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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.
As digital video cameras spawn in the hands of you, me, parents and tourists like cockroaches in my kitchen....
Seriously, rather than buying a digital video camera you might consider finding a nicer place to live. Or at least call Orkin for cryin' out loud.
-- dR.fuZZo
Froogle price comparision of this book!
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
They'd only be stupid if they tried to get their money back. You, however, would be stupid for commenting on something you know nothing about.
NetInfo connection failed for server 127.0.0.1/local
I spent all this money on a PC, and all this time learning Linux, and I'm still not cool?
Have you seen the stats? 90% of slashdot users use windows or mac's ..
Not saying that nobody here is a tech, but honestly, the majority are actually not really techs.
I'm not sure I see the connection. You're infering that because the majority of the slashdot readers use the most widely used operating systems to read this site, that they're not technically adept?
As much as I might enjoy working with *nix systems at work; the fact that my workstation and home machine are Windows and Mac respectively doesn't have anything to do with my or anybodys tech-iosity. (End Rant)
I've found that the iApps are pretty intuitive for most of the stuff you'd want to do with them. With some playing around and a quick check of their included help screens you can figure most basic stuff out. In other words I don't think a manual needs to be included (No manuals to be found with most linux / windows bundled programs anyway); but the fact that O-Reily chose to publish one will likely benefit folks who want to dig deeper into these Apps features.
Paul Lenhart writes words!
This is the truth, even though many people tend to brush it off as nonsense.
I have lots of non-techie friends who visit
I also browse at +5 whenever I'm short on time and want a quick rundown of days articles. Otherwise, it's 0-threshold on regular days.
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.
man imovie man idvd
Badass Resumes
Or does he know his audience?
--- Ban humanity.
This discussion is tiresome and off topic at best, but to review here are some points
/. readers read from work where they are forced to use windows.
Many
I use windows and mac and I am every bit as technically proficient as you "average" linux user.
(posted using opera on linux from a dual boot machine behind a linux firewall)
Reading all the posts about if Mac users are techincal or not. The real issue is what happens when you do something "Non-Standard" that seems logical.
I've had a hell of a time, trying to figure out why 16:9 DV video wouldnt work correctly in iMovie. Seems 16:9 isnt supported even thou sony handycams support it, and seem to be a very popular brand. So now I'm stuck with 16:9 video I cant use on my expensive mac. Being told I need to buy $1000 dollars worth of software to use the video.
Also, why You cant just export into Mpeg2 and have some good utiltiies to cut/chop the video.
Many things I can do under linux and windows, just seem impossible to do with standard tools, or the "Trick" to get something done isnt known to a new mac user.
Why did I buy a mac? Wanted to test out all the features, and ease of use, and play with OSX. There is alot of power there, but there are many missing features, or alternative methods to get a task done. You can dumb down help guids too much, and Apples help file is on par with "Idiots howto Guides". This book is on my must buy list.
You don't NEED a 300 page manual to use it.
Thats the problem, crippled manuals only get you so far. There are too many "Gotchas" on iDvd/iMovie that mess up the whole process. Step outside the "Basic" process of making a video, and you find out quick the need for some extend help files.
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.
Hey - not here to argue with your point, sure there's all kinds of people who read /. -- I for one think that's fine, it's grown far too big over the years to be a clique.
But I've seen this linux-centric nonsense far too many times over the years to just let it go anymore. This site is, was, and will probably remain "News for Nerds" -- just look at the topics on any given day: Space travel, physics, electronics, games, books, current events, political debate, legal issues, coverage of all computer platforms. WTF is linux-centric about all that?
Granted, it is easy to mistake the sites, and its readerships pro-free-software stance for "linux-centric-ness", but sorry, you don't have to subscribe to any particular philosophy (or OS) to get a huge amount of entertaining, and sometimes even useful info here.
"That naive cube! How long must I suffer this!" --Sheldon J. Plankton
Yeah, after he stopped writing for the back page of MacWorld he just kind of disappeared, huh? If only the New York Times were as prestigious a publication.
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.
Too many users seem chagrined about not being able to create fluid epics via iDVD. I'm always amused by the ones that complain about the 60~90 minute limit of iDVD. It wasn't that long ago that it cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to push video around the way we can with iMovie and iDVD. I can make worthwhile video with both of them. Your expectations sound appropriate.
:)
While I would never attempt to catagorize one person's efforts, the line between hobby and serious is clear when the limits of the free apps are encountered. I have no issue with this practice. I can find out if I really want to go deep into video making without spending the money for FCP or DVDSP. Seems ironic, however, that to get the most out of the 'free' apps, you need to spend $$ to buy this book
For those that think they're getting the world with the iLife suite, think again. After spending +/-$3k on the computer and +/-$2k on the camera, another grand or so for 'real' software seems fair.
...For those that think they're getting the world with the iLife suite, think again.
Thing is, did anybody think that? Did someone seriously think they were getting professional-level video editing software, in iMovie, with the free suite? Does anyone mistake iPhoto for Photoshop?
Personally I thought I was getting some really handy organizational software for all those digital snaps, a nice little database interface for lots of songs, and movie authoring stuff that'd be great for anything on the level of a home movie. That's what the "digital hub" claims to be, right? Judging by my nine(now ten)-year-old kids' success in using the suite of programs, it's a resounding success. For home users the limits are well-chosen, to judge by us.
For example, the 60-minute limit on highest-quality iDVD burns is a lot of video. We're talking home movies, here. We can fit half a summer's worth of video onto one disk, easily, in anything like an edited form.
"Fundamentalism" isn't about divine morality. It's about human authority.