I haven't used Image Ready, so I can't say. There are free video editors you can find with a google search. As for time; yes and no. Rendering to frames does add another stage to your rendering pipeline, so there is some time added. But as you have your raw frames (and backed up), you won't be forced to re-render you animations if you decide or need to recompile them (at least on person I know did a college project with DivX.....and found out reading his assignment a little closer, that the prof had specified .mov. He tried the file converters, and learned how less than optimal they can be. Where if he had done frame rendering, all it would have been to fix it would be to change the codec the editor used and recompile. Instead he wound up re-rendering.) The actual compiling time varies, depending on how many frames you have, their size, and any effects the editor is having to calculate. As an example, one 440x599 32 bit color 900 frame animation took around 8 minutes to compile into a DivX .avi, so the amount of time added is pretty minimal. And if you have or can borrow another computer, you can turn one loose on rendering while using the second to compile, edit, add your audio, etc. That in itself will speed up your pipeline, as you will be 'working' on at least two things at once. And you might want to look around for an OEM of Win2k Pro; it will run on any hardware that WinME does, and will have faster response times. Although WinME does support 32 bit color, if your video card and drivers support it.