Video Editing Books

I learned quite a bit from this informative text. I enjoyed the humorous approach

A great book for anyone who has no budget and a willingness to learn

Using examples from his own long career, the author offers hints, tips and tricks on how to make videos on the cheap. Not only does he tell you how he produced videos with few resources, but he gives a wonderful overview of how you can make a living with your video camera.

On the other hand, although it says "digital filmmaking" in the title, there is really very little technical information about digital video here. Nor will you find much technical information on cinematography, directing, production or editing. If you need technical help, look elsewhere. But there is plenty of inspiration here.

If you can get past the endless typos and the author's annoying and unrelenting attempts at humor, you'll be inspired, but not educated.

This is a very cool book for any novice, student or video professional who is faced with producing commercials and videos with very little budget to work with. Clearly the author has been challenged by a variety of clients on an assortment of projects. There is a lot to learn by reading his experiences and solutions to these challenges.

In production, we tend to think our creativity will be exercised primarily in the development of concepts and scripts, but often that creativity must be tapped for technical problem solving. This book inspires one to look at low budgets and logistical nightmares as opportunities to be creative...to "make the shot" in the face of adversity, with limited lighting instruments, small crews and even insufficient available cameras.

I found "No-Budget Digital Filmmaking" to be a wonderful addition to my library of film and video production books. Its a great reference one can turn too should similar challenges present themselves on any production.

Good job Mr. Gloman, and thanks.

This book is full of the author's entertaining video-shooting experiences, told in an entertaining style. It contains almost nothing of what the title and commercial blurbs suggest it contains. If you are (like me) an amateur video maker looking for tips on creating a higher-quality product while living off your day job,look elsewhere. His definition of "no-budget" includes having to rent an old helicopter, rather than a new one, for an aerial shot. The text is full of unexplained technical and slang references to filters, lights, and other equipment but it doesn't matter that you don't understand them because if you're really no-budget you can't afford them anyway.
There are a few real gems, like the opening chapter on the history of various video technologies, but these just emphasize the point -- buy this book if you want to be entertained, not if you want to learn anything practical.

It's educational and entertaining. In the format of a student writing to a retired screenwriter. One of the very first books I read on screenwriting and one of my favorite. It doesn't give enough advise to be fantastic or help you a greast deal, but I give it five stars beacuse it's a great read. Don't put it as you're first read but as one when you find you interest weening.

In Screenwriting From the Soul, the author, Richard Krevolyn, employs a classic, narrative technique for his teaching approach. In the tradition of Rilke's Letters to a Young Poet, Krevolyn takes the novice screenwriter, by hand, through the arduous processes of not only learning her or his craft, but of learning about themselves as well. As a student of The Cinema, Krevloyn's method is well-taken; if one lacks true knowledge of oneself, if one does not possess a moderate level of true life experience, aspiring she will remain. Better suited for the beginner; also lacks a detailed exemplification of format.

In Screenwriting From the Soul, the author, Richard Krevolyn, employs a classic, narrative technique for his teaching approach. In the tradition of Rilke's Letters to a Young Poet, Krevolyn takes the novice screenwriter, by hand, through the arduous processes of not only learning her or his craft, but of learning about themselves as well. As a student of The Cinema, Krevloyn's method is well-taken; if one lacks true knowledge of oneself, if one does not possess a moderate level of true life experience, aspiring she will remain. Better suited for the beginner; also lacks a detailed exemplification of format.

Though the idea of the book is "cute", and I'm sure there are worthwhile lessons to be learned, the author himself has no personal screenwriting credits in which to base any of his teachings. We readers are deprived of first hand knowledge of the experience of having a script transformed into a film (even one we've never heard of).

Who knew? I had to order a copy of this book after impulsively picking it up at the library. It was the word "soul" that grabbed my attention. I had to see if this was real or just a catchy title, soul starved writer that I am. Boy am I brilliant to have found this! I'm amazing! When I finished the last word, bawling like a baby, I felt like I had just stepped out of a theater in that total transformation ecstacy. But best of all, I was a mere few feet from my computer in my own little abode. All my stuff is transformed too! Wow. If you might like to be inspired to within an inch of your life, choose this book and then hide under the covers while you read it. You might get so engrossed you forget and pick your nose or something. (You don't even have to be a writer to love this book.)

Steve is a long time Avid editor and Avid employee. I worked with him years ago, while he was an online editor, just as this digital technology was maturing and gaining acceptance. His book is well written and is constantly revised to deal with the latest versions of the Avid software when needed.

It's great for beginners and also as a reference for pros.

I thought I knew it all! The Avid is a mystical downward spiral of techniques, shortcuts and quickies. There is no better guide for Avid enthusiasts.

I don't usually give 5 stars but this was a very good book. It was extremely well organized. I have been edited on Avid for 4 years now, and this had some very cool new tricks to try.

I will say that the edition I read (third edition) was a bit out dated. It is tough for print literature to keep up with the rapid changes in technology.

This is an always useful, comprehensive, interestingly opinionated and well-written guide to Avid's industry-dominant editing products. Steve Bayes was a venerated Avid editing instructor and is now one of the people closest to Media Composer/MCX/Symphony's design and their future within the company. Bayes gives insider-quality instruction on the applications themselves as well as good rule-of-thumb advice about the editing process. If you buy one Avid book as an editor make it this one.

Note: I have seen this book prove surprising helpful for long-time Avid editors.

Fanstastic book for a learning AVID user who understands the basics involved in how to make the machine work, but is ready to broaden thier understanding of what it is capable of. Easy to look up or index specific issues, and also up to date.

This book is great. I have been using iMovie '08 for two weeks and had some success in brute forcing my way through the editing process. Apple makes the program basics very intuitive so my success was more due to "even a blind squirrel finds an acorn once in awhile" than skilled execution. As I got better in the editing process (stumbling upon more acorns) I would become frustrated at the "limits" of the application - such as trimming background sound tracks to pull out the sections you want to incorporate. Now, the "limits" are rapidly going away as I read the text and discover far more power and utility in iMovie than I imagined. The text is easy to read and nicely laid out to make it useful as a desktop reference.

I originally bought the book to learn iMovie '08 editing but was pleasantly surprised to find basics on how to shoot better video (great video makes the editing much easier and produces a better result). The section on iDVD was very useful as well and easily walks you through the process of transforming your movie into a DVD that will play on computers or DVD players. It was also interesting to learn about the controversy surrounding the iMovie '08 vs. '06 editions and how '08 users can get a free download of '06 from Apple to replace the deleted functions - I haven't tried this yet as I'm still discovering more of the powerful functionality embedded in '08.

In summary, this book has pushed me up the "learning curve" much faster than I would have experienced without it. I like it a lot and the people who have to watch my videos will benefit the most:>)

This is an excellent reference taking you step by step from how to use a camcorder to producing a finished movie.

I think "The Missing Manual" series are the best software guides on the market. They are easy to read, interesting, funny, and provide most of the information I want.

I could use a bit more on some complicated issues, but I think these cover 98% of what most people are looking for (myself included).

The sending the movie from iMovie to Garageband (to add Chapter Markers and background music) and then on to iDVD for burning could be a bit more descriptive in detail and why you'd choose certain options, but with this book, I figured it all out.

I own five of the "Missing Manual" series and they're all very well done. Recommended.

I seek out "how-to" books written By David Pogue they're wonderful and funny.
I've bought his books for years because they are clear, step by step information.
His humor is an added plus and makes the reading fly

Strengths: There is no CD with the book but at the website you can find additional information that can be found and utilized. The index is well done. The book includes colorful screenshots which are very readable. Helpful hints and techniques

Weaknesses: Most of the information is in regarding iMovie. Troubleshooting ideas for using iDVD are missing for the most part. These are relegated to looking into 4 areas which include discussion groups, lists, official iMovie area and Official in regard to iDVD troubleshooting. I know there is more that could have been said.

Novice/Intermediate/Advanced

Rating: 4.5/5

Introduction

No doubt about it. Since I created videos with iMovie and iDvd for my private use as well as a for business. But I have not been real happy with iDVD. I have found iMovie and iDvd 6 a mixed blessing and lacking in several ways. In many regards, I think that the radical shift to Imovie 8 from iMovie 6 is due to that many Mac users have had problems with various parts of iMovie and iDvd or both. I know this is the case for me as I have had continual problems with iDVD. And I have not been able to correct them while PC users are humming along creating their DVDs. Maybe Apple heard about this from others as well or possibly was thinking that the two products were getting too close and taking away sales from Final Cut Pro or Express. In any case, I was hoping that the author could shed some light on using these two Imovie versions to a better extent and why.

This book series is written by David Pogue, the New York Times Technology columnist. He continues to be the author at the helm of this series of books called "The Missing Manual". These series of books are self help guidebooks for learning and using software and hardware that go beyond the meager original documentation /manuals. I like some of the series of these themed books. So I thought it would be interesting to review IMOVIE 08 & IDVD missing review for several reasons.

This thick book has 448 pages and not filled with "fluff" but has page by page insights that will help you along way with iMovie and iDvd.It is divided into 5 parts spanning 21 chapters. There is a good appendix with 4 sections (iMovie 08 menus, troubleshooting, master keyboard shortcuts listing and visual cheat sheet. There is a short hand system of arrows that replaces the use of "much more text information" that guides you through the learning process and where to use the applications. Other visual aids are in color, the screenshots are of a good size and readable. Throughout the book, there are helpful tips, help boxes, notes and more. Throughout the book, there are helpful ideas in the way of tips, (up to speed, FAQ -frequently asked questions, Poweruser information, Clinic, tips , notes gem in rough hidden techniques). This is a nice way of targeting specifically helpful information without having to wade through the text (which is well written, authoritative and insightful).

Additional highlight included the following. Chapter 1, tips on recording time (p. 25) was nicely done; chapte 2 framing and rules of 3rd is something I know of with photography but this is one of the only times I have seen it spoken and used in terms of videorecording. There are 22 different ways to use weddings was very interesting. Chapte 4 is packed with various iMovei strategies using digita 8 and recording dv, importing older imovie has some good ideas ( also practical information about the cables and webcam to firewire information). Chapte 5 (p.113) includes all videoscodes and recording onto DVD. Chapte 6, includes copying, posting and deleting most wil already know but Chapte 7 Favorites, Chapte 8 transitions and Chapte 9 histograms are done very well. Interesting tips in Chapter 10 title and credits how to Chapter 11 narrative and can isntall news and effects.
Chapter 12 has photo browser tips, and great tips concerning photo browsing, fimstrips, using fade to black and therer are some nice specific hints that I would like to use. The section on power editing and power up editing is excellent. Chapter 13 moving from v8 to v6 or vica versa is is well done and helpful to many videographers who read the book. Chapte 14 has an interesting section with ideas on expert ipod, iphone, apple tv use. Chapte 16 covers iMovie to Quicktime (o.285) while Quicktim while Chapter 17 QuickTime information about using the Quicktime player.

Finally there is more about dvd use and burning in Chapter 18. Dvd has the information for two ways to burn your DVDs (OneStep or Magic iDVD). These two different methods and techniques are included in step-by-step fashion. Chapte19 make up slide show while Chapte20 talks about the using of themes. Should you want to work with scripting, Chapter 21 is for you.


Conclusions

The frank discussion about iMovie O8 "hits you in your face". You know that this is a radical new "upgrade" in many ways but why this was done is really a mystery. You will have to make up your mind whether to use either iMovie version or like many , both. Solid, informative and packed with techniques, hints and ideas, this book is a great resource despite the new versions.

The Missing Manual is for those trying to make sense of this new shift and in that way this book has hit the mark. The screenshots, visuals and tips, techniques and other notes are well done and insightful. There is a six page section on working with iMovie 6 and iMovie 8 and while it is okay, I think it should have involved more troubleshooting information especially on the pros and cons and on transfering to iMovie 8. I would have liked to have seen a listing, when not to use iMovie 8 in plain language. Overall I think this book at well done but the proof in the pudding will be whether iDVD and iMovie work better for me and others. To get there you have to try and try again. This book may help you solve some of the short comings now and in the future for iMovie and/or iDvd. If IMOVIE 08 & IDVD Missing Manual can't help, it might be time to switch to another video editor and DVD burner. Time to read the book, try out the new version and see if you want to try it , use both or use the older versions.

I have literally read thirteen books on screenwriting technique and story development and this one easily trumps every single one of them. I have used his guide on every screenplay I've ever completed, one of which is already in development.

If you are looking for a book which can expand your ideas into full-length screenplays without having to write to Hollywood's block-buster market, "Twelve Steps" will arm you with the perspective, creativity, courage and form to do so.

Among other things, Walker engages his readers in the creative process, developing one's own voice, and structuring that voice around ancient story-telling techniques (like the warrior myth). In twelve steps, you can easily expand a phrase like "tampering with nature | leads to | nature getting out of control" into an entire film like Jurassic Park. Piece by piece, bit by bit.

Don't get me wrong, the writing process is still long and does require substantial effort, but if you are committed and looking for a guide to take you to the next level, Twelve Steps is the only choice. Everyone has an idea, but unless you know how to cultivate it, it will never see the light of day.

Judging from the subtitle (The 12 *Stages* of Story Development) and the back-cover blurb, with its claim to answer such questions as "I've written thirty pages of my script - where do I go from there?", one could expect this book to be about method, namely how to build a scenario, flesh it out, edit it, and present it for submission. In fact, only the last 15 out of 265 pages are really devoted to method, and the methodological contents of the book can be summarized in a small number of guidelines:
. write a 3-part plot outline (opening/body/ending),
. the number of pages in each part of the finished script should be 30-60-30,
. don't start writing until you can use your outline as a blueprint that you can develop without getting stuck,
. use dedicated software to find out exactly what should go into a script before submitting it.
I'm still kicking myself for wasting time reading the book back to back. Skipping to the last chapter after reading the first 3 "steps" (theme, 3-act template, premise) would have saved me considerable time and avoided exposure to sickening repetitiousness and bombast about the Hollywood script writer as a prophet of our time. What is referred to as a "step" is in the best of cases a form of summary or outline (e.g. theme, 3-act template) and in most cases a simple set of staple ingredients of dubious value (the hero as an orphan, the fairy tale as a myth taking place in a provincial world, etc.).

Notwithstanding that the author is an authority on screenwriting (reading this book will tell you that much!), I found it too much about lists of things, items, gewgaws, bric-a-brac, shelfware, tchochkes, and the assorted important point. The message gets obscured continually by 12-item lists of examples in literally every paragraph (and in the margins, too). Sure, examples are important and may legitimately be organized into a rather lengthy appendix or two ... but the core message of the book should have been compressed to about 50 pages (and also leaving out things about the author that have nothing directly to do with the art or science of screenwriting).

The editing was horrendous; the copy editor should have been fired or sent back to school. Far too many times I had to read and reread many sentences just to get the gist of the author's point. Sure, that alone may not be important enough to keep someone from dunning the book, but when the author points out--multiple times--the value of agonizing over each and every word in a screenplay, it seems ironic at best not to have followed his own advice.

As I said, the author seems more interested in giving you his qualifications and experience as a screenwriter, and I think I'm sold as far as that goes, but then I'm not hiring him to write for me. What I want to know is how to go about writing a screenplay, being an almost total noob. Just like everyone reading this review.

As content, the author's 12 steps to a successful screenplay are important and useful, though in truth you can stop reading once you get past about #8 or so, because the remaining points are either self-explanatory or commonsense. Overall I found the book acceptable, but too long, and with too many lists. Call me a naysayer, but I would recommend Cynthia Whitcomb's The Writer's Guide to Writing Your Screenplay: How to Write Great Screenplays for Movies and Television well ahead of this monster.

This book serves up what I believe every good book on writing technique should: a smorgasbord of useful recipes and theories to experiment with and blend into your own writing.

I found Mr. Walker's buffet to include 12 delicious dishes, some more delectable than others.

Choice number one (he calls them stages) is Theme. Yes, he calls it "Theme". That word seems out of vogue these days with other writers refering to this concept as "the controlling idea", "subjective story argument", "premise" or "story's promise". We are talking here about what you are trying to "say" or better yet "prove" in your story. This is the steak behind the sizzle.

Mr. Walker does a fine job of helping us organize this concept using a sentence structure like "blank - leads to - blank". A simple and straight-forward way of looking at the idea behind your story, much akin to McKee's "controlling idea".

Next is the three act structure. Not much new here except his recommendation that you use the subjective story theme sentence (blank - leads to - blank) as an overlay on the three-act template in order to get an idea what each act in your story will primarily be about.

Third he discusses "premise", and it is the concept of premise I most agree with. The premise as "external" story-line. Using the word "when" to preface the inciting incident then an active verb and the result of that action you can develop what some call a "logline" for your story; the story in a sentence. I found this to be a quite helpful chapter.

Fourth Walker delves into the "heroes journey" ala Vogler/Campbell with several original and inciteful twists. This section on the story's structure is brilliant and worth the price of the book by itself. It was my absolute favorite part of the book.

The fifth stage is internal structure, covered in depth with many details regarding the character's inner flaw, desires, motivations, background (he calls this shadow), and growth through conflict.

Sixth we have a short chapter on character relationships, not as tasty as the preceding chapters.

Next is writing a working treatment; ditto to the above.

Eighth is a long and useful chapter on choosing and developing the world of your story, the setting. I really enjoyed this one and got many new ideas for my own work from Mr. Walkers incites and suggestions of how certain settings better reflect and compliment certain themes.

Next is a fairly lengthy and somewhat interesting discussion of genre. I didn't find this as useful to my own work or inciteful/new as the previous chapter.

Tenth is a short chapter on research ... hohum.

Next a short chapter on image systems.

And finally a couple pages about breaking the story down scene by scene. This is a very important stage, and I have read much more detailed advice in other books. I wish this one was longer.

Walker wraps up with a short troubleshooting section.

To sum up the sections on theme, premise, the hero's journey (a fresh look) and setting are wonderful, and worth the price of the book alone. I recommend "Power Screenwriting" and think every screenwriter (or fiction writer) could benefit from at least one new concept in this book.

And as I said in the beginning, this is what I feel is the mark of a truely great and "useful" book on writing craft.

Thumbs up to Michael Chase Walker - "Power Screenwriting" is definitely a keeper.

This is simply the best screenwriting book I've read, and I've read them all. I am not a professional. I am a graduate student studying history, but I have always aspired to writing for the screen. If you want to read about style and format, this book is not what you are looking for. However, if you want to read about theme, premise, structure, character development and other important facets of screenwriting this book is right up your ally. After reading this book my passion for screenwriting was reinvigorated and am now finishing up my first script. I hope everyone finds this book as helpful as I did.

Excellent resource for teaching high school video production. Some very helpful easy to follow directions.

I bought this book thinking it would really get me motivated to write more scripts or give me some knowledge that I could really use. Much to my disappointment--neither was true.
I give this book 3 stars because it does contain some valuable info on scriptwriting if you don't know how to format a script. Pick it up for a few bucks at a used book store for reference.

Arrived quickly and in great shape. What more can one ask???

While the subtitle of this book is accurate ("structure and content for screenwriters"), the main title is incredibly misleading. While many short films are used as examples, I can sum up what the book says about writing the short screenplay with: They must be focused, because they are short.

The information in the book about writing a story for film is informative and worthwhile, and could be applied to any form of storytelling. But, as I was looking for specific information about working in a short screenplay format, I found that this book has very little to offer on the subject.

4 stars as a book on story structure
0 stars as a book about writing short films

As a new and aspiring screenwriter, I have purchased many books on screenwriting. Next to "The Screenwriter's Bible," this is by far the best book I have read on screenwriting. The title of this book is misleading...this book isn't just about writing short films, this book encompasses feature films too.

It's an easy read. You won't be bombarded with complicated, super intellectualized talk or spending waaayyyy too much time giving props to the elders. I mean, I like Aristotle like the next guy, but come on, cut to the chase. She really does that in this book. (Admittedly she does do a little Aristotle but it's tolerable and presented in context).

So, for a good solid foundation, I definitely recommend this book.

Good luck.

I've worked in the hour-long TV business as writer's assistant, then staff writer, then producer, for almost 15 years, and I recommend this book to everyone I work with and all my students. This book was written by professional studio typists, back before there were word processors, when every produced script was typed by people who did that as their full time job. It contains THE industry standard for how scripts should look -- which is sometimes not the default setting of those expensive script programs. This book is MUST HAVE for anyone who wants to be a professional script coordinator or staff writer, and for anyone who wants their scripts to look just like professional ones. It isn't really designed for, or necessary for, people who are just starting out, although I personally think it should be required reading for every aspiring writer, especially in TV, because understanding how a script is used as a blueprint for filming, such how the scene headers are used to create the shooting schedule, can really help new writers to understand how to create a script that is not only interesting but filmable. Combine this with Ralph Singleton's Film Scheduling/Film Budgeting Workbook. Script formatting and scheduling programs are great timesaving tools, but you should be telling the programs how to format your script, not the other way around.

I've just finished my first script. I suppose it's okay, but not awesome. I've read a half dozen books on screenplays. Of those books, this one is likely one of the least helpful. It was writen in 1983!! and hasn't been updated. I suspect that much of the formatting advice this book offers is now out of date, old fashioned to what professional script writers are doing this days. Two newer books I would recommend instead would be CRAFTY SCREENWRITING by Alex Epstein (2002) and HOW NOT TO WRITE A SCREENPLAY by Denny Flinn (1999). You'll get modern formatting information from these books PLUS a lot more useful advice about how to write well.

I bought this book thinking it would give me all the technical terms and definitions of a script. It does have some, however I found another book which is more what I was looking for. This book is useful (meaning I did not return it) however, it is not easy to read if you know nothing about scriptwriting to begin with.

After downloading a few scripts from drew's scriptoroama, Basic Instinct, Fargo, Blade Runeer (the original Hampton Fancher version ), etc., I thought it would be a good idea to get familiar with what is recommended practice., since scripts tend to look pretty similar but with inconsistencies in some of the details.

Cole and Haag give plenty of clear advice, coupled with why the block elements and the inner details of a script are formatted and timed as they are. The section dealing with the setting up of a word processor to make the work easier was somewhat garbled, but the part for typewriter set up looked to be okay.

This is a book well worth having, so that you can format and structure your script to be as effective as possible, and to take care of the parts that script formatting applications such as Final Draft 6.0 or Screenwriter 2000 don't attend to. A minor example would be capitalising text to highlight sounds in a direction section.

The first time I looked at a screenplay script format, I thought I'd never be able to understand what went where and why. After a few days with "The Complete Guide to Standard Script Formats," I felt like an expert. It should be understood that this book is an excellent resource for understanding the format component of writing a screenplay. It does not address the art writing or the literary aspects of how to construct a story suitable for making into a film. If you've already got the story down and learning the proper format for your first screenplay is your task at hand, this is the book for you.

Moving over from Sony Vegas to FCP 6, Rick's book provided the quick, succinct instruction to quickly grasp all the main features of the software without confusion or unnecessary prose. And it's fun to read!

I use FCP 6, but this book covers FCP 5; this isn't a problem since both versions are identical in terms of layout.

This is NOT a book as all other reviewers have stated. This is an E-book for download only. Amazon is misleading by lumping all reviews together. When purchasing this, you will NOT receive any Hard copy at all.

This guide to Final Cut Pro 5 is excellent. Like it says it is geared toward the learning but adds trinkets from professionals. I am a producer at URTV public access Channel 20 here in Asheville,North Carolina and everyone at the studio depends on all productions to be worked out through Final Cut Pro. If you are just starting out -this is the book for you. Carry this as your new bible. If you are a professional -there is still plenty for you to learn..maybe different approaches but well worth the amount you'd pay for a copy. A great compliment to a great piece of software........

The first time I opened this book I was hooked on it.

It has a lot of pictures and real world terminology. I'm an audio engineer looking to get into post production and this book also used and explains a lot of production terms I never knew.

The other thing I like about this book compared to other Final Cut books is that it teaches you how to use this NLE from start to finish instead of jumping around, teaching you the video editing process out of order.

This book starts with setting up the program and optimizing FCP for yout computer. Then it go's onto capturing al the way to the finsihed product.

Definetly worth the small amount of money you'll pay for it...

I really looked forward to reading this book, as I have been thinking of buying Final Cut Studio and a MAC to run it. (not cheap in Africa I can tell you) I was dissapointed ... all these 5 star reviews led me to expect more, instead, I found a book that is just plain average. Example ... In Adobe Premier & Avid Liquid I use the ripple tool quite a lot, this book does not cover it in useable detail, I had to borrow some time on a FCP suite to find out for myself. The book contains a lot of "history" about "how you would have done something 20 years ago" ... who cares!!!? I certainly don't ever want to see a half inch Lo-band umatic machine for the rest of my life. The colour illustrations are great but the detail and user tips are lacking, making it pretty ... but basic.