fundamental question

[Charles Martin]

> From: timjoe48 at webtv.net (timjoe)
> 1. is video work with a mac is more complicated and glitch-ridden than
> you imagined it would be?

No. It is far, far simpler than it has ever been before. You have to 
bear in mind that lists such as this one are a) populated mostly by 
professionals and amateurs with complex needs who may encounter 
situations that 99% of "normal" users would never see and b) that 
anytime a new piece of software comes out you get a rash of reports 
about problems, limitations and bugs. iMovie3 and iDVD3 (and Final Cut 
Express for that matter) are all brand-spankin'-new, and have some bugs 
to work out. A .1 update will be along soon enough and the complaints 
will fade. Oh and don't forget c) people only tend to write to these 
lists when they have an issue. You never see hundreds of thousands of 
emails saying "wow! I made my first DVD! This is too cool!" but that is 
in fact what's happening to hundreds of thousands of people.

> 2. are there just too many pitfalls in this type of endeavor for an
> average-ability videographer/computer user to deal with?

No, not at all. The entire process is usually trouble-free and in fact 
a heck of a lot of fun. Maybe not perfect, but by and large most people 
who are putting together less-than-world-class projects aren't having 
any (or many) of the issues you read on this list. And believe me, very 
few people on this list -- even those who are having problems -- would 
consider going back to the "old way" of doing video (or worse, changing 
platforms!) which should tell you something.

_Chas_

"Executives in the PC business use the word "sexy", in such a way that 
I'm always surprised to discover that their children aren't adopted. 
The Mac interface is not "sexy", and it would be grotesque to want it 
to be. It is, in fact, playful, often well over the line into 
frivolity. The bouncing icons (and the puffs of smoke and the 
pipe-organ speech synthesizer and the way dialogs tidily resize and the 
drop-shadows on the windows and the jellybean buttons and the eject key 
on the keyboard) are not individually rationalizable on utilitarian 
grounds, and they do not pretend they mean to be. They are there to, in 
aggregate, change the nature of your relationship with the device. They 
are joyful, and they hope their joy is infectious." -- Glenn McDonald