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Please suggest me some good software for editing HD videos (1920x1080, 25 fps). Also let me know the minimum configuration of the machine that will enable smooth play of HD videos. I tried to play a HD video of the above configuration on one of my machine (Machine - P4, 3 GHz, 2 GB RAM, HD 7200 rpm, Win XP) the video is very choppy and Jerky. Probably I should require higher RAM, please suggest.
Thank you in advance.
Regards
aks
P4 is not upto the task of editing. To edit, the duo core machines will cry aloud. At the minimum go for a Quad core machine. 6, 8 or 16 will be even better.
It is important to have higher RAM. 8 GB RAM is nice. 16 GB is great.
Since you are in a PC, Adobe Premier can be used. A not so great program is Vegas.
For viewing pleasure simply upgrade the RAM.
I would suggest get an iMac with as high a spec as you can afford. Get Final Cut Pro. It has a fantastic native codec (ProRes) which supports editing video in HD.
When you are talking of 1920X1080 video, I am sure its not uncompressed. Its probably encoded with some proprietary wrapper from Sony/Canon/JVC etc (depending on camera).
Depending on your edit system, you may need specific plugins or third party format convertors before editing.
a more detailed reply can be given if you can provide more details of your source video.
Sabyasachi & Paramvir, thank you very much for your great suggestion. The HD (1920x1080, *.mov) video is from Canon 5D Mark II.
For Mac:
1) if you have FCP X Its easy. if you configure your FCPX to optimise on import, then importing the 5D footage from the CF card will automatically convert it to Apple Pro res 422. This will play back and edit beautifully on your iMac.
2) if you have FCP 7: You may need a Canon EOS Movie Plugin
Or convert all your 5D footage to Apple Pro res 422 using a free software called MPEG Streamclip which can batch process your files.
(The Canon 5D and such modern cameras record movies in a heavily compressed format called h.264. This format, although it reduces the individial clip size, is very processor intensive on an editing or post production machine setup. The Apple ProRes codecs are optimized for post production workflows, and are less hard on the GPU/CPU combo on Mac computers,. These codecs are used in all Mac based post workflows worldwide. And of course, if you are buying a computer or have an existing one, get as much RAM as you can afford. And if you use an external hard drive, make sure its a minimum of Firewire 800 (7200 RPM) hard drive. Dont get a USB drive.)
Paramvir, thanks for all information.