Hi Charles,
At the risk of being controversial
there is a school of thought that disc based production is 'old technology'. Of course it is widely accepted and at present the 'standard'. But so was VHS tape, until dvd. So was dvd until blu-ray.
There is a growing trend to 'streaming' video using media players and usb/solid state drive storage direct to HDTV thus reducing the need for dvd type of media.
However, dvd media is common, readily distributable and semi-universal.
The ever increasing compression available, such as h.264, means smaller file sizes, easier streaming and higher quality.
So the ability to produce to file is useful both for 'sub-projects' as the others have said and for final production. For example I take my laptop to my mother and couple up to the HDTV. If necessary, I can then leave her with a dvd but it is a lower quality than I shoot and produce.
Neither of us can afford the blu-ray route so that's my preferred route.
In summary, not everyone burns to disc.
Cheers
Adrian
Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated. (see below)
Confucius
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