not over
the 1 GHz level, it might be a good time for an upgrade. The
faster your CPU is, the better it will be to render edited
video clips, convert files into different formats, preview
video in real-time, and so on. If you are going to work with
MPEG-2 video (for producing DVD titles) it is recommended that
your CPU be at least a Pentium IV 1.4 GHz or an Athlon 1.2
GHz. If you are working with MPEG-1 video (for producing VCD
titles) it is recommended you have at least a Pentium III 800
MHz or and Athlon 800 MHz.
Memory (RAM): Basically, the more memory you have
the better. Your PC should have at least 128 MB RAM. Actually,
it is recommended that you have 256 MB RAM or higher if you
would like to ensure better performance and a smoother process
while editing video on your PC.
CD
or DVD Writer (optional): If you are looking to
output your edited video productions on to a CD or DVD, you
will need to have a CD or DVD writer (or burner as some would
call it). For CD writers the choice usually comes down to
brand preference and writing speed. For DVD writers you will
need to consider one other factor and that is the format.
Currently their are two main DVD recordable format groups:
DVD+R/RW and DVD-R/RW. |
Hopefully this article has given you a basic
overview of the hardware requirements for editing video on the PC.
Before choosing a video editing software, please check the
products system requirements and make sure your hardware is
compatible. To view PowerDirector Pro's system requirements,
please click here. Source: Shop at CyberLink,The Complete Digital Home Entertainment Center! |
