# New to Video editing / slow pc



## judoant

Just picked up a Gopro 3 silver and I have been shooting some test footage to learn how to use it and to edit. I have zero video editing knowledge. I have been using Windows movie maker and I got a copy of Magix movie edit pro plus but it seems like they both are very slow. 

My pc is a windows xp box, fresh install with intel 4 prescott 3.8 and 2.5 gb of ram. I have a separate pci express video card that came with it. Is this system too under powered to edit video or am i doing something wrong?

I have been shooting video in 720, 60fps. Then I have been converting the gopro files from mpg4 to avi to import into movie maker.

Any help is appreciated.


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## Edge

Quite low RAM for editing HD video.

I'd also recommend Sony Vegas, as it's better software.


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## judoant

Edge said:


> Quite low RAM for editing HD video.
> 
> I'd also recommend Sony Vegas, as it's better software.


I was thinking the same thing. For the price of memory I plan to max out my system.


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## corneilli

judoant said:


> I was thinking the same thing. For the price of memory I plan to max out my system.


It's not only RAM that's necessary, also your processor and video card matter. I have a laptop with a GT 540M graphics card with 2GB dedicated to it, then another 6gb for the system and a i7 processor and even with this -quite good- set-up it sometimes goes slow with HD, so maybe you should consider using/ buying a better pc. :dunno:

And Sony Vegas will indeed be better


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## judoant

I agree. This hardware is from 2005 and the cpu is maxed out. The max ram is 4gb. For about $100 I can max out ram and get a decent video card, but It may be time to cut my losses and build a new system. 

It sucks that I buy this camera and then feel like I need a new computer to take advantage of it.


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## oldmate

You'll probably need a better pc if u want significant improvements. I'm looking for a laptop myself to do the same thing u want.

I'll be getting something along the lines of

I5 processor
4gb ram minimum
500gb hard drive

Can get one here in Aus for around $500-$550, am just waiting for Boxing Day sales to see if I can get anything cheaper


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## judoant

would something like this fit the bill or should I be looking at something newer?

APPLE MAC POWERMAC G5 DUAL 2.3


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## mixie

judoant said:


> I agree. This hardware is from 2005 and the cpu is maxed out. The max ram is 4gb. For about $100 I can max out ram and get a decent video card, but It may be time to cut my losses and build a new system.
> 
> It sucks that I buy this camera and then feel like I need a new computer to take advantage of it.



It never ends. Just wait until you decide you want a a third party plug in. You go to install said plug in but you realize you have to upgrade your OS. 

Wait now that you've updated your OS now your main editing software starts crashing. Fuck. But you really want this plug in. Soooooo you make your system dual boot. Oh fuck. Now you need more hard drive space. Well at least hard drives are cheap. Now you're spending more time 
tweaking your rig then editing on the fucking thing. 

It's always something. 

So you finally cut the thing on your computer monitor and it's awesome. You take it your buddies house who has a sweet projector and you see all these tiny details you mised on your 21" LCD at home. Go home. Crop out the gapers in the background only you can see. Next thing you know you're painting out the chair life cables above your head. A week later it's perfect. You take it back to your buddies house and he's like 'dude bro. Love the new music'

The music never changed and he doesn't even care that you spent 27 hours painting out lift cables. So you set your edit rig on fire. Good riddance!


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## blunted_nose

HAHAHA, too true.


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## oldmate

judoant said:


> would something like this fit the bill or should I be looking at something newer?
> 
> APPLE MAC POWERMAC G5 DUAL 2.3


Whats your budget? Macs are generally better for high end video editing, but you pay more for them. A pc will do what you need.


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## FacePlant4Free

also keep in mind that legit editing software is crazy expensive.

i still have yet to actually commit and pay for something like that. i ripped a version of Vegas Pro from somewhere and it was pretty cool. still, it's like learning a new language with some of the shit.

Ohhh and by the way, remember to convert your files to something other than MP4 bc i doubt your system can handle it.

the guys above are correct, it is sooo tedious to be able to do everything correctly. i've made one video since ive gotten my gopro, and it wasnt even snowboarding related lol.

good luck.


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## corneilli

judoant said:


> would something like this fit the bill or should I be looking at something newer?
> 
> APPLE MAC POWERMAC G5 DUAL 2.3


Don't buy apple, yes they are better at video editing but only with software like Adobe, which runs natively better on an apple. If you're going to use Sony Vegas, the suggested set-up with i5, 4Gb ram and 500GB hard would be enough (but make sure you have a good video card, it's important for rendering with OpenGL). And if you have questions about Sony Vegas, PM me, I have lots of experience with it


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## jbernste03

I just made my first video..I'll just share my expeirence...i have a shitty old xp laptop too..

I was reccomended Sony Vegas too from this forum..I "downloaded" it.. thinking "how tough could it be"..i work with technology all day and am decent at graphic design and photoshop...after many $%#&(@(@#%ing tries to figure it out and constant freezing because of the old computer I said $%# it. the preview would never work so i had to render the vid just to seee it. If your computer is slow using movie maker there is NOO way u can run sony vegas.

I used windows movie maker and created exactly what i wanted.. all i wanted to do was combine clips, slow down/speed up sections, add titles and credits, add music, and some transitions/effects..

here's the vid

https://vimeo.com/55673382

If it is your first video editing try I would reccomend keep using windows movie maker..its idiot proof and does all the basics..

sony vegas is very confusing for a beginner (like myself) and very slow on shitty machines. 

just my 2 cents.. i know alot of people here love sony vegas..but for me..it simply was not the right program... maybe once I buy a new comp and learn some basic editing..i also had a sony vegas professional teaching me some basics and it was still confusing as fuck..learn on a basic program 

EDIT: sorry I was too lazy to read everybody else's replies..so this post is purely based off the OP's post

EDIT 2: the video in the link took me about 3 hours to make in windows movie maker ..just FYI.. I spent about 10 hours in sony vegas and didnt get it anywhere near close to being presentable


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## mixie

If you do go Mac. DO NOT get a G5 or any other non intel machine. You will have no good software available and no support. 


If you can't get an intel processor don't do it. G5s were great machines, I have 3 of them. But Apple killed them way before their time.


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## judoant

So my girlfriend has an old 2007 macbook. I just formatted it and loaded snow leopard and my buddy gave me imovie 11. All I can say is wow! This is a game changer to get me started editing. So easy and fast. The preview pane works flawlessly and the rest of the software is very intuitive. I have spent the last hour looking at Intel Mac Pro's on ebay. For around $500 it looks like I can get a kick ass box.

Thanks for the info guys.


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## judoant

I shot about 18GB of video last night and damn is it slow to copy from the camera to the macbook. Then after about 7 hours of copy from the camera to the hard drive its another 3 hours to import into iMovie. Is this normal?


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## mitch19

That's a fair chunk of footage for a day. Would all depend on if you are using a USB cord to transfer the data or a HDMI etc HDMI will be a faster data transfer


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## judoant

I am using usb


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## corneilli

mitch19 said:


> That's a fair chunk of footage for a day. Would all depend on if you are using a USB cord to transfer the data or a HDMI etc HDMI will be a faster data transfer


Can you use HDMI to transfer? :dizzy:


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## mitch19

corneilli said:


> Can you use HDMI to transfer? :dizzy:


I'm not 100% sure... I only got mine not too long ago, I just assumed seeing as there was a slot for one and USB is typically slow.


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## Edge

No, HDMI is only for displaying visual data. You can re-capture it using software or an internal capture unit, but you can't say, drag the files from your camera to your computer using HDMI.


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## corneilli

Edge said:


> No, HDMI is only for displaying visual data. You can re-capture it using software or an internal capture unit, but you can't say, drag the files from your camera to your computer using HDMI.


Yeah, that was what I was thinking, too good to be true


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## mixie

just digitize the footage in to your edit rig, it will take real time but way faster then USB xfer and no importing into iMovie. You should be able to load clips directly into what ever edit software you are using. 


When you load the footage into your editing software don't just load it in as one long piece. Log your files and skip digitizing the crap you know you don't want. Create new files for each chunk you think you're going to want to use and name them appropriately. It also helps to keep the naming consistent in some way so the files line up in an organized fashion in the bin. 

"01 Park Lap 1" "02 park lap 2" "03 major wipeout on jump" etc....then when you go to edit it will be much much simpler with all your takes logged and neatly organized in your bin! If you want to get all OCD you can even take notes!




man, I so need to invent some sort of digital slate for go pros!! There probably already is one!


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## oneshot

unless you are making PRO movies i suggest dropping your shooting rez to 720.. face it, all you are likely to do for a while is post videos on youtube, right? 720 looks great still and is still HD and your computer and software will handle it much much much better than 1080.. its a huge step jumping up and working with 1080..


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## judoant

I am shooting in 720 and using my macbook. The clips play fine in imovie but not in quick time. Very choppy. It also looks like when I import the files into imovie it is making a copy of the file and eating up drive space.

Is there anyway to open files in imovie without importing them?


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## mixie

judoant said:


> I am shooting in 720 and using my macbook. The clips play fine in imovie but not in quick time. Very choppy. It also looks like when I import the files into imovie it is making a copy of the file and eating up drive space.
> 
> Is there anyway to open files in imovie without importing them?


There is probably a preference in iMovie to copy to library on import OR reference original location. 

Quicktime issues? Could be anything. Down res them to something smaller perhaps when exporting to QT. 

This is why I quit working as an assistant editor. IT SUCKS. Seriously. Editing is the most soul sucking tedious shit you can do, and you're not even getting paid. Quit while you're ahead.


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## Extremo

mixie said:


> There is probably a preference in iMovie to copy to library on import OR reference original location.
> 
> Quicktime issues? Could be anything. Down res them to something smaller perhaps when exporting to QT.
> 
> This is why I quit working as an assistant editor. IT SUCKS. Seriously. Editing is the most soul sucking tedious shit you can do, and you're not even getting paid. Quit while you're ahead.


Thank god you said this, I was beginning to think it was just me.


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## Edge

mixie said:


> There is probably a preference in iMovie to copy to library on import OR reference original location.
> 
> Quicktime issues? Could be anything. Down res them to something smaller perhaps when exporting to QT.
> 
> This is why I quit working as an assistant editor. IT SUCKS. Seriously. Editing is the most soul sucking tedious shit you can do, and you're not even getting paid. Quit while you're ahead.



It's not so bad if you have a capable machine and are doing things in your comfort zone. Repetitive and ball-aching sometimes, but it's not the worst.


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## mixie

Edge said:


> It's not so bad if you have a capable machine and are doing things in your comfort zone. Repetitive and ball-aching sometimes, *but it's not the worst.*


Fair enough. I used to cut dialog. I spent hours removing breaths and mouth clicks and splicing syllables together to create words that were never said. 

Now that is the worst thing ever!


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## corneilli

I kinda like editing.. It's true when you stay in your comfort zone and mess around a bit if you have some free time it's pretty fun  So if anyone needs an editor ;D


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## judoant

So I have started shooting some footage and I have a question about Protune. Should I have this on or off? From what I see the footage looks much better with it off because when it is on it looks flat and I reat that the richness is restored in editing.

This seems to advanced for what I am trying to do. I just want a compilation of my season. I dont want to spend all day making colors look right.


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## kwillo

Leave Protune off, it's too much hassle unless you really know what you are doing.


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## WigMar

Do you mean with existing cleaning tools from 2013?


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