Ideal MINIMUM system for working with AVCHD?

[mwhdvm]

What would be the MINIMAL ideal system capability for being able to edit AVCHD files with no hiccups in playback and create SD DVDs?

Amt of RAM?
Processor speed?
Anything else?

Thanks!

[Ron P.]

Do you mean AVCHD?

RAM:
What OS are you running? Vista is a resource PIG<--I mean that in capitals. Just to run Vista with any image editing and especially video editing, the bare minimum would be 2gig, I would go for 3 or 4 if you can.

Processor:
Intel® Pentium® 4 3.0 GHz or higher with Hyper-Threading technology (That's from Ulead's website http://www.ulead.com/vs/sysreq.htm. You could use anyone of the Duo or Dual Core (most new PCs come with these as standard now), or even a Quad core or maybe even a Quad-Dual Core (which would give you 8-virtual processors). However if the program (VS) is not written to utilize these then they are of no great benefit. You can do a search on this forum for posts about the Dual/Duo core and find some good information from those that have tested this.

Anything Else:
HDD (Hard disk drives), yes drives. More then one is highly recommended for any flavor of video editing. It takes a great deal of real estate. So try to get an additional 500 gig to 1 terabyte HDD. The speed of the HDD can be a factor too. You might entertain a 10,000 rpm HDD. Most larger HDDs are the standard 7200rpm, unless your talking about Laptops, they tend to use the old 5400rpm.

Video Card:
Look at video cards that have their own memory, at least 250Mbs. Laptops tend to use "shared" memory. This means it borrows from your system (RAM) memory.

Sound:
If you're looking at producing some real high-quality video, sound is also important. Invest in a good sound card, and don't rely on integrated sound. Which is part of your motherboard.

If that does not provide what you're looking for then do a Search on this topic, as it has been discussed in some detail before..

[mwhdvm]

Thank you for your detailed response!

I'm running XP Home on a Dell XPS system which has the minimum requirements you listed. I'm just trying to figure out if I need more RAM as I have 2GB now but I tend to work a lot with concert video which tends to be a 1 hour long single file and my computer cannot seem to play the video smoothly inside VS. It plays fine in Sony's Motion Picture Browser. So I'm considering order 2GB more RAM but didn't want to do it if it was a problem of processor speed, etc. Do you think this would be a way to solve that problem? My PC has a 2.8Ghz Duo Pentium.

[Ken Berry]

If you look at my System button below, that computer can process AVCHD video verrrry slowly (i.e. edit or produce it from another format) BUT it simply cannot play it back smoothly. When I play a clip produced on that computer on a Core 2 Duo 2.0 GHZ with 2 GB RAM, it will however play smoothly.

[mwhdvm]

Ken or Vidoman: do you have any opinions on working with one of these files that is 1 hour in length? Is there a way to break it into multiple files within VS so that you can edit it as one movie but still be able to play the various segments smoothly? For example, if I make a movie with multiple small segments (family video stuff) it can play those shorter smaller segments fine within the VS editor. But if I add 1 file that is 1 hour long (concert video), it can barely play it while editing, which makes editing it very difficult. Does this seem reasonable?

[Black Lab]

If it's a concert video you probably don't have any breaks in the tape so that you could use Split by Scene when you capture. Therefore, just use the Scissors to cut the clip wherever you like, into as many pieces as you like.

[JimmyB7]

Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Windows 32 Bit Vista can only support up to 3GB RAM.

More than 3GB RAM requires the 64 Bit Vista.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929605

Found this out after I added 2GB RAM.

2 + 2 = 3 apparently.

[mwhdvm]

Is that true of XP also? How many gigs of RAM can XP support?[/quote]

[JimmyB7]

Is that true of XP also? How many gigs of RAM can XP support?

Apparently XP supports 4GB.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555223

[mwhdvm]

Looks like you've nailed it for me. Thanks. Too bad - I was shooting to run 6GB of RAM. I guess I'll have to give 2GB of the new RAM I just ordered to my wife

[Ken Berry]

Just before you go off half-cocked, read the first article from Microsoft that JimmyB7 referred you too. It is simply not true in a blanket sense that Vista does not support more than 3 GB of RAM. With your current computer, if you were to change to Vista, it would certainly be true. But it is not true of much more recent computers which have the necessary architecture inside them which conforms to the minimum requirements set out in that article. Those cover a lot of processor types, and believe me, there are a lot of Vista users out there these days who are using new computers with often more than 4 GB of RAM, and doing so successfully...

[etech6355]

mwhdvm,
First, before starting a project you need to know what your target is.
It sounds to me like you want to create a dvd of the 1 hour video you recorded.
This would require to make a Mpeg2 DVD compliant video file.
Convert your avchd video to a DVD Mpeg2 compliant video file.
Then start a new project and use that new mpeg2 video file.

You don't want to edit the avchd file directly.
Convert it first to a format that VS can work with.
Make sure under preferences to set Rendering Quality or Re-Sampling Quality to BEST.

So, first create a dvd template, make sure to assign Upper Field First, compression/quality=100%, and all the correct parameters to make a compliant DVD Mpeg2 Video File for your format (ntsc or pal).
Since your source video is High Definition I would use a high video bit-rate to retain the quality level, at least 8000kbs.
After you create this custom template then load your avchd video file.
Goto "Share -> Create Video File" -> SELECT Your Custom Template", assign a directory & filename to render/convert the video to dvd mpeg2 compliant specs.

As a test I would trim the video down to 1 minute, then perform a render/conversion to mpeg2 as per above. Time the conversion to give you an idea of a 60 minute conversion. 1 Minute may take 3 Minutes to convert, so a 1 hour avchd video will take about 3 hours then. It may also be more manageable to trim or set In/Out points and make multiple mpeg2 conversions. This way the project is easier to manage.
I don't think you need to upgrade your machine.

[mwhdvm]

etech6355,
Thank you very much for this detailed plan. I will give it a try.

When you say, "you don't want to edit the avchd file directly" is this just due to it's size and the hassle/slowness, or is there a more important reason. What about when I want to make a DVD of 30 short segments of video from a family trip - is it OK to edit the avchd files to make the SD DVD? Just want to know if I need to convert all 30 of those files before I start putting my video together. Perhaps this is the better way anyway?

I appreciate yours and the rest of the group's opinions!

[etech6355]

mwhdvm,
You can use VS11+ Batch Convert Utility to perform multiple conversions.

I would start with a 15 minute project. Trim your video using the trimming tools in VS11+ and export to a compliant Mpeg2 video file. Work on the Mpeg2 video file as a new project. Then burn a DVD.

I would use the Forums Tutorials similar to DV to DVD. You just replace the DV settings with your source video settings.
Retaining the fielding information through the whole process is very important. If you don't the video will end up looking jerky & uneven/not smooth motion.
So do not use frame based or de-interlace when converting to Mpeg2. Your source videos are UFF (upper field first). This is very important.

[2Dogs]

If you look at my System button below, that computer can process AVCHD video verrrry slowly (i.e. edit or produce it from another format) BUT it simply cannot play it back smoothly. When I play a clip produced on that computer on a Core 2 Duo 2.0 GHZ with 2 GB RAM, it will however play smoothly.

If you swapped out your 7600 for an 8600 series, however, it would offload most of the H.264 encoding for playback onto the video card - and the HD video could play smoothly, even on your system. It's an option for users not wishing to buy a whole new pc.

Another little discussed feature of such video cards is their ability to do useful noise reduction when playing back poorly encoded HD material - including many early HD movie titles. Whilst in an ideal world studios would produce perfect noise-free video, this isn't yet the case, and these cards can be useful.

Apologies for drifting off topic a bit!