follow the bouncing ball effect?

Many distinct advantages when using a text track and QuickTime Pro:
No frame by frame animation needed. You can add it to any other QuickTime track (audio or video).
QuickTime text tracks are "vector" based. The can scale in size or shape without any degradation.
They add nearly nothing in file size. A text track of any Hollywood movie would be smaller in file size than ten seconds of "video".
You can add them "post production" without "rendering" them to video formats so they are easy to change without having to redo your work.
You can incorporate the 30, or so, languages found in QuickTime so your English version could exchange with a Chinese language version by the end viewer (just a mouse click away).
Do a quick Google search for .kar files. Nearly all use MIDI music so the entire file size measures in KB's (not MB's).
You can view them in QuickTime Player and extract the text track using the Pro upgrade. You can then use any plain text editor to change the text, color, size, font and even have them "bounce" or scroll on and off the screen. An example of "scrolling" text:
http://homepage.mac.com/kkirkster/Memorial_04/

I love QT too. I started out with QT. It took me a year to even try iMovie because it didn't occur to me to give it a go with stills.

I just have more fun doing what I like doing combining all these various methods together to get whatever it is that I want. Without having to buy more and more software and plugins and all that stuff to do it.

It absolutely galls me to no end to read over and over, suggestions to buy buy buy much more expensive software. Especially for hobby projects. That really can evolve to bigger and better. But, only after getting a foothold on the concept in a bit more complex software like QT and such.

And, to make it all worse, iMovie 7('08) does NONE of this. So, it's likely that when it becomes impossible to use iMovie 5 or 6 (i'm still using 5) I don't know what I will use. It won't be that ridiculous new "iMovie" software.

It really is decided by the format of the source and the destination delivery format of the file.
Ninety nine percent of Web based files are too "bloated" in file size or are delivered in the silly "YouTube" fashion.
It's not always the best medium but one that most users still view. Two more examples:
http://homepage.mac.com/kkirkster/Lemon_Trees/index.html
http://homepage.mac.com/kkirkster/3woodencrosses/index.html
Both load fast on a modern Internet connection but also allow most older computers and slower connections be used.

since YouTube files area streamed and allow for 10 minute/ 100MB files, it's a good presentation for film. I've seen a few that were pristine. I'm still experimenting with the settings for graphic animations. It's a problem. But it's something.

What I didn't like about QT were that they played back perfectly for Mac users. No hitches. But, for PC users half my movies did not play at all. Requiring QT versions half the people couldn't even figure out how to update. Heck, they didn't even know they had QT on their machines. Now, the other day I discovered that my mother's brand new computer running windows Vista didn't even come with QT on the machine. So, it's a hit and miss thing in the long run.

And, my cool skinned movies within movies and all that were a hit and miss bust too.

It has been frustrating presenting a kinetic artistic experience. Right now, all I care about is creating videos for some of my songs. And making them as clear as possible, which isn't always possible, as I have discovered. One of the problems being that the size in the specs is smaller than the size of the window they play in. So they stretch to fit. Which is completely ridiculous. So, I did make mine to actually fit the opening and they look somewhat better. I'm still experiementing.

Message was edited by: Suz.

YouTube videos do not "stream".
They download just like 99% of QuickTime files.
PC users must install QuickTime Player but once installed their experience is no different than what a Mac user gets.
PC users must also install Flash Player to view YouTube video formats (.flv files).
QuickTime has been installed by over a half billion Windows users. It works.
Sounds like you and your Mac don't really understand the power found in QuickTime formats and standard Web delivery.
Try this:
http://homepage.mac.com/kkirkster/.Public/blackbird_text.qtl
A "direct" link to a QuickTime text track and MIDI music file. Do that with WMP.

I understand perfectly. What you don't understand is who, exactly, is going to FORCE anybody to install QuickTime on a PC when so few people even have a concept of what QT is or what it is used for?

That was the problem that I was running into with my big, kinetic Art website. Even with specific instructions how and what to do, it was a joke. I was too exasperated trying to explain this to people. You don't need to explain it to me, Kirk. Explain it to the world. Then get back to me.

You do not need to "force" PC users to install QuickTime.
500 million have already download and installed it. It is bundled with any PC download of iTunes.
You would run into identical issues if your authored using PC software and asked a Mac user to view it.
Same with Flash Video.

Kirk, right now I have 7 people in my family who cannot view a QT clip I sent them because they each have a new computer running vista. It's not on their computer. even if it were, it needs to be activated. they haven't got a clue what the. you are presuming that all people know. all people have iTunes. all this and all that. it's not like that at all. not anymore.

when i had my website up, that i worked my behind off creating, there were dozens and dozens of people back then, in 2001, who didn't have QT 5 at the time. Didn't know how to update. Couldn't be bothered to. Figured it was some kind of Mac thing. Whatever. It was an exasperating experience. I'm done with arguing with people about it. You go argue with them. I'll tell you what, call up my sister and explain...again...to her why she can't see the football game vid I made for my nephew and emailed to him. For one thing, it's been six months trying to explain it to her. She lives up the road and won't let me set it up for her because she doesn't want "third party software" on her new Dell. It's on there. She's never activated it. And won't let anyone look because she's skittish. For fear of...of...you call her. Everyone I know is so not able to concieve the idea of any of it. I've given up explaining it to them. I've given up encouraging them. I could care less. It's their loss. Not mine.

The people who come here to this forum care to know. Seems like only a handful when putting them in context with the rest of the whole wide world who needs their thinking done for them.

ps. Just two weeks ago, I had to go over to my mother's, in my pajamas...in the rain...to download and activate QuickTime for my mother. I was SO p.o'd with her whining about how she didn't know what I was talking about. All I wanted for her to do was see a vid I emailed to her. That's all. She would have just as soon not bothered to look because it didn't show up bada-bing for her instantly.

Message was edited by: Suz.