Video Editing Books

I bought this book mainly because of the price, yet I was not disappointed by the content. I'm interested on getting a handle on the basics (just bought a new DV cam). This book covers that very well. Things are laid out clearly and concisely with lots of pictures. However, it goes beyond being solely for complete beginners and includes slightly more advanced topics.

Peachpit must define "quick" completely differently than the rest of us. "Up & running in no time"...I don't think so. This somewhat overwritten volume is strictly for reference. P6 is an extremely complicated program, especially for newbies, and the Bolante book will be a bit of a disappointment (given its title and accompanying hyperbole), to those who expect some sort of how-to-do-it.
However, because of P6's myriad of features and capabilities, and given the Adobe User Guide has carefully avoided graphical displays as much as possible, (a little ironic?), Bolante's tome is currently serving as a concise reminder of picune chores that P6 demands. Why can't these software geniuses get it right for a change?

As another reviewer said, the structure is not logical, e.g., capturing video is at the end of the book, when it needs to be at the beginning. The author steadfastly recommends using the single-track, rather than the far more intuitive and simple-to-use A/B roll method of editing, forgetting that anyone buying a beginner's book on Premiere is just that...a beginner! Why not make it as easy as possible? His approach offers no real advantage. Further, the "visual" aspect is not sufficiently helpful, and the short descriptions create 2 new questions in the reader's head for every 1 new concept covered. Do not buy this book.

The organizational structure is not as logical as it could be, for example, capturing video is at the end of the book. Not great for a "hands on" manual. It did not seem to offer any great advantage over the Adobe manual. Repeats really simple concepts (how many times does anyone who has used Windows or Mac need "drag and drop" explained in elaborate detail, whether related to moving or copying video clips, audio clips, or files) at the expense of other essential concepts.

I read all the reviews here on Amazon-- and I know that they were very extreme- I teach webdesign programs... Flash, Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver etc. I find that Visual QuickStart books (and this one is no exception) are the best in the market... try reading Adobe Premierer's class room in a book- and then get back to me- Talk about filler words and useless reading!

Maybe someone will write a Premiere 1-2-3 book... till then, this is the best book you can get!

Xandro

I have been using Vegas now for about a year, and had no formal training in editing before that. When I discovered someone had written a book which explained a lot of the in's and out's of it, I bought it in the hopes I could expand my knowledge and experience.
I did the right thing! This book is chock full of goodies, and I know I have only scratched the surface. The accompanying DVD is just what the doctor ordered! It is now next to my computer at work, to use as my "bible" for Sony Vegas, and, I bring it home every night to try new stuff out.
This book is highly recommended for anyone interested in gaining new insight into Sony Vegas, as well as editing in general. I found it useful and I am sure you will too. Happy editing !!!!

A solid get you up and running manual. There are some typos and awkwardly worded bits but they are few.
The key to Vegas 6 isn't just how to use it but what makes Vegas very different. Vegas is SOUND EDITING which has taken on video. Rather than video based editing with some sound capability. The ability to illustrate a well constructed sound track on a defined time line with images (still & video) is at the heart of it. The manual takes its time getting to this defining difference but then is thorough.

I am the author of this book, and as some of the reviews indicate, I'm horribly embarassed by the quality of editing that this book received. I assure you that the manuscripts turned in are not what ended up on paper.
This is the reason I chose to not write a Vegas 7 Editing Workshop book, because of how this book was treated.
Please note that the majority of the reviews found here are regarding typographical errors, and at least one of the reviews here is significantly exaggerated, in my opinion.
My apologies to those that felt slighted by the typographical errors in the book. Although the publisher hired an editor to edit the book (which I did not see in galley or blue-line form), I am solely responsible for any errors, typographical or factual.

The 3 rating is very generous.

Although the author may know how to use SONY VEGAS 6, he certainly isn't crystal clear about telling the rest of us how to do it.

The book is very poorly organized and not well written. It's the kind of thing that appears to have been written by an artist, not a teacher.
Learning from it requires deciphering what the man has written. A co-author with instructional design expertise should have been used.

Some examples given are visually hideous or not at all worthwhile.

Some print samples in the color section are not captioned at all.

The included CD is helpful.

I'd recommend absolute beginners cut your teeth on Windows Movie Maker or iMovie or similar entry level app. Get some successes and gain a comfort level with the workflow and basic editing techniques. Later, graduate to Vegas, Premiere or Final Cut for more advanced capabilities.

Video editing (like you see in TV) requires a fair amount of learning. As a result this book is not geared for beginners, as the app IMO is not for beginners either. If you are determined, go for it, it's a great creative outlet!

Even with Vegas 7 release, this book is still very relevant and worthwhile if you want to get full use out of Vegas. DSE's knowledge goes beyond the manual. He helps explain WHY, and what tool to use, which the manual does not. The book is right by my side during sessions and it's a great reference.

As for the book, yes does need a good proofreader and some of the illustrations could be ommitted - all fair enough comments. What is off base are complaints about the price. Apparently they have not bought any technical books lately. Keep in mind the years of specialized knowledge you are getting... it's really a bargain.

I found the picture by picture style of this book not only anoying, but void of in-depth information. Premiere is phenomenally complicated. This book's "Simple Simon" approach shows how to do the basics step by step without explaining the fundamentals and technical information necessary to master video editing basics. My advice to someone who actually wants to LEARN Premiere? Don't try to take a short cut. If you need a picture book with step by step instructions to work through a software program, Adobe Priemiere is probably not the best video editing tool for you to learn. This book fails to explain the importance of the "Render" command thus confusing the begginer who can't understand why none of the technical tricks of the book are not working. In a nutshell, buy another book.

Sure its simple, but if you need something that's
not then you could probably figure out Adobe Premiere 6
without a book. I'm a 17 yr. old amature movie
maker and was somewhat stumped by Adobe Premiere. I
skipped about the first five chapters and went to the stuff
I couldn't figure out on my own. It's step by step process took out the guess work.

This book is clearly for beginners, who are willing to sit down and spend the time going through the steps of the many tasks that make up the book.

The book is organised such that you basically have to follow through all the tasks in order not to get lost.

The tasks are bite-sized, occupying 2 pages and made up of about 6 steps, each step illustrated in color. If you do follow the steps, it's hard to get lost, since every step is well-illustrated, and they even point to you exactly where to click (which borders on being insulting).

It is important to bear in mind the fact that this book is not meant to be a reference book, where you flip to a particular section to find out how to do stuff. You'd probably be disappointed.

Also, since this book as task-oriented, it does not really show you the steps involved in a real project. In other words, going through this book may not properly equip you do successfully complete a large scale project. More experience would be needed. Otherwise, get another book.

All in all, this is great for true beginners, but if you want to go further in Premiere, be prepared to buy another book.

This is a very good starter instruction for Premiere. It will get you to the point where you can use all the major features of the program and produce a nice video. Not recommended for those already familiar with Premiere. It is written with complete instructions, including where to click and which menu to select and what keyboard function key to select. I found it very useful for the first few weeks, but then you'll outgrow it. I would have given it 5 stars had there been a "Part 2" for more advanced topics. If Mr. Dixon DOES put out a Part 2, I'll buy that one also.

I am new to the world of videography and have purchased the hardware and software to begin producing my own digital video. I consulted with several knowledgeable people and selected Adobe Premier as my video editing suite. One of my friends suggested that "How to Use Adobe Premier" by Douglas Dixon would help me get started and be a good reference for the more advanced capabilities of this software. This book has saved me a huge amount of time and frustration by starting at a very low level on how to use the software. This gives you confidence to tackle more complex tasks. The book then can be used as a reference to show you how to accomplish those tasks. I appreciated the consistent style, good illustrations, and especially the hints. It is a well written guide and reference for beginning and intermediate digital videographers.

Having spent a sizable fortune on "how-to-write" books, I now realize that I need to stop buying these books and just start writing. Having said that, however, I think that Horton's book contains a lot of useful information and is better than most screenwriting books out there.

Whether you like this book probably depends on both your movie preferences and your writing style. If you are more Steven Segal than Woody Allen, then this book is probably not for you. Similarly, if you are a screen writer who meticulously outlines a story, then you should probably take a pass on Horton. If you can follow all those story diagrams in McKee's book, then you will hate this one. This book is the Anti-McKee.

Simply put, Horton view is that the most important part of a story is the development of the character rather than external events. A story should make us identify and empathize with the characters. Consequently, a great screenplay will have that identification and empathy as it's main goal.

The book is often written in a high-handed academic style. Horton is, after all, an academic. This may annoy some readers. For me, it imparted a measure of earnestness. Many of the reviewers had trouble with the "carvivalesque" concept. This could be explained a little more straightforwardly. Basically, it means that character: (i) is not static, but in a state of flux; (ii) is multi-faceted and does not always behave consistently; and (iii) is influenced by its background and evnironment. The first half of the book builds off of these themes.

The one quibble that I had with the book is that some of the exercises are unrealistic. For instance, am I really going to contact an agency to obtain a copy of a little-known short film so that I can review it? Of course not. Neither will you. Only a college professor would make such obscure assignments.

All-in-all, this is a good book to get one started in writing character-centered screenplays. I guess the name says it all.

I've now read this book twice, hoping I missed the insight on moving a script toward a character driven progression. But what I have had to sadly conclude is Horton's book on the "Character centered screenplay" is more of a college dissertation than a book designed to help the writer develop a character piece.

That's not to say the book is completely useless. It has an interesting take on character paradigms, going into deeper than other books might. Horton's ideas on the multiple voices a character might represent can help open up perspectives on how to make a character more rounded without having to blather out more exposition to explain characters. Vogler, McKee (both who's books I highly recommend) don't spend this kind of focus on character dimension... but they weren't writing books solely on character.

Horton throws his arms out patting himself on the back with his pontification regarding 'carnivalesque'. The idea might have been interesting in a glancing pass, and attempt at expanding our perspective about characters and their many sides with the allusion towards changing masks and showing different sides of self, but it became an esoteric exercise in proving academic chops. Had it be posed and then left so we could delve more deeply into other topics, it wouldn't have been an issue. But carnivalesque was dropped front and center at indulgent intervals, ending up being distracting and fruitless, the exact opposite of what a book about writing should be about.

In the end, 'Character-Centered...' is a flat, uninspiring read. Horton is probably a cerebral person who has spend time dissecting and analyzing films, but little time focusing on the writer's journey of producing a good script. In my meandering through screenplay literature, it is rare to find someone giving you 'hows' instead of 'whats'. "Character Centered..." simply doesn't live up to it's name on the basis of a lack of desire to direct would-be writers to produce character driven material.

Save your money. This is by far the worst book on screenwriting and film that I have ever read (and I have a vast library). Frankly, I cannot believe that I finished it. It is very poorly organized and poorly written (the chapters wander off course). Mr. Horton never takes the time to nail down what he means by "carnivalesque" which is the central concept of his book. Also, he takes for granted that the reader shares his tastes in film and television, and so never really takes the time to probe what is truely worthy in his examples or what their shortcomings might be. The University of California usually puts out material of much higher (academic) quality. I cannot believe this book got published and has gone beyond one printing.

I give it a star because it does actually have a few saving graces (but not enough to warrant actually buying it). First, there are ample quotes from Luis Bunuel. Second, Horton is right about the excellent character development in Northern Exposure. But the only really valuable thing about this book is a very thorough character development outline that can be very useful in creating a character. However, this character outline is comprised of elements that any serious writer should know about their character anyway.

I agree with Robert McKee (in reference to screenwriting books on character) when he asserts that character is not an element that is separate from plot or story because choice and action are what define character.

This is, by far, the worst screenwriting book I've ever read, almost as bad as Lew Hunter's piece of drivel. If you read this book and follow its instructions, I'll bet you won't be able to write a screenplay at all. Buy "Story" instead.

The reason that many reviewers pan this book is the reason that I highly recommend it: it is academic and theoretical. Horton bases his character theory on the idea of the "carnavalesque." It is this internal unpredicability that really brings characters to life.

This book is not for everyone. Horton has a habit of criticizing the plot-driven Hollywood blockbusters and idealizing small independents and foreigns. This can be a bit irritating after a while. If you know the basics and have read all the overly simplisitc and formulatic books (I too am no fan of Syd Field) this is an interesting and different angle to check out, with a much more academic style than most. But it's definitely not a simple "how to," so if that's what you want, look elsewhere for the basics.

The book is difficult to understand if you have no traditional video editing experience. There is an opportunity for someone to write a more comprehensive manual.

I find this book to be extremely informative, well laid out and full of valuable information. I have found it easy to read and learn this complicated program.

This guide was just right for getting up to speed on Premier. If you want to go from confusion to a clear understanding of the basics in a couple of sessions with the application, this is perfect.

There are generally two types of Filmmakers/Editors: The Artistic and the Technical. The Artist knows what s/he wants to accomplish from the get go and just wants to know what the necessary functions are from a program like Premiere to get from A to B - from their head to the screen. Technical types aren't as sure what they want before hand and feel better knowing everything about the tools they use so that out of all the technical options, a creative solution may arise. This book is for the former, the Artists - and it's great. I found Premiere daunting at first glance, but this book set the clear goal of learning how to edit in clear concise steps. I was ready to go in 2hrs. If you want to learn how to edit and edit fast with all the ways thereof, get this book. After you get comfortable here then you can go on to the standard manual for specific advice on things like hardware and capture and all the bells and whistles or you can use the Classroom book. But this book has no lame tutorials - it doesn't need any. For the intuitive creative artist who just wants to get comfortable with the essence of the program look no further (it also sells at a price comforting to most,um, artists : )). However, Techies and hobbyists may be very, very disappointed...

This book makes it extraordinarily easy to both understand and use Premiere 5.1. The organization and flow walk you through the entire editing process, and the formatting presents information in a concise and engaging manner. This book gave me answers for areas where the official manual left me stranded. A must have for Premiere 5.1 users.

This book has a very good dialog chapter. I especially enjoyed the section on subtext. Sometimes what a character says is more important than what he/she doesn't say. Dr. Seger talks a little about her life in Wisconsin and about having your movie actually produced. In spite of the fact that yes, you probably do need to have connections, I really enjoyed her book. It made me want to finish my Different Flags script and to actually see it on the big screenDifferent Flags. Eugenia Renskoff

A tremendous resource. But don't start here--as the title suggests, this book is meant for those who have already developed the basic and intermediate skills set forth in Dr. Seger's prior screenwriting how to's. As a professional screenwriter, I have used the techniques put forth in Advanced Screenwriting on many occasions and multiple scripts. I highly recommend it.

After reading some of the "reviews", I'm wondering if the "reviewers" are actually critiquing the content of the book or simply making remarks about the author. I read ADVANCED SCREENWRITING & felt it addressed the emergence of alternative structure, which at the time this book was published, hadn't really been mentioned much. I certainly did not get the feeling that Seger was turning her back on the classic 3-act structure, but was merely informing writers that occasionally, writers are able to push the envelope & come up with alternative story structures that work well. Heard she has a new book coming out which actually details the Oscar-winning movie CRASH, which is an example of creative structuring that works. When all is said & done, most stories still have a beginning, middle & end. ADVANCED SCREENWRITING seems a worthy & apt follow-up to MAKING A GOOD SCRIPT GREAT & I found it to be very informative & most useful.

In my Script Consultating sessions with clients who have written three or four screenplay I always refer them to Dr. Linda Seger's Advanced Screenwriting as the go-to textbook. This accessible book teaches many ways to dimensionalize and deepen your script and to continue engaging the reader. Absorbing and using the information in this book will improve a writer's chances in the marketplace.

Script Consultant Karen Folger Jacobs, Ph.D.

Linda Seger is unquestionably one of the brightest and most precise screenwriting consultants and teachers in the business. ADVANCED SCREENWRITING fine-tunes the practically perfect path so carefully defined and so well marked by Linda in her other essential books on screenwriting, MAKING A GOOD SCRIPT GREAT, THE ART OF ADAPTATION and CREATING UNFORGETABLE CHARACTERS... leading us even deeper into the enchanted forest of excellent screenwriting. Seasoned screenwriters will do well to be reminded of those almost mystical elements that inhabit well-crafted films and beginners will find it a finishing course--though having been a big fan, student, and professional who has benefited by Linda's script consultation on more than one major film I urge newcomers to get the entire Seger Screenwriting Library to insure they get the most from ADVANCED SCREENWRITING. When writers submit material to our production company we ask whether they've read Linda Seger. If they say "no" we urge them to, "go back, read her books, re-write their script and then resubmit." That way we know we won't be wasting our time reading a script that needs more work and structural discipline and the writer can be confident that they are giving us their absulut best shot.

This book gets one star because it does have some useful practical tips. T. Leitner's review has already said much of what I wanted to say in regards to this bloated work. As mentioned, its full of anecdotes that serve as filler rather than helpful information. What's worse is that its not even entertaining prose but nonsense like this, on working with models, "This woman was God's gift to earth. She had the kind of beauty that few have been blessed with, and when you looked up beautiful in the dictionary, her picture was there. And to make matters even more uncomfortable, she was wearing some exotic perfume that would turn a mortal's brains into dust."
This book does not live up to its promises. Patrick Sherman's review was also right on.

I initially saw this book on Amazon and saw that people recommended the book "DV Filmmaking From Start to Finish" by Ian David Aronson. Well, I purchased that book and still haven't read it through. I have, however, just finished reading 303 Filmmaking Solutions which I found much more interesting.

It's true that not all of the "solutions" are actually solutions, but that aside, it's very interesting to read the various obstacles that the author comes across and his method for overcoming them. That alone is worthwhile knowledge to have, regardless of whether your situations are similar or completely different. At least you come away from the book with some ideas for solutions.

I found the book did bog down a bit in the lighting section. While it was all worthwhile knowledge, I think the lighting section could've been more dispersed throughout the book, rather than in one long section (if you intend to read the book from cover to cover).

The only other issue is the author's sense of humour made me cringe the whole way through. There were about 4 remarks I found funny, the rest were painful. An excerpt:

"Therefore a video frame is made up of odd and even fields (no relation to Sally Fields)"

Aside from that, I'd certainly recommend the book to upcoming filmmakers.

I don't understand why this book has the ratings of the other reviews here. It is a big disappointment. While this book has some interesting tips between the lines (that's why I give it 2 stars instead of one), it is merely a rambling of a self-important producer. The 303 "solutions" are at best 303 anecdotal stories. Take solution #96 "How to Shoot in a Boat" for example, it reads, in its entirety "I always seem to get the jobs of shooting from some kind of moving vehicle. You've read my exploits in the air and on the ground, but what about in the water? Shooting footage from a boat is a skill that someday I will master. Not wanting to delve into jet skis, Ski-Dos, or speedboats, I will be discussing motorboats and sailboats." Great solution Chuck! That really makes my filming much better. Perhaps it would be possible to cut down this book into 99 tips and solutions, but in the style its been written it would still be painful to read and extract useful information. Furthermore, the cover says, "solve any video or edit problem in 10 minutes or less". Not only is that untrue but also shows how silly this book is. The picture of a consumer DV camera also has nothing to do with the content, because Chuck uses big professional equipment throughout this book, stuff that takes more than 10 minutes to just unpack by the way. I haven't found a good book to suggest as an alternative yet, but don't waste your money on this one. Try any other.

Update january 2008: Interestingly, the publisher has changed the cover to show a semi professional camera. Did they read my review? and agreed??

This book is a good book for references and is not a book on making a movie per se, but it still has some valuable information that I would have never learned from my teacher at my local college. He show you a lot of different solutions for certain situations which is really good, but a lot of the solutions have to do with lighting which is good but at the same time it leaves you wanting more of the non-lighting solutions. But what really caused me to give this book a four-star is that all his solutions are examples of his past jobs, which is the principle reason to make this book and is a good thing(to learn from his experiences) but, he digresses from the teaching of the solution to further educate you on irrelevant info. He also has a humorous approach to the solutions which was really a plus. Overall this book is good as a reference if you can get past the irrelevant stuff, but other than that, like I said, it is a good book.

303 ways to shoot anything basically. Such as how to shoot a birthday, how to shoot a girls birthday, how to shoot a birthday on saturday.. you get the idea..

This book brought my camcorder to life. I'm having a great time learning how to edit my videos, and make better all the way around.

This is a good book for PC users. Lots of the hardware and some of the software content is not needed by Macintosh users. The photography tips are excellent for all. It is well-written with lots of attractive Windows photographs, but if you are a Mac user, you already have lots of the digital video solutions that are in the book. If you are a PC user and are really, really serious about digital video-well-it could be time for a platform change.

This book turned my digital camcorder into a valuable tool. I can use it for much more than I thought. I'd recommend this book to anyone who recently bought a digital camcorder. Lots of stuff in relatively few pages.

This review is based on Chapter 3 only. I haven't seen the rest of the book.

1. The information provided is mostly trivial, suitable for one who never used any photo- or video-camera before. It might be your first book to enter the field - it certainly won't be the only book you need (IMHO).

2. Complaints of first reviewer are valid. E.g. page 39, last paragraph. The author basically describes a pinhole camera: "...take a lightproof box and make a tiny hole at one end..." But then he talks about a "bulging glass in the middle of that box..." - looks like clue-lack. Page 44, last paragraph (and the one above it) - mix-up of what "stop-down" means, and introduction of "stop-up". Page 48 - the author talks about Night Shot, forgetting to mention that this feature is found on Sony camcorders only (don't try to find it on your Canon, for example). Same page tell you that "for filming in bright sun at the beach use ... Sand feature" - it wasn't very enlightening (especially if you graced yourself with one pass over your camcorder's manual). Page 49 - don't know about yours, but my camcorder doesn't have Twilight setting.

To be fair - there were a few good tips in this chapter. Not enough for me to justify purchasing the book. Also, other chapters may contain more useful information - I don't know.

This book did a great job of explaining the basics and teaching me how to edit video with my new computer. I read chapter three, where the author does a good job of explaining the basics of how a camera works. And, contrary to what the previous reviewer says, he DOESN'T call it a pinhole camera at all. Not sure what that reviewer was reading. Perhaps that reviewer can cite the page on which the phrase "pinhole camera" appears. And who's Charlie White? Thanks.

I bought this to write a screenplay for my book, but it helped get my creative juices flowing for my novels. Where my middle was floppy, it's now tight and tense, where my characters were lethargic, they are as animated as one might be after a lengthy stint at Starbucks. In short: it's a MUST!

I have been writing for about 7 years. I've read many of the popular screenwriting books by Syd Field, Linda Seger, Chris Vogler, and oh yeah The Screenwriter's Bible by David Trottier. The are a very good but none of them has crystallized my understanding of the second act like "Writing the Second Act" by Michael Halperin. We all know that plot and structure are an important part of a screenplay but what makes the most memorable screenplays? ... Characters that you can live through... characters that take you on the emotional roller coaster. Michael Halperin's book shows you what you need to do in the second act to create juicy characters with depth - buy the book you won't be sorry.

I really have to go side with the disappointed people here.

The second act is often called the "mountain" that screenwriters have to climb and it is indeed a daunting task. So any offer of help is much sought after.

A total novice screenwriter might find this book of interest, but a writer who knows the basics and looking for tips and insights particular to the second act will be sorely disappointed.

The section on building conflict can be summed up as "Building conflict in the second act is a good idea. Here are some examples of conflict in the second act...."

As I read this book, I became angry at the almost blatant disregard for the intelligence of the reader and I only finished it in order to be qualified to offer a review.

The fact the type is presented in a large size, double spaced and with thick margins shows that the printers knew they had to hide a lack of content.

The best thing about this book is its title, long and promising. The good part ends here.

The worst thing about this book is that it doesn't deliver what the title promises. I thought it would be a complete book with strategies, structures and examples, about "Building conflict and tension in my film script".

Reality is that this is a collection of scattered thoughts, general advice, some easy analysis on well-known films... but seriously, nothing that you cannot find in any general screenwriting book.

So get this straight: by no means it is a serious book with will grant you a better comprehension of the hard-to-write second act, nor will it help you build conflict or tension in your script... Unless you are a real novice screenwriter.

As other reviewer pointed below, also the shortness of the material is appalling, hidden by big fonts, wide margins, big pages, cheap paper, etc.

This has happened to me with other book by the same author, "Writing the killer treatment". I really don't know how the publisher, Michael Wiese who has so many good books on the subject, can publish this mistifying book.

So there is not a good book on the second act yet. Problems with the third act? Try Yanno's "The third act".

Apparently, the one thing harder than writing the second act is writing a book on writing the second act. The authors gives some examples of good second acts, uses wide margins, and there you go, a book about writing the second act. Or so he claims.

First thing I had to rename all of the files on the DVD to get started with the Tutorial. It was a problem but I over came it. Things worked out ok, then came chapter 7. This chapter was very confusing. He tells you to select the wrong tracks, he forgot to tell you to set up certain things in the canvas before you started the chapter and then he leaves you with a whole bunch of questions. The final project of this chapter left me more confused then before I started it. The DVD chapters do nothing for me that I didn't learn in the tutoral that came with the DVDSP. He gives us only 2 chapters on DVD Construction. I mean they dont even tell you how to make chapter tracks. Or outputing a master DLT for mass duplication. If you are trying to find a book that helps you beyound the manuals you get with these 2 softwars. Look for other books. If you are a beginner to FCP and DVDSP also look elseware. This book helps with shortcuts and Editing with DV only. He never touches on the un-compressed cards or outputing for true broadcast video in component or SD. I am sorry I spent the money and the time on this one.

Final Cut Pro 3 & DVD Studio Pro Handbook by Adam Watkins (Director of Computer Arts, University of the Incarnate Word, San Antonio, Texas) is a straightforward user manual and self-teaching guide to making the most of the Final Cut Pro 3 and DVD Studio Pro computer softwares for editing and delivering computer animation. Covering everything from technical specifications, to step-by-step how-to instructions, Final Cut Pro 3 & DVD Studio Pro Handbook is an excellent resource which is especially recommended for novice digital editors who seek to take full advantage of these fine softwares to produce work to professional standards of excellence.

All the previous reviews people are talking about things like the labels on the clips. You need to write those labels in yourself. That was designed from a teaching stand point. You have to start working right from chapter one with the tutorials. They all build on each other.

All I can say is this my second time though the book. A lot of the things people are unsatisfied about, are missed due to hasty studying. You have to label those clips yourself, right from the start! That book has helped me tremendously. I made the same mistakes the first time through the book. Final Cut Pro is very complicated, first time through you are going to miss things.

You are getting taught with this book. Making it though the book is not easy,however once you do make it. You will have a very good skill. This author is a teacher! The way he writes makes you think! He really takes you through at a good fast pace, and it is tough for the student(reader) to keep everything staight. There are so many details. Everyone tends to think that it is the author who is incorrect, I can tell you from experience that it is the reader, not the author or the book. I get that, Ohhhhhhhhhhh Yes, now I get it. But it took me the second time through.

This book gets you rolling. This book will get you right into it. You will learn extremely fast. If you take the free downloaded manual from Apple with this book you are set. Even better is Lisa Brenneis's and the DVD studio Pro manual too. I had these manuals for a year and did not get anything going. Then I got the Watkins book. I thought the same thing hey these clips are not labeled, I was in chapter four or five, I thought it was the author. No NO No you have to lable the clips yourself. And chapter stops are on page 289. You finish Adam's tutorials you will be able to take the book, computer, camera hook them all together and get very nice work accomplished. It is not an easy study it takes effort. Once you learn it, you can do a big project. You learn a lot from Adam Watkins, he is good teacher. I would easly buy this book again, I would only buy it sooner.

My past I used imovie for two years. I bought FCP and did not due a project for a while. Then I got Adam's book and started to get my hands dirty right away. I am not afraid to do anything with final cut pro. I learned a lot. The tutorial is great, good beat beat sound to set clips to. I can match sound and a clip together. I learned an awful lot from this book.

So I got this book and first thing out of the box you have to rename all of the files on the DVD.... Great.....This really gives me a bad feeling about the whole book after this point. Then you spend about 3/4 of the book on FCP3.. which is fine, the writing is clear and easy to read, but ..... they only have 2 chapters on DVD Construction. I mean they dont really even talk about how DVD studio pro works. they dont even tell you how to make chapter tracks. If you are trying to find a book that helps with DVD studio pro don't buy this book it is a waste of money and time.

This book is badly structured, verbose and chatty. A seasoned editor could have reduced it by at least 20 percent. More important, the book omits crucial features in FCP 3/DVDSP, such as using Markers to indicate Chapters. As a matter of fact, the subject of Chapters in DVDSP isn't even touched upon!

Further, in spite of the title, the book is heavily biased to FCP, with just a few scant chapters on DVDSP.

I'm very disappointed and consider this book a waste of money.