The problem with WMM is that it imports the original video with arbitrary scene slices, and not a clean single file.

I wish I had a newer Mac to do this in. It's frustrating.

I'll try it again.

Eddie, I don't have an xstartup in ~/.vnc -- just .log, .pid and passwd. I did a find / -name xstartup and came up blank, in fact.

Do I need to create one, and if so, whereinhell do I start?

The problem with WMM is that it imports the original video with arbitrary scene slices, and not a clean single file.

You can avoid this by unchecking the "create clips for video files" check box in the file import menu.

I like WMM quite a bit. It's easy to use. The biggest problem with it is that it can only save files as wmv or full size avi. Very all or nothing. To create an mpg, you need another converter program. Nero does a decent job, or you can check out videohelp.com, where they have oodles of recommendations (mostly freeware) and tutorials. [link]

Deena! You are a goddess among women. I'll go find the urls and send them to you. (profile addy?) I'll even pay in cookies! (for which I'll need your other address)

And, sigh. No, I don't have the software on my upgrade needing, software deprived Mac. Clearly, I need the love of a good techie.

You can avoid this by unchecking the "create clips for video files" check box in the file import menu.

There it is. Thanks. Is it too much to ask MS to put in a centralized settings file for this?

Now, is there any way to stop trying to automatically update the clips as I'm trying to pinpoint my edits? It wastes so much time, even at 2.4 ghz, I get frustrated as it decides I need to update and I'm not finishing pinpointing the edit.

Daniel, if your computer can handle it, I highly recommend Avid Free DV. Avid isn't the prettiest interface in the world, but they're the industry standard for a reason.

Eddie, never mind. I uninstalled vncserver and installed vnc4server instead. This creates and attempts to use the xvncstartup script you mentioned. No, it's still not working yet, but the logs cite a libc problem.

I thought the package manager was supposed to take care of that, but at least I have somewhere to start again.

Is it too much to ask MS to put in a centralized settings file for this?

The only reason I even knew it existed was that they make it a little more obvious in the capture video wizard. Although I just noticed that there's a default check box for it in the View/Options menu.

Now, is there any way to stop trying to automatically update the clips as I'm trying to pinpoint my edits? It wastes so much time, even at 2.4 ghz, I get frustrated as it decides I need to update and I'm not finishing pinpointing the edit.

This may be because some other applications (like Nero) install external video filters that can interfere mightily. Somewhere in Options there's a way to turn the damn things off. Turning them off doesn't seem to affect WMM functioning, and it speeds things up a ton. I do remember having to hunt around for it, and I'm not at my home machine, so I can't tell you exactly where to look. I found out about them by hunting around on Google.

Although I just noticed that there's a default check box for it in the View/Options menu.

I could not find this. Hmmm.

All I know is that something that is made for the home user should not be as user antagonistic.

I also downloaded the Free Avid one yesterday, but it had trouble finding the audio in the file I used, an audio component both VLC and QT can play...

t shrug

Not to get hometeam defensive, but my technophobe not-SiL was able to use it with no problems, and she's a total 12:00 flasher. It's actually pretty user-friendly for the average user.

It's counterintuative to you, because you have a different (usually stronger) technical background than the target user, and are trying to do something different than the expected task. Don't forget, the help files are pretty rockin', and can steer you into getting it to do what you want.