Is T60P capable of Non-linear editing (video)?

[bigtiger]

I am planning to get a computer for non-linear editing. Those video experts there--can you tell me if a high-end T60P will do the job well?

I am planning to get a Canon XL2 and use to computer to edit the movies from it. I might use Canon XL2 for wedding purposes.

Thanks for looking at my question.

[christopher_wolf]

Just about any T60 with a good amount of memory, large HDD, and a decent graphics card is perfectly capable of handling non-linear video editing. A high-end T60p would be more than enough. What software were you planning on using?

[snessiram]

I think it depends on what you espect from editing speed and which program you use. I own a Canon MV750i myself and I have edited video on a PIV 2.6Ghz, 512 ram and Geforce MX 100/200 (a desktop pc). It worked (I have used pinnacle studio in the beginning, later but not much pure motion edit studio and last times Magix Video Deluxe Plus), but on better hardware it probably would run faster (especially convertion etc.).

As a Canon XL2 looks a very nice semi-pro camera, I suppose you would use software like Adobe Premiere or so. I never used it, but I assume it will be a little "heavyer". I think a T60p will do the job just fine.

[bigtiger]

Thanks. Christopher and Snessiram.

Canon XL2 is a professional camera. It produces rather larger files.

I have been using Adobe Premier for about 6 years. But I have never owned Canon XL2 yet. I expect it needs a heavy duty machine to produce nicely edited DVD movie.

yes, speed is a bit of concern as I plan to develop this from a hobby to a commercial part-time business.

[claudeo]

I did many hours of video editing with Premiere and a T42, with standard DV files from a DV cam, so a T60 or T60p should be up to the task for standard DV. But if you're shooting HD that may be pushing things.

My main problem was with disk storage. Premiere would fail at then end of a build if there was less than about 3X the amount of free space on top of the space required for the final file. Used external hard disks to work around that. I only ran into trouble with the IEEE1394 PC card I was using -- I think it was a driver problem, because transfers would fail after about 20 to 30 minutes. Easy to restart -- just unplug and replug the card, but not very handy. I wish the T60 series had a built-in IEEE 1394 port with certified drivers. No trouble with USB 2.0 disks, though.

[snessiram]

@claudeo: I might be wrong but when fast viewing the specs I think the camera doesn't support HD. (however, it does have 3 CCD which gives better colors etc, think bigtiger can tell us much more about it all)

If I'm right about that, the size on a computer wont be larger (although the image will be better) then with a standard DV camera. Nevertheless the files are just huge, so indeed disk size would matter. And besides that also disk speed.
I might be wrong but I believe reading from one disk and writing to another (when converting for example) is better then reading & writing at the same disk at the same moment.

[bigtiger]

I might be wrong but I believe reading from one disk and writing to another (when converting for example) is better then reading & writing at the same disk at the same moment.

That is a good point. I also found this problem.

I currently own a Canon GL1 which is just one step down from the XL line. It has 3CCD and the quality of the movie from it is better than from consumer-line camcorder. The size is also much more bigger for some reason. I guess I will need a big hd.

[claudeo]

I started with an external 80GB, quickly moved to 160GB and from that to adding a Seagate 300GB. The 300GB crapped out quickly but the exchange one Seagate sent me was 400GB and it has been good. You'll *never* have enough HD space for DV editing -- especially since the backups are so huge, bigger than what will fit on a DVD in fact. I now figured out the best way to do backups on hard disks, with a USB enclosure in which I can drop different IDE drives as needed. A bard drive is much more economical for backup than a complete external HD. We're at the point where a hard disk is not much more expensive than quality tape (especially if you factor in the cost of the tape drive)--and it's a heck of a lot more reliable and easier to use.

[RainerK]

To add my 2 cents:

I work media projects all through Asia, working completely off my T60p. The machine has been an absolute dream, it puts away Vegas, Premiere, AE and even Combustion with no troubles at all. It renders faster than my desktop PC!

Lack of firewire has been annoying, but a little firewire card is pretty easy to pick up. But my recommendation, don't get a cheap one, it will only cause you headaches.