Video Editing Books

As a "rank beginner" I was very impressed with the author's ability to convey the information. He covered Final Cut Pro 3 in a wonderful step by step process. Along the way he made sure that each process was clearly stated. Since I have no prior knowledge of working with Final Cut Pro 3, I appreciated the approach that was taken.

If you are in the market for a FCP3 book, give this one STRONG consideration.

A wish that other software books would be as this... beyond Final Cut it cover many aspects of video editing and is a great source of tips of any kind, very useful for beginners (but also good for experienced video editors who have forgotten some aspects about their work).

The design layout and color images of the book are very nice too.

The book has many great techniques and explains every function in FCP very well with step by step guides and suggestions. Unfortunately, many of the examples are not tailored for real world editing (the chroma-key section for example). Would have preferred that they use some real world situations for their examples.

And I can't help but concur with everyone else about the quality of the book. Within the first few minutes of reading, the book was falling apart and pages were dropping out of the book. Shoddy workmanship by the publisher!

This is a great book with the exception that the construction of the book is defective. It is not sewn and the long rectangular shape caused my copy to fall apart in spite of my careful handling. Too bad because I love the book. But it is literally now all over the place and pages are stacked together . A definite problem with construction of the book.

The authors do a bang up job of covering Final Cut Pro. The content of this book is only surpassed by the excellent execution of its design. Content is well-written, clear and easily understandable. As if this weren't enough, the authors outdo themselves by using a design concept for their FCP3 topics that make already clear explanations, crystal clear. It's obvious that much of the book's high price is due to the high quality screen shots and illustrations all of which are in color. Color makes all the difference, especially when talking about FCP3 where color in the application itself conveys information to the user. The screen shots chosen by the authors to illustrate their explanations make this book a perfect choice for beginners or intermediate users. An excellent book, an excellent buy.

The Missing Manuals series has had it's hits and misses. This one is definitely a hit. The first section on of the iMovie portion of the book teaches practical movie making technique, including a 22 shot guide to shooting a wedding. This is what I love about the quality of O'Reilly books. The understand the audience. In this case, amateur movie makers looking to make good movies that won't get them laughed out of the living room. This book has practical insights to get you there.

The manual portions of the book are fine. They provide a step by step walkthrough with screenshots and a menu reference in the appendices.

There is certainly a lot more here for iMovie than iDVD. Of the roughly 500 pages almost 350 are on iMovie. The iDVD section also contains some questionable content, like how to develop on iDVD using the developer's toolkit, which I think is overkill for your overage user.

Small quirks aside, this is a great book. Well worth the money for anybody looking to get the most out of iMovie particularly, and iDVD secondarily.

I've been a fan of iMovie from the first release on Mac OS 9. It made taking home movies fun. The great thing about this book is it goes beyond just a how-to or tips and tricks. A lot of the book is devoted to the dos and don'ts of creating home movies in general. Just as with still photography, the hard work is when your taking the shot, not afterward. The better your movie is at filming, the less work you'll have to do when you get it into iMovie.

The book is packed with a 450+ pages of information. Some examples: how to get your old VHS movies into iMovie, sending movies to your cell phone, creating better looking "title cards", and modifying iDVD itself. If you liked David Pogue's iPhoto 4 Missing Manual and/or GarageBand Missing Manual (both of which I have), this book is a must have.

Anyone who has a Mac should know David Pogue. He's been writing for the Mac community for years. His latest book, iMovie 4 & iDVD, displays all his hallmarks. It is exceedingly well written; it is completely useful and thorough; it is fun to read and funny.

Pogue hits the nail right on the head in the introduction. IMovie 4 and iDVD are simple but not simplistic. Unlike some other Apple programs like AppleWorks or the new OS, you will need this book if you want to make the most of Apple's wonderful new video software. Pogue and his co-author Erica Sadun get you up and burning in no time. Moreover they have created a Missing Manual web site with all the shareware and freeware programs and documentation you'll ever need.

As with his other Missing Manual books, Pogue has done everyone a great favor. Now do yourself a favor and buy this book. You won't regret it.

I was fortunate to attend Macworld in July 2004 in Boston and attend the Mac User conference. Dave Pogue was the seminar leader for the iMovie 4 module.

I previously reviewed Pogue's iMovie 2: The Missing Manual. Now, I had the opportunity to see David Pogue in action and to further learn his Missing Manual secrets in Movie 4 & iDVD: The Missing Manual.

This Missing Manual is divided into five parts:

Part 1, Capturing DV Footage
Part 2, Editing in iMovie
Part 3, Finding Your Audience
Part 4, iDVD 4: The Missing Manual by Erica Sadun
Part 5, Appendixes: A- iMovie 4, Menu by Menu and B- Troubleshooting

My Favorite Page Turners

Page 16 - Figure 1-1: The evolution of the modern camcorder. The photo shows the full-sized VHS camcorder, the 8 mini/Hi-8 camcorder and the modern DV camcorder. This is the type of camcorder you need to work with iMovie.

Page 17 - Figure 1-2: The various sizes of tapes. The miniDV tapes required by most DV camcorder.

Page 20 - Three camcorders not to buy. You should select only Firewire connectors for miniDV camcorders.

Page 23 - Using the FireWire connector. You must have the FireWire connector to use iMovie and other DV software. Figure 1-3: Analog imputes and S-video connector for connecting to a VCR, old 8 mm camcorder.

Page 25 -  Use the camcorder's eyepiece viewfinder instead of LCD panel. This is very useful on bright sunny days and saves your camcorder battery's shooting power.

Page 32 - Special Effects. Avoid using your camcorder's built-in camcorder effects-instead use your iMovie's Special Effects when you do your computer editing.

Page 33- Apple's "Supported camcorders." Review the list on the www.apple.com website for supported camcorders.

Working with Pogue's Missing Manual

I like the Keyboard shortcuts that Pogue mentions in the manual. Using the Command-E, you can switch between the timeline and clip views in iMovie 4.

You have the choice of adding color to black clips (created by dragging a clip rightward in Timeline view). This greatly expands your options for title backgrounds. Also, you can use them for fading to any color other than black or white. When your project requires a gradient fill for the clip, you can create them in Apple Works, Adobe Photoshop Elements.

Pro Reaction

The section of 22 Shots for Wedding Video is worth the price of the book. Pogue showed me how to use the rewind and fast forward that are the missing buttons in the iMovie program. Page 104- Phantom "Save as" Command show you how to create various versions of your saved digital iMovie files.

You need the new parts of the manual before starting your iDVD projects. Pogue lists 17 changes in iMovie4 and ten in iDVD4, making the updated book worth your time and money.

Con Reaction

Page 7 should have been titled: 'Quick Table of Contents' in the book. The manual's white print on gray backgrounds is hard to read and underline. Page 93, figure 4-4, does not have an important sub -headline telling you that are in the edit mode in iMovie.

Final Notes

Movie 4 & iDVD: The Missing Manual is well written and illustrated for you, the Mac Video editor. With the manual you learn the secrets and tips for using iMovie and iDVD. Also, you can use the powerful Quicktime Pro for adding special effects and for your quick editing of your small movies.

iMovie 4 & iDVD: The Missing Manual is a solid primer and resource especially focusing on step-by-step video editing techniques for use on the Macintosh. Chapters address forming seamless transitions and effects, the ins and outs of QuickTime Pro, iDVD secreets, and much more. An absolute "must-have" for getting the most out of iMovie 4 and iDVD software, highly recommended for amateur and professional moviemakers and movie editors working on the Macintosh.

The Visual QuickStart Guide series is an excellent series of books. I appreciate all the screen shots and the simple explanations in the use of the application. It covers all the basics and advanced features of the program in a way that anyone can understand.

I found this book to be useful but too much of an outline for my tastes. I would have preferred something more discursive.

With this book you will be up and running in no time. The color picture are a great teaching aid. I have used Jeff Carlsons books before for a number of programs and all have been excellent.

Review by Moses Rodriguez, MacCORE.org

The great thing about Apple software is the ease-of-use; you can literally launch a program (like iMovie) and get to work. This program is feature packed and more than capable in getting a stylized look to your video.

Figuring how iMovie works is fairly simple and straightforward. You can get up and running right away and create a DVD to share with family and friends quickly. But, one of the drawbacks of just going gangbusters and cranking out a movie without a help guide is you just may miss a sweet hidden trick or technique and perhaps wind-up doing things the "hard way". You could even run the risk of missing a cool effect or even knowing how a simple feature can make your videos much more special. This is the exact reason is why books like this are written. iMovie HD 6 & iDVD 6 is chock full of tips on almost every page helping you discover these hidden tricks and short cuts.

This guide is broken up in four parts: Shooting, Editing in iMovie HD, Sharing from iMovie HD and iDVD. Each part contains five to seven chapters.

Part One "Shooting" consist of the first five chapters of the book are dedicated to the process involved before you start your computer, covering subjects such as camcorder pros and cons, shooting video, composing your shots, zooming, panning, lighting and audio. Though these topics may not be why you buy the book in the first place I strongly suggest reading them. While it may be too late for you in considering which camcorder to buy it will help you in figuring out your camcorder's strengths and weakness. Even if its just in the area of getting the most from your video camera. These initial chapters will definitely make your end product better and help you in the long run achieve that masterpiece you have been longing for...at least it will help you turn those vacation photos into a movie (complete with music) that you'll be proud to share. Long gone are those painful days of watching someone else's vacation slides in a darkened den, now you can send a DVD via U.S. Postal Service, a video through your email, or if you are apt you can put your entire movie on the web.

The "Editing" section of the book contains the most chapters. Starting off with a basic overview of iMovie, from creating a new project to explaining the interface and tools within the program. Chapter 7 covers the in's-and-out's of importing video, while Chapter 8 is all about editing video. The rest of Part Two deals with audio files, transitions, titles and effects.

Part Three "Sharing from iMovie HD" covers exporting to GarageBand, Quicktime, email, iWeb, Bluetooth and iDVD.

Part Four "iDVD" helps complete your work of art. This part of the procedure is almost more important than all the others. While this is the last step in the process, it actually will be the first thing that is seen when your movie is viewed.

The beauty of working in iMovie is how easy it is to create a movie and the way it seamlessly interacts with iPhoto, iTunes and GarageBand. Importing photos, slideshows, music or even scoring your movie is easy and brilliant in its simplicity. But to get the most from iMovie don't just wing it - get help! Doesn't everyone want a "guide to better results"? With helpful tips and information to achieve great results this is what iMovie HD 6 & iDVD 6 will do for you.

If you are interested in making home movies, editing or even making relatively high quality films, this book will certainly put you on the fast track to success. That being said, there is nothing quite like experimenting with the program itself, but the book can help work out some of the kinks. Finally, it is not as in depth as other books on this program.

I very highly recommend this book. I never knew you could do so many cool things in FCP and I've been using it since version 2 for my own small video production company (www.gforcevideo.com) There are so many things you can do....things like having a shot be black and white and just one part of the shot (say a red shirt) be in color....ways to pull a key without using a blue or green screen (by using say a white pull down movie screen type background and then using Luma key) and many other AWESOME graphic and effects possibilities lie in the pages of this book. Not only that but all the color illustrations can give you a lot of ideas for making your own graphics. Plus you get some new filters!! This book is definitely worth the price and every serious FCP editor should have a copy in his or her edit bay!!!!
Great job Kevin!! :-)

As non-linear editing software like Final Cut Pro gets more and more sophisticated, the greater the challenge it presents. The problem is that not all editors share the same areas of expertise, some having classic narrative editing backgrounds and others having more experience as graphic artists. That's what's so great about this title: instead of trying to cover all possible aspects of the programme in a general way, it chooses to focus on a particular area, but then goes into it in real depth.

It's obvious that the author knows his way round FCP with his eyes shut, but also that he knows a thing or two about teaching as well. However complicated the techniques described, the reader is always given the feeling that they can expand their creative abilities. Even seasoned pros will be surprised at how many new tips they pick up along the way.

No question about it: "Motion Graphics and Effects in Final Cut Pro" is simply destined to become a "must-have" title in its field.

I have read several books on FCP, from plain and simple for beginners to the real advanced stuff. This book I have to say, I have to place it on position number 1. To anyone serious about FCP is a must buy.

I purchased this book based on the numerous great reviews here, but I have to say I am quite disappointed.

I am proficient in softwares such as Photoshop and After Effects, but I am new to Final Cut Pro. I was hoping to learn from this book techniques that can only be done in FCP. However half way through the book all I got were very basic things such as moving/scaling layers around, faking 3D effects or playing with type, which can be done 10 times better in After Effects. The author only touched briefly on the more unique concepts in FCP (such as roll tools and slip tools). I had to find information on those via Final Cut Pro Help.

I am also disappointed at the exercises on the DVD that comes with the book. The exercise sequences were very simple and wasn't designed well, and I often found myself following the book and producing an effect that I would never want to make (such as squashing a movie clip into awkward dimensions and making them fly around the screen), or it would be an effect that can be produced much better in After Effects. At first I was hoping to see and learn from examples similar to hollywood movie trailers/title sequences, but I have seen none of that so far.

I also find the organization of this book a bit confusing. For instance, in the first few chapters of the book it will show an example using various techniques, such as nesting and masking, but it wouldn't show you right away how these techniques are done until the later parts of the book (and it wouldn't even tell you if these techniques would be covered in the book at all!). Also, personally i think a new user should read the first 5 chapters before doing the bonus exercise in chapter 1 in order to know what's going on.

However, this book did point out things that I would have overlooked if I were to experiment with Final Cut Pro myself.

This book is a tremendous timesaver. In a few hours, you can learn how to do some really stunning effects, all from within an editing application. FCP is not just for cutting anymore! If you're strapped for time and or cash, and you need to wow a client, its a lot more efficient and frugal to work all within FCP, rather than creating motion graphics in other applications with steaper learning curves and price tags. Motion Graphics and Effects in Final Cut Pro by Kevin Monahan is a one-of-a-kind book that fills a gap in the pantheon of editing how-to-books, and it does it extremely well. Great job, Kevin.

Highly recommend for someone whose never used Premiere Pro. Easy to follow and provides good advice and tips.

Author Jeff Sengstack not only knows the subject matter because he has done video editing and shooting for a living, he also invites other professionals to share their best advice on how to setup camera shots, how to present a story and more.

The book starts logically at the very beginning with advice on how to shop for camera equipment but if you purchase this book to learn Premiere Pro, have no fear, this book will teach you the basics and more in a painless fashion. You will be much better with Premiere Pro in a shorter time than the majority of users out there relying on their own native computer skills and the Adobe manual and help files.

Jeff Sengstack is simply an excellent writer and the cost of this book is minor compared to the time it will save you in learning how to use Premiere Pro.

After buying a bunch of glossy colorful Premiere 6.5 books, and a CD-ROM course, I got hopelessly confused on how to learn the program. Then I came across Jeff's book and it all fell into place for me.

Then Adobe brought out Premiere Pro which was almost a totally new software comparatively with many of the 6.5 actions done differently. I didn't waste my money on the other books and went straight to this one on Premiere Pro - wasn't disappointed as it gets into a complete project, from concept to DVD and all the steps in between. It even devotes a chapter to Adobe Encore, Audition, and After Effects which comes with Adobe's Video Collection package.

First class publication, reasonably prices, no need for color pics and CD instructions as it takes you through the process of making your own production from day one. Highly recommended for novices in video making, or those upgrading from Premiere 6.5.

I am not complete with this book, but am a beginner in Premier, and can say that this book is very thorough and has given me much to work with and I believe it would be easy to "learn" Premier Pro in 24 solid hours of using the tutorials in this book...NOT thoroughly learn it, but learn the ins and outs and how to use the many features included in this great program...definitely a must have book IMO.

This book was easy to follow and I learned a lot but it would have been much more helpful if Jeff had included a CD with examples to use for some of the exercises. I've used Adobe's Classroom in a Book series for other products and found the included CD gives it the edge over the Sams Teach Yourself series.

Judging by the title alone, I really thought this book would be part advice and part insight into making it as a screenwriter. However, I was pleasantly surprised to see it more of an inspirational book. Some are funny, others give an almost a poetic insight into their inspirtation. None, however give thier schedule or method of writing.
It was also disapointing to see some of the writers go on an egotistical rant. Take note that the book is edited and not written by Lorain Tamara Elbert. There are no direct interviews but it seems a request by letter to contribute to the book and thus some have resulted in mini biographies of the screenwriter. On the upside, the black and white photgraphs are well done.

Lorian Tamara Elbert's Why We Write is immensely enjoyable. I figured I might skip some of the chapters by writers whose films were action/thrillers, but wound up reading the entire book. I especially dug Patrick Donovan's musings on why screenwriting is a GREAT gig, and the impact his Mr. Holland's Opus had on people; Dana Stevens ruminating on her weird little writing office; Scott Alexander's amusing explanation of why he always writes about wacky madmen; and Michael Ferris' tongue-in-cheek take on the Hollywood rollercoaster and the spoils of success (helicopters, hot tubs, dominatrixes...).

Elbert's interviews not only got her subjects to open up in very personal ways, her photos bring out her subjects' essences (a la Annie Liebowitz) and their tones (light, contrast) are striking, B&W is a great medium for her.

Giving the screenwriters the opportunity to write what is true to their soul is by far the best idea I have seen in a long time. How many times do we read about somebody through the edited interview process? It is so interesting to hear what these screenwriters have to say, unedited. I loved the pictures too. This approach creates a wide variety of stories heard from the least heard about people in the film industry...screenwriters.

Although there are some interesting backgrounds provided on each of the screenwriters profiled here, I would have preferred even longer interviews (how did these people get into screenwriting? what obstacles did they have along the way? how did they land their first agents, if they used one on their first sale? etc.) I guess this book wasn't really meant to be a career primer, but just a collection of insights from some writers and their backgrounds.

John Brancato and Michael Ferris's (THE GAME, THE NET) interviews, however, gave some insight into their writing process and how they get ideas for scripts (they banged out a first draft of THE GAME in a matter of weeks). And Michael Grais's interview really shows the sacrifices some people make to stay in the arts (he picked fruit at one point). Again, I wish more of the book was like this.

Bottom line though: not worth the price. Read it in the store or borrow it from a friend or the local library. There's some other picture book about screenwriters -- this is the better one if you're going to buy one of them.

"The joy of this book is that the reader is actually able to learn the screenwriting process from successful screenwriters. Only a selected, creative few become successful writers in Hollywood. Most of them are contributors to this book. This collection serves as inspirational tool that will teach you, the novice screenwriter, what it takes to become successful, and what steps the contributors took to become a success."

"Once you pick the book up, it's difficult to stop reading. This well-structured and artistic book is highly recommended."

This book starts out newcomers to the field with a thorough foundation for selecting proper equipment for filmmaking. It also encourages beginning filmmakers to utilize objects or people on hand. A basic computer system is necessary. The great thing about this book is that new artists often need encouragement as well as inspiration. This book provides both!

My after school students really enjoy this book. It has been check out many times and my students use it often as a reference.

This book is worth every penny! Also the DVD it comes with is very helpful! It shows you how to do Hollywood-style tricks on a budget! I would highly recommend this book!

I found the information in this book useful to me as an amateur filmmaker, but I believe that it would be just as useful to a starter. It's has both basic information as well as detailed explanations for the (amateur) teen filmmaker.

This book was useful to me, as a teen filmmaker. I marked many pages with information that I could use, ranging from proper script format, to very useful advice on how to keep your project low budget, which is always a challenge. Unfortunately, having already read books and articles on the subject of filmmaking, as well as having made a few of my own short films, I felt that this book was slightly more geared at the amateur with little to no experience, rather than someone who is more familiar with the art of filmmaking. If however, you have found yourself with an excellent idea for a short film, and have no idea how to realize it, then this book is a highly useful resource that can help anyone deliver a low-budget, high-quality masterpiece.

This is an excellent book and helped me when I started out in digital video a few years back.

Pros:
* Succinct and clear explanations of basic concepts in digital video.
* Very nice section on editing video
* Written in a very easy to understand format.

Great book, just go get it today.

I just started getting involved with Digital Video after I recieved a new Digital VideoCam few months ago.

I was seeking a good book for tips and techniques. Your book was well written and helped me understand 'how to do' and create great videos.

This book is a must from beginners to intermediate users. It explains the full process of digital video production. I enjoy the 'tips' and 'try this' features. It is easy enought for everyone to understand and start creating good videos.

i take videos, tons of them and i can honestly say that "faster smarter digital video" by jason dunn has helped me get better results on what i've needed to do. if you have a video camera and have been putting off doing something with all that footage, this is a great book to get going quickly...makes a great holiday present as well. nice work jason!

Whether you want to learn how to record better video tape, copy VHS tape to a DVD or view home movies on your handheld, you'll find lots of useful information in this book. It's clearly written with well thought-out examples and tips.

This book is VERY basic. I learned pretty much everything the book told me by doing my own research on digital camcorders, buying one (the JVC GR-D70U), and installing and running Pinnacle Studio 8. The book would not have helped me with my camcorder purchase decision, nor does its constant references to doing tasks running Windows XP help (since I use Windows 2000). I was also put off by the author's obvious bias toward Microsoft products. I realize this is a Microsoft Press book and some of that should be expected, but I've read other Microsoft Press books that were not nearly this bad. Ultimately, it's a lightweight read and a Microsoft marketing tool.

I've gotten each new edition of this book, even though there aren't a huge number of changes. It's just nice to see the updates he's made and draw from his rich knowledge and experience with Final Cut Pro/Final Cut Express/iMovie, and the new nuances he throws in with each edition.

You can already learn some key points to keep in mind about the latest version of FCE in the Excerpt from the front of the book available for viewing on Amazon. It's worth the price of the book right there!

Tom works so hard providing lucid and practical support on the Apple Support page for FCE, and no doubt uses that to enhance the next edition. You're going to be getting his free advice sooner or later, so you might as well throw a few bucks his way and give him some credit for all that you will benefit from his wisdom. I've bought several of the other FCE books over the years, but Tom is the best.

Ron Carlson

I plowed through the book in order of the lessons & I can't imagine having learned FCE any other way. While learning, I produced 2 new TV commercials for a local New Orleans gardening & gift shop, & I'm ready for more. The veteran video guys at the tv stations couldn't believe we did the spots in the attic of the store on an iMac. I couldn't have done them in iMovie--and I couldn't have done them so quickly without this book.

I bought Tom's earlier book on FCE 2, and it was the best purchase I've ever made for any of the software I use. Tom writes like an editor and an artist. He writes in a manner creative people can understand. Practical and to the point. I have been in the broadcast production industry for 28 years and I can tell you Tom is the real thing. If this book doesn't help you then you should find another hobby.

P.S. Ignore the idiotic one star rating. The book is in English.

i could never have learned final cut without Tom's books, nor his generous advice on the Apple Discussion Forums.

I am ordering this immediately-Japanese or not!!

Admittedly my five star review is biased, but I would appreciate if you didn't rate and review my book based on a stupid mistake on the Amazon web site, which after some time we have still not been able to get corrected.

All the best,

Tom Wolsky

Fast delivery; exactly as advertised. This is generally recognized as the best book to learn this software program. I have the previous edition and purchased this as a gift to help a friend who has the newer version of the software.

I purchased this to further my education beyond the Apple Pro Training Book and it was well worth the money. I was a complete novice to this app (although I have used iMovie with all the Slick apps for years) so perhaps a seasoned user may not rate it as highly.

this little book has a clear, concise approach for introducing Final Cut Express. Have been very satisfied with the book, very impressed with the information imparted and they style used for imparting that info.

The book is VERY helpful and easy to read. Tom is also very active on the Apple boards so it's actual very easy to find the author of the book should you have a question not covered in the book.

After collecting five or more books, manuals, and videos, this is the one that got me into seriously using FCE!