Customer Reviews

Apple Pro Training Series: Final Cut Pro 6

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

While the book does a pretty good job of explaining how to do things in FCP, I found some of the explanations to be a little bit lengthy and tedious... too much text and not enough visual examples in some cases, although to be fair, the introductory chapters, particularly with the full-page diagrams of the user interface parts are fantastic. The BIG BIG BIG problem with this book is that sometimes the DVD does not always work and you will have a problem loading files. Not sure what the problem is with this. I have over 20 students using the book and about 2/3 of them have had some problem with it. I myself could not open one of the video clips on my MacBook Pro.

I was frustrated with the FCP tutorials who seemed written by non-English speaking nerds and badly translated, and with the irritating habit of refer you to a different page every two lines...this book is writen by somebody who can actually teach, in plain English. I found out that by following every easy step you can actually start to edit your project pretty soon, thanks to the excellent footage and good tutorials. Totally recomended for anybody who want to learn how to edit electronically and cannot attend one of these expensive courses. First rate!

This book actually teaches you efficient work flows. All lessons designed in a really smart way, so your progress is well guided. Makes you learn keyboard shortcuts. The footage was fun to work with (not the usual snowboarders and surfers). Highly recommended.

This is a Great Book. I am a First time User learning final Cut Pro 6. I give the book 5 stars due to the ease of teaching and the detailed methods and shortcuts. A must buy is keyboard shortcuts for final cut pro 6. This book will take you threw chapters step by step. You will have trouble using dvd only if you version FCP is below, 6.0.4. You must update first before use of dvd. If you have any trouble email me for further details. This book has images that co-exist with dvd. You will love this book and learn FCP like a pro. You will learn software according to how many hours you put in. This book is a full view of FCP, This is a must buy.

There is no better book for beginning editors. I recommend it to all those trying to learn the basics (and some moderately advanced workflow things) of Final Cut Pro 6.

After struggling for a few weeks trying to learn Final Cut Pro from the 4 volume set of books that came with the software, I was almost ready to call it quits and dump $900(USD) into one of the 3 day Final Cut Pro certification courses. After learning that this is the book that is used with those courses, and having heard Great things about Peach Pit Press, and after reading the reviews here, I decided to get this book and give it a go.

First let me say that I am not a typical 'learn from the books' kind of learner. I usually (especially with software) just hack around and figure things out. Final Cut is pretty complicated, and I need to know how to operate it pretty quickly (changing computers and software for editing, Win->Mac). I have learned most of what I need to get going on some projects after just going through the first 4 lessons! I am not going to stop there, I plan to finish this book, and probably look into additional volumes from this series for things like Soundtrack Pro and Motion.

Sure the Sea World footage and especially the music is cheesy, but you are encouraged to do additional work at the end of each lesson, to reinforce what you were just taught. This is where it gets fun! I found myself taking some music from my collection and replacing the awful Sea World song, and cutting footage to that instead.

I did not experience any problem with any of the projects opening (I took a peek).

If you are wanting to get to know this software, this is a great book to start with!

When it comes to learn how to use an editing software, the most important thing you need is... footages! And that's where the DVD included in the book comes handy. For each lesson there is a project to load in FCP. The project lessons and the book together make the learning experience fun and, most importantly, very efficient.
This book is the one you need if you are very serious about editing.
A last word: I believe you need a little software editing experience prior to start this book otherwise it will be a little hard and discouraging.

Apple Pro Training Series is a terrific book for the beginner or just someone like me trying to learn a different editing system. It comes complete with a DVD that holds the media and data you need to follow the book step-by-step fairly easily. Forget about buying it if you don't currently have Final Cut installed on your computer. The step-by step instructions would be useless. Another great plus is the 45 days you get to use an online version of the book. Very handy when you're on the road and want to leave the book at home and still practice. My only critique would be that sometimes it's a little slower than I'd like and lacks a chapter on more advanced editing. It could also use a removable card that has all the keyboard shortcuts needed. This book was a great help to me and well-worth the price.

Initially I was studying all 4 of the FCP Studio 2 user manuels thinking if I just read thru all of them that I would become a FCP master, however if you've seen the manuels, they are no walk in the park. There had to be an easier way, and this guide was it. I got it and jumped right into it learning more within a couple days of studying the guide than I did reading the manuels. This guide flat out shows you how to use the editing system, so that you will only need the user manuels to go back and reference specific things that you may need to in the future after you already become comfortable. I recommend this training series guide as it teaches you more than you would think it would, it's hands-on making it fun and it keeps you wanting to learn more. Get it asap and you'll be editing like a pro in no time.

Concise and to the point. Lessons well laid out, will give you a good working knowledge of FCP.

Would give this book a 5 except that I am unable to do the last 4 chapters -- titles, motio and filters -- as some of the media refuses to reconnect due to inaccurate start/end points on the clips.

So, the 2/3 of the book I WAS able to do were excellent.