Customer Reviews

Apple Pro Training Series: Final Cut Pro 4

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book is the official Apple Pro training course for Final Cut Pro 4. All of the lesson files for the training are on the included DVD-ROM. Upon completing the course material in this book, you can become a certified Apple Pro by taking the certification exam at an apple Authorized Training Center. If you had to pay for classes to get certified, you would pay thousands of dollars, so this is a great bargain for those who are motivated to follow the book's course.

You don't have to be on the path to certification to use this book. If you're a hobbyist, beginner or pro who wants to learn more about Final Cut Pro 4, its all in here.

The book begins by explaining the Final Cut Pro interface including the projects, bins, timeline and canvas. It tells you how to open, hide and quit FCP.

There are chapters on marking and editing clips, editing in the timeline, trimming, master clips, subclips and markers. There are chapters on capturing video, importing and exporting, working with audio, mixing audio tracks, and creating a music soundtrack.

Toward the end are the chapters on adding filters, building composite images, creating motion effects, adding text and graphics, and creating an animated title. The last chapter is on finishing and outputting. Each chapter builds logically on what came before.

Each chapter begins with a section called "Preparing the Project." It tells you what to open on your desktoop and in what order to be able to do that lesson. They all end with a section called "What You Have Learned." That section lists the specific tasks in the chapter and all of the keyboard shortcuts associated with those tasks. (Nice touch.)

From the very beginning this books takes your hand and slowly walks through
this complicated video editing software. I had no previous experience, but found myself amazed at the repetitive training techniques and helpful self learning exercises. The DVD contains video clips, audio segments and complete sequences which the book slowly guides you through each of the 21 lessons. At the conclusion of each lesson is a review and a practice exercise which truly tests your ability to grasp the previous material. I continue to be amazed at just how much Ive learned in such a short time. I recommend this Apple training course highly to anyone who is interested at any level of their current editing ability.

This book is simplifying a lot the basic understanding of FCP 4, and is very easy to go through. But there's no in-depth explanation of what the functions are. Nothing in details about capturing and exporting. No real explanation on how the files outside FCP are being handled, and what kind of space it will take on your hard drive.

Obviously this book is good to read if you've never touched FCP. In a week you will go through it. You don't even need to do the exercises, as the book shows you every single menu and has visual representations of all the functions it's taking you through. And in this way this book is worth having.

But going through it I thought I was missing a lot of technical details, which is hopefully covered in the advanced version.

I consider myself to be a "seasoned user" of Final Cut Pro. I have been editing with FCP since the original release of version 1.0 and have worked on numerous documentaries, features, commercials and episodic television.

I learned about this book from the Apple website. This is the official textbook used for Apple Pro Certification (FCP Level One). So I decided that I would "forget" everything I already knew and begin with Lesson 1. I'm very happy I adopted that attitude because there are so many neat little tips that I picked up in the first few lessons. Now I wonder how I ever survived without them. Those tips have already saved me a lot of time. I have only completed one-third of the lessons thus far and I can already see an improvement in my productivity.

Every chapter of the book is a "hands-on" lesson. The files and media for each lesson are provided on a DVD-ROM (included). You will first copy those files to your hard drive and then open each lesson file and then follow the step-by-step instructions in the book.

I'm looking forward to getting my Level One certification with the help of this book, and I can't wait to continue onto the Advanced Level certification with the second book.

Please note this is essentially the same book as the the "Final Cut Pro HD" book. The DVD is the same and so are the exercises. I had a chance to compare both and noticed only only one minor detailed (a detail is now circled on a screen shot) and, of course, there could be some that I missed. Even so, the back cover of the HD book acknowledges...

"This book was previously published under the title "Apple Pro Training Series: Final Cut Pro 4. If you previously purchased this book, there is no need to purchase this revision: All the project files and exercises in the previous edition can be used with Final Cut Pro HD."

Bottom-Line: Newbie or Pro? It doesn't matter! This is a GREAT book to own if you use FCP.

I'm only through Lesson 4 of the book and thus far it's been extremely simple to follow. The pages fly by real fast without boring you. The DVD that came with it includes clips you can practice on. I love this book and I feel that upon completing it, I'll be able to use FCP4 with skill. I also purchased the Advanced volume of this series and can't wait to get started on that. The Apple Pro Training Series books are definitely the only books to buy to learn Apple software. If they only wrote books on After Effects and Photoshop, I'd be in heaven.

I teach DV in a high school. When FCP4 came out I really needed to brush up on the changes. Many people thought this book would do the trick and boy were they right.

If you need a self paced course to walk you through the in's and out's of the FCP4 then this book is for you.

I recommend it to all of my students who want to go the extra mile.

Great book - I can not wait for the FCP4 Advanced book to be released

Until I purchased this book, I had owned FCP4 for six months. I had learned my way around the software well enough. I felt comfortable, but not necessarily proficient. In order to improve my editing time, I went ahead and ordered this book, also with the intent of getting my Apple certification, as this is the same text used in their classes. Normally, I am the type that I will skip sections that discuss things that I'm certain I know, but I went ahead and followed every step in the book.
What a difference! Each chapter takes approximately 30-45 minutes to complete, using video clips on the included DVD. After 3 days and 10 chapters, I was hardling touching my trackball. Not only had I learned quite a few shortcuts, but the book helped me understand the editing process itself a little better. I feel that this text is very well laid out, easy to understand, and can be done relatively quickly with a sharp learning curve. I highly recommend this to anyone new to Final Cut Pro. With a little time and effort, you'll be flying around the video editing, the soundtrack design and the Live Type titling package. And, after you have completed this book, go ahead and buy Apple Pro Training Series: Advanced Editing and Finishing Techniques in Final Cut Pro 4, you will not be disappointed.

When looking for a book on FCP, I just read the various reviews. Even though some others looked quite interesting, I chose this one and am glad I did. I wanted a specific type of instruction because I have some expert-level chops and ignorance at the same time. I'm new to video but am a professional recording engineer by trade. I'm fully conversant on the Mac and non-linear audio programs so I needed a book that got both completely simple (for video concepts new to me) and also provided some depth at the same time.

The type of instruction in this book is having the user execute step-by-step, starting at the most basic level but progressing into more complex stuff fairly quick.

I forget the wording but there's some Chinese proverb........something like
You tell me, I hear
You show me, I see
I do, I learn

That's me and this book suits my learning style nicely. I'm sure there are other books as good but I doubt that any are better, hard to see how you could go wrong with this one.

This book won't teach you how to be a good editor. I assume that takes lots of practice and is beyond the scope of this or any book but it will most definitely teach you how to use FCP. I've been reading the book even without the program in front of me and it's covered so well I don't even have to. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn FCP.

I have never used FCP4 before, and in fact, I am completely new to the Mac platform.

I am about 2 chapters into this book, and feel like I could easily edit a small sized movie, if I needed to.

If you were to take a class, they would be teaching exactly what is in this book, so why not do it yourself? Take the time each night to go over an hour session, and in about 2 weeks you will be ready to be certified.

The only negative I have is that the DVD-ROM included with the book had some damaged work files on it. So I had to send it back, and hope they send me a new one that works. That was a bummer.