Image Adjustments Questions

Question

So many sliders and so little time.  Iam a little conflicted by the various sliders in Aperture 3.
I mostly shoot in RAW and sometimes work on JPEGS from a different camera.
I would be setting blacks, white and midtone levels early in the work flow.
For blacks one could use:
Black Point
Shadows ( I understand this          slider is for when the images that have full tonal range but lack          detail in shadows.
Levels
For whites one could use:
Exposeure to some extent while          watching highlights
Recovery for blown out or clipped          whites
Highlights
Levels ( Gray )
For midtones the choices are fewer
Brightness
Levels
I may be missing some, but this is whatI have gathered so far in my Aperture learning curve.
I think that blacks are my biggestsource of confusion.  Do I use Black Point or go for levels to setblack in the image ?
For the whites I think the rightsliders might be levels and recovery, when exposure is right.
Any insight would be appreciated.

Answer 1

Excellent question!
I believe that the best strategy is to apply the adjustments in the order they appear in the Inspector.  This order is fixed -- it follows the order Aperture itself follows when creating a Version image from a Master.
I don't know why I believe this.  It is likely something I came across as I was learning Aperture.
In practice, I use the Exposure brick to set the black point and the white point (and use the Recovery slider to finesse the white point setting).  I hold down {Command} while adjusting the sliders in order to see the clipping.  Some shots I clip; some I don't.  Some I use as much Recovery as I need, others I hold back.  There is no rule of thumb -- for me it depends on the content of the capture, the final format and use of the image, and artistic considerations.
I then use levels to adjust the brightness (upper triangle-handles) and the distribution of the dynamic range.  (Curves works equally well.)  Not infrequently, I will end up with more black clipping than I want.  I will then go back to the Black Point slider in the Exposure Brick.  I always display and use quarter-tone controls as well as the other controls in the Levels Brick.
If I want to independently adjust a color channel, I add another Levels Brick.
My sense of this is that I am in general setting the gross dynamic range using the controls in the Exposure Brick, and setting the distribution within that range using the Levels Brick. 
There are many subtleties you can add.  This is just meant as a general guide, since you are looking for something usable to get started.  Most of the Bricks are easier to understand in use than to describe.  But do read the User Manual chapter on any Brick you are using; they are mostly chock full of everything you need to know to get started (for instance, the controls in Shadows and Highlights Brick are not used in the order they appear).
HTH.  Cheers.