I know that I am unable to accurately answer your questions. However, the Special Interest-Photo and Video Editing Forum may be a good place to re-post your inquiry and to check the FAQs at that forum. I am certain that other Forum members there would be able to offer great tips and good advice. It sounds like a great project! You may want to include more info about your current computer system set-up (including currently installed PCI cards), that will facilitate a more informed response.
Hello Debbie-Please check out the information below and post back at the Photo/Video forum if you have further questions and we'll see what we can do:
What kind of computer do I need for PC video production? PC video production is resource consuming task. A Pentium 3 500Mhz, 256MB RAM, 20G computer with Windows 98SE would be the low end. An Intel 865 or 875 P4 motherboard with a 2.4G P4 processor, 512MB DDR RAM, an 80G 7200rpm hard drive and Windows XP would be good. A 3.0G P4, 1G DDR RAM, a second hard drive or RAID and Windows XP Pro would be better. You may want to add more hard drives or a DVD/CD burner, make sure the computer you buy will be able to handle these upgrades.
What do I need to get video from my camera into my computer?Digital Video-IEEE 1394(MiniDV,Digital8): You need a firewire or USB2.0 interface depending on which brand and model of DV camera you have. Most computers come with USB2.0, you can order firewire with your computer or install a PCI firewire card. Analog Video(VHS, 8mm, Hi8): You will need some kind of analog capture device or an AGP graphics card, like the ATI All In Wonder, that has analog capture. You can order an analog capture system from Dell, there are other analog capture devices listed HERE. Capture/Editing Software: To capture and edit video you will need software. Most of the time, an editing package will come with your capture device or firewire card. Entry level software from Pinnacle, Ulead and Roxio have similar features. To figure out which one works best for you, download a trial version and check it out. You can find links to these software manufacturers HERE.
Can't download video from camera Check your Device Manager to see if the computer recognizes your camera. If you don't see your camera, or there is a warning symbol next to your camera, you have a hardware problem. Usually, these problems are related to the camera's drivers. Windows comes with DV device drivers installed. Use Microsoft camera drivers. If these DV drivers are not installed on your system, they can be found on the Windows installation disc. If your camera shows up in the Device Manager, check your software configuration. Make sure you are using the correct capture drivers. Check the Device Control settings. If your software uses capture templates, make sure you have the correct template selected. Check the cables that connect your camera to the computer. Capture Problems, Dropped Frames, etc. You can find some basic troubleshooting information HERE. The DVDR Help Forums are a good place for information and support. Links to other information HERE. Click HERE for links to Microsoft Support articles regarding digital video and firewire. Click HERE for information from Dell regarding earlier Movie Studio versions(8/02-3/03).
How do I make video DVDs or VCDs? You will need a DVD or CD writer. Click HERE for installation instructions and information regarding CD and DVD burners for your Dell. Digital video must be converted to MPEG1 for VCDs or MPEG2 for DVDs. Usually, your video editing or disc authoring software will do this. TMPGEnc is a popular program for MPEG encoding. DVD authoring software allows you to make menus and chapters for DVDs. DVDR Help has a great deal of information about DVD and VCD production from start to finish.
Please keep in mind, these are just general facts about basic digital video questions. The more you learn about video production, the better your video productions will be. Use Help menus and product manuals.
B4runo
1.1K Posts
0
March 13th, 2005 22:00
Debbie7282:
I know that I am unable to accurately answer your questions. However, the Special Interest-Photo and Video Editing Forum may be a good place to re-post your inquiry and to check the FAQs at that forum. I am certain that other Forum members there would be able to offer great tips and good advice. It sounds like a great project! You may want to include more info about your current computer system set-up (including currently installed PCI cards), that will facilitate a more informed response.
http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums/board?board.id=si_digvideo
Good luck,:smileyhappy:
B4runo
DIMM 4400
BIOS – A06, date 6/12/02
Win XP Home Edition, SP2
Pentium-4 2.8 GHz, 400MHz FSB, 512K L2
1 GB DDR SRAM PC2100
80GB WD 7200RPM, 200GB WD 7200RPM EIDE/ATA HDDs
Iomega 80GB USB 2.0 External HDD
XFX GeForce FX 5700LE 128MB DDR 8X AGP w/ TV & DVI
17”, 1702FP Digital Flat Panel Display
SIIG US2275 USB 2.0 / 1394a / NIC PCI card
Courteous Dell Community Forum members search first, then post.
Debbie7282
2 Posts
0
March 13th, 2005 23:00
Thank you so much for your quick response. I will post my add to the other forum and see what they come up with.
Debbie
Ron B
639 Posts
0
March 13th, 2005 23:00
Hello Debbie-Please check out the information below and post back at the Photo/Video forum if you have further questions and we'll see what we can do:
What kind of computer do I need for PC video production? PC video production is resource consuming task. A Pentium 3 500Mhz, 256MB RAM, 20G computer with Windows 98SE would be the low end. An Intel 865 or 875 P4 motherboard with a 2.4G P4 processor, 512MB DDR RAM, an 80G 7200rpm hard drive and Windows XP would be good. A 3.0G P4, 1G DDR RAM, a second hard drive or RAID and Windows XP Pro would be better. You may want to add more hard drives or a DVD/CD burner, make sure the computer you buy will be able to handle these upgrades.
What do I need to get video from my camera into my computer? Digital Video-IEEE 1394(MiniDV,Digital8): You need a firewire or USB2.0 interface depending on which brand and model of DV camera you have. Most computers come with USB2.0, you can order firewire with your computer or install a PCI firewire card. Analog Video(VHS, 8mm, Hi8): You will need some kind of analog capture device or an AGP graphics card, like the ATI All In Wonder, that has analog capture. You can order an analog capture system from Dell, there are other analog capture devices listed HERE. Capture/Editing Software: To capture and edit video you will need software. Most of the time, an editing package will come with your capture device or firewire card. Entry level software from Pinnacle, Ulead and Roxio have similar features. To figure out which one works best for you, download a trial version and check it out. You can find links to these software manufacturers HERE.
Can't download video from camera Check your Device Manager to see if the computer recognizes your camera. If you don't see your camera, or there is a warning symbol next to your camera, you have a hardware problem. Usually, these problems are related to the camera's drivers. Windows comes with DV device drivers installed. Use Microsoft camera drivers. If these DV drivers are not installed on your system, they can be found on the Windows installation disc. If your camera shows up in the Device Manager, check your software configuration. Make sure you are using the correct capture drivers. Check the Device Control settings. If your software uses capture templates, make sure you have the correct template selected. Check the cables that connect your camera to the computer. Capture Problems, Dropped Frames, etc. You can find some basic troubleshooting information HERE. The DVDR Help Forums are a good place for information and support. Links to other information HERE. Click HERE for links to Microsoft Support articles regarding digital video and firewire. Click HERE for information from Dell regarding earlier Movie Studio versions(8/02-3/03).
How do I make video DVDs or VCDs? You will need a DVD or CD writer. Click HERE for installation instructions and information regarding CD and DVD burners for your Dell. Digital video must be converted to MPEG1 for VCDs or MPEG2 for DVDs. Usually, your video editing or disc authoring software will do this. TMPGEnc is a popular program for MPEG encoding. DVD authoring software allows you to make menus and chapters for DVDs. DVDR Help has a great deal of information about DVD and VCD production from start to finish.
Please keep in mind, these are just general facts about basic digital video questions. The more you learn about video production, the better your video productions will be. Use Help menus and product manuals.