Video Editing using Gateway 400SD4

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I own a Gateway 400SD4 Notebook. It has a 4 pin Firewire connection. It
will soon have a DVD/RW. I plan on getting a large (at least 250GB) external
HD that has Firewire 400. I have a few questions:

I have a bunch of miniDV's that I want to edit and burn to DVD. My plan is
to dump about 2.5 to 3 hours onto the external HD and edit down to maybe 1.5
or maybe 1:45 hours then burn to DVD.

Do I need any type of video capture card (thought about getting one that
allows me to hook up at least 3 Firewire devices), or can I just connect the
external HD using firewire then daisy chain my Sony miniDV camcorder (which
has an iLink 4-pin connection)?

I plan on purchasing another 256mb RAM, giving me a max of 512mb. Will this
be enough RAM?

I was thinking about using Windows Movie Maker. What other software would I
need to edit video?

Finally, can anyone recommend any good websites with information (hopefully
fairly recent info) on video editing on a PC for the beginner? I want to
make sure I have what I need, but don't want to make any unnecessary
purchases.
 
Snip[/QUOTE said:
I own a Gateway 400SD4 Notebook. It has a 4 pin Firewire connection.
It
will soon have a DVD/RW. I plan on getting a large (at least 250GB)
external HD that has Firewire 400.

The answer is the 4 pin firewire connection won't supply power to the
external drive. (a six pin connection would) You will have to have an
external drive with it's own power supply.

Do I need any type of video capture card (thought about getting one
that
allows me to hook up at least 3 Firewire devices), or can I just
connect the external HD using firewire then daisy chain my Sony miniDV
camcorder (which has an iLink 4-pin connection?)

The problem with notebook computers is that they usually incorperate
onboard video chips that steal cpu cycles, to render video files.
Upgrading to a dedicated video card is iffy at best. If you don't have
a fast cpu, you might find compiling video slow and hard to do, no
matter what the advertisements for your brand of notebook says.

I plan on purchasing another 256mb RAM, giving me a max of 512mb. Will
this be enough RAM? One MB would be better.

I was thinking about using Windows Movie Maker. What other software
would I need to edit video?

All video software has it's own issues including MS Movie Maker. I'll
supply some links and you do the research and lurk on the forums to see
what other folks say.

'Digital Video Forum' (http://forum.digital-digest.com/index.php?)

'Videoguys.com' (http://www.videoguys.com/videoguysnew.html)

'Pinnacle Studio 10 Web Forum' (http://tinyurl.com/ahn72)

'Hardware Cardbus PC Card' (http://www.ioi1394.com/products/)

'PC CardBus to FireWire' (http://www.cooldrives.com/pccatoiefiru.html)


You will also need some six pin to 4 pin cables:
'IEEE-1394 FireWire Cables' (http://tinyurl.com/dbncw)

Hope this was enough to get you on your way.
Best,
Treeman
Click to expand...
 
Thank you Treeman and Burgy. I am checking out those links.

I was originally going to buy a hot swapable drive for my Gateway, but found
that the price was too high compared to the internal DVD burner prices, so I
will probably buy a 2 (or maybe 4 bay) bay enclosure that includes its own
power source and fan and firewire connections. I think most of the
enclosures that I have noticed require the 6 pin FW cable. Anyone have a
recommendation for brands and models of DVD burners?

Treeman: You mentioned "The problem with notebook computers is that they
usually incorperate onboard video chips that steal cpu cycles, to render
video files. Upgrading to a dedicated video card is iffy at best. If you
don't have a fast cpu, you might find compiling video slow and hard to do, no
matter what the advertisements for your brand of notebook says.

I realize compiling video will be slow via my laptop. My Gateway has a
2.0Ghz Pentium 4 (no HT), so it is probably OK. I feel the limiting factors
in my case will be the slower internal HD (probably 3400rpm) that XP runs on
and the upper limit on RAM (512mb). Since I don't plan on making a living
using this setup, I can probably just set it up in the evening and let it run
overnight or however long it takes.

Was thinking about buying the internal HD, DVD burner and enclosure on ebay,
but am concerned about getting counterfeits, so I will probably go to CompUSA
and price it out.

Thanks,

Kevin
 
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