Animation Books

Very analytical and insigtful. I like the summary and reviews.

Excellent service. Quality product. WOuld buy from again. Recommended!

I did not write the title of this review to be sarcastic. The handsome cover invites the eye to have a look inside, and those who do so will have a good time just browsing through. That said, this is a book written by a fan for other fans, and not a medular academic monograph. If you are also a fan, you'll probably enjoy reading it.
This is an introduction to the life and work of one of the great creators of animation, who has influenced this art form not just in Japan, but worldwide. The writer of this book has long been, and still is an enthusiastic promoter of Japanese animation (or Anime) in the UK, and is recognized as an authority on this topic. She has dedicated a good part of her life to the subject, and written several books about it. They include "The Anime Encyclopedia", coauthored with Jonathan Clemens, and of which a recently updated edition has been published by Stone Bridge Press (Berkeley, California). Unlike that book, the one discussed here is tightly focused on just one artist, Hayao Miyazaki.

WARNING: This book was published in 1999 (reprinted "with revisions" in 2002) so it ends with "Princess Mononoke", and it does not cover Miyazaki's later work, such as "Spirited Away" (2001), which won the Berlin Festival "Golden Bear" for Best Picture, and the second ever Oscar for Best Animated Feature (2003), among other prizes, and is one of the biggest movie hits of all times in Japan, and has been very successful abroad.

To help understand Miyazaki's work and his place in contemporary cinema, the author gives some background information on the development of contemporary animation in Japan, particularly after WWII. Central to Miyazaki's later work was the gradual coming together of a group of creators: himself, Suzuki, Takahata, Kono and others, that started, in the early `80s, the famous Studio Ghibli (pronounced "Ji-bu-ry"). Japanese animation is cooperative ensemble work involving several key players that often have known each other for a long time, worked together in various jobs at different times, and mutually influenced themselves in the process. Foreign artists, such as Herge--of "Tintin" fame--with his "clear line" style of drawing (inspired by old Chinese and Japanese prints), have also been influential on Anime in general, and on Miyazaki and his Ghibli colleagues in particular.
The contents of McCarthy's book are best described by the author herself in a "Note to Readers": "Each chapter of this book focuses on a particular title or aspect of Miyazaki's work...the origins of a movie; the main literary, film, or technical influences on it; character sketches; a story synopsis; a short staff list, including available details of English-language casting; and a critical appraisal or commentary. A brief section on how animated films are made is included...A Miyazaki filmography... [and a list of comic books he has worked on]...and notes appear at the back of the book."
If you are already a Miyazaki fan, you'll probably enjoy this book. If you are not one yet, maybe you could begin where Helen McCarthy herself begun her life-long passion: buying or borrowing a tape or DVD of Miyazaki's "My Neighbor Totoro". If watching it does not do much for you, do not buy this book. But if the movie delights you with the beauty of the drawings, of the colors, of the music, with the contrast between the whimsical, magical creatures that live in the summer woods, and the uncannily realistic portrayal of little children, of how they see the world, with the breathtaking details of everyday life closely observed---the story is set in Japan in the 1950s, but if it rings true, it could be anywhere---then this book is for you, and so is Miyazaki's work.

Miyazaki is my favorite director, so I tend to carry this book around with me everywhere and pull it out whenever I'm at a loss for words to describe his films, which is, of course, everytime -how can you put words to beauty like that?! With about 5 pages of full color stills from his films, as well as a chapter on each of his major films, this is the perfect way to get an impression of his entire body of work. Particularly good for the new fan who just stumbled upon "Princess Mononoke" or "Spirited Away" and wants an idea of what else this genious has done.

I am, however in agreement with these other reviewers about the content. This isn't for the hardcore fan who wants every detail about the "master at work" so to speak. It isn't a book about Miyazaki so much as a book about his films. The behind-the-scenes pieces on some of the DVDs would be a better place to look right now. We're still waiting for a book like that.

"Hayao Miyazaki : Master of Japanese Animation" is an OK book, and stands out only in the "beggars can't be choosers" world of English books about Miyazaki. Helen McCarthy deserves praise for getting this book out in the first place, and it is certainly not terrible.

The book is full of justifiable praise for Miyazaki, and is clearly intended to be a fan book rather than a critical analysis of his films. Each film gets its own chapter, with a heavily detailed plot synopsis of each film (completely unnecessary to those who have actually seen the films) making up the bulk of the book. Lists of characters and character backgrounds are also included. There are several blatant factual/story errors in her interpretation, which makes me think a better editor might have been useful.

There is some attempt at critical analysis, and it is appreciated, but more depth would have been better. There is a touch of history about Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli, and a smap of detail about animation technology, but not enough to provide any real insight or background. I cannot say that I came away from this book with a deeper appreciation of his films.

As a fan book, it is strangely lacking in pictures and rare information. Photographs of interesting Ghibli products would have been appreciated, or rare character sketches or anything that cannot be gleaned from the films themselves. In many ways, that is its main failing. If you have the movies, there is no need for this book.

Let me just say right off the bat that this book is not for beginners. Apart from one chapter on effects animation, (a topic that could almost be a book in and of itself) there's just not much coverage of the actual ins and outs of animating in Flash. Unfortunately, Sandro Corsaro's other book, "The Flash Animator," which focused on Flash animation techniques, in now out of print.

For those who have a solid working knowledge of Flash, this is an invaluable resource for using Flash for any level of 2D animation production. For people accustomed to traditional animation, you'll learn how Flash can work as a efficient alternative to the usual production pipeline.

Much of this book may seem a little out of scope for those not in the big time of the animation industry, but even if you're a studio of one, there's plenty of tips to help cut down the amount of time you spend cursing Flash. Through proper pre-planning and design one can make the best use of Flash's time saving re-usability of elements. The ability to draw storyboards directly into Flash in another way to streamline the animation process.

The interviews peppered throughout the book give some great insight on how Flash can best be used in the production process. Although you'll have get over the irony that most of the interviews came from people working on the now infamous Flash feature Lil' Pimp.

Again, if you're new to Flash, you might want to hold off on this one for a bit, but if you have some experience and you're ready to make the most of animating in flash Hollywood 2D Digital Animation is a must-have.

This is a great book to keep encouraging you to work work work at your ideas and goals. A good insight for the flash industry with lots of information and personal industry views.

This is a must have book for Flash Animators who really want to do character animation in Flash. It requires a general knowledge of Flash however the interviews with industry professional are worth buying the book alone. While not a traditional "HOW TO" book the technical insights, short cuts and tips especially in the special effects chapters can help animators move their projects to the next level.

If you're in a school catering towards animators, specifically 2D Flash animation (not so much web animation), this is the Bible for the moment. Reccommended by two of my professors whom work freelance for Bottle Rocket, Warner Bros. Animation and Cartoon Network Studios Burbank, you couldn't get a better start. The book covers a brief history of animation, as well as coloring, drawing in Flash, storyboarding in Flash, different production work flows and so much more. Backed up by industry veterans Hollywood 2D Digital Animation gives insight into making your flash animations better in a timely manner. Demonstrating shortcuts and techniques to make your animations less "flashy" and better animated. Keep in mind this book is NOT for the novice animator. You absolutely need to understand some of the principles of classic 2D animations and flash itself before you can make effective use of the book's techniques(ie: timing, spacing, contrapasta, Flash tools, etc). But if you can overcome these obstacles, turn off the music/tv, sit down with this book and practice the lessons included, you'll earn everything you can gain from it.

*Please not this book is meant for animators whom plan to work in the US within small Flash studios in the Los Angeles, CA area. But that doesn't mean it can't useful for you.
*If you want beginner material to fully take advantage of this book, I highly reccomend "Animators Survival Kit", "Hands On Training Flash Professional 8", and "Human and Animal Locomotion".

Take care.

Bought this much hyped, stylish book and found out that the book (and CD that comes w/ it) DOES NOT have any character animation tutorials. What it DOES have is some SFX tutorials, simple Flash movies, templates (maybe you'll need 'em, maybe not) and a few very short & simple Flash animations (w/ all the layers for you to tweek). It's NOT a step by step, "how-to" book and more than 3/4 of it talks about all the animation stuff you've heard a million times before (animation history & principles, production pipeline, interviews). It talks about what Flash CAN do, but not HOW to do it. A good book for Flash people who know nothing about animation production, but not for animators who want to learn Flash techniques.

This is a great book for those who are wanting to get into Flash. Andy really knows how to talk to us who are starting in the appliction, and those who know how to use Flash. it's a great title for working with Flash.

This is one of those sleeper books that gives you information on Flash, and in a way that doesn't talk down to you, and doesn't skimp on the cool stuff.

Cool title. I really like these On Demand titles.

While I liked how it looked at each element and described each component's basic functions, I found a lot of its content to be arguable and VERY poorly edited. In fact, it was so poorly edited, I really had a hard time taking any of it as accurate. The best example in my quick perusal was for "Understanding Basic Components" where it goes off on a wild and very badly written tangent about accessibility (very important and should probably have a whole chapter, but definitely not a "component"):

"When you work with Flash components, you can create Flash content that is accessible to users with disabilities using Flash accessibly features. As you design Flash applications, consider how your users will interact with the content[...] For more information on creating assessable compliant documents, open your browser and visit [URL], or for information on Flash, open your browser and visit [URL], go to the Flash Exchange..."

Do not spend 35 dollars on this book. If you can get it for really cheap, or free, then maybe. But don't take the content as being golden. A lot of it is questionable and a lot of the screenshots are unnecessary. And if you do have this book, get another one to verify its accuracy.

This is a good reference manual for all the basic functions of Flash 8. It demonstrates clearly what all the menu options, tools, etc., do; where they're located; and how to work them. As others have noted, it's aimed at beginners. The first couple chapters will be old news for experienced users, and it covers only the most basic concepts for Action Script. It's a good overall introduction, although the text suffers from poor editing and occasional typos. These generally don't affect the content, but they are distracting.

If you're looking for a hands-on approach to learning Flash, this isn't it. You can download demonstration files at Perspection's web site, but they're always the finished product, so you don't get much chance to work out the process yourself. The book has a couple of projects in the back, but they're brief and more like extra features than tutorials. If you want something with a "learn by doing" focus, consider one of Philip Kerman's Flash books.

I am the manager of the Seattle Flash User Group and I have also passed two Flash certification exams, so I know flash well and have used the program for several years. This book is an excellent book. When someone comes to the User Group and they are new to Flash or want to just learn the program I recommend three books, Lynda.com's Professional Flash 8: Hands On Training, to start learning the program, that will get your started learning the 20% of the program that you will use 80% of the time, the other two books are the Flash Cookbook and this book Flash on Demand.

I have read the book cover to cover; it is highlighted and has several post-it tabs attached to it. It is the first book I grab when I want to do a quick look up. It does a good job explaining and is full of photos.

It is a great reference and study guide for the exam that is why I read it cover to cover. The certification test cover a lot of area and you need a guide to review and study that covers the whole spectrum. One book will not do it, you need a couple and this one is good for that. They give a lot of suggestions on where to study and making mental notes on the test and they are very accurate.

Also I should add I do not know the people or the company that wrote this book. I am giving them a good review because I like this book and if my review helps someone to learn flash better I did my part. It is a great program. When I started to learn flash I bought a lot of bad books, if I can keep someone from being discourage again I done my part for the flash community.

Plain and simple this book is about the code! Some of the authors have interesting perspectives (Brain Limond) but when it really comes down to it, who cares!

The real value of this book is knee deep in the minds of the people who wrote the actionscript for the tutorials.
Pick it apart, and get in to the head of each of these authors and there you will find the price of the book worth every penny you may have had to pinch to purchase this very expensive book.

The coding style that Erik Natzke talks about and demonstrates in this book is priceless.

So bottom line if your a actionscript junky and you got the IQ to dive into someone else's mind I just don't see how you could not love this book!

This is the coolest book I have ever seen, unlike any other book out there. Includes tutorials, background information, and more. If you love Flash, this book must be in your collection.

Code samples and tutorials from different Flash artists, including individual influences and perspectives. Some of the artists are way out there. The code is consistently understandable if you really spend the time with the tutorials, and you have a basic ActionScript knowledge. This book is cool.

this is not a actionscript book or a book that explains the features about the flash program. It's only a book that will give you an idea about how other designers (not masters that means a lot of years of experience) face their proyects and how they solve them. So it's very interesting if you want to know their process and some new tricks. I recommend it.

The tutorials worked through in this book are really up close and detailed, and absolutely nothing is skipped: each chapter begins with instructions on what size to create your canvas, and finishes by telling you to export your final .swf file. In between you have not only detailed descriptions, but also loads of screenshots, and every line of ActionScript code file typed out. The book also comes with an accompanying CD containing not just every .fla used in the book, but also video interviews with some of the designers, and if the static printed screenshots in the book aren't enough for you, then just sit back and watch the amazing animated walkthroughs on how to build your movie in the application itself. So if you don't feel like lugging the massive 500+ page book around with you when you go somewhere, just pop the CD into your pocket and you've got everything you need.

The book continues in the fine tradition of its predecessor, but now, in response to user demands apparently, there is a brand new element to be found at the end of each chapter: Headnotes. This is a small section in which we are told how to expand the example we have just worked through, or how we can alter it slightly to get a totally different result. So if for example, the tutorial walks you through an effect that makes use of the cursor's X position to control a horizontal slide of some sort, the headnotes might suggest making use of both the X AND Y properties of the cursor to create an object that seems to rotate in 3D. It's things like this that mean the book is not just a set of 15 set, un-changeable effects that you can't do much with, without looking like you're ripping off the creator, which some people may mistakenly believe when merely skimming through the book. The headnotes invite your mind to look at the examples not as one complete contained effect, but rather one end result that was achieved by using a whole range of possible techniques within Flash, and that it is these individual techniques that your mind should be looking to and combining when wanting to create any other effects of your own.

Although this book is aimed at people who are "at the summit" and is written by some of the leading Flash designers in the world, it is a book that absolutely every Flash user (and a whole bunch of non-Flash users) of every skill level will enjoy immensely. The whole book is written in easy-to-understand terms, without ever once being patronising. This is not only an excellent book on how to learn to work with a fairly advanced level of Flash, but it is also an excellent standalone design book.

This is a great guide to learning Adobe After Effects. Interactive and highly effective.

I am a Production Manager for a major TV Station in the Southwest. This is by far the most comprehensive and informative step by step book on "Adobe After Effects" that I have ever read on the subject. Perfect if you are a beginner and working on MAC platform. If you are already familiar with previous versions of After Effects maybe you should look for a more technically advanced book. But if you are new to the subject you won't find a better book than this one. Period!

Clearly the best tool for learning After Effects on the market. I have Total Training, Classroom In A Book, etc. None compare to this "hands on" tutorial. Very hard to put down.

traditionally the Meyers books are considered the standard, but they're kind of dense, a lot to absorb, and they move through material a bit fast. If you're committed and hungry, then maybe they're what you want, but if you want a gentler beginning to build your confidence, I think you're better off starting with this book, and then taking on the Meyers books once you have a solid overall grounding. The difference in layout alone is plenty reason: this book has a lot more white space and breathing room, while the Meyers books are just crammed margin to margin, and feel smaller, even though they are the same size. Properly delivered, AE gives itself up wonderfully, but there's so much to it, you run the risk of overwhelm if it piles on too fast.

While the author states that she is writting a cross platform book,
she ofter fails to explain the correct way of doing things on the Windows platform. The Windows user is left to figure it out on their own. The Windows user may find another title more suitable.

I love this book! It's a great primer for the ambitious animator. And Shamus is no dunce either; I've been reading it with a dictionary nearby because of his refreshing eloquence.
Another reviewer intimated that the book had a somewhat arrogant tone. Nonsense! It's just Shamus, who wants you to be the best animator you can be.
While many of the animation chores Shamus describes are now done effectively by a computer, it's still vital to learn how the old pros did it.

This book tells you everything you need to know about animation business and techniques and EVERYTHING. It has wonderful excercises and if you want to be in this business, you MUST not only read it, but have it on your bookshelf for good. BUY IT!

Shamus Culhane is one of the world's best animators. He created the walk cycle of the seven dwarfs in snow white. He demonstrated each characters personality walking in a line. All the characters are in synch. Amazing.
He explains the basics of animation. This book is a great way to understand the techniques of hand drawn animation. I have a few of the pages of this book Xeroxed and I keep them in my sketchbook. I have come across it in almost every animation studio and almost every animator's bookshelf.

this book would great if they would updat it. However, it's a must have for anyone starting out in animation. I have a few reasons why I think this book is great.
1. it's an easy read. Some writer's try to make animation more complicated by writing boring and complicated books. Half the time you don't understand their point. This book however got to the point in a clear and enjoyable way.
2. He puts exercises throughout the book to make you apart of the learning experience. You not only get the information, but you apply it right away. so when you get to your own projects, you've already done half the battle of exploring and experimenting with rough work. You can make mistakes with his exercises rather than big mistakes on your own projects. You can start out your own projects with a more polished style.
3. For less than $15 you can learn what they teach you in an animation class. Unless you need the credit for school, save your money and start with this book.
4. Great, Great book for the beginner.
5. Overall it's worth the money. I will refer to this guide often as I continue to learn and work in animation.

I bought 3 books from amazon in order for research for my upcoming animation production.
For a classic, traditional 2D animation its pretty good, and has also HELPFUL tips for Animators-block, wich I hasent found anywere else. Altough its NOT covering DIGITAL PAINT, and talks only about Cel's, the old way to shot and colorize frames. Today NO ONE is using this techince, NO ONE (exept for Ed, Edd n' Eddy series).
So if you don't wish to work on the Ed Edd n' Eddy production, you better buy this book with the new digial edition of "The Animation Book". Not forgetting the MUST HAVE "The Animator survival kit". At least that was I had done. (And had cost me 75$ for express shipping to Israel...).
And the graphics (Illustration, colors...) of the book is low, as well is the paper quality, but the reason I ranked it 4 and not 5 is beacuse its covers Cel's and not Digital Paint.
Don't forget to click on the "This comment is helpful" Button.

I have studied animation for the last several years. I am a Flash designer specializing in E-learning in the Seattle market. I am not just a casual reader of this topic.

Why I like this book. When you go to school for animation you have a lot of stuff thrown at you and no matter how good your notes are you can not remember it all. You need to refresh your skills. This book was not only good at that but also much more. It is a fun read, an interesting read.

This book covers the complete process from picking up the pencil to marketing/distribution. Tony knows his stuff, he should he has been a professional animator for many years and you have probably seen his works. If you have seen the Pink Panther Strikes Again ("does your dog bite?") you have, he did all the animation for the film.

Traditional animation is an art form and it seems like it is finally getting some of the respect it deserves. 3D is the rage these days, Pixel does an excellent job and nobody does it better, unfortunately there are more bad 3D feature films than good. Even Disney is hiring back some traditional animators and creating some old school, that's cool.

If you want to learn animation pick up this book and The Illusion of Life and you will learn so very much. But the learning process also requires doing. Like the saying goes, "A dream and a number 2 pencil will take you anywhere".

Keith Johnson
Manager of the Seattle Flash User Group
Flash Animator/ E-Learning Specialist

Lacking an understanding of traditional 2D animation skills is a complaint many times heard when talking with CG Animation studio employers. They'll tell you that plenty would-be animators know how to click the right button in the software, but far fewer understand the foundational concepts and principles of WHAT they're doing and WHY. If you're looking for a well-written title on the subject of applying classic animation techniques and principles to the digital world, 'Pencils to Pixels' is an excellent resource. Covering story development, the rules of filmmaking, the principles of animation, and an overview of creating 2D animation from start to finish, the book should fill in many of the 'gaps' new 3D animators possess simply due to not coming from a 2D traditional animation background.

The Animator's Workbook will do you just fine.
This book does go over the tried and true traditional principles and how they are implemented in the digital animation environment.
Let's face it there are hundreds of Animation Software Suites to choose from. I doubt this book will cover them all only the most well know and popular Animation Software packages.

You are better off Just buying a user's manual if you already own the software mentioned in this book and get a more thorough book on Animation. The few software suites this book mentions are Toonboom Studio,Adobe Flash(formerly known as Macromedia Flash). I don't remember all the details.

However if you are an absolute newbie to digital animation this book is a nice start in the right direction.

Don't get me wrong Tony White knows his stuff I just don't think this book will reveal much of anything new about animation if you are experienced with Animation Software and the logic behind it's interface.

I recommend you borrow this book from a library before you decide to buy it.

The ultimate book for digital 2d animators, I cant imagine having a better animation related book.

Even though this book is mainly aimed at animators, it covers the entire production process for an animated film. The book covers writing, storyboarding, animatics, soundtrack recording, animation, and even 3d modeling. I was very impressed by the detail in the book, for instance one chapter (the rules of filmmaking) has 141 pages devoted to camera angles, and traditional film editing exclusively. The book is especially of interest to independent animators who want to make an animated film from start to finish with the use of the computer. However pretty much anyone with an interest in animation would like this book.

Animation from Pencils to Pixels is by far my favorite animation book.

I'm a professional 3D artist in Chile, i bought this book thinking that it's was going to be a big help to improve my working piplines but i think is better for students of 3D animation because is to general, but that doesnt mean that is a bad book, i think that it will help in some areas but in animation in general i recomend animation survival kit of Richard Williams.

I really enjoy reading this book, in particular the chapters about J2EE and Flex.Help me understand the design patterns and motivations behind the cairngorm framework too and more importantly how to architect Flex applications.Looking forward to reading the updated version, following the new Flex 2.0.

Book with examples step-by-step of applications created in FLEX 1.0. It for installation configurations and other Flex's basic subjects. It is a book for intermediary and advanced users.
To seize well the book is necessary knowledge deepened of ActionScript. A good references is the book Object-Oriented Programming with ActionScript 2.0.
In spite of being version 2 of Flex liberate it continues to be a good references, but you will have to know exactly what changed of the version 1 to 2.

A very good book, which is fortunate because it's one of the only (if not THE only) books on the subject. My only beef is not with the book, but with the product licensing--you can't deploy a free-standing SWF without a Flex server license. If you want to do Flex-like stuff (and deploy SOLO SWF's) for free, (...)

Flex 2.0 has been released, but I still find this book (Flex 1.0) an invaluable resource in developing rich client applications. There's a quick 30 page intro to Flex, and then the fun starts. You start at the Presentation tier, working your way through to the Business tier and then finally to the Integration tier of rich internet applications. This is best practice in motion. [...]

This is the only book on Flex so it's not really like you have a selection. I found it annoying that they use flexHeight & flexWidth for formating everywhere in the book which have been depreciated in 1.5. Unless you have .NET or Java experience this will be a really tough read, if not impossible.

This is where to go for anyone seeking an in-depth appreciation of film noir. There are lots of good books on the subject, but start here, if for no other reason than the exhaustive list of films from the classic cycle.

And to the guy below who gave this book a one star rating, Sweet Smell of Success IS included in the alphabetical list of films. The Third Man is not, for one simple reason: it's a British-produced film. A strong argument could also be made for the inclusion of French films like Rififi and Diabolique, but the authors clearly made a conscious choice to only include films produced by American studios.

I have been exchanging noir themed dvds with a Canadian friend for the past two and a half years or so. Unfortunately, none of the production details for the intriguing films that I received recently are provided in this book.

That underscores the difficulty with books of this type. Completists are going to be displeased to find their latest discoveries and long time favorites are omitted. The approach to the material by the contributors and editors is pedantic to the point of being boring. Many of the summaries contain mistakes and occasional plot spoilers. As a reference resource, the book is somewhat worthwhile, but do not fool yourself into thinking that you are going to read it from cover to cover or that it is going to be a page turner. It is more of a thick catalogue or a ponderous textbook. I would not recommend this book as a gift to a casual film noir enthusiast.

The book has been revised and updated, but the newest entries do not always contain full descriptions. Some of the films are simply listed with cast and crew credits. One would have wished that the revision process would have included editorial corrections of prior mistakes, but the changes seem to consist wholly of new appendices of film titles that were omitted in earlier editions of the book. The latest version also contains listings of neo-noir films to. My personal preferences run to obscure titles and "B" films, so the book is something of a disappointment as Silver and Ward seem to have a bias in favor of big budget productions. Very few of my favorites from Poverty Row made the grade by being included here.

On the positive side, the essentials are included in the book and it contains sufficient information to direct you to other more specific resources or to find films that are new to you. One such book is "The Noir Style" by the same author (with James Ursini). I found that collection of photo essays to be far more entertaining.

This book is a reference book and not the type of book you just sit down
and read for fun. It is a very comprehensive work on the film noir culture. Just about any information that you will want to know about the film noir classics will be found in this work. Fun to flip through and make a mental note of the format and where to look for your future inquiries.

If I could give this book ZERO stars, I would. I ordered this book, looked inside for about 2 minutes and promptly returned it. It excluded my 2 favorite film noir movies, The Sweet Smell of Success and ...what I deem, next to the Maltese Falcon and Sunset Blvd., as the absolute epitome of film noir....The Third Man. Not even a mention, even though it is #2 on the all time favorite film noir movie list at the IMDB website.

I thumbed through the book for a sec or two and noticed MANY full technicolor movies, some of which, because of the content of the movie, I thought had absolutely no place in a film noir book, technicolor or not. The genre is not as wide open as this author believes it is. C'mon....Dirty Harry? Sorry, but that is NOT a film noir. I did not read the book, but whatever definition of film noir he is using, it CERTAINLY comes nowhere near MY definition of film noir. And according to Wikepedia.org, my definition is correct...color films have no place whatsoever according to the "purist" view. But I'm openminded, you know, it can be in color and it can be made after 1970....I don't have a huge list of criteria. I only asked that it include a few of my favorites, but when it didn't even meet my needs with the very first glance at the index, I pretty much discounted it as hogwash. Yeah, it has loads of obscure gumshoe B movies and if that's what you're interested it, go for it. But if you think all film noir movies should be in black & white and contain the Third Man, et al, pass it by.

This book is the bible of film noir, and the 1992 revisions of the 3rd edition make it even more useful than before. Want to know who plays every bit part in one of your favorite films noirs? The info is here. Want to know when shooting started? When it was released into theaters? Ditto. Want a chronological list of the great noirs? Or more "inside" film lists, organized by directors, stars, even cinematographers? They're here. One of the old criticisms of the previous editions of the book is that its plot summaries were sometimes incorrect in the details. The authors cleaned up some of those problems in this edition, although they decided not to add or change text that would disrupt the original page layout. This means that the new language is a compromise for space, and it doesn't quite live up to the original. And some developments of the past decade, like the discovery of a print of the silent noir "The Racket," are too recent for corrections - the bible still says, "This film is lost today." This not-so-new edition includes a great essay on neo-noir and a fine list of neo-noir films (although I miss the obsessive detail of the original listings). Also, it's paperbound instead of hardbound. But it's still a superb reference work for the film noir fanatic - so treat it well until Silver and Ward get a 4th edition on the stands.

great information -- but too much detail and flows too slowly. still, I would recommend this to all beginners of Final Cut

Brenneis continues to lead the pack in producing a logical and accessible manual for the film editor's leading software.

Great hands-on manual but the FCP 6 book just came out. The reality is there aren't enough changes to make this version obsolete. If you still need a manual to work in FCP then this version will get you 99% of the way.

trust me and my classmates.this is the best!!!

I recently upgraded to the Mac Pro System from my PC for my digital editing and I needed the Final Cut Pro System but since I was not familiar with the system I needed a little assistance navigating through the programs so that I can use it effectively. I am so pleased with the purchase of this book. It is so through and even though I have been editing for years it is still useful for me when it comes to navigating and using advanced features of Final Cut Pro. You do not have to be an avid reader to appreciate this book and nor do you have to be a pro to appreciate the book because you can skip through and target your weaknesses because the the book is laid out just that way. A smart buy for the novice to the intermediate.