The Current Limitations of Personal Computers in Replacing Traditional Video Production Equipment

Personal computer-based systems have made some inroads into the professional video production arena in recent years, serving primarily as non-linear editing and graphics workstations. However, they have thus far failed to replace single-function legacy equipment, instead functioning in addition to existing products such as video switchers, digital video effects systems, character generators, and audio mixers. The true benefits of the PC in video production will not be realized until the entire production process is integrated into one system. This step will use the economics of the general purpose PC to decrease the cost of video production dramatically, while making the entire process easier to learn and practice. It will also further expand the toolset available to producers by providing a myriad of tools from hundreds of developers, all for one platform. This paper examines the reasons why PC-based systems have failed to make this step thus far, and examines some solutions to these problems.

Published

1997-02

Content type

Original Research

DOI

10.5594/M00199

ISBN

978-1-61482-926-3