Setting Up the Video System

ilollar wrote on 10/15/2005, 12:06 PM
I used to use Vegas a lot. Back in the version 3 and 4 days, I loved it. But the problems I had was the render/exporting limitations and the realtime problems. Vegas 6 seems to have fixed these problems for me, but I'm still left with a couple of questions about possible equipment set ups.

I'm going to be getting a new computer to edit on (something very powerful - probably a workstation from Alienware), and I've got a high-end JVC DV camera, but I'm curious what other hardware is suggested to set up a good editing system.

Should I get a DV desk? If so, what should I look for when getting one? I specifically want to view my video on an external monitor, preferably in as much "real time" as possible. Does that mean I just use Firewire to connect to a DV deck and then connect a TV, or is there other hardware available to do this more effectively?

I switched from Vegas to Premiere to utilize a system like Matrox, and that gave me realtime external preview, but I severely dislike Premiere, so I moved on to FInal Cut Pro. I also don't like FCP that much, and I was thinking about Avid, and I especially liked the idea of the Mojo, portable hardware, but I really like Vegas, and would like to find a way to use it.

So, are Decklink cards the answer? Or are they just for SDI? Is there a portable solution, because I'd like to be able to edit on my laptop on the go as well...

Anyway, I'll stop talking and start listening now...

Thanks!

Comments

winrockpost wrote on 10/15/2005, 1:52 PM
I'm not sure that the video preview from vegas is better now than with version 3 or 4 , but tthe computers are so much faster now you get "real time" preview in lots of cases, but ,if heavy color correcting and applying chains of filters preview is still going to slow down. At least for me ( I dont use version 6, prefer 5)
ilollar wrote on 10/15/2005, 3:17 PM
But do Decklink cards allow for more realtime processing? And, if used, do they use a specific DV codec that can only be used with that hardware?
johnmeyer wrote on 10/15/2005, 5:19 PM
Should I get a DV desk?

Certainly not necessary.

Does that mean I just use Firewire to connect to a DV deck and then connect a TV, or is there other hardware available to do this more effectively?

The best way is also the simple way: just connect a camcorder or DV deck to your monitor, and then pump the Vegas preview out to the deck through Firewire/1394. Extra hardware is not necessary and, since Vegas does not support it for export, it would be a waste of money to get it (at least for the purpose of previewing or rendering).

So, are Decklink cards the answer? Or are they just for SDI? ... do Decklink cards allow for more realtime processing?

No advantage that I know of, at least for SDI, but you should use the search function in this forum to search on "Decklink" (search on the Subject only to keep from getting too many hits) to make sure that you don't need it for some other purpose.

Is there a portable solution, because I'd like to be able to edit on my laptop on the go as well...

Just get a laptop and start running the program. The beauty of Vegas is that it doesn't require any extra hardware, so a laptop becomes a very viable platform, not only for capture, but also for post-production.

There is a strange phenomenon that almost all of us have gone through, where we believe that we would be better off if we could invest a few thousand in some exotic, hard-to-obtain piece of hardware that would somehow turn our video workstation into a speed demon. Of course, with other software, and with earlier types of processors, this sort of approach did indeed provide big benefits. Fortunately two things changed to completely eliminate those benefits, and thus free us from having to spend $$$ on hardware that was almost always obsolete in a few years, and which could only be used for one purpose.

The first change was hardware. Old processors were lousy at performing repetitive operations on large data sets. As a result, a whole industry was built up around specialized computer chips called "DSP"s (Digital Signal Processors). However, as the Pentium and Athlon chips evolved, they began to incorporate more and more of the architecture and power of these chips to the point where the custom chips have very little advantage over their specialized counterparts. DSPs are now relegated (if that is the correct way of characterizing their market shift) to cell phones and other dedicated devices.

The second thing that changed was smarter software design, and Vegas certainly led the way a few years back. While they lag in certain areas (like MPEG rendering) most things in Vegas are far "snappier" than competing software.
GlennChan wrote on 10/15/2005, 8:36 PM
If you already have a PC, you can certainly demo Vegas on your system to see how fast it runs.

If you are happy with the performance on your current machine, a dual Opteron dual core system (2 CPUs, 2 cores for each CPU for a total of 4) will probably make you happier.

The fastest setup for Vegas would be a multiprocessor dualcore system (2 CPUs, or 4 or 8 if you have tens of thousands of dollars). You do get diminishing returns as you go up more cores, so it makes it a little harder to guess the performance.

2- Alienware may be a little overpriced when other vendors offer the same thing without premium pricing (and may have better support, or much lower pricing). But they don't look as cool.