Is the camera in the following Craigslist ad offering a computer that's good enough for me to be able to edit digital video??
I want to edit my home digital videos for YouTube. So I need a faster computer.
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Processor isn't fantastic but it's certainly reasonable, the hard drive is too small (you can always install a bigger one or buy an external) but you need to know how much RAM it has, the more Gb the better for graphics applications. At $98 bucks, I'm thinking the worst.
-Derek
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The current amount of video footage I have is 8 minutes. (That's it! I swear!) So for now, maybe this will do.
I just got a positive e-mail from the guy in the ad. If you want, I will ask him: "How much RAM?"
Should I ask anything else????
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You *really* should ask about the RAM.
Do you have the machine type/model? Ask for that, too. Google it, see if any recent ads for memory come up.
I'm just looking at some downloaded videos (flash format via Realplayer) -- average file sizes range from 5Gb to 10Gb for circa 4 minutes of play.
-Derek
Do you have the machine type/model? Ask for that, too. Google it, see if any recent ads for memory come up.
I'm just looking at some downloaded videos (flash format via Realplayer) -- average file sizes range from 5Gb to 10Gb for circa 4 minutes of play.
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Yes, how much RAM. I'd say for a P4 2.4GHz you need at least 1GB of RAM for video editing. Also, the hard drive seems small -- Windows XP would have already eaten most of it. You will need to add another drive, or add a fast external Firewire drive for video editing. It depends on the format of your video files -- if it's DV, it's roughly 1GB per minute, I think. So 8 minutes of DV would take up to 10GB -- not to mention you need space to do the actual editing and exporting.
It's 512 MB. But a full 1 GB would be 1000 MB, right?????
(How come there isn't a conversion chart somewhere on the internet explaning these things?)
(How come there isn't a conversion chart somewhere on the internet explaning these things?)
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1GB is 1000MB. (1 giga = 1000 mega; 1 tara = 1000 giga = 1000000 mega)
So you need to at least double the RAM it now has.
So you need to at least double the RAM it now has.
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Not necessarily -- memory upgrades don't cost an arm and a leg these days. Yes, 512Mb is only half a Gb but that's standard memory for PCs built just over a year ago, and it's likely there are additional slots available for more RAM.
Er... that's just a plug-in microchip, not a PC.
-Derek
I know it's pedantic and I shouldn't say it, but my inner geek is screaming....
It's 1024 MB.
I think that the math geeks here would insist that 1000 MB = 1 GB. And so therefore if you get your hands on 1024 MB, you have indeed successfully achieved the goal of 1000+ MB. And you can therefore claim in all honesty and accuracy that you do have a full gig.
In other words ... no one can claim that a mere 1023 MB is NOT a full blown gig. (At least not according to the rules of math.)
Here's another way to look at it ...
If I am required to come up with no less than "four score and seven" ping pong balls, and if I buy 8 boxes of ping pong balls at a dozen ping pong balls each, I have indeed achieved the minimum requirement of "four score and seven" (and I merely have 9 ping pong balls left over).
So ... 1024 MB is a full blown gig ... with 24 leftover.
No?????????????
.
If I am required to come up with no less than "four score and seven" ping pong balls, and if I buy 8 boxes of ping pong balls at a dozen ping pong balls each, I have indeed achieved the minimum requirement of "four score and seven" (and I merely have 9 ping pong balls left over).
So ... 1024 MB is a full blown gig ... with 24 leftover.
No?????????????
.
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No!There are 2 types of Gigabyte! Decimal and binary. For computer memory you use the binary definition. Which is indeed 1024[SUP]3[/SUP] -- with no remainder.
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Of course you're right. I'm a computer scientist, too.
But if you tell people 1 GB = 1024MB they would say, huh? It's easier to just stick with base 10.
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That's not a computer...that's just the processor.
For youtube editing you don't need too much but I would recommend the following:
1-2gig of Ram
A video card with at least 256 video ram
At least a 2gighrz processor (I know I acronymed that wrong)
At least a 100 gig harddrive...and an external drive for storing the files.
Video editing software comes with windows and mac right now, and there are some good free and cheap options.
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Actually the Mac doesn't come with a video editing software, I don't think. But iLife comes with iMovie, which is decent and cheap. iMovie also exports directly to YouTube.
MovieMaker, which comes with Windows, is okay but I personally hate it with a passion.
MovieMaker, which comes with Windows, is okay but I personally hate it with a passion.
Yeah, but as mentioned before, bytes on a computer are binary, not base 10, so it's not always what you'd expect. Mathematically and computer-ly, 1 GB = 1024 MB, since we're talking base 2. Not that it has anything to do with the math, but don't ask what it becomes after formatting.... (By the way, for the even more geeky than me...does RAM get formatted like a hard drive, or is the full stated memory available?)
All new Macs come with iLife preinstalled, so any new Mac will come with the current version of iMovie. Chances are a fairly-recent used one will have some version of iLife on it, too.
In all fairness (and yes, I've used it), Windows MovieMaker sucks.
Windows MovieMaker sucks for people who are (or want to get) IN to movie editing, but for most people, especially for YouTube quality videos, it's more than sufficient. And when someone is asking about computers that cost $98, I'm pretty sure ANY flavor of MAC is out of the question. As is most "true" video editing software, since they all cost about four times that.
OP: You say you need a faster computer. Faster than what? What do you have now? It may be better (and cheaper) to just beef up your current system.
OP: You say you need a faster computer. Faster than what? What do you have now? It may be better (and cheaper) to just beef up your current system.
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Also, what kind of vidcam do you have? Does it have firewire? To capture videos from your vidcam, your harddrives need to be fast enough as well, and that means the bus.
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