how does a good graphics card help dv editing?

Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop (More info?)

On 2 Aug 2005 22:45:07 -0700, genericaudioperson@hotmail.com wrote:

>hello,
>
>i have a matrox g450 video card. it is only 32meg. it's been fine for
>my audio apps.

Just FYI -- A video card would have little to do with audio playback.
Your sound card takes care of that.

>but now that i'm getting into video editing, i find it
>kind of "stutters", especially when i'm trying to jog/shuttle in the
>edit window. it also does this during clip or project playback.

You haven't mentioned what kind of video you'll be doing. Home movies
taken on a camcorder? Captured TV programs?

But equally (if not more) important is the horsepower you've got in
your computer. You didn't mention anything about your computer system.
If you've got a lesser powered processor (CPU) or minimal memory (256
MB or less) or minimal hard drive space you may find capturing,
editing and authoring video a frustrating, if not impossible task. Nor
can you simply add things such as a new video card, more memory and
hard drives if your power supply isn't up to the task. I went through
all this when I first decided I wanted to simply capture cable TV
programs and burn them to DVD. When I added a second hard drive, more
memory, a better graphics card and a DVD burner, processing (encoding)
video was enormously slow, really stressed system (CPU) resources and
eventually burnt out the power supply. (This was with a Compaq 1.8 mHZ
processor and a 230 w power supply.) I eventually built a computer to
accomodate my present and future needs.

>
>it seems that "Radeon 9800" cards score well on Tom's Hardware for game
>playing. so i was thinking about something like an ATI Radeon 9800 Pro
>with 256meg ram.
>
>would that help my "video stutter" problem?

It may, or may not help with the video stutter for reasons stated
above. The stutter may very well be the result of your video card; it
coud also be some deficiency in your computer. But, neither do you
want/need to buy a video card whose primary purpose is to play video
games; unless, of course, you also will be playing games.

I use an ATI All-In-Wonder 9600XT to capture videos. There are those
who will suggest altogether different, some with good reason, because
much depends on just what kind of video you intend to process. Since
all my capturing consists of (analog) cable TV programs, this video
card is quite capable of fulfilling my needs and does so nicely.
Following the MPEG-2 capture, I use VideoReDo for cutting and trimming
of commercial advertisements, TMPGEnc DVD Author (TDA) to author my
videos, and DVD Shrink to fit too large DVD compilations to a standard
DVD-5. My system works perfectly - for me.

The bottom line is, look more closely at WHAT you'll be doing as well
as what you have to do it WITH. From your description thus far, it
seems you have a bit more research to do.

f

Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop (More info?)

"RS" <mail@mail.com> wrote in message news:42f0d610$1_2@newspeer2.tds.net...
> genericaudioperson@hotmail.com wrote:
>> hello,
>>
>> i have a matrox g450 video card. it is only 32meg. it's been fine for
>> my audio apps. but now that i'm getting into video editing, i find it
>> kind of "stutters", especially when i'm trying to jog/shuttle in the
>> edit window. it also does this during clip or project playback.
>>
>> it seems that "Radeon 9800" cards score well on Tom's Hardware for game
>> playing. so i was thinking about something like an ATI Radeon 9800 Pro
>> with 256meg ram. would that help my "video stutter" problem?
>>
>
> The short answer is that the video card is not likely your problem. Video
> does not place great demands on a video card. Your areas of focus should
> be. Processor, Ram and Storage. That nice little Matrox G450 will serve
> you well for video editing. Using one myself. Its a rock solid display.
>

A little longer answer that addresses your subject line, but not
your stuttering problem; there are some tools like some of those
at www.seriousmagic.com that make use of shader technology.
Others can make use of larger/faster on card memory. But these
are all only issues when working well beyond the normal day to
day editing.

Luck;
Ken

Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop (More info?)

I have 1 gig of ram with an Athlon 2400+ processor and multiple hard
drives. Not screaming, but not lame either.

Since the replies are saying it's probably not my card, I'm guessing it
could be the fact that I'm using "beginner" software right now: Ulead
VideoStudio7. It came with my firewire card.

I'm planning on getting into Pinnacle Liquid Edition in a few months.
Maybe that will run smoother since it's a pro-grade software.

I'm taking mini-dv movies on a camcorder, flying them into the computer
via firewire, then editing and burning to dvd.