There’s really no question about it in my opinion. Creative Labs make great sound cards. You can pick up a Live! sound card for around $35(USD) or an Audigy for around twice that. If you really want to go crazy check out the Audigy 2, which sells from around $110 to $160. It’s worth noting that both the Audigy and Audigy 2 sound cards come with an integrated firewire port.
Memory
Get at least 512MB. If you have the money, go for a gig or more. As for SDR or DDR ram, see above.
Removable Drives
Depending on what you want your final product to be, will be what determines what kind of removable drive you buy. If your going to be making Video CD’s(VCD’s) or Super Video CD’s(SVCD’s) then you need to get a CD-R(W). If you want to burn DVD’s, you need to look into buying a DVD burner. The different DVD formats are discussed below.
DVD Formats
There seems to be a lot of confusion on the ‘Net about the competing DVD standards. I would logically assume that if your going to be working with large amount of video’s at home(or at work) that you aren’t going to want to span them across a whole spindle of Video CD’s. That’s where DVD-Writer’s come in. By burning your video to DVD’s you can hand out one or two disc to family & friends instead of a one or two stacks. The 5 most common formats are: DVD-RAM, DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW.
DVD-RAM: Best used for back-up purposes. It’s not really compatible with stand alone DVD players. Not recommended storing video’s that you want to play on anything other than a computer.
DVD-R: Compatible with most stand alone DVD players. Can only be written to once.
DVD+R: Compatible with most stand alone DVD players. Can only be written to once.
DVD-RW: Can be erased and used several times. Similar to CD-RW discs in that they can be written to many times. Some new DVD players can read this type of disc, but older DVD players can not.
DVD+RW: Can be erased and used several times. Similar to CD-RW discs in that they can be written to many times. Some new DVD players can read this type of disc, but older DVD players can not.
As you can see, there are several in-compatible formats. Currently there is no “universal” format. Personally that is the reason I have not purchased a DVD recorder. What’s the point of spending all of that time & money to archive the video on a format that has not standardized? You run the risk of having all your hard work being rendered incompatible. However if you need the capability of DVD writer, you need to do your research before buying. Below you will find a link to an online database that keeps track of DVD players and what formats they support.
Conclusion
I hope that I’ve given you a good place start. Following the above guidelines will get you setup and editing your video in no time. Expect an article that covers the software side of things in while. I have had wonderful success buying computer parts from www.newegg.com. I am not an employee, or sales rep or anything other than a very happy customer. They are a reputable site, with great prices and great service. Give them a try.
About the Author: Nathan Mace is a recent graduate of the University of Charleston. He is interested in BSD/Linux operating systems, OS-X, digital video and photography, and generally anything geeky. I can be reached at nmace@myrealbox.com
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- "Video Editing Basics, Part I"
- "Video Editing Basics, Part II"
- "Video Editing Basics, Part III"
