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iMovie 3 & iDVD: The Missing Manual
I have previously reviewed iPhoto2: The Missing Manual and said "The target audience for this book would probably be a little less technical than myself or the average Slashdot reader, however when I find myself in a field I don't understand well I don't mind a little stuff for the absolute newbie" -- and once again this is true. iMovie 3 & iDVD: The Missing Manual finds me in an area where I am technically inferior. Once again I truly appreciated this book and its style.
The book is broken up into four sections, one devoted to video cameras and shooting a movie, a large one on editing in iMovie 3, and smaller sections on exporting out of iMovie 3 and on using iDVD. At the end are two useful appendices: the first is a menu-by-menu look at iMovie 3, and the second is an iMovie 3 troubleshooting guide. The latter is often needed and always useful -- iMovie 3 still has more than one bug.
The first section gives a great deal of incredibly useful information about video cameras and how to use them, including hints on various types of shooting such as sporting events, interviews and weddings. The technical information on cameras is perfect if you have yet to buy a camera, including a guide to which features are essential and which unnecessary as you can do the same thing (only better) in iMovie 3. When it goes on to the 'how to shoot' section, you get pretty much the same advice you'll get anywhere, but since we didn't really read all of from the last book on video we read (and forgot half the bits we did read) it's nice to have it there again.
The second section does a good job of explaining the details of iMovie 3, even down to some of its shortcomings and bugs. I also appreciated the way it spent as much time on improving the quality of the finished film as it did telling me how to use the various parts of the software. It follows a logical sequence through the movie-making process, giving good details on how iMovie does the job, how to get the best result and what sort of things to avoid -- particularly useful for things like transitions and effects when less is best.
The third section, titled "Finding Your Audience," is a bit more of a problem. It really has nothing to do with finding an audience and a lot more to do with QuickTime. The section first spends ten pages telling us how to get our edited film back onto the camcorder or onto a VCR, then it spends a lot of time dealing with exporting to QuickTime, including posting movies to the web and some info on using the QuickTime player, including some "tricks" with QuickTime Player Pro.
The attention to the finished product in the second section carries through to the fourth section on iDVD, though the writing here is not quite as good. It is incredibly informative, however. I learned a great deal about putting together all sorts of iDVD projects, including ways of customizing almost every aspect of the finished product.
O'Reilly have the usual marketing stuff while Pogue Press have the handy little Missing CD section with links to all the free and shareware software mentioned in the book. Neither has a sample chapter or the table of contents, you can't even get either at Amazon.
One of the drawbacks of getting free software is that we don't get good free documentation. One of the benefits of free software is that we can choose which 'documentation' to buy. Some people might prefer the style of the 'Dummies' books, others the style of Peachpit's Visual Quickstart Guide. I've had a look at all three and like the balance of depth and explanation that Pogue has in his 'Missing Manual' series. I once again find myself recommending a 'Missing Manual' to everyone. While catering to the beginner, this book goes deep enough that all but the most long-term user of these two pieces of software will find something to learn in this volume.
You can purchase iMovie 3 & iDVD: The Missing Manual from bn.com. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to see your own review here, read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.
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Nero-burning ROM for Linux!
iDVD comes with its own on-line help system. It's a Mac, not gentoo Linux for crying out loud. You don't NEED a 300 page manual to use it.
You can tell a great deal about the character of a man by observing those who hate him.
I just bought a copy from the local Apple Store. Worth every penny. Humourous.
:)
I especially appreciated the admonition to buy DVD Studio Pro if you need anything more than the toy apps that are part of Apple's iLife suite. iDVD is nice, but it is limited, and not meant for serious work. Same w/iMovie, etc. Great starter apps...lousy production tools
For what it's worth, there is an EXCELLENT help manual in iMovie AND iDVD just under the HELP menu in each program. Complete with video examples and tutorials. Now be a nice Troll and go back to playing with your wintendo.
I guess it depends on what you define as "serious work".
I recently used the iMovie and iDVD combo to create some training videos (introduction to using and troubleshooting computers and our software builds on them, for daycare/childcare centers), and while it wasn't perfect - it worked out pretty well.
I considered delving into DVD Studio Pro and Final Cut Pro, but the learning curve was more than I wanted to tackle for this project.
The biggest annoyance I find with iDVD is the way it throws the stock intro movies "in your face", and practically begs you to use them with every movie disc you make. They're nice templates for home movies (kid's birthday or what-have-you), but you certainly want to skip them if you're doing anything more professional.
There are some very nice add-on packs for iMovie though (Slick Transitions and EZEdia plug-in packs, for example), quite reasonably priced ($49 or so per volume, typically), that will greatly enhance the usability of the app.
The EZedia ones, in particular, allow filming in front of a blue screen and adding background movies behind the subject in the original film, overlaying logos on your movie, and much more. This isn't really "toy" stuff - and it's much cheaper than buying Final Cut Pro.
I haven't had reason to work with 16:9 aspect video yet myself (even though my Sony camcorder is capable of it), but I do recall seeing a discussion about this same issue you describe.
It seems to me they said something about iMovie not supporting 16:9 aspect ratio itself, but it would still allow you to import the 16:9 video and would export it again, unaltered, when told to export the movie. This isn't great, but at least it's not butchering your video when it imports it. You just can't preview it properly while in iMovie (if I'm understanding what I read correctly).
Most likely, Apple made a decision not to support 16:9 aspect in iMovie because it's their "consumer-grade" video editor (in some ways, a competitor to Microsoft's Movie Maker they include with Windows XP). Working with wide-screen format video is generally considered a "higher-end" filming project - and Apple would like you to spend the $'s for Final Cut Express or Pro for that sort of thing.
Well while true to do "real" 16:9 editing you would at least need Final Cut Express. But you would also need a true 16:9 camera. The Sony widescreen (16:9 format) is doing nothing more than limiting the video written to tape and actually you have much LESS video (lines of resolution) You are just cropping off the top and bottom. I have a "true" 16:9 camera (Sony VX-2000) BUT to actually get it to use the whole tape (true widescreen) is like a $700 upgrade to the lens.
You can get around your issue in iMovie by using a 16:9 effect for your transitions, titles, and effects. Available from both GeeThree or Stupendous software, as iMovie will not alter the original DV you pulled off tape.
MPEG is a touchy subject for Apple and I am sure it has to do something with the licensing. You will get one of the best MPEG encoder is you buy either Final Cut Pro or DVD Studio Pro. It is called Compressor. Quicktime will crop your video anyway you want just not output to MPEG-2 without the MPEG-2 codec.
I think once you start figuring your Mac out you will be much happier and if you actually pay for professional results you will get them. If you are tenacious enough the are PLENTY of free MPEG encoder available on VersionTracker. Here are the instructions.
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Daniel C. Slagle
Keeper of the "Unofficial" iMovie FAQ
Tell Apple how you feel about iMovie