[PD] Is Pure Data right for my project

[Paul Schrank]

I have been researching software for a project and Pure Data with GEM 
seemed to be a good fit. I am creating a video installation that will 
cycle through clips and images and manipulate, layer and change them 
based on a controlled randomness. I have had problems starting GEM in 
PD on Mac OS X (help if you can) so I'm not sure if it will suit me. I 
thought I'd post a wish list and ask if PD can do the following:

- Can PD read a folders contents into an array and display clips 
randomly from the array. I want to change out the clips over time so 
the array needs to be generated dynamically.

- is there a way to analyze beats per minute of an analog sound source 
(mp3 on the same computer or audio in the back of the computer) in 
order to change or loop clips to the tempo of the music

- Can PD/Gem play Flash (.fla) files as well

Thanks. Answers to those three questions will save me a lot of time. 
Maybe I'm barking up the wrong software tree.

--------------------------
Paul Schrank
http://www.pgeek.com
http://www.psproductions.net