Gary 0 #1 February 17, 2011 Video Editing Rig. I am a bit out of the loop on all the new video equipment out there and could use some advice. I was filming tandem videos when my Sony PC101 was the new camera to drool over. The dz asked me to upgrade the old video setup that consisted of a videonics board, dvd recorder and a laptop full of music, due to the fact that its getting old and about to bite the dust. I am currently setting up my desktop to edit videos at the dz. I will be the full time editor at the dropzone, and I'm wanting to deliver the dvds to the students on the same day. During the summer the dz will be running two 182s. This is what I have so far and have a few questions. Also If I am forgetting anything I am open to suggestions. Specs: Phenom IIx4 3 ghz 8 gig memory OCZ Vertex II SSD 120 gb wd 1 tb 7200 rpm hdd GeForce 9800 gtx (plans on upgrading to GTX 470 or higher when prices drop) 975 watt power supply Software Adobe cs5 or Vegas 10 OS win7 x64 Ultimate 2x 20x dvd burners with lightscribe 20" lcd monitor $200 newegg giftcard.*upgrade budget Camera: Sony CX100/cx110 Questions: What is the Time Frame for editing, processing & completion that I should expect to get out of my machine for an average tandem video? How much hard drive space will a video and project files take up when i back it up to an external for archives? Adobe cs5, Vegas, Something Else? Pros/Cons? Does Vegas 10 Support CUDA Rendering like the Adobe Mercury Playback Engine? Any special Plugins that I should have and you can't do without? How much should I charge to edit a video considering i own all the equipment and provide the dvds? The plan: I plan on having the video guys have two cards for there cameras. Land drop off card A, take card B and swap all day. For stills photos I will be using Google Picasa PhotoAlbum and upload them on a separate laptop. I also was thinking about charging extra to upload to a you tube account, so the next day everyone can watch online. I plan on launching the new system before the spring break rush. The Problem: When i shot video full time I always setup editing cues in my shots, Filmed the dropzone logo on the wall before talking to the student on the ground, filming my altimeter before i get those final thoughts in the plans, and giving them a handshake or high5 before opening the door. How to get the new camera guys to do this... Grr... I think that Is all the questions I have. Feel free to copy and past questions and your answers/comments below. Blue Skies, Gary Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
parachutist 1 #2 February 18, 2011 650 watt PSU is more than adequate. Take the $$ saved and put it toward a 6-core Phenom... not much more than a quad core, and the difference is worth it. We use Vegas for a few reasons. 8 gigs memory is plenty. Have fun building it :-) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
parachutist 1 #3 February 18, 2011 Getting all the camera guys to shoot the similar clips really helps the editor. Just let them know that youre making their life easier, and you'd appreciate if they could throw you a bone or something. Sony Production Assistant 2 works as a plungin for Vegas 10 Pro, and it automate copying of files from a card to your HD, then dumps those clips onto a template. It makes editing much quicker. Or you could just buy our VASST NLE system, which comes preassembled with all necessary software loaded, configured, and with custom templates for your DZ already in place. All you need to do is plug it in and turn it on. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gary 0 #4 February 18, 2011 I'll have to look into Sony Production Assistant, I wasn't sure what it did. I'm waiting on the next generation of processors and hopefully next summer I will be upgrading. The system I listed is already built. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
parachutist 1 #5 February 18, 2011 Quote The system I listed is already built. At my DZ we're using two systems with phenom IIx4 cpus that were built about a year and a half ago. With the automation that we're using, we can put out one DVD in about 12 mins, two in about 18, three in about 22... so your system specs aren't bad at all. I just didn't realize it was already built. Avg compensation I've seen for tandem vid edits is about $5 ea, however some places pay hourly rates, so it depends Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gary 0 #6 February 18, 2011 Awesome those times are what i like to hear. I can edit, pack and make the next load. I'll have to work on using vegas some more and check out some of that. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rhys 0 #7 February 19, 2011 I would try realxstream it is mostly automated. It produces, renders and burns you dvd's and has royalty free music with it. It also uploads the video to the web on its own host, this comes with a wigit that you can insert on your own website so your customers all send thier friends to your website rather than youtube. It is designed specifically for skydiving. There are different settings for handicam and outside camera, and the set up of each video takes less than a couple of minutes. You can queue up multipule videos so you can edit a whole load in the time it takes to edit one video on another program. RXT is new and only just on the market. If you are interested contact [email protected] He is currently touring the US promoting the software. Here is an expample of one of our videos. http://www.skydivefranz.co.nz/gallery/54?videoID=wqok8ilwid93y14p"When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hipgnosis 0 #8 February 28, 2011 Another solution that just came out is the Peregrine Video System, also designed for skydiving. It is also fully automated and flexible enough to support different customized scripts. Their website is here : http://www.terminalconcepts.com/skydive/index.php Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skydiveoc 0 #9 March 1, 2011 Finally pieced this together: Intel i7 970 ASUS x58 Sabertooth 8gb of corsair ddr3 64 gb Crucial SSD 2 TB internal western digi NVIDIA GTX 460 graphics card 2 dvd burners 650 Watts power supply windows 7 Did I miss anything? Ran just over $1600 including shop labor to build. Im a novice so I paid the local pro shop to build it. 5.5 minute from render to disc burn a six minute video using gopro and a new Corel free trial. Tinkering around with some free software trials to find the easiest software solution for untrained office personnel to edit. Trying to stay away from timeline manipulation. Haven't found anything as easy as our industry's own RealXstream or Peregrine. Audio manipulation seems to be the toughest one to streamline. Both of the mentioned services let you label a clip as interview or not and music levels are automatically adjusted. If anyone else has other suggestions for easy workload editing please share! We're looking for office personnel to be able to take the sd card, plug it in, click a few buttons, and burn. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DSE 3 #10 March 1, 2011 you'll come to a point of regret if the timeline is never visible. Teaching "untrained office personnel" to ingest/output is quite easy; we do this every week. all three solutions in this thread allow for auto-ducking audio. Without access to the timeline however, there is no way to deal with low/badly recorded audio. Your posted render time is very slow; what settings are you shooting with the GP? you might consider following Parachutists advice; you'll get a faster render to SD due to not only less scaling, but also to managed aspect ratio. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skydiveoc 0 #11 March 1, 2011 Maybe I'm being Utopian but my goal was to utilize personnel who normally check in students to handle editing. If I can get them away from a timeline it might save them some time and . I will check with CW and check on my GP settings. Man, I thought I was doing pretty well with a render and burn time of five minutes compared to the quad core dell! Otherwise...do you think I could speed things up by tinkering with the bios or should I just leave the factory settings alone? Is 8gb ddr3 enough? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DSE 3 #12 March 2, 2011 Based on a lot of past experience...not seeing a timeline is a bad thing. There are MANY DZ's outthere using manifest chicks or a high school grunt to edit video. The training is fast, easy for even the most doltish person out there. Our Production Assistant product has been in the automated world for nearly 6 years now, in skydiving for nearly 4. While we certainly don't know *everything* about how to accomplish what and what...we've got a pretty good grip on it. That's why we're now seeing several people copy our work. Anyway...in teaching people in skydiving, broadcast, and other "extreme" sports how to use the systems...it's never once been an issue for Luddites or marginal computer users to use it. As far as your times, I didn't catch the "burn" in "render and burn." That's not *too* bad, you should still be able to speed it up tho. You burning to 16X DVDs? I've found a lot of guys using slower RW discs, burning at 2X. That'll kill speed. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rhys 0 #13 March 10, 2011 QuoteMaybe I'm being Utopian but my goal was to utilize personnel who normally check in students to handle editing. If I can get them away from a timeline it might save them some time and . You really need to check out realxstream. This program is designed for people like you. It is very, very easy and fast, no complicated skills required. It takes about 2 minutes to set up each video. Then you can start on the next project. It will produce your DVD and upload it to the web, then send an email to the customer thanking them and supplying them to a link of the video. The video us hosted by RXT and you can have a wigit (that they supply) so the customer is watching it on your website along with all their friends. This is very beneficial for DZ's that jump predominately local people as the freinds of the customer willbe directed to your website to see the action, not youtube!!! This is great for marketing and search engine optimisation for your company. The actual time to have the dvd in your hand depends on the speed of your computer, it takes us about 13 minutes using a 8gb ram computer. But for 11 of those 13 minutes we are doing other things while RXT does everything. We can queue up 3 projects in 5 minutes. Go do a load and when we get down thy are all good to go. Very easy."When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rhys 0 #14 March 10, 2011 QuoteOur Production Assistant product has been in the automated world for nearly 6 years now, in skydiving for nearly 4. While we certainly don't know *everything* about how to accomplish what and what...we've got a pretty good grip on it. That's why we're now seeing several people copy our work. Are you talking about realxstream copying your work? If not, can you please explain what you mean... RXT has been in development since the mid naughties. here is a conversation with you about it in 2007; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k94BoEZYHHU It this stage RXT was simply an avenue to upload, now it is all that and more. RXT developed their own idea from a decade ago and now it seems you are implying that they have copied your developments. Correct me if I am wrong.... ?"When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rhys 0 #15 March 11, 2011 QuoteOur Production Assistant product has been in the automated world for nearly 6 years now, in skydiving for nearly 4. While we certainly don't know *everything* about how to accomplish what and what...we've got a pretty good grip on it. That's why we're now seeing several people copy our work. Explain DSE, I see you removed my last last asking this. Who is copying production assistant? and how. I would like to know. You 'put it put there' so you can explain. RXT certainly has not, and it seems you insinuate that. But mabe I am incorrect. Please clarify!"When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rhys 0 #16 March 11, 2011 QuoteOur Production Assistant product has been in the automated world for nearly 6 years now, in skydiving for nearly 4. While we certainly don't know *everything* about how to accomplish what and what...we've got a pretty good grip on it. That's why we're now seeing several people copy our work. Please explain DSE. Who is copying?"When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Flinken 0 #17 March 11, 2011 I’m sure what DSE means is that other automated systems (for tandem vids) have evolved using the work flow model of Production Assistant as a reference to start from. If we stick to Sony Vegas Pro there aren’t many ways on how to create an automated system for tandem vids. The scripting API of Vegas Pro is comprehensive, but regardless on how much effort you put into it the automation basics will remain the same, i.e ingest, populate time line, render, burn and archive. The differences would be in the way those steps are implemented and any added features here and there. Added: I agree with DSE regarding having a time line in hand (when you need it) . Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rhys 0 #18 March 16, 2011 How many of these programs are there out there now. I use RXT and have heard of swooperware and perrigrene but have no exerience with them what so ever. Are they very similar to production assistant? I prefer to get rid of the timeline altogether, as long as you can snip bits out that you don't want and blend them together smoothly then all good. If the idea is to be automated, then it might as well be that. The less input necessary, the better."When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hipgnosis 0 #19 March 18, 2011 QuoteHow many of these programs are there out there now. I use RXT and have heard of swooperware and perrigrene but have no exerience with them what so ever. The Peregrine system gets rid of the timeline, but maintains the normal editing functions (trimming tracks), audio/video transitions, slow motion, etc. and blends it together with the appropriate stock footage. Apart from starting the helper script when first turning on the system, the editor/videographer doesn't have to touch Vegas or DVD Architect - after spending a minute or so editing the video everything (rendering/burning/uploading/filing) is automated. Bill Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mickhardy 0 #20 March 22, 2011 QuoteI use RXT and have heard of swooperware and perrigrene but have no exerience with them what so ever. Just for clarification, it's Swoopware. The timeline is hidden for normal use but available if needed. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64O1Bzk27Fo Mick Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rhys 0 #21 March 25, 2011 Quote I’m sure what DSE means is that other automated systems (for tandem vids) have evolved using the work flow model of Production Assistant as a reference to start from. It seems that he is incorrect then, according to the statements from these other guys that are using the other programs available. PA has its own workflow."When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DSE 3 #22 March 26, 2011 Quote Quote I’m sure what DSE means is that other automated systems (for tandem vids) have evolved using the work flow model of Production Assistant as a reference to start from. It seems that he is incorrect then, according to the statements from these other guys that are using the other programs available.PA has its own workflow. Yes...I _must_ be incorrect. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rhys 0 #23 March 26, 2011 I see the cat let go of your tounge, so will you mind explaining in your own words who is copying your work... I certainly am interested. If not then retract your comment."When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DSE 3 #24 March 26, 2011 I'm prevented from commenting much due to legal action in progress. However, it's funny as hell to read a guy who doesn't know jack sh** about Production Assistant or Vegas and it's SDK telling me and others that I don't know what I'm talking about. Congrats, you baited me well, I bit. I bow to your skills as a master-baiter. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rhys 0 #25 March 26, 2011 Quote I'm prevented from commenting much due to legal action in progress. Then don't comment at all. QuoteHowever, it's funny as hell to read a guy who doesn't know jack sh** about Production Assistant or Vegas and it's SDK telling me and others that I don't know what I'm talking about. I'm not sure if you are commenting on me, but I never said you don't know what you are talking about, in fact I respect your understanding of this type of thing. but your smugness and attitude towards anything other than what you endorse lets you down. To be clear, I have tried using vegas pro and PA and watched your rant on how to use it, but it failed to work. there maybe some simple oversight on my part but that was not explained by you. I also know a dropzone that purchased 4 very powerful PC's with i7 and vegas pro, they had ALOT of trouble and with limited after purchase assistnce they failed to get it to work well for them, they went back to useing thier old system. QuoteCongrats, you baited me well, I bit. I bow to your skills as a master-baiter. I simply wanted clarification, and you simply weren't willing to give it. and insinuating that I am a wanker is much less than professional."When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
