The decision of which system to buy is not an easy one. Your main choice will be based on the type of equipment with which you shoot. All systems these days support DV, and most variations of HDV, Sony XDCam and Panasonic P2. Not all do - for example Sony Vegas does not support Panasonic P2 footage.   There are also new formats arriving all the time and how well these are supported does vary from one computer to another. AVCHD is a codec that is increasingly being used in HD camcorders which has caused many people problems because older versions of the programs would not support it - now it is supported by nearly all, although how well it works does vary from program to program.  Another new format which is gaining ground is the footage filmed using Digital SLR cameras - again supported by some programs and not others.

So the best solution does depend on your own needs. Here are some typical questions:

What inputs and outputs do you need?

All the programs have different capture cards available for SD and HD capture through component, composite, HDMI and SDI connections. Avid Media Composer has its Mojo, Grass Valley the EDIUS HDSTORM and THUNDER, Premiere Pro has cards from Matrox or Black Magic and Sony Vegas will work with Black Magic cards.

Are you filming on HD?

HD editing is here and already well established. There are many variations - HDV being the cheapest, although formats like Sony XDCam and Panasonic P2 are also becoming popular. We even have new camcorders like the Sony HDRSR1. which records in a new format - AVCHD - onto either a hard drive or disc built into the camera (rather than tape). Support for these different formats varies from program to program.

Realtime Effects

Realtime effects are very useful and can make your editing much easier because they give you freedom to experiment and see the changes without wasting time rendering. They are not the be-all and end-all, as there are many cool effects you may want to achieve that can only be done by rendering.

Adobe Premiere Pro, Grass Valley EDIUS, Sony Vegas and Avid Media Composer can all output DV realtime effects through FireWire without special hardware.  With nearly all the programs you can add extra hardware to do more realtime effects, and that may be a deciding factor on which system you choose. For example an EDIUS HDSPARK system can do more realtime effects at full quality on HDV footage than any of the other system.

Integration with other programs

More and more software companies have developed interesting ways of making programs talk to each other - like, for example, adding chapter markers to your timeline in the editing program and carrying these over to your DVD writing application. Adobe is the king of integration with their new Production Studio, although Avid does a great job integrating with the other applications that ship with it, notably Avid DVD and Boris FX and Continuum.

DVD Writing

All the programs do a good job of encoding video for DVD, although you can achieve better quality still using a standalone application like Grass Valley ProCoder.

Grass Valley EDIUS is one of the few programs with DVD writing built into the program, however, this does not offer the same flexibility as making DVDs with Adobe Encore or Sonic DVDit. If you decide to use Encore for DVD writing then it makes sense to use Premiere Pro for editing as you can add chapter markers in Premiere which then appear in Encore when you load the video (and in any case, the two programs are currently packaged together).

Mac or PC?

At DVC we have been specialising in PCs for years.  We have been asked on many occasions which system is better, a Mac or a PC. The truth is both are good in their own ways. There is a lot of rubbish talked over this subject from both camps which really does not help at all. Talk to a dedicated Mac user and he won't have a good word to say about a PC, and vice versa. All this does not help when you want to make an unbiased choice as to which system to buy.

Avid Media Composer, Adobe Premiere (along with the whole Production Studio) and many of our available plug-ins work on both Mac and PC. Grass Valley EDIUS and Sony Vegas are PC only and Apple Final Cut Studio is Mac only.

If you are tempted by Macs but would be quite content with a PC, don't buy a Mac. We have had several customers who have thought that if they buy a Mac and hate it then they can always install Windows and use it as a PC. Well, this is true but if something goes wrong with a PC its easily fixed by us at DVC. PCs are designed to be taken apart and rebuilt. This also means they are easy to upgrade. Macs are designed to be solid and work well, but don’t be tempted to upgrade core components (the processor, for example). The only easy way to upgrade a Mac is to buy a new one./P>

If you are thinking of buying Avid or Premiere then a PC is probably a best choice as there are more ways of souping them up on a PC than a Mac - Premiere has Black Magic, AJA and especially Matrox cards to improve performance whereas the only really way of improving your realtime or rendering performance on a Mac is to buy a better Mac.

Finally if you are after the latest technology then a PC is probably the best bet - Macs cannot currently play Blu-ray (although they can make them thanks to Adobe Encore) for example.

Laptop or desktop?

These days the right kind of laptop can be just as powerful as a desktop system. You can also plug in external drive systems via the new Express card interface (which will run as fast as hard drives on a desktop) so which should you choose?

A laptop is obviously more portable - you can even take it on location with you. A desktop will be a pain to carry around! However, a desktop will be more configurable and can have extra cards added which will give you full HD output. They are also simpler and generally cheaper to fix when they go wrong. Damage a FireWire port on a laptop and it will cost £200 - £300 to repair. Damage one on a PC and you can replace if for about £30.

So our advice is get a desktop system unless you need one that you can move around - or just get a laptop because you like editing on a comfy chair in the living room rather than in the office!

How much money have you got?

Unfortunately in the real world very few people have unlimited resources, so your system will always be defined by your budget. We have built editing computers costing from £1,000 - £15,000, but as computer prices change so quickly, call us with your requirements on 01273 205700 and we will attempt to fit those requirements to your budget. At DVC we find out what you need and then advise you on the best system to suit you, we don’t try to sell you the most expensive box unless you actually need the features it offers.