iMovie: The Missing Manual |
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David Pogue
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Pages: 385 (Paperback)
ISBN: 1565928598
Pub: O'Reilly
Pub date: 2000-06-07
Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 1261971
Editorial Review:
iMovie is a deceptively simple video editing application that does not come with a printed manual. Even the online help is insufficient. David Pogue, the wry and insightful columnist for Macworld, fills the void with another entry in his new Missing Manual series. Through many workarounds, "hidden" features and creative ideas, Pogue shows how you can use this powerful software to carry out ambitious film projects.
This series is known for giving a lot of information at a bargain price, and this book is no exception. The text gets right to the point while leaving room for background info and tips that anticipate potential problems. Reading it is like listening to someone who has already worked through the steps.
The first three chapters show how to prepare your video before using iMovie and include lots of professional filmmaking advice. The chapters on editing are the heart of the book. They take you thoroughly through each feature and menu--working with clips; adding transitions, titles and sound; and saving and exporting your work. Since this isn't an official manual, Pogue is free to point out iMovie's shortcomings. In sidebars, he shows how to exploit features iMovie does have to mimic features you get only with more expensive software--for example, how to create multiple simultaneous superimposed titles (great for making wild typographic experiments) or how to "pot down" the soundtrack music to allow a voiceover.
To make better choices while saving your movie, the book discusses each of the save options, as well as how QuickTime works--in detail. Also, the book doesn't just suggest what software to use to burn a QuickTime movie onto a CD, it also shows how to make a video CD. There's even help with the HTML necessary to embed your movie into a Web page. In fact, this book contains an impressive amount of info. It's easy to jump in at any point in the text and discover some idea so exciting that you just have to boot up iMovie right away and get creative. --Angelynn Grant, Amazon.com
- Topics covered:
- Complete manual instructions for iMovie, including detailed descriptions of each menu, command and feature
- shooting and preparing video for capture (including professional filmmaking advice)
- editing clips
- adding transitions, sound and titles
- saving and exporting movies (including help choosing formats)
- advice on using professional video editing software and troubleshooting.
Reader Reviews:
Unearthing iMovie2's hidden secrets (3/3 people found this helpful)
I'd used version 1 of iMovie on the first iMac DV edition, and although the software was a smart move by Apple it was far from perfect. iMovie2, on the other hand, is a different kettle of fish - and has secured Apple's place at the front where simple, plug-in-and-go digital video editing is concerned. The trouble is that although the program is great to use (especially for beginners to video), it would have been handy to have some bedtime reading in a form other than the help menu and online stuff. This book is it.
Author David Pogue has got it just right. Not only are there excellent tips about using not-so-obvious features within the program, but there's some wonderful stuff about the basics of shooting video - from framing in camera to the "thirds rule" and other essential no-no's like crossing the 180-degree line. A bonus to readers is that he even gives us an insight into the workings of Quicktime in ways we'd never thought about; did you know that you can undertake quite complex video editing in Quicktime Pro? No, nor did I.
Great book. Great reading. Excellent value for money!
Categories
Amazon.co.uk places this book into the following categories:
Books -> Subjects -> Computing & Internet -> New to Computing -> Digital Music, Photography & Video -> Digital Video
Books -> Subjects -> Computing & Internet -> Mac OS -> IMovie
Books -> Subjects -> Computing & Internet -> Digital Video -> Beginners
Books -> Subjects -> Computing & Internet -> Digital Video -> General AAS
Books -> Subjects -> Computing & Internet -> General AAS
Books -> Subjects -> Computing & Internet -> Software & Graphics -> General AAS
Books -> Subjects -> Computing & Internet -> Software & Graphics -> Graphics & Multimedia -> General AAS
Books -> Subjects -> Computing & Internet -> Software & Graphics -> Graphics & Multimedia -> Animation & Multimedia -> General AAS
Books -> Subjects -> Music, Stage & Screen -> Film -> Production & Technology -> Computers & Film
Books -> Subjects -> Music, Stage & Screen -> Film -> Production & Technology -> Bestsellers
Books -> Subjects -> Music, Stage & Screen -> Film -> General AAS
Books -> Subjects -> Music, Stage & Screen -> Performing Arts -> General AAS
Books -> Subjects -> Study Books -> Undergraduate & Postgraduate -> Arts & Humanities -> Art -> Digital Art
Books -> Refinements -> Language (feature_browse-bin) -> English
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Books -> Refinements -> Format (binding_browse-bin) -> Paperback
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