hi,
i am one of the developers and we appreciate all the feedback and it will go into making chatfx even better.
yes, chatfx is gpu (graphics processing unit) demanding the better graphics card you have the more responsive chatfx is. chatfx pushes the envelope no question about it.
if you have a problem with some of the more demanding effects (they are all different in that way) then things that help are quiting other apps. extra vram (if you are thinking of buying an imac get the extra video ram) makes a big difference. we hope to build in a gpu and cpu monitor in a future version.
we have a suspicion this is where apple is heading. the built in cameras are going to be used now that they are in most macs. demands will increase. gestural recognition? games? more video is coming.
this not an accounting app. itis a fun app it is also cutting edge. our other apps will run on any mac but chatfx is a different beast. its very entertaining but very demanding.
if you try it and try movies in the bluescreen then it will be hard to go back to the old video conferencing.
thanks again for the feedback. we have ideas for great new features and we are always working at optimizing to improve performance on more machines.
thanks
julian
ps we encourage creative people to check out chatfx. there are unlimited possibilities in creating effects. everyday we think of new ones that could be created. chatfx uses quartz composer which is a truly amazing but almost unknown apple technology that deserves to be used by more people. quartz composer we think is easier to use for programming then applescript or automator. quartz composer does video programming and it is really amazing. if you are a student or graphics person or programmer or someone interested to see how chatfx works then look at the faq on our site to learn more and start rolling your own effects.