I do understand the process, and consequences of compressed codecs - power outages in the middle of a render, etc. I really do.

Keep in mind also that rendering to an "image format" is also controlled by a codec - jepgs being compressed, and TIF, Cineon, Targa, etc. being uncompressed types of formats - it's the software using a set of image code to create a viewable image from theoretical data (3D data we're talking about) that an editing or viewing (still or motion) application will have to de-code to view - hence the term "codec" - code/de-code - its a "process" - not a specific definition of what defines a "video" code, therefore making it compressed because you're using a "codec". Get it?

I'm also taking this from the point of view of what I do - create moving (or still for mattes and extensions) 3D elements for video. When rendering stills, I make them TIFs, and when I render out motion, I use the Quicktime Animation (QA) format - because it's an uncompressed moving TIF. And there's a setting for rendering a QA as RGBA - yes, the A stands for exactly what you think it does.

I'm not creating image sequences for the next Ice Age or Shrek movie, so I'm not gonna generate enormous Cineon files - I'm putting stuff out that will end up on versions of Youtube and up to standard-def  DVD quality. And since I'm now doing FX for HDV productions, I do the same thing.

And if there's a bad frame (or a power outage and you only have half the movie file), you can go back and render just that frame (or the rest of the movie file starting from the first frame lost) and insert it into your timeline - I have the complete Adobe Production Suite for all my post production in case you're wondering - as you were mentioning apps above and what you can do with them. And when I finish the elements in After Effects, I render them out as QA (RGBA if it's going to be an extra visual) files for Premiere to edit.

Because again - it's being integrated in DV footage(5:1 compression), or HDV footage(same high compression, but higher res so it breaks apart even faster!), and will be output at incredibly compressed formats (MPEG-2 - or variants of teeny file sizes for the length of footage)). While there are NO artifacts in what I do and create, there WILL be in the final output format that will be viewed. So generating something like a TIF sequence is overkill.

Yes, I realize this dove WAY OT, but here we are.
-Lew ;-)