(1) Save as images and assemble.  Three advantages - you can stop anytime for editing or whatever, in the case of a catastrophe you can just start from the last completed frame, and you can always change the video format with this 'raw' data as input.

(2) Unsure.

Playback of video depends more on the format, the configuration, and the codec (and its configuration).  AVI is good as a source for other formats if left uncompressed.  MOV is a very good and widely used format.  Flash is used for internet often.  Many people use DivX codec.  The final video format will depend on where it will be played or what medium.  For instance, for DVD it has to be in MPG format (VBR) - which is a lossy format.  Know nothing of video in PowerPoint.

C makes it easy to shoot yourself in the foot. C++ makes it harder, but when you do, you blow your whole leg off.

 -- Bjarne Stroustrup

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