Many home computer users want to find a way to take the videos they shoot with a cell phone or with a dedicated camcorder and put those memories on DVD. Whether the final intent is to distribute the movie to friends and family or to create the next great independent film, a home computer user needs to have a few important pieces of equipment in order to get started.
Is Your Computer Powerful Enough For Video Editing?
Most computers built within the last year or so should be more than capable of running the software necessary to edit videos and burn them out to a DVD. Computers that are older than this may still be able to do it, but at slower rates of speed. In general any computer to be used for Video editing needs to have at least one gigabyte of RAM and the largest hard drive that the user can afford. Digital Video takes up huge amounts of storage space so most users will need at least 250 gigabytes or more if they plan to work on large, multiple projects.
Video Editing Hardware Needs
Other than the camcorder or other recording device, most users will require a DVD burner, a good quality monitor, and any cables needed to get the data from the camera into the computer. Some digital camcorders and cell phones come equipped with removable flash memory for storing the data. In these cases the purchase of a special card reader for the computer can save lots of time when transferring the files onto the computer’s hard drive.
In regard to the interface that is used for loading the data onto the computer there are two basic types. The first is standard USB and is found on almost every computer that has been manufactured in the last ten years. The second type is known as Firewire and is more commonly found on Macintosh computers. However, PCs can also use Firewire if a special PCI adaptor is added to the inside of the computer. Either one will work fine, but USB is often preferred due to the ubiquitous nature of the interface.
Next: Video Editing Software Options
