How are you playing the video ? I believe if you use DirectShow, you can impliment filters, which could concievably use the DX framework to draw over the video. Here[^] is a C++ article - you're calling COM objects, so the end result is the same ( that is, it's not hard to port ). However, Direct Show is VERY limited in the managed DX version, and very buggy. You should use COM interop to call the full DirectShow and avoid the crap they put into Managed DX. Christian Graus - Microsoft MVP - C++

How is the video being displayed? Typically a color key is used to display the video, then the graphics are drawn on the color key and presto graphics over video. This assumes you are using an overlay to display the video.

There is really no one way to do it. All I can say is do a bunch of research on ADO.NET, disconnected record sets, design patterns, POS Systems, accounting practices, ... This is all off-the-shelf standard accounting software that's been done over and over again for years. There is nothing special about your requirements that isn't standard in these applications. Just curious...But why not buy an off-the-shelf solution for your accounting? When you consider that this is going to take you 6+ months to design, write, test and implement even a simple system, wouldn't it be cheaper to pay the vendor than to pay you? On top of that, any accounting mistakes made by your software can easily put the liability on you. Are you insured? RageInTheMachine9532 "...a pungent, ghastly, stinky piece of cheese!" -- The Roaming Gnome