Digital Video Books

This was a case of looking at the title rather then the book. I picked it up thinking it would be about games and blogging. It does talk about it but more in a study of participatory culture.

The book is a compendium of Professor Jenkins articles through the years.

It's not bad if you are studying this topic.

The first chapter I didn't care about and in fact skipped it. But I should say that is me as I really don't care to read excerpts of an interview. In this case it was Matt Hill interviewing Jenkins.

There were articles about the culture of Star Trek and the efforts of the Gay community to get a gay character on the show. Interesting if you hadn't heard about it but I had known about the effort and even remember some of the shows mentioned.

There are articles about violence and video games especially after the Columbine affair. Jenkins made some rather valid points about the perception of violence and the fact that often overlooked is the amount of teenagers that play video games versus those that actually commit violence. The fact that the violence in Saving Private Ryan is ok but the fantasy sequence in Basketball Diaries is not. The notorious Grand Theft Auto 3 is mentioned as well. I found it interesting that he was ambushed by Phil Donahue in the manner of Fox News. As Jenkins mentioned Phil turned to the Dark Side of broadcasting.

The final chapter involved and analysis of Buffy the Vampire Slayer between Jenkins and his son. It bored me but that is because this was not something I was expecting to read.

Overall, it's not a bad book if you are into this type of study. It really didn't interest me overall. But, as I mentioned I was not expecting to read this type of topic.

Henry Jenkins provides an excellent step away from our normal expectations of media philosophers. Coming in between the doom-and-gloom media affect tradition and the corporate schlock Jenkins writes (and speaks!) for the fans.

The book is a collection of articles set in three chapters: In the first, Jenkins lets us into the world of fandom (if you aren't there already) and more specifically his early focus- that of science fan-fiction. The second chapter, Going Digital, co-incides with his other 2006 book "Convergence Culture" in its mapping the flow of information and analyis of everyday Americans' change in their day-to-day. Finally, Columbine and Beyond (my favorite) looks at, esentially, the fear our elders have of new media and youth culture.

Large, stunning fractals each month, with great calendar space. I'm always excited to flip to a new month!

great calender...i have seen better visual fractals though...but i love all the info in the calender...better than any i've seen (ie, tells all holidays all over the world and gives astrological info too!).

good quotes as well.

The "death of the book" is supposedly in evidence everywhere: in the rise of the Web, the growth of video games, the troubled state of the publishing industry, etc. etc., ad infinitum. But as "The Future of the Book" shows, this death is greatly exaggerated. Part of its brilliance is that its contributors manages to both look forward and look back, to remind us of the many transformations that the book has undergone through history; it also manages to balance enthusiasm for new media with a realistic appraisal of how books will be used in the future, and what place they will have in literate culture. Individually, the essays are somewhat uneven some are better than others, but the pieces by James O'Donnell and Geoffrey Nunberg are especially good. The collection overall is extremely valuable.

THE FUTURE OF THE BOOK, edited by Geoffrey Nunberg, frames the debate about the future of the book in the digital age with a lot of erudition but also some unwarranted concerns. Several essays provide invaluable information about the history and development of the book. Most of the essayists are concerned that computers will radically alter the concept of the book as a legal object, undermining current concepts of the author and the reader as well. They will disrupt established publishing and distribution methods for texts. They will decentralize control of information currently dominated by libraries, universities, and the government. Computers even threaten to redefine the nature of texts and, more important, the nature and function of language. But cyberspace will not destroy the concept of authorship and texts as legal entities. If you have doubts, just read those dire warning labels about copyright infringement on the latest web page you surfed or on the that software you just bought. Geoffrey Nunberg sees hypertext leading to a loss of quality information because he thinks publishing on the Internet is not controlled as well as it is by print publishers. To him, "Computers don't preserve the social and material boundaries ... they disrupt the properties embodied in the notion of publishing." Nunberg is correct. But I don't think removing control of publishing from the hands of a few communications' conglomerates, whose bottom line is money, is such a terrible thing. Others, like Nunberg, are also concerned about the breakdown of catalogs and classifications of information by hypertext because collections won't be materially constrained. The chaos that surely will follow is to him akin to "removing library walls and seeing the reading rooms fill up with street people. "Understand, the government, universities, and libraries have controlled information and access to it for centuries. They have done a pretty good job. But like other bureaucracies, they won't tender their control easily. Despite this, computers are making revolutionary changes in how information is accessed. And most of those changes suggest that it will be a more democratic, less elitist system, at least for a while. Virtual Reality (VR), more than hypertext, is seen by many of these essayists as the major threat to the book as the purveyor of our culture and a particular threat to verbal language. A good part of these essayists' concern has to do with an apparent lack of closure to VR worlds. It is true that VR will create entertainment, work, and instructional environments all over the known landscape. There is, however, a vast difference between having a VR experience and writing a novel about a VR eperience. That is, there is a critical difference between looking through and experiencing virtual worlds and looking at and creating texts about them as Richard Lanham points out elsewhere. The difference between experiencing a VR world and writing a text about that experience is clear. One is life; the other is art. But, anxiety about Virtual Reality runs even deeper. It has to do with what Jay David Bolter calls "the renegotiation of word and image" with images dominating text and leading "to a crisis in rhetoric." Others direly predict that VR is a movement toward "an unmediated perception of the world" away from language all together toward natural signs. I find these comments interesting but unrealistic. When, for example, was the last time you had an "unmediated perception"? If you're not sure, maybe it's time to re-read Mikhail Bakhtin about language, perception and mediation. And, how can a sign be natural once we make it symbolic? Some of the essayists express legitimate concerns about the effect of the computer on the book and society; others less warranted ones. Many happily conclude that society is not at the mercy of implacable technoforces. O'Donnell, for one, asks not what computers can do to or for people, but rather what people can do with computers "by pitching in joyously to the ongoing reconstruction of our culture." The main flaw of THE FUTURE OF THE BOOK is that it's a book with some outdated information and flawed assumptions. More important, it offers vital insights into how we can shape our multimedia future and still preserve our cultural connectedness to our most glorious, printed past

I like the way the book is written and it's style. It is informative and comprehensive and details the commands and all the operation from installation to making your movies. Covers all the features and much more including getting edtra plugins, movie management, memory issues and much more. The only part I though confusing is the wording in the section on cropping your movie. Very misleading these operations don't seem to , in part , work the way the books says. While the book has good instructions and visuals, I wished it would have included more screen shots and possibly highlight the commands it mentions in the visuals through arrows or something. I also wished the book covered about doing and creating movies longer then a few minutes. It covers movies but does not say anything about movies of any length other then more you make the nmore room it takes up. I like it . If you have imovie you will find it useful.

I have two other iMovie2 books, but I put out the money for this one because not only does it contains quite a few other techniques not found in other books, but because the attached CD comes only with sample movie clips of camera and editing techniques discussed in the book. It also includes among other things shareware and demo software like Adobe After Effects, sound effect utilities, graphic converter, MoviEffects to use with QT movies.

I wouldn't say this is the best iMovie2 book, but the author does a good job outlining, laying out, and explaining editing procedures and techniques. It's not that iMovie2 is a difficult program to learn or use, but it's just that books like these provide insightful strategies that enable you to get more out of the program. I certaintly recommend this book for first time and intermediate users of iMovie2.

In iMovie 2 Solutions, Erica Sadun gave us cool tricks with low (or no) cost additions to iMovie 2. Now iMovie 3 is out and the tips from the iMovie 2 book are....still working. Some of the same tricks show up in this new book, but that is expected with a program like iMovie. As I said about iMovie 2 Solutions, if you're looking for a basic iMovie how-to book, look elsewhere. That's not what this book is for. This book is going to show you how to use iMovie 3 and a few mostly inexpensive pieces of software to do the kinds of tricks that you would spend hundreds or thousands of dollars for high end DV movie editing software packages. The high end software might do it easier and maybe faster, but the learning curve, not to mention the cost, is so much higher. The new tricks are well worth the cost of this book. Ms Sadun writes very well. Clear and consise without talking down to her intended audience. All the tricks are laid out step by step, with examples shown not only in the book, but also on the very useful companion DVD. The software included on the DVD is also a nice bonus. If you're really brave, you can make your own iMovie plugins! Many very useful plugins are included to get you started, but this will whet your appitite for the huge assortment of practical (and some not so practical, but fun) world of iMovie plugins. Hit the search engine of your choice and type in "iMovie Plugins". OK, what software will you need to do these tricks? A graphics program like Adobe Photoshop Elements for less than 80 bucks (although you could also use any decent graphics program), and Apple's very own QuickTime Pro (the free regular QuickTime will not do) for [a few] measly bucks. I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to go beyond iMovie's feature set without spending a fortune.

As Erica says "iMovie can do a lot more than you might ever expect from a free product" Having spent a lifetime editing film and then video by the traditional methods I found computer editing with iMovie both a revelation and a revolution. You can use it as an easy way to put together family and holiday videos but as this book shows it has hidden power to allow you to make high quality productions.

Written in a clear and authoritative but friendly style it provides step by step guides to accomplish a wide range of visual and audio effects. The author comes up with a set of solutions based on her own practical experience. This is a hands on book written by someone who enjoys the challenge of pushing iMovie to the limits.

You can read it cover to cover and be impressed by the attractive layout and use of colour but keep it within reach of the Mac ready to provide the answer for any new effect you want to create not only with iMovie but also with Quicktime. As a generous extra there is a disc full of plug ins and other helpful software - some of it written specially by the author and not available elsewhere.

Erica's first book about iMovie helped me rescue a major project which had refused to open from the hard disc and the this one has a wealth of new material on how to exploit the added features in iMovie 3 and solve some of the issues it raises. If you use the software this book is essential to fully exploit iMovie 3

A good general overview without the unnecessary boosterism of most of the texts on the subject.

After reading the book I realized the potential of Interactive TV. Indeed broadcasters have to tighten the belt and reorient their business plan if they want to survive in the changing world of broadcasting. The book provides great insights in the things to come, the system of interactive TV and the market potential. This is a must for all the people who have anything to do with the broadcasting.

I Bought this book as a reference for technical issues (formats, standards, procedures) but I got much more. Button gives you the whole layout of this art/craft of film editing. The topics covered range from editing equipment to film theory, color harmony&design basics to writing resumes. Light, sound - this book covers it all. Not all topics are discussed in great length, but there are excellent reference lists for further reading and websites.
Bryce Button seems to be an experienced editor and a film scholar and clearly enjoys teaching.
I have been a film editor for 10 years -I've still learned a lot. Some of the information will be redundant to the more experienced but still- very well written, packed with knowledge, insight - in short, a real inspiration. Well Done!

The book contains tons of very good advice for novice editors. The tips on planning will save a lot of time when the real work begins. The suggestions on the practical and aesthetic (including sound) aspects of editing will speed up the process and improve the quality of the finished work, perhaps by the equivalent of at least a few month's apprenticeship. The chapters on dealing with stress and team members, clients and the business, give an idea of the work environment to be expected. After reading the whole book, chapter 13 summarizes the most important tips as "cheat sheets" - very useful.

The only thing I didn't like was a number of typos, and what I thought was an occasional lapse in a couple of explanations.

It is an oustanding handbook on how to use Media Creator 8.

If I hadn't bought this book my computer would now be at the bottom of the swimming pool. While the Roxio program has good help tips and tutorials, having this secondary source on paper was absolutely necessary to me.

I haven't even begun to explore the depths of the full program but this book made it possible for me to cut my learning curve significantly - and enjoyably, too!

Even though I have now penciled in a couple of my own tips not included in the book, this book has got to be Roxio's best friend. If you going to buy and use the Roxio program then you certainly should include this book in your purchase plans.

Eden and Rory have provided us beginners with an excellent introduction into learning to use our Macs to keep those home movies and vacation videos from rotting on the shelf. The dialogue is clear with just enough technical information to give the 'newbie' a comprehensive picture of how to edit video on the computer with confidence. Most notable are their tutorials, which unlike most books of this nature, go beyond covering the use of the computer and provide excellent pointers on movie-making in general. After reading the book, not only have I been able to make entertaining videos through the editing techniques they describe, but my original footage has improved as well through their guidance on how to use my DV camera to get the best results. Thanks guys!!

I just got this book and it's the best of all the iMovie books I've used/read. Like "iMovies2 For Dummies," this book includes a very good DVD that includes visual/iMovie examples of the techniques and strategies that it explains in the book. For me, this the DVD is the selling point of the book--even though it is somewhat expensive.

I've always felt that a book talking about video/film production must have an accompanying CD or DVD. It's not just about visual learning, but moreso about providing effective examples of what is being explained about visual techniques. I mean...it only makes sense to talk about video technigues by using actual video examples. It really doesn't make sense to keep using a traditional form of communication (writing) to talk about an emerging and developing form of communication (digital video).

Besides the DVD, I also appreciate how the writers of this book provide strategies for different types of video productions--instructional video, music video, documentary video, home video, and short fictional movies. It's the only book I know of that talks about these types of video productions using iMovie. Thus this book (along with another one titled "The Little Digital Video Book, by Micheal Rubin) to me is for the serious/intermediate digital camera and iMovie users.

Finally, I would just like recommend another new book for those like me who want to one day move beyond iMovie to something more professional: Micheal Wohl's "Editing Technqiues with Final Cut Pro" (Peachpit Press) is a very good book on video editing--no matter what editing software you're using. All three of these books should be on your library reference shelf.

I'd expect that anyone buying this volume would have already purchased or read Trigun Maximum 1-7, so you know what to expect.

The story starts:
Knives's Ark has been launched and Vash is imprisoned inside.

Bonus story at the end:
A tale about Wolfwood's past.

Our author:
Goes to the spa and gets nothing done.

This is a great volume, especially if you are a Wolfwood fan. By the end it shifts all the attention to Wolfwood, which is very fitting as the next two volumes deal with Wolfwood almost exclusively. The actions great as usual, and not to put in spoilers in this but Wolfwood finally makes his decision about which side he's on.