What filmmaking equipment to buy?

by Ron
(Buford, Georgia)

Question: I have a Toshiba X400 Camcorder, after filming an interview it takes an hour or more to get it off my memory card and onto my computer. I use Freemake video converter program and Windows movie maker to edit the video. Can you recommend another program, a type of computer, processor, or what ever to make my video?

Desktop Documentaries: Hi Ron, Greetings!

Sounds like you have two questions:

1) Why the video is taking so long to download to your computer?

This I'm not sure. Maybe you have an old computer with slow ram/processing power or the wrong cable.

Here's a link about video editing computers including a computer buying cheat sheet.

Choosing A Computer For Video Editing

Here's a link to learn about cables/firewire:
What is firewire and why do I need it?


2) What other equipment you should buy?

The answer to this question totally depends on what type of filmmaking you are doing and how much you want to spend.

Here's what I'm using:

Apple iMac Computer

Final Cut Pro X (video editing software)

Canon EOS 60D

Here are two good pages to get you started figuring out what equipment you need to make a documentary:

Digital Video Essentials for Filmmaking

Filmmaking Gear Check-List

Let me know if that helped answer your question(s)!
Anyone else have suggestions or ideas for Ron?

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