Digital Video Hardware

We've all heard the term "hardware." It refers to the computer equipment that is required to facilitate production. That production may be in the area of word processing, graphic design, multimedia, or digital imaging. This section will deal with the equipment necessary to set up a Digital Video production workstation that will have the capability to output near-broadcast and broadcast-quality video. This material should be used as directed to complete any Review Questions Sheet that is assigned.

    The heart of any digital video workstation is going to be the computer itself. It may be possible to use some older computers to produce digital video of reduced sizes and resolution, but to produce full-screen, high resolution, broadcast-quality video requires a lot of power and speed. This refers not only to the microprocessor chip (CPU), but to the "architecture" in the motherboard and components of the system. Many users try to upgrade their systems to produce video, but that is not usually the way to go. System architecture is effectively based on the computer's ability to process and move information between the microprocessor, hard disk drive, and other computer peripherals. Newer motherboards use newer technologies that allow faster movement of data throughout the computer. For example, adding a new hard drive to an older system will not result in faster data movement. Why? Because the drive can process the information faster but, the system memory, chip, and motherboard can not. Here is a simpler explanation. You want to water your lawn faster, so you have a plumber come and install a fire hydrant on your front lawn. You hook up your regular garden hose, and turn on the water. The garden hose can only output the volume of water that it could in the first place, so you may get a little more pressure, but not what you expected. So you go to the firehouse, get a fire hose, and hook it up. When you turn it on, you wash half your yard into the street! Now...get the picture? If you want to build a digital video workstation there are a few simple guidelines to follow. Get as fast a processor as you can afford; get as much random access memory (RAM) as you can afford; get the biggest, fastest hard drive you can afford (get TWO or more hard drives if you can afford it!!); get as much video memory on the video card as you can afford, and get a large monitor (or TWO)! The following sections get a little more specific.

COMPUTER

    The latest, fastest computer chip seems to change daily. As of this writing, the fastest chips out there are the G4 (Mac), the Pentium 4 (Intel-PC) and Athlon XP-64 (AMD-PC). These chips are running as fast as 3.2 GHz (Gigahertz). No need for technical explanations...the first personal computer ran at 4.77 MHz (Megahertz)...enough said! If you can afford one of these beasts, great. If you can't, get the fastest one you can afford. The most overlooked (by consumers) aspect of the computer is the "chipset". The chipset is the chip that contains the "instruction set" that controls all the basic functions and communications of the computer with its parts. Most video hardware retailers recommend the Pentium 4 if you are looking at PC's. However, the Athlon may be used if it is coupled with the right chipset. It seems the "VIA" chipset requires updated drivers to work with some video capture cards and IEEE 1394 ports (more about those later!). The Intel chipsets and the Pentium 4 have been enhanced by the Intel Corporation to handle video-intensive tasks and to drastically speed up "rendering times" (creating the final digital video after it has been edited and all the titles and effects added in).

    Another very important part of the computer is the motherboard. Two top motherboard manufacturers are Asus and Tyan and they are the PC video hardware retailer's boards of choice. The motherboard of both Power Mac's and PC's use an architecture referred to as Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI). The PCI connections for video cards and other components are located on the motherboard. PCI connections currently allow the fastest transfer rates. These connections are also referred to as the system "bus" (I guess since it transfers information much in the way a bus carries many people...the faster the bus...the faster the people arrive). This allows the cards to be plugged into the motherboard. Older computers used an ISA or EISA (Mac's used a connection called a NuBus) which are not able to maintain a high transfer rate of information (throughput) to work well for video capture and editing workstations.

    Many Mac computers have audio and video capture ports already built in. These older Mac's are okay for doing lower quality video and multimedia, but are not able to sustain the higher transfer rates required for full resolution, full speed broadcast-quality video productions. Therefore, even some newer Mac's will have to be replaced in order to do broadcast-quality video.

 

HARD DISK DRIVES

    Hard drives are probably one of the most important pieces of equipment in digital video. Let's face it, digital video files are HUGE. One second of full screen, broadcast quality video can take up as much as 30 megabytes (MB)! That means that one minute would be equal to 1.8 gigabytes (GB)! That is a lot of information to push from one area to another when you are in a hurry. There are a few older drives that can handle the type of transfers we are talking about. These are called "Small Computer Systems Interface" (SCSI) and Ultra SCSI drives. Ultra SCSI drives can maintain transfer rates up to 40 MB per second, while Ultra 160 SCSI drives can sustain transfer rates of up to 160 MB per second.

    Newer PC's use drives that are called IDE or EIDE drives. The newer versions of these drives use a standard defined as Ultra ATA-100 IDE. These drives, while not as fast as a SCSI drive, are typically able to sustain transfer rates that can be used in producing full screen video. Another important consideration of these IDE drives is the speed the disk inside spins. This is measured in "revolutions per minute" (RPM). Older drives can only spin at 5,400 RPM's or less. The newer versions of these drives spin at 7,200 RPM's and would be more desirable in a digital video workstation.

    The ultimate hard disk storage set-up for a video workstation is called a "disk array". This is essentially a stack of hard drives that are formatted to act as a single hard drive. As the first gets filled up, the second takes over. These can become more expensive as more hard drives are added. These are usually housed in an external case that is attached to the computer through a cable. They are also sometimes called a "RAID". A RAID is a disk array that is usually used for backing up files on a network. It requires special hardware and software. It is somewhat different than just a disk array.

    The absolute minimum drive set-up considered for broadcast quality video production should be a "system drive" of at least 40 GB with an additional 60 or 80GB drive for capturing video footage. A "system drive" holds the operating system software and all your programs. A "dedicated video drive" would be used to hold video footage after it is shot and then "captured" (transferred to the hard drive). The rule of thumb to use is to get as large a drive as you can afford. In a single hard drive computer, a second "external" drive can be attached to a USB 2.0 or Firewire port. Those ports are the only ones that will support the high transfer rates required for digital video. This is sometimes an economical way to upgrade your newer one drive computer to a two-drive computer.

 

SYSTEM MEMORY

    "Random access memory" is memory used by a computer system to run software and temporarily store information. It is commonly called "RAM". Since it is in fact temporary storage, your system can eventually run out of space. A good example follows. You are sitting in class and the instructor is giving you a lot of information. You are listening to the best of your ability and believe that you can remember everything that is said. The instructor starts speaking faster and finally you have to take a pencil and write down notes. That is how system memory works. The computer can function for a while, but then, when it runs out of temporary memory, it starts to write things to the hard drive in a temporary space. This can be bad, since video is already asking the hard drive to operate at its full capabilities. The idea then, would be to get a system that will not run out of memory. The bare minimum that a user should consider varies based on the quality of video production being done. Try to get no less than 512 MB of RAM. If possible, get 1 GB of RAM. Some systems can handle two to four gigabytes or more of RAM. If you can afford it, get it. You can never have enough RAM for video editing!

    There are also different speeds for RAM. Newer types of RAM operate more quickly. The most popular type of RAM in use today is called PC 2700 RAM. If you purchase faster RAM, you may not require quite as much. For example 256 MB of DDR PC2100 RAM may actually be faster than 512 MB of PC 133 RAM when installed in a DDR-capable motherboard.

 

VIDEO CAPTURE CARD

    Videotaped footage must be "downloaded" to the computer before any editing can be done. This process is called "video capture". There are computer hardware components called "video capture cards". These cards come in a wide variety of forms, and can range in price from about $50.00 up into the thousands. Common sense dictates that a $50.00 card can not do what a $1500.00 card can do. However, there is a new technology being used in the latest Mac and PC computers that may make that a thing of the past. Apple created a technology that was initially referred to as "Firewire". This technology allowed devices to transfer information at tremendous rates, much in the way that a SCSI drive could. Firewire allowed not only a high transfer rate and supported "hot swapping" (connection and disconnection of devices without shutting down the computer), but also allows "daisy-chaining" of devices (hooking up one Firewire device to the computer and attaching another device to that one, and so on). Firewire also had some other additional technical benefits. Also, some newer camcorders and capture devices can utilize the USB 2.0 technology to support transfer of large video files.

    The "Firewire" technical specifications were in turn adapted into PC architecture, resulting in what is called the "IEEE 1394" standard. Many new computers come with or support the addition of a IEEE 1394 port for attaching IEEE 1394 devices. Guess what new devices have the same capability? BINGO....digital camcorders. Now that's cool! This will greatly reduce the hassle of transferring video into computers! This technology may also reduce the amount of video capture cards on the market in the future.

    There are separate audio capture cards that may be used to capture sound and music for video production, however most video capture cards include the capability to capture audio as well. Therefore, it is not always necessary to have a separate audio capture card. Basic Mac and PC system sound cards can capture audio as well.

 

MONITORS

    Every computer requires a "video card" to operate the monitor. These cards can come in a very basic form. They control the "resolution" (clarity) of the picture you see displayed on the screen. The higher the clarity, the more memory is needed to create the image on the screen. Each time you enlarge or reduce the image on the screen, or if you play a digital video on your computer, it is the job of the video card to create all of the images and do it quick enough to that you will not see "jerky" video or "dropped frames". "Dropped frames" are frames omitted by the video card because it can not keep up with the speed required to display all the required frames. This can be controlled through the use of video memory.

    Just like system memory, a video card uses memory chips right on the card to do its job. Some computers have "integrated video". That means that the video is controlled by a chip on the motherboard and it depends on some of the system memory in the computer in order to function. It has none of its own. Needless to say, this type of video set-up and computer would not be able to handle the demands of full-screen, broadcast-quality video.

    A video card  for a digital video workstation should contain at least 64 MB of memory on the card itself. If you can afford 128 MB of memory, that is actually the recommended size for a digital video workstation. Some newer computers are coming with 256 MB and 512 MB video cards. If you can afford one of those...go for it!

    Video editing software, especially higher-end editing suites can require a substantial amount of "real estate" on your screen. By that, we mean that there will be many different windows and dialogue boxes open on the screen during the editing process. Think about when you are just using Photoshop, it sometimes is difficult to fit everything you need on the screen when you work in that!  The largest monitor you can afford is the ticket here. A 17" monitor should be the very smallest minimum size considered for video editing. A 19" or 21" is a much better selection. However, some video cards support "dual monitors". That means that you can actually hook up two monitors to your system, and drag windows and dialogue boxes from one monitor to the other! Now that's what I call progress! If you can afford one of those, and another monitor, then you'll be right up there with some of the industry's top professional digital video editors.

 

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