[Mark Lawrence]

While it is certainly the case that the CPU and RAM will probably influence performance more so than anything else, hard drive performance also important and is often over-looked.

Rotational speed( e.g. 7,200, 10,000rpm ) is one of a multitude of factors which influence hard drive performance. Others include access time, buffer memory, platter diameter, platter count, recording technology, data density, and the interface.

My recommended hard drives for video production are:-

Budget – Samsung Spinpoint F3
Mid range – Western Digital VelociRaptor VR200M
High end – Seagate Savvio 15K.2

Personally I use Spinpoint F3 drives because they’re excellent value for money and even out-perform many of the cheaper SSDs!

[Mark Lawrence]

I have found that the optimal effect chain order changes according to content. For example, sometimes stabilization has worked more effectively on a graded scene, especially if it was done to enhance contrast or correct illegal levels. However, more artistic or aggressively graded scenes sometimes confuse the algorithm and therefore it is better to stabilize beforehand. So it’s trial and error.

There’s one concrete rule though: if you’re using noise reduction, always do that prior to stabilisation as it helps the algorithm to concentrate on wanted detail and not on random noise.

[Mark Lawrence]

Soundbooth is an entry-level audio production tool ideal for novices and suitable for most basic projects. Audition is a powerful professional tool for audio specialists which is used both in radio and television production.

Here’s some background on Audition….
It was developed in the early nineties by Syntrillium Software under the name ‘Cool Edit’. It was purchased by Adobe, enhanced, and re-released as ‘Audition’ in 2003. Over the years Adobe have transformed it from a basic consumer application to the respected high end product that it is today. The latest Mac compatible Audition 4 (CS5.5) is finally on a level with products which were previously considered superior such as Avid’s Pro Tools, Prism Media’s SADiE, and Steinberg’s Nuendo.