When shopping for your 'perfect' editing computer, there are five important questions to be answered: 1. Should I get a PC or a Mac? 2. What specifications are important? 3. How do I get video into my computer to edit? 4. What editing software should I use? And 5. How can I share my video with others? We've got the answers next.
1. PC or Mac?
For PC users, it's critically important to have a higher-end level of hardware in your editing computer. Why? Video editing requires more horsepower. But because PC systems are usually purchased ala-carte, there's a wide range of hardware features and specifications you need to know about before you buy. We'll discuss these later. Also, while many video editing applications can work on older Windows Vista or XP, they are more efficient and faster on the current Windows 7.
For Mac users, it's really a case of picking a particular model, which has several customizable options.For iMac editing, the 21 or 27-inch model has these basic specs- i5 CPU, with 4GB RAM, and 1TB of hard drive space. Upgrade options include an i7 CPU, 16GB RAM, 2TB hard drive space, and Radeon graphics cards with up to 1GB on-board graphics memory. Prices range from $1200 to about $2000, not including upgrades.
For the Mac video editor who needs even more performance, the Mac Pro desktop is the ultimate solution, in either Quad Core ($2500) or 12-core ($3800) configuration. Any Mac model you choose will have the latest OS already installed (currently 10.8, or Mountain Lion).
2. Five Important hardware specifications
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CPU processor power, RAM memory, hard drive storage, graphics card, and your LCD monitor are the five most important hardware features to look for in an editing computer. The Central Processing Unit (CPU) has evolved from the early single core Intel Pentium to the current multi-core Intel i5/ i7 models. The i5/7-series CPUs are best for video editing because they make your editing software run at top speed. This is critically important when it comes to the 'rendering' stage- creating the final form of video, including any visual effects, transitions, titles, etc. Without the fastest CPU running, this final step would be excruciatingly slow!
It's also important to have enough RAM (Random Access Memory). A typical off-the-shelf computer might come with 2GB of RAM. For video editing, this is not enough. You need at least a minimum of 4GB, and 16GB is even better. Why? Because video editing uses up RAM memory like crazy, and the more you have, the faster you will get the job done. Thankfully, RAM is cheap these days.
Hard drive storage is another important specification. The 500GB SATA HD typical on most computers is not big enough. HiDef video takes up a huge amount of capture space, so you need at least a 2TB internal SATA HD -or be prepared to expand your internal hard drive with a 2TB external.
The graphics card in your PC can make your video editing application more responsive, especially if you employing 3D transitions and other special effects. With maximized video ram on the graphics card, you will get higher performance.
Free Video Editor For Mac 10.6.8
Monitors are a final consideration. It's best to select the largest widescreen LCD monitor compatible with your graphics card. Today, popular LCD monitors start at 21-inch but go up to 27-inch diagonal, and beyond. You might think a 27-inch is too big, but when you consider a single monitor screen must show multiple windows and also playback of your HiDef video project, a 27-inch widescreen monitor is not only practical but necessary. Such monitors are relatively inexpensive now (about $300).
And just in case you thought you had a lot of gear to check out, HP has just introduced an amazing all-in-one desktop PC, the 27-inch Z1– which appears to have most of the bells and whistles you need, or it's easily upgradeable. Check out the links below.
3. Getting video into your computer
Before today's HiDef camcorders, video was analog in nature. That meant that in order to edit it, you needed some way to transfer the analog video from your camcorder into a digital format for your computer. This transfer required an analog video capture card and it and was a laborious, real-time process. All early generation video editors were stuck with it.
Today all HD video is captured digitally, and most likely on a camcorders internal hard drive, or removeable media cards. The benefit of this digital video capture is it's relatively easy and fast to transfer to your editing computer- whether it's a PC or a Mac. This transfer is done through a USB port, present on all HD camcorders. And HD camcorders are smart- they recognize when a USB cable is connected to a computer, and set up the transfer process for you manually.
4. Editing Software
When it comes to choosing video editing software, it all depends on the computer platform you select. For Windows PC's the popular choices are Adobe Premiere Pro CS6 ($700), Sony's Vegas Pro 11 ($600), or Cyberlink's new Power Director Ultimate Suite ($250). For Mac users it's one ballgame- Final Cut Pro X ($300). Premiere Pro CS6 requires that you have 64 bit architecture in your computer, rather than the older 32 bit standard. Other editing software (like Vegas Pro 11 and Cyberlink Power Director 11) is compatible with either 64 or 32-bit computers.
For Windows PCs, there are also 'lighter', more affordable, but less powerful consumer versions available- Premiere Elements (under $100) and Vegas Movie Studio Production Suite ($130). For Mac users there is iMovie.
5. Sharing
Once you have finished editing your video, you're going to want to share it with your family and friends. Today, the most common way to share is through a DVD, whether standard definition, or the newer HiDef Blu-Ray. But you also might want to make a version that is uploadable on YouTube, or perhaps one that you could transfer to an iPhone, iPad, Android phone or tablet. Thankfully most current video editing software programs include an 'output format' step. Here you decide how you want to share the final project.
For a disk sharing, your editing computer needs to have a DVD-burner, and preferably a Blu-Ray version. These Blu-Ray burners are affordable (less than $100), and they can burn either HiDef Blu-Ray or standard DVDs (+ or -)
To enjoy your finished video on an Android or an Apple i-device, you need to convert it. Many video editing programs now have the option to convert as the final step. One of my favorite standalone Windows conversion programs is ArcSoft's Media Converter 7.5, which offers a huge variety of output devices and formats. For the Mac user, Handbrake works very well too.
Conclusion
The task of video editing is probably the most intensive of all computer applications. It literally stretches your computer to the limits of its power. But armed with the right tips we have just given you, your selection task for the 'perfect' video editing computer should be much easier and help you put all the pieces of the puzzle together.
Tony Gomez is a veteran producer, editor, videographer, digital photographer, and reviewer of consumer and professional digital imaging and video products, with over 30 years experience.
Well, let's see here. What I mean by dual card solutions is crossfire for AMD and SLI for Nvidia. Basically combine two cards together to get better performance. For example, my 660 superclocked performs about 30-ish percent less than a 680 that's doing the same thing. If I combine it with a second 660 in SLI, then they will be working in tandem with each other and in the best case scenario, doubling the performance output. That is something that alot of gamers and editors on a budget tend to go for as an alternative rather than spending all they have on a high end single card.
As far as the 680 being discontinued goes, I wouldn't worry about that too much. Hell, we're already in the 700 series' lifecycle and I can still find 400 series cards. Granted none of them are the super high-end ones, but you shouldn't have to worry about that for a while.
Now, with regards to xeon dual cpus and all… In my mind there are 3 types of users in the realm of computer building, and this goes for both gamers and video editors (overclockers are a bit different so I'm not including them). But those three are: Budget users, the type who make a rig usually in the low to mid-high 100's to do what they want to do. Those are the kind of people who salvage old hard drives and do what they can with what money they have to squeeze as much power as they can out of their rig to get what they can. They usually are the ones who use multicard solutions the most on the low-mid end (dual 650ti's, radeon 7770's, etc.). Then you have the enthusiasts. people who stick around the 900+ dollar range where you see the biggest leaps in performance gains. Those people stick to the performance section not going any lower than a quad core intel or hex core AMD cpu with a healthy dose of memory and maybe an SSD in their system to speed things up. Now, on the far end of the lineup is the power user. Sure, they have truely epic rigs, (dual xeon cpus overclocked with water cooling, 96 gigs of ram, capable of running the computational code equivalent of a nationwide banking system as a screensaver, etc.) you do start to see more negative returns. They put so much more into their system, yet it isn't as much of a comparitive performance leap as it is from budget to enthusiast. Those people either have some horribly demanding programs to run in the midst of severe multitasking, OR they are just that much into getting every ounce of performance they can from their system with every upgrade imaginable.
All in all, anything over a single cpu solution in my mind needs a hell of alot of justification, 'cause I don't see it in the realm of video editing, or even high end performance gaming. I would show you a link to a 680, but right now I'm at work and the network blocks prevent me from posting any hyperlinks. I do, however, see one on newegg going for 379.99 on newegg that has 4 gigs of memory. If you can find that one then you should be pretty well set 🙂
The video editor is intended for editing video files and creating videos of any complexity involving various visual and audio effects. The program offers rich functionality and yet has a simple and intuitive interface, allowing you to create videos with a bare minimum of efforts.
You may download Free Video Editor and use it completely free without restrictions (no trial period, watermarks, or ads). You can, however, support the project by signing up for technical support. We provide fast and full support to solve all your problems when using our products. Learn more.
Non-linear video editor
Our editor is a non-linear tool. This means that unlike in most other editors, where scenes come one after another in a linear sequence and certain order, our software allows objects to be placed in any position on the timeline and have any size. Besides, various parameters, shape and position of objects can change arbitrarily over time.
Visual and audio effects
You can apply various visual and audio effects to your videos to achieve the necessary result. Since the number of available visual effect is very high, they are split into five categories for ease of navigation: color correction, object transformation, object filters, transition effects and special fx.
Blending modes and Instagram-like filters
One more way of changing the look of your video image according to your preferences is color blending. Using a wide array of adjustable parameters, you can attach a unique professional style to your video. Newbies or those, who would like to save time, can benefit from stylish Instagram-like filters applied in one click.
Masking
VSDC Free Video Editor allows for creating different shaped masks for hiding, blurring or highlighting certain elements in your video. You can use it to apply special effects inside or outside the masked area. One of the most common reasons for masking are to blur a face to protect the identity or remove unwanted marks.
Easy export to social networks
To prepare a video for Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter and Vimeo without any problems, VSDC Free Video Editor offers you special export profiles which significantly reduce the stress of selecting a suitable format and meeting all the requirements.
Subpixel accuracy
Objects in a scene are positioned with subpixel accuracy, which makes for smooth animation, rotation, transformation and precise relative positioning.
Support of popular formats
Our software supports virtually all video, image and audio formats and codecs. That is why you won’t need any additional conversion tools to edit your files, as is often the case with other programs.
4K and HD export
VSDC is currently the only free video editor that allows you to export in a new H265/HEVC codec to maintain the highest quality at a minimum file size which is essential for those often processing 4K and HD files.
Creation of videos for specific multimedia devices
Thanks to a large set of preconfigured profiles, you can easily create videos for most popular multimedia devices, such as DVD players, iPod/iPhone/iPad, PSP, Galaxy, any smartphones and regular phones, Sony PlayStation, Xbox, Zune, Archos, iRiver, Creative Zen, Blackberry, MP4 players and many others.
Working with charts
You can create diagrams of different kinds, including 3D diagrams: Bar, Stacked Bar, Point, Bubble, Line, Scatter Line, Fast Line, Step Line, Spline, Area, Spline Area, Stacked Area, Stacked Spline Area, Range Bar, Gantt, Pie, Pie 3D, Torus 3D, Radar Point, Radar Line, Radar Area, Radar Spline, Radar Spline Area, Funnel, Pyramid, Pyramid 3D, High Low, Candle Stick. These objects can be based on dynamically changing data of different types. Besides, the appearance of diagrams is fully customizable (appearance of charts, coordinate axes, user-defined axes, legends, names of charts and axes, lines, labels and other elements), which will help you tailor them to your specific needs. Integrated color themes make it possible to quickly change the way your charts look.
Video Editor For Mac
Video library (to be included in the next program release)
The editor software lets you create your own library of multimedia files with brief or detailed descriptions. This will help you organize your video collection and simplify access to the necessary files.
Video stabilization tool
Footage taken from drones, action cameras or other devices on the go often needs improvement. VSDC Stabilization tool, as your virtual tripod, helps remove jitter or any other shaking effects, caused by camera movement and turn it into a much smoother video image.
YouTube uploader
VSDC Free Video Editor not only provides ready-made profiles for exporting to social networks, but also offers you to upload your video directly to YouTube right from the app without switching windows or tabs.
Built-in DVD burning tool
The editor comes with a DVD burning tool, allowing you to easily burn the results of your work to optical discs.
Fast Video Editor For Mac
Video File Converter
The application is designed to quickly convert video files from one format to another. It has some basic features for editing videos: removing unneeded segments, splitting your video into parts, and merging several files into one.
Desktop video capture
The video editor features a desktop video capture utility that saves captured footage to a video file for subsequent processing in the editor.
Video capturing
Another feature of the our editor is the ability to capture video from various video tuners, webcams, IP сameras and save the captured footage on your computer in an arbitrary format for subsequent editing.