Pre-sale questions: Capturing w/o loss, GPU type, DVD burning, and licensing

metazone21

Newbie Joined: Aug 19, 2012 00:15 Messages: 22 Offline

Solved by

Dec 16, 2012 10:21

I have a Canon HV20 camcorder w/ miniDVs. I'm going to transfer the video to a computer. I'll use firewire. It looks like PowerDirector 11 Ultra is what I’m going to use.

1. HV20's video is MPEG-2 25 Mbps; what does PowerDirector capture it as (container format, video codec)? I want to capture it in the least-lossy way – how do I do this for PowerDirector?
2. I’m in the process of spec’ing out a computer for video editing; what kind of GPU (or GPUs) should I get to support ‘multi-GPGPU’ in order for me to ‘maximize performance from multi-graphic cards installed and optimize editing, rendering and effect processing speeds’? Do I install multiple GPUs or do I install one with multiple CUDA cores?
3. Once the video and audio are on the computer after capture, do I then use the software to put it into a different format (using the software’s codecs) for editing? Again, I want to do this with least loss.
4. If I burn to both DVD and Blu-Ray, will they be able to run on stand-along DVD and Blu-Ray Players?
5. I was going to put the s/w on my laptop and then on the new stand-alone computer. If I download the software, can I move it to another machine easily? Can I have it on 2 machines or do I need to purchase another license?

Thanks,
Bill

stevek

Senior Contributor Location: Houston, Texas USA Joined: Jan 25, 2011 12:18 Messages: 4663 Offline

Dec 16, 2012 12:25

1) I have an HV 30. You will capture via firewire to a 1440 by 1080 Just capture using the default. You can convert it to 1920 by 1080 with no visible loss of sharpness. It will be an mpg2 file (I think) 0r small Avi. I don;t have time to plug in my camcorder now.

2) Get something with an I7 third generation CPU. Something that you can afford. Try it using the GPU (graphics processing unit) on the CPU. It may be good enough. You may not ned a separate card like you would have in the past. You can always add one later if you need to.

3) Just add the captured video to the edit screen. The program will edit what you need and will not do any conversion at that time.

4) You cannot take a project and burn it to both a blu-ray and a standard DVD. IN the produce stage you would produce it separately to the right file type.

5) The EULA, like others, is for one license is good for one computer. You can move it from one to the other as long as you only have it on one at a time.

There are a lot of very good how to videos on the site. I suggest you look at them.

MAKE SURE your computer(s) exceed the minimum requirements.!
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metazone21

Newbie Joined: Aug 19, 2012 00:15 Messages: 22 Offline

Dec 16, 2012 22:47

Thanks for the reply. I will take a look at the videos once I download and install it. I was wondering what the best video editing s/w is (Adobe PE, Sony Vegas, etc.) and it looks like PD is well-reviewed so ...

A couple of clarifications:
1) If I burn a DVD or a Blu-Ray (separately, of course) using the appropriate burner (DVD or Blu-Ray, respectively) attached to my computer and using PD, the DVD or Blu-Ray should be able to run on a stand-alone DVD or Blu-Ray, respectively?

2) I'm trying to determine what GPU hardware would be leveraged by PD to "maximize performance from multi-graphic cards installed". I don't know if that means a single GPU with CUDA cores or multiple GPUs or a specific type of GPU, etc.

Thanks,
Bill

stevek

Senior Contributor Location: Houston, Texas USA Joined: Jan 25, 2011 12:18 Messages: 4663 Offline

Dec 17, 2012 07:14

1) Yes.

Also if the project is around 45 minutes or less, you can burn an AVCHD disc - standard disc with high definition video burned with a standard burner but must be played on a blu-ray player that will play an AVCHD. This type of disc is cheaper for those where you are just going to put only 45 minutes or less on a disc.

2) If you are going to buy a new computer, don't buy a discrete graphics card unless you really need it. Get the i-7 3rd generation CPU; there is a very good GPU on the CPU. You could add a card at a later date. You must also buy the 64 bit version of the software. I haven't played with W8 ; I use the 64 bit version of of W7.

I have a single nVidia 560ti video card since my CPU is first generation i-7.

For quality, it really doesn't matter. All high definition will be the same resolution (except for the very high 4K resloution). I don't have the $$ to get into that. Al that will be different will the the rendering (encoding time). A lot of that will depend on the original video format/quality. Rendering time could be 1-4 times the length of the project so plan ahead.

Other people will have different opinions.
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BoilerPlate: To posters who ask for help -- it is nice to thank the volunteers who try to answer your questions !
Anything I post unless stated with a reference is my personal opinion.