On Thu, 09 Dec 1999 02:49:16 GMT, "brett gaylor" wrote:

>A rhetorical question, I know. But I'm researching a system to buy, and
>this RT2000 looks pretty daper. The only problem is I would have to run
>Premiere, I program I have a long and sordid history with.
>
>When I used to have to edit with it for some classes I taught, I was using
>it with a DPS perception card. I was using 5.1, an AWE64 , I believe the
>processor was a Celeron 266 and 64 megs of RAM. It was forever going out of
>sync , and when it came time to render, would inevitably crash all over the
>place. I ended up screaming at the screen and frighting the children I was
>working with. Has the program come a long way? What should I be prepared
>for if using this platform? In research of this NG, many pros seem happy to
>use it.
>
>So, what's the deal?

Much as I'm not fond of Adobe, and many as the bugs in
Premiere 5.1 are, with a good set up and knowledge of
its bugs and work-arounds (and how to use it as-is,
or to simplify its interface and work with it as a timeline-based editor...), it is a stable program
with a good interface (especially with dual monitors)
and with lots of power to edit videos *your* way...
- First, if you are annoyed with instability, I would not switch to new, "unsettled" piece of hardware/software
(talk about headaches!;-).
- Second, I would run Premiere 5.1 with a minimum of
128megs of RAM (and follow reasonable technique - like
saving the project, rebooting, and *then* exporting a
major project to tape). A faster CPU would also be a
plus with Premiere 5.1.
- Third, as someone else suggested, a used copy of
Premiere 4.2 is cheaper (though possibly with more
synch. problems [which, BTW, do not appear to exist with the
Mini-DV format...]), pretty bug-free, and a bit more
user-friendly (though I would miss the "Navigator"
and audio filters of 5.1) especially when using a
single monitor.
- Fourth, saving the project ("Ctrl-S" keys...) after
EVERY change does wonders for stability with either
version of Premiere.
- Fifth, with a reasonably fast CPU (450MHz or so,
cheap in a Celeron machine) and good set-up, rendering
is fast enough for me with a Raptor Mini-DV card and
Premiere in a PC that I do not miss or particularly
need a "real time" board.
- Sixth, if you are operating "in a vacuum", with no
friendly "techno-head" nearby for advice, all this can
be VERY difficult, alas... (I'm lucky to have one!;-).