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Video Technical Info

Part of the fun of working with 30‑year‑old video is that low‑cost castoff computer hardware will do just fine! After all, these assets ain’t 4K, nor even HD.

To see how digital technology has enhanced the original presentation, watch a side‑by‑side comparison of a scene from Las Victimas de Malentendido, embedded below.

The video also demonstrates how the old “SD” format   relates to contemporary HD:

An early consumer PC capable of editing SD video was the 2nd‑generation G3 iMac DV   (“DV” for “Digital Video”) from 1999. Remember when computers in candy colors were cool?

So even though it now seems antique, my Dell desktop “tower” PC of a vintage around a decade after the iMac DV is more than ample for the job. Especially when outfitted with an SSD and upgraded graphics card, it’ll render SD video without blinking.

As shown below, a sick custom case mod was needed to accommodate the fan exhaust for the new card:

Darn good value for the money, though. I bought this computer for $25 when it was liquidated due to obsolescence by a company where I worked in Cedar Rapids. This particular machine had the best processor (Intel Core 2 Quad, bro!) out of the batch put up for sale that day.

The option to use a solid state drive makes a big difference. It’s also nice to have evolved beyond “cathode‑ray tube” screens at this point.

If you want to know more about how I reconstructed these old videos,
read this article describing my 20^th and 21^st  ‑century processes.

Post-Production Hardware

Dude, I got a Dell.

desktop case and motherboard

Dell Optiplex 755    shipped February 2008

microprocessor

Intel Core 2 Quad CPU Q6600, 2.40GHz    released January 2007

system disk

Samsung SSD 850 PRO    ca. 2015

video card

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti    released 2014

sound card

ASUS Essence STX    ca. 2009 (first generation)

Software Tools

I believe in the benefits to humanity of Free and Open Source Software    (FOSS)
so I use it whenever I can.

The Linux distro and media codecs I used for video post‑production are mostly but not purely “free as in free speech”   (because some are subject to privately‑held copyright) but all have the advantage of being “free as in free beer!”

Stock Footage and Sound Effects

SoundDogs   and YouTube    (especially thatSFXguy   )

Technical Info about this Website

Looking for info about the software tools and services used to construct this site?

Check the colophon.

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