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Because Media 100 assumes that an external monitor is connected to its workstations, they also assumed that a quarter-size preview was all we needed on our computer screens. That might have been true when I was younger, but it ain't now. This is a little touch, but a crucial one that I'm glad to see.

As news we've waited to hear for years, lifting the 2 GB file limit would normally lead an article like this. It's here, thanks, but with all the other news, really doesn't merit mention any higher than this. I can't believe I'm saying that, but there it is.

Finally, the addition of AppleScript to the Media 100 application means all but infinite customizablity in a variety of different directions. At its simplest level, AppleScript will allow users to customize keystrokes, project setup parameters and automate repetitive tasks and other small but significant parts of the editing experience. On a larger scale, scripting will allow training products like the Media 100 Companion, also built on AppleScript, to actually execute behaviors for editors, going beyond "Show me how" training to "Do it for me."

Larger still, ambitious scripters can add capabilities that don't even exist within Media 100 right now, using the power of AppleScript to create hybrid forms of Media 100. Once again, scripting has been built into high-end systems like Nothing Real's Shake on the compositing side, but this is power we've never seen in an editing tool in this price range.

Tools for Tomorrow's Editors Today
I began with some of the enhancements that I see for traditional editors because that's who I am. I was also tremendously pleased, and more than a little relieved, to see that Media 100 is taking care of its existing customer base while pursuing its goal of becoming an industry leader in providing streaming video.

The acquisition of Terran Interactive, the makers of the industry-leading compression tool Media Cleaner Pro, was only the first. Others, including Digital Origin and Wired, suggested that Media 100 would be integrating a variety of these to provide one-stop shopping for acquisition, editing and distribution via video, DVD and the Web.

That's clearly still on tap for the bottom end of the market: The recent announcement of free versions of Edit DV and Media Cleaner, along with the free hosting services of iCanStream.com, mean that, in fact, users can edit and stream video at no cost whatsoever.

At the top, end, though, Media 100 i blows right past that. One of my frustrations as a budding new media producer is that no editing application took advantage of more than a fraction of QuickTime's capabilities as a controlling mechanism. That is, QuickTime does far more than providing a container for viewing movies that are restricted to the plane of the computer screen.

I touched on some of QuickTime's lesser known powers in another article, but they bear repeating in the context of editing, and not just authoring. As you take a gander at that article, note that each of those capabilities is in fact built into Media 100 i.

The place to begin for our purposes is with QT's support for hyperlinks within movies. Step 1 is to create "hot spots," which, when clicked, can trigger any number of responses, including opening a browser window and loading a specific page.

That's still relying on users to do something to elicit a response. In fact, however, QuickTime can itself act as the trigger for opening browser pages, scrolling text, starting Flash animations, and much more.

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