Multimedia Books

After many hours of internet research, I decided to go with this French learning method. It is great! My son and I spent about 15-25 minutes a day with this book and CD (he actually loaded the CD on his Ipod).

We were able to understand some spoken French and communicate in French when we went to France last year. Of course, when we are communicating in French it's more like speaking in a "little kids" way because it is not our first language. But, we were able to communicate! All French speaking people that we encountered in France were very helpful and patient with us. BTW, we spent four weeks on our own and not part of any tour groups.

If you want to learn a language by yourself this is an excellent method. You can invest just 15 to 30 minutes a day and you will learn without effort (I have tried it, it works, you have to be constant and patient). The idea is to hear simple conversations, learn the language in the structures that you would need in a conversation, and do some practice. By repetition of this structures in dialogues you get a sense of the language without learning grammar. Grammar is there but in some footnotes, you will learn it but as something secondary to the practice, just as we do in real live with our native language. Be sure to use the CDs too.
Highly recommended!

In my attempt to speak and understand french, I bought this book after I came back from France where i first heard about it. I have been reading it and listening in my ipod every day going to and from work. I have to say that this book is very good in giving you the essentials and taking you a step further. Every 5 lessons or so it has a review section and at the end of the book it shows a grammar summary which I found very helpful. The audio has good quality and the authors try to make it fun in every audio conversation. I would say that the only downside would be that some of the phrases (very few actually) I encountered in the book are not currently used anymore in France (according to what some french people told me). Also, I wish the method would actually introduce me to the future/conditional/imperfect tenses directly before it presents it in a dialogue and makes reference to it as being that tense. However, the grammar summary at the end of the book will definitely answer your questions on how to use these tenses.

If you want something that isn't Michel Thomas but you still want to learn French, this is your answer. It works extremely well and is very easy to use properly.

I recently travelled to Paris, having crashed through Michel Thomas and done most of the Smart French CD-ROM (which I can recommend if you have little time to prepare). These helped a great deal.

While browsing through the bookstores there, I kept bumping into the Assimil packs - the Smart French method appears to be a bit of a modification of the "natural assimilation" technique of these French-origin "with ease" series. "L'anglais sans peine" is one of the biggest selling items in French books, and it's how so many French people learn how to speak and to understand English. (They published their first edition back in 1944, according to the antique dealers on ebay.)

Why? Because, if you take 20-30 minutes each day for a few months (preferably five), you'll find that the series is fun, and you don't have to strain to memorise. The most important thing is to do a little each day in the first two weeks, and you build on it from there. After two months now, I'm beginning to understand (listening-wise) internet radio news from www.rfi.fr and so on. So far, this is the most thorough and most fun.

I first bought this book a year ago, and have used what I learned to optimize computers that I would have normaly considered obsolete. It's allowed me to put off having to upgrade untill the new memory standard (DDR) comes out in march, saving me lots of $. I also bought copies for friends this year (2000) for X-mas. Some may say it needs updating, but the authors web site has all the info you would need updated. Many thanks for the Book Dave!

.............Curtis

I use computer frequently, but I am not that of an advanced user. This book really brings me into a higher level of understanding about how Windows works. The author goes into lots of detail about what happens while Windows is running (e.g. during boot up). Yet, the text is very easy to be understood. This book also gives me a new way to look at computing. A faster CPU doesn't always give you a faster computer. If you think your computer is too slow, THERE ARE things you can do to make it runs faster. When performance matters, you have to give up things that you are used to, but not usful. (I can't complain that my computer is too slow when I am using a fansy theme that costs too much memory.) Also, this book does not simply tell you what to do. The author's explaination enables me to make decisions on my own.

This is not a book that simply tell you how to improve your computer's performance. If you have some experiences in using Windows and want to know more about the operating system, this is a nice size book that can get you started. What's more? My machine is faster now. :)

This book has a huge collection of excellent tips for getting the most out of Windows. Every Windows owner owes it to themselves to go out and get this book!

I am an experienced windows user, and I bought this book because I figured it was cheaper than upgrading my PC. I run a K6 266 overclocked to 300, 160 megs of ram, 7200 RPM 27 Gig HD. Once I implemented ALL of the tricks in this book (This is no easy task... it takes a lot of time, and is very high maintenance), my system out performed my ex-girlfriend's Pentium III 850 with 128 megs of ram for applications (not for games, though it still does those well).

I don't mind making the effort, but some people might. If you have lots of time, and you love customizing your PC, you can't go wrong.

Litestep, registry hacks, DOS utils, 5 partitions on a HD... if you like this kind of stuff, get the book! If you don't know what any of these things are, you may be better off upgrading you PC.

This book is an attempt to collect (and organize) a series of tricks to speed up Win9x machines (it does work for Windows 95, 98 and ME, but most of the advices do not translate to WinNt and Win2000, as the author honestly points out).

The author's idea is that you can actually obtain a lot of performance even from older machines, if you are ready to do some work for it (tracking down utilities, testing different configurations, dropping some "cool effects" in the standard UI and so on).

I've recently applied the book ideas to "renew" a couple of very old machines (a 486-based, 24MB ram Compaq portable and a Pentium-75 with 64 MB Ram). I am not a Windows Guru by any stretch of the term, and I did learn a lot on how Windows is organized in the process. This fact alone is probably worth one extra star in my rating.

The book is clear, and is a good read (i.e. it is not a simple itemized lists of tricks, but tries to tie up things in a coherent thread).

Unfortunately, the end result of my attempts to optimize my two museum-quality machines were less stellar than what other reviewers submitted. I think that the main reason is due to the fact that most of the tips seem to be aimed at computers which have been subjected to a lot of "install-the-new-software-gizmo-I-just-found-in-this-magazine-CD".

If you start from a clean installation (or work on a machine on which little extra sw was installed) there seems to be very little gain from applying most of the techniques offered by the author.

Another problem is that both SW and HW are a moving target, so when you try to obtain some of the utilities which the author recommends, for example, you may find out that the current versions may have grown new requirements which makes installing them on an older machine a little troublesome.

This is even more obvious when we talk about RAM or other HW specific issues.

All in all, I'm pleased with the book, but mostly because helped me to better understand how Windows works. People who already have a lot of first-hand experience in installing and maintaining Windows machines would probably give this book three stars at most.

This book had me searching my soul. I almost cried after reading the "Dear John" chapter, as it was very relevant to my current situation. I highly recommend it as it is transparent and was birthed from Linda's life experiences.

If you want to learn how to love well in a marital relationship from God's perspective (no matter what your past may be), this is DEFINITELY the book for you.

Share it with your partners and friends!

The Plural Thing: Spiritually Preparing For Your Soul Mate is a must read for 2008.Why? Because you, you and you...deserve the very best life has in store for you. That includes having the right mate to compliment you. What The Plural Thing...does is provide you with a road map equipped with a GPS (God Planned Source) of direction in finding the appropriate mate. Linda Dominique Grosvenor penned a great shelf-help book that focus on the positive rather than the negative. Furthermore, it's Grosvenor, open and honest revelations about her own relationships that breath life into The Plural Thing and make it a must read for the seeking single to the much married couple that strive to make their relationship better.

The Plural Thing is a quick, practical read that will have the reader thinking from the first page to the very end. Although I could relate to the entire book, I especially enjoyed The EX Factor chapter. I was reading The Plural Thing..., just as I was doing my own soul searching and looking for a way to respond to some questions from my ex. The Plural Thing provided the boost I needed to respond positively, instead of continuing to harbor ill will and resentment for what was. Thank you Linda for your courage and the wherewithal to stand even when it appeared Satan was busy reeking havoc in your life. The Plural Thing...is a must read. Don't delay. Order your copy today.

Linda Dominique Grosvenor's The Plural Thing: Spiritually Preparing for Your Soul Mate should be recommended reading regardless if you're single or married.

Grosvenor's book is a spiritual blueprint on living a more fulfilling life with or without a mate. She encourages readers to take a mirror view of themselves. I read the book to help jumpstart my personal growth. It's helped me see myself in a more positive light. Working on self does not mean one has to become selfish, it actually makes one more open to loving others. The areas I need growth in are no longer strongholds. They are now mini-goals and no longer seem like a struggle.

The book also encourages readers to figure out what they want before dating even begins. Is what we want in line with what God wants for us? The more I read, the more I had to reflect. We can prepare for our soul mate by loving ourselves and not overlooking someone because of pre-conceived notions.

I feel that readers will have a better understanding of themselves and what they want in a mate, by reading and following the principles in The Plural Thing. It's more than just a book, but an empowering tool to jumpstart you in the right direction.

The book doesn't guarantee that you'll find your soul mate, but it does guarantee a better you and in the end, that's worth more than gold.

Review by Shelia M Goss, National Best-selling author of Double Platinum, My Invisible Husband and Paige's Web

Single men, you would be remiss in thinking that this book won't apply to you. Although it's written by a woman, the very real and universal truth of this book that applies to single men and women alike is DELIVERANCE! Linda writes prolifically about her struggles within herself and how God brought her through a healing process in order to receive the man of God for her. I highly recommend this book. Her honesty about the "not so lovely things" that we singles endure and have to face makes this book real! You have to read it ~ let the spiritual preparation begin!

The Plural Thing by Linda Dominique Grosvenor
Review by Tavares S. Carney
Genre: Non-fiction; Self-Help; Inspirational
Rating: 10 (EchelonBooks); 5 (Amazon)

The Plural Thing: Spiritually Preparing for Your Soul Mate stimulates readers to examine self, and come to grips with the fact that one truly has to be happy within oneself before truly being able to find happiness or make anyone else happy, let alone a spouse. Once one realizes what it means to truly love, it is then and only then that God will send us the mate he intended for us to have. The author shares with readers, true-to-life relationship scenarios from her own life as well as those she's encountered. These are stories of real women, single women, married women, divorced women and separated women - the good, the bad and the ugly. Topics that range from lack of or non-communication between partners, loss of sexual appetite for married women, pressing towards personal goals and more are touched upon. Single women must stand for something and not fall for anything when it comes to finding a spiritual soul mate, finding that true love and real happiness most women desire. For married women, reading this book will prompt you to examine the state of your current relationship. The gripping question readers will be left to answer no matter the stage of their love lives (or not) they are in is - Are you ready? Were you ready? or Will you ever be ready for marriage the way God intended it to be? Grosvenor demonstrates to women firsthand how one can learn to love the way God intended and spiritually prepare for a soul mate.

Unlike most open souce projects, PHP has been blessed with many good books. Professional PHP4 is another fine book aimed for the serious PHP developer venturing to add multimedia.

There is a short refresher on PHP followed by PHP Multimedia installation. Then it gets into the nitty-gritty stuff of making it work.

I found the case studies towards the end of the book particularly helpful in mapping out a solution action plan.

Please let me know if you find this review helpful. Thanks.

This book is a great tutorial/reference for programming with PHP's multimedia libraries. It covers topics such as GD(image manipulation) ming (dynamic flash generation) and pdflib(dynamic PDF generation).

The book was written very well and I only noticed one small type error. There is lots of information and a function reference in the appendix.

I bought this book a fortnight back and i have
amazingly learned more than i expected.The 4 case
studies in the book are amazing - I esp enjoyed working
on the coffee shop finder app and got everything working
in a zap.I recommend this book to the developer
fraternity that wants to realise the true power
behind PHPs extension libraries (multimedia).
And oh! yeah this is my first WROX read that had
color pages in it:)

Professional PHP4 Multimedia Programming is an extremely handy book to have on your bookshelf, even if (and possibly especially if) you don't design and implement multimedia applications with PHP all the time. Within hours of getting the book, I realized that I could use PHP as a commandline scripting language to solve several problems. I've used it as a reference several times since, even though I do NOT consider myself a PHP Multimedia Applications developer.

The book is organized nicely. As a "Professional" book, it assumes a decent understanding of PHP. This assumption saves you lots of time and unnecessary hand holding. There is a brief PHP refresher chapter for those who aren't quite as familiar with PHP as necessary, but after that refresher chapter, you're expected to understand things. You bought this book (or will, anyway) because you already know how to program in PHP but are not familiar with the various multimedia extensions.

The next several chapters each dedicate themselves to a specific extension concept: Ming, Ming with ActionScript, GD, ImageMagick, PDFLib, and FDF.

Each chapter gives an overview of the library, it's uses and limitations, and gives lots of example source code giving examples of all the functions in an extension and how they are used together.

The next few chapters are full-fledged application case studies. Though you may not agree with the authors' coding styles, these case studies walk you through (from start to finish) several different applications to show you how the libraries can be used within the scope of a larger PHP application, not just example toy scripts.

Following the case studies are several appendices. Each appendix is a language reference for a multimedia extension. Most of the information in the appendices is found online in the PHP manual, and I, for one, find it more convenient to look it up there, but having it in the book is a nice bonus.

Another wonderful addition is a full-color screenshots gallery index, which shows you what various scripts from within the chapters should look like when run. This is great for two reasons: 1) You can "check your work" as you write the applications and sample code in the book, and 2) You can see the results of functions in the book while reading it away from the computer.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is thinking about writing even just ONE application in PHP that will manipulate any supported multimedia (Shockwave, images, PDF/FDF, etc.) The time you save by having this book as a companion will more than pay for the cost of the book.

Professional PHP4 Multimedia Programming is a unique book in the midst of all other PHP books. No other book aims to cover the topics that this one does. If you are a PHP developer looking to expand you knowledge and integrate the multimedia capabilities of PHP into your applications, then this is the book for you.

The goal of this book is to introduce the concepts and techniques needed to produce dynamic multimedia content. The extensions covered are Ming, GD, ImageMagick, PDF, and FDF. Each technology is thoroughly explained from installation through example use. A case study is then given to go into further detail on the use of each extension.

I especially enjoyed the fact that they provided installation instructions for these extensions. One of the biggest hurdles people have with using Ming, GD, and the others is the installation process. Once someone gets past that stage they can at least experiment with how the extension works. It can be very frustrating when you can't even get something installed. Hopefully this book will help ease some of that frustration.

The case studies used by the authors are superb. These are real would applications that people want to create every day! They include a headline grabber with Ming, a mobile web coffee shop finder with GD, an image gallery using ImageMagick, and a PDF template system. Each one of these case studies is designed to get you thinking. Sure, they you the code needed for the application, but they also show you how the design process works and detail possible enhancements.

The one thing I found lacking in this text was some type of common problems section. Invariably, people are going to have difficulties when it comes to installation or use of these extensions. A simple google search will show the abundance of problems related to these technologies. A small chapter, or a section in each chapter, detailing some of the most common problems encountered, with their fixes, would have been great.

Overall, this book is great. If you are looking to develop multimedia applications in PHP, it is a must have.

If you are a beginner to Renderman like I WAS go and get this book. ... This book will give you enough confidence and get you hooked to Renderman...big time!!..So you have been warned!!..The title should read "Get hooked to Renderman"...or "Get high on Renderman"...:). It was a little hard when I started reading the Advanced Renderman book sometime ago..Having almost gone through much of the RfB book a lot of things that were "deep" in the advanced Renderman book is very clear now...This book is simple enough to read and yet the topics are covered in great detail and depth...Can't wait to get my hands on the RSL Guide book from the same author.Indispensable if you want to learn Renderman.

i have been reading this book for some time now and frankly the much i have read i am fully satisifed with it. its well written and clears lot of concepts.


Regards

Renderman is one of the most powerful rendering packages out there, and this book forms a good guide to the self motivated reader. The author assumes little previous graphics knowledge. The basic ideas of matrix algebra and how these can be applied to graphics operations are demonstrated. Aided by numerous clear figures.

More involved operations are also explained. Bezier surfaces, NURBs, anamorphic warping etc. The Renderman language is seen as compact and versatile.

As a grad student in graphics, I've found that creating nicely rendered images is essential for effectively displaying results. I began learning RenderMan with a more advanced book, but found that my overall understanding was lacking. "Rendering for Beginners" has filled in the gaps, giving me a much better foundation for generating images. The book is easy to read and understand, and it is full of images and code snippets (full code is available on the web - which is great!)

The book and companion website has greatly enhanced my understanding, from rendering basic scenes such as wire-frame meshes to writing complex shaders. I highly recommend this book to both those beginning to learn RenderMan and people who want to strengthen their understanding of the basics.

This is a terrific book - and not just for beginners. The author gives a very clear grounding in the concepts that underpin 3D rendering applications, and shows his own deep experience with Pixar's Renderman specification and the implementations built on it by Pixar and others. He also conveys very strongly his own enthusiasm for Renderman and the underlying REYES algorithm, and this is infectious. After a few pages, you will certainly want to access one of the free or trial implementations, and give them a go for yourself.

The book is informed by extremely attractive and colorful images that very clearly illustrate the specific tools and techniques available to Renderman users, and these are fully supported by code snippets (within the text and on the companion website) that make the Renderman structure fully transparent for beginners - just as the title promises!

This is no small accomplishment as the power of Renderman - as exampled in the Pixar and many other movies made with it - arises from the extremely fine degree of control over visual phenomena that it makes accessible to users. First time exposure to the range and precision of these controls can be daunting even for experienced 3d users, but the author's explanations of the RIB and SLIM shader language scripts that drive Renderman are all you need to begin experiments of your own, and to take advantage of more specialized/advanced titles like Advanced Renderman by Apodaca and Gritz.

Renderman is great for photorealistic rendering, but it also excels for non-photorealistic techniques like 'tooning and beyond, and one exceptionally interesting part of the book (again well-supported by the website) provides plenty of illustrations and code for exotic techniques that emulate all sorts of effects from impressionist paintings to woodblock illustrations, and more.

For anyone into 3d, Renderman for Beginners makes clear that rendering packages are not just the back end of a modeling process, but are absolutely central to the practical and artistic effects that define the amazing potential of today's 3d/CG work. To understand the conceptual framework of a high-quality renderer is also to understand, and to be thrilled and amazed by the remarkable workings of our own visual engagement with the world. And, after many years of working in this field, Saty Raghavachary, the author, is obviously still very much under the spell of this excitement. Whether you read Renderman for Beginners as a practical introduction to a prospective career, say as a Technical Director in CG, or whether you read it just for a general understanding of how our contemporary visual culture is evolving, this book will satisfy you fully. Thanks, Saty.

I am SOOOOO glad my husband and I bought this CD-ROM. This has been such an addition to our love life. It has reignited that element of intellectual sensuality that has been missing these past few years. Thanks Circe!

She has a wonderful voice well suited to the medium. The poetry is fantastic.... Well worth the price.

"One of the three hottest poets to emerge on the L.A. scene this year!"

"The erotic equivalent of Hallmark."

"Circe combines class, tasteful erotocism, and genuine art in performances and life!"

Richard Quan's prose has a mesmerizing rhythmic quality which uses simple syntax to achieve lyrical and evocative effects.

"It is late summer. The wind is blowing and I am alone. What is happening with the weather is happening with me. Nature, too, can cry. Our moods are the same." (Quan 3)

These short sentences convey so much that is unspoken about loneliness, the environment, the narrator's voice, and portray the mood effortlessly in minimal verbs and nouns. The narrator's tone, sometimes cynical yet containing romantic overtones, captivates readers from the very beginning of the novel.

A mystery as well as a love story, "Siren's Silence" shows that literary fiction does not need long, extravagant strings of adjectives and metaphors. It also demonstrates how a well-written plot will keep readers turning pages until the end, and that images of memorable characters linger long after a first reading.

Good plot, sound language, engaging characters--definitely look forward to more books by Richard Quan in the future!

Written by a survivor of Cambodian genocide who made his way to the United States to study international human rights and refugee law, Siren's Silence is a haunting novel about an attorney who receives contact from a Ukrainian lover who disappeared from his life eleven years ago. A single telephone call draws him into a web of murder, obsession, and lust; Siren's Silence is a suspenseful odyssey through both the light and dark sides of human nature. Utterly compelling from cover to cover.

Siren's Silece is a great read. Once I started, I couln't put it down until the end. I definitely recommend reading it with a cup of Cappucino. It's a deliciously wonderful combination.

Siren's silence is a poignant tale of love and loss. The author of this novel has a unique voice and narrative style not to be missed!

Siren's Silence is a compelling story unlike any I've ever read. Victor's life is forever changed when he meets Siren. Their relationship unfolds through a series of events that takes the reader along for the journey. The author, Mr. Quan, gives the classic love story a poignant twist and a touch of mystery.

Whether if you believe inb aliens, spirit or extra-sensory skills or not, the book offer the possibility to widen your own horizons which are often restricted to your common experiences.
If you are already familiar with such topics, the book will instead give you the possibility to compare and empower or eventually drop youe opinions and basic beliefs on these topics.

Reading Adrian Dvir's book is a life-changing experience. We accompany the author on his journey from the uneasiness of unexplained experiences, through the inescapable recognition that something he knew little about was happening to him, to his decision to investigate. As the author, a scientifically-minded computer engineer, learns about the other-dimensional world, so too worlds of new dimensions open before the reader and we are rewarded with a glimpse at the enormity of what we don't know. We are but a new-born speck in the universes of life-forms. Other intelligences are here and they are helping. Given the first-person accounts, reports and actual results, this conclusion is unavoidable, despite the ridiculous human tendency to smile and dismiss such concepts. For those readers brave enough to absorb and embrace shatteringly revolutionary concepts - the world, the universe and our place in it, are irrevocably changed. I'd say that makes it worth a read!

My friend sent me this book and I found it answered questions and confirmed facts of things I always believed. Yet the book goes even farther than my thoughts and fantasies dared to go. Somehow I believe, deep inside we all know that we are all connected to a higher source and connected to the universe. Now Adrian has shared his conversations, feelings and fears, as well as the amazing happenings that he has been involved with. We are not alone in this universe and our friends have come to help us, as we are "the new kid on the block".

hi all
this book opend me to the fact that there are aliens in this univerce and they r all the time with us .
the book gives a lot of knowledge about aliens that live in other dimentions then ars and for that we cant see them but with r sycic eye.
adrian-a good friend of mine-heals people with aliens -and the help u can get is amazing.
in the book there is alot of knowledge-given by the aliance about them selvs and about there connections with the human race.
there r alot of amazing phiscical theories given about going to other dimentions and passing the speed of light.
the book is well writen and i loved reaing it and i understud alot about humanity and aliance from it.
this book will open anw path for alot of people who want to understand the purpos of life and r connection with aliance.
thanks for all u here that will open the door for a better place to live in
good bless us all(sorry about the speling mistakes im a bit dislectic)
gil elichay domany
israel

Informatively written by Adrian Dvir (an expert computer engineer who first discovered his ability to communicate telepathically in 1992, and first contacted aliens in the year 1994), X3: Healing, Entities, And Aliens is an exciting and attention riveting metaphysical journey into mind-expanding experiences and the positive intentions of entities from beyond this world. Offering a grand, detailed, investigative account that fleshes out seemingly supernatural occurrences in great detail, and enhanced with an accompany CD, X3: Healing Entities and Aliens is a unique and very welcome contribution to Metaphysical Studies reference collections and UFO Studies reading lists.

I was impressed from the beginning with the content of this book. It has been a great help in my recent graduate projects. This is one I will keep on the shelf for reference.

This book is simply the best book on post-production audio out there. I have over a decade of experience mixing live sound and some formal training in post production, but Rose gets to the real nuts and bolts of the day-to-day sweetening of sound that I was able to apply his ideas the same day I read a chapter on EQ. I have read so many books on sound where authors get into all the details, but fail to give hands on practical advice. Rose has two unique things going for him in this book: the included CD that gives A/B comparisons of various audio sweetening and processing techniques and the cookbook format at the end of each chapter. Try any one of these "recipes" and you will instantly get results and be able to solve various problems and massively improve your soundtrack.
He gets technical in spots going into the physics of sound, studio design, and other minutia but the non-geeks you can usually skip these sections and side-bars. For those who just want to fix things they can jump to the end of each chapter and use the cookbook/troubleshooting sections. I can't recommend this book enough. If you are serious about filmmaking, you can't be without this book.

Audio Postproduction for Digital Video
By Jay Rose
Review by Pi Ware

Don't listen to the title. It's bigger than the title. The "Digital Video" part of Audio Postproduction for Digital Video restricts the scope of this classic Jay Rose text. Rose's book goes far beyond DV, in fact, it starts with an explanation of what sound is on the molecular level and then takes you not just through audio postproduction for TV, but to techniques specific to movie production, techniques that are entirely independent of the format you originate on. Audio Postproduction for Digital Video is top-notch. It's an excellent, text-book quality manual, a soup-to-nuts guide on how to deal with sound in postproduction.

Jay Rose never gives you solutions that are applicable only to specific Digital Audio Workstations, he arms you with knowledge you can use in any platform or program. The book is an education in sound and, together with the numerous photos and diagrams (and Rose's good sense of humor), it's a liberation from the dry prose of most manuals on postproduction.

Rose teaches you from the ground up what sound is, what good sound is, and how to make bad sound better. He doesn't just stop at good writing, however, he illustrates important points with an audio CD included in the back of the book. Together with the CD, the text guides you through importing audio into the computer, editing dialogue, Do It Yourself Foley and ADR, working with filters, noise reduction techniques, pitch and time changes, the sound mix, and even, if you're so inclined, designing, constructing and wiring your own postproduction audio facility.

Though postproduction changes with every new advance in technology, Audio Postproduction for Digital Video stays current by focusing on strategy, not software. Rose avoids giving specific keystroke instructions in specific programs, but instead explains common solutions to common problems using common tools. As he says in his introduction, "You should be able to use these pages for a long time."

Anyone considering directing a short or feature, anyone who wants to be even nominally involved in the sound design of their film, and, of course, anyone interested in working in audio postproduction, would do extremely well to pick up a copy of this classic Jay Rose text.

This book in fantastic. The author's voice and style make this not only easy to read but a joy to read as well. There are little tips and tidbits in each chapter that will make a good audio guy great and a great audio guy better. I recommend this book to anyone in the audio post world.

I decided to buy this book because I had used the forum on the DV.com website for information before, and Jay Rose's comments there had proven to be spot-on and well-informed.
This book contains a thorough examination of all the factors which contribute to the quality of post-production audio. The level of information includes the spectrum from basic to advanced, but through Mr. Rose's clear explanations the advanced information should not go over the heads of the reader.

Easy to read and follow. A good value even though it doesn't come with a demo CD.

Nice book. I've been an NLE dabbler for a few years, but never very serious about it. After finishing this book, I feel pretty comfortable with avid xpress, which was pretty intimidating at first. Good, easy read. I would have liked color pictures, though...

This is an excellent, well-written guide to the Avid Xpress Pro system, and while it can't replace the extended Authorized Avid Education advanced editing course, it is a great overview of the many different topics covered therein.

But, more importantly, it covers many things not in the official Avid training guides - things that after reading this book one feels really should be, like practical tips, tricks, and notes for a more truly professional end project. I would definitely recommend this for serious editors and people who want to get into the deeper strengths of the Avid system... it moves quickly, and might be confusing for a complete beginner.

I am just finishing up on this book, and after two solid days I have gone from no experience with avid to very comfortable. I don't know how well a new editor would do with this book, but if you already know FCP or Premiere this seems like an excellent way to learn all of the key concepts you need to run an editing app.
This is the best instructional manual I have come across.

I make my living editing digital video and this book is by far the best instructional material on Avid Xpress Pro I've seen. There are tips and suggestions it would have taken me years to figure out on my own. I'm doing better quality work in less time. I wish I had found this book two years ago.