Windows Vista – Not yet

Microsoft has finally shipped their much awaited and hyped next OS – Vista. For Digital Videographers we have one piece of advice: Do Not Upgrade (Yet)

Here are our top reasons why we feel you MUST WAIT before upgrading or migrating to Vista
Wait for certified Vista 64 bit drivers for your software and hardware. We see no reason or advantage at all for upgrading to the 32 bit version of Vista. It eats up resources and at best you will get the same performance you already have under WinXP. Once we have 64bit software and drivers to offer you, we will begin recommending Vista

Vista has too many flavors, and we have no idea which one will offer the best value and performance for video editing. You don’t want to have to upgrade to a more expensive version in a few months, and you don’t want to overpay for the more expensive flavors if you don’t need it.

Vista, video cards and graphics drivers. One of the coolest new features about Vista is the Aero display technology that allow you to see and work with multiple windows in 3D space. Very cool! But what will that do for video editing? I’m concerned it will steal resources and slow us down. We recommend waiting until we can recommend the right optimized graphics drivers and settings for you.

There is no doubt that some time this year, probably early summer after the first Service Packs have been released we will change our tune. At first we’ll tell you to proceed with caution, but give it a try – especially once we get Vista certified version of our software. But I don’t think you’ll see us giving it our top recommendation until it can deliver on the full promise of 64 bit computing. Then there will be no turning back.

Down the road Vista will allow us to take full advantage of multiple CPU cores, utilization of 4,6,8 or more GBs of RAM and even multiple graphic cards running multiple HD displays. Eventually we’ll see new NLE software GUIs and interfaces that tap into the Aero technology to make editing even easier and more productive. We’re just not there yet. Give it time. By this time next year I think we’ll have it all – and more!!
64 bit is the future - but it is not here yet for NLE.

We are extremely excited about multi-core processors and 64 bit operating system. These cutting edge new technologies are going to be very beneficial for video editing. The increased processing power will make rendering and encoding much faster and enable additional features. We also expect to see video editing software and hardware that will be fully optimized for these new technologies to deliver a whole new level of real-time features and performance.

As we move to HD this additional processing power will become even more important. A 1080i HDV file actually contains 5 times the data of a standard DV file. While this data can be packed into a stream the same size as a DV file, when it comes time to process and edit the video, you need to be able to handle all the additional bits of data. I am certain that in the not to distant future we will be recommending multi-core processors and WinXP64 OS / Vista - but not yet.
While these machines are now becoming available, we're urging our customers to use caution here. None of our video editing solutions is written for Windows XP64, and we do not yet have enough real-world feedback to tell you what if any issues are cropping up. While in theory you should be able to run 32 bit applications under XP64, we do not know what kind of trouble that may cause for video editing. To take full advantage of this next technology leap we are going to need NLE software (and hardware) that is optimized for winXP64 and multicore processors as well.

Over the next several months we will be compiling tips and tweaks pages for the new 64 bit version of Windows XP and we will be putting up a page on our website for them.
Apple Macs on Intel processors!?!

That's right, the next generation of Apple computers will be built on Intel Dual core processors. While this may cause some apprehension in loyal Mac users, we think it is very exciting news. We are already getting reports from our customers using "Boot Camp" to run both Mac OSX and WinXP on the same computer. Thereby enabling Mac customers to finally be able to take advantage of software that is Windows only, and vice-versa!

WinXP is still the best choice for NLE. We run XP Pro in all our demo machines and personal NLE systems. We give WinXP our highest recommendation and it is the OS you should be building your new NLE system on.

We recommend getting Win XP Pro.Win XP Home is fine for home video / hobbiest work. XP Pro is better for serious NLE work. It supports dual processors, Hyperthreading and networking.

With a WinXP system, the more power you give it, the more powerful your NLE system will be.
WinXP will take full advantage of CPU speed and Win XP Pro fully supports dual processors. For best results give WinXP at least an 1.4Mhz CPU or dual 1 Ghz. You will find that you can get a dual P4 1.8Ghz computer for about the same cost as a single P4 2.4 Mhz. Almost all of our NLE software now utilize both processors and so can many of our other content creation software.
WinXP demands a lot of memory, so go with a minimum of 512 Megs. 768 or 1GB is MUCH BETTER!

All the hardware in your computer must have WinXP driver support for our WinXP cards to function properly.

We do not recommend upgrading an existing and working system to WinXP.
For all these reasons we feel you are much better getting a new system with WinXP rather then upgrading an older system that may not have the necessary power and/or driver support.

More System recommendations

Get lots of RAM. You want Minimum 512 megs of RAM just to run WinXP efficiently. For video editing you want at least a GB, 2GB is even better! Memory is still very cheap, and this is a great performance booster. While you can run with less, you will have a much more stable & better running system with more memory. Also, with the new chipsets, the new faster RAM is one of the biggest contributors to improved performance. By running less then 512 megs on a new computer system, you are actually throttling down your overall system's performance.
Multiple Layers of Vdeo, Animation and Special FX need even more RAM.If you plan on adding a lot, get at least 1GB , you won't regret it. If you plan on using a 3D effects plug-in or compositing your video with multiple layers, you'll find your system runs smoother and faster w/ 2 GBs of RAM!

Recommended motherboards

We do not recommend specific motherboards, but we have found that ASUS, Tyan and Aopen motherboards work great for most of our cards. The chipset used on the motherboard is actually more important then the brand.

Graphic cards

We already went into this in detail earlier on the page, but some of you may have missed it. For good results get a dual head graphics card with an ATI or NVIDIA based chipset and at least 128 megs of RAM.We recommend the following cards:
nVidia Quadro & GeForce based cards
ATI Radeon
Matrox G550/650/750 / Parhelia
Get the biggest system drive you can afford.

If the system comes with a 100GB drive, get it. You will use up the space. A big system drive is great for storing lower resolution/multimedia quality video clips.The last thing you want to do is have to open up a DTV system that's performing great just to add more storage for software.
Get a multi-format DVD burner!!

DVD Burners are now very affordable. They are great for backing up large files. If you plan on copying and ripping, get both a DVD Burner and a DVD-ROM drive.

Multimedia peripherals
We recommend a step up audio system. While most of our cards come with audio capture built on, most digital videographers eventually find themselves doing some soundtrack manipulation and basic audio editing. Having a step up sound card will let you do a better job and as an added bonus, many of these cards come with some kind of audio recording utility and even basic audio mixing/editing tools. If you plan on making DVDs, you'll want a sound card and speakers for surrounf sound. That way you can listen to your video and DVD in full audio quality while you work.

Get a mid size or full tower
Trust me, you'll thank me for this one. Not only will the added space come in handy for adding in stuff, but the bigger case makes running cables and actually doing the install easier. Another big advantage of a tower is better air circulation, which keeps your system cooler.

Use an external modem
With todays fast serial ports you'll see no difference in performance and you won't waste any IRQs or resources. Another plus with an external modem is that if it gets locked up, you only need to flip the power on & off. With an internal modem you may have to reboot