Final Cut Express 4 Editing Workshop [Paperback]

Tom Wolsky (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 15, 2008 | ISBN-10: 0240810775 | ISBN-13: 978-0240810775 | Edition: 1

Go beyond the mechanics of Final Cut Express 4--learn how to edit with it! More than a button-pushing manual--this workshop give you firsthand experience with the art and technique of editing. You develop a working knowledge with nineteen tutorials that cover each and every essential, including:
* setting up your system and understanding the interface
* ingesting and organizing your material including drive-based and disc-based camera data
* slicing, dicing, and organizing clips
* editing to build and trim a sequence of shots
* adding transitions
* using sound to refine your edit
* titling with FCE and Photoshop
* animating images to create engaging scenes
* adding special effects filters
* compositing to enhance your projects
* outputting your material
The companion DVD contains project media, demo software, and free plug-ins for your use.


* Nineteen tutorial lessons give you firsthand experience with the art and technique of editing
* Covers every essential activity from system set-up to outputting your material
* The companion DVD contains project media files, demo software and plug-ins

Editorial Reviews

Review

About the previous edition:
"you can only learn to edit by editing. That is what sets this book apart from others..." --Michael Horton, president, Los Angeles Final Cut Pro User Group
"Tom helps you make the leap from iMovie to Final Cut Express, and teaches you the art of editing."--Jim Heid, Avondale Media

About the Author

Tom Wolsky is an honors graduate of the London School of Film Technique with nearly 40 years of professional experience spanning film, tape, and digital production. Tom operates an independent studio, South Coast Productions. He also teaches for Apple Computer and for the Digital Media Academy and serves as a forum leader on creativecow.net

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Focal Press; 1 edition (May 15, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0240810775
• ISBN-13: 978-0240810775
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #76,030 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #6 in Books > Computers & Technology > Apple > Final Cut
  • #66 in Books > Computers & Technology > Digital Music

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars FCE4 revealed, January 17, 2009

By 

Joanna Ibell (New Zealand) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Final Cut Express 4 Editing Workshop (Paperback)

After buying the FCE programme I started wading through the 1000 plus pages on-screen manual and got bog downed very quickly.

I was up to about page 350 and fortunately Tom Wolsky's book turned up in the mail before I threw a tantrum and gave up. Problem with learning from the on-screen instructions is that it's not in a useful order so can't practice what they're saying as haven't learnt how to set up and capture yet.

Mr Wolsky's book is in a sensible order. It starts with setting up the computer, then to capture then to edit etc. The DVD that goes with the book, gives you the material you need to practice on until brave enough to start on your own.

Another problem with the manual is it doesn't give you value comments. By that I mean it tells you what the button or command does but usually no information on when to use it or why. Mr Wolsky does. This is so useful at the beginning stage when you need everything set up right or it probably wont work and he's got comments and recommendations on why and when to use a particular setting.

I'd been swapping my short-film-making efforts over from iMovies, so I was quite impatient at having to go right back and start again to get even vaguely close to where I had been. So did appreciate how well-ordered the book was to get me back editing again as soon as possible. Then I carried on with the next few chapters on sound and applied that to my efforts.

I got bogged down for quite some time with the Boris Calligraphy chapter and came to a grinding halt. Then concluded I didn't need to know about twirling, swirling, multi-coloured, rotating text and got moving again. All I needed was 3D text that fades in and out and could ignore the rest. I don't think this is an indictment on the book, more that I was looking for what I needed to get my film effort progressing.

So only got up to chapter 12 so far. Once I've applied that to my movie I shall read the rest and see what I need. And that really is a strength of the book that I can do that - rather than having to absorb it all at once.

Also appreciated that the examples given to practice on in the DVD don't look like professional takes. It's got useful stuff that relates to me - like cutting out the footage where you knocked the camera and how to cope with sound that's jumping all over the place.

Mr Wolsky's book has told me everything I need to get started. (Although I still havent figured why I cant use the editing keyboard commands like F10, F12 etc for insert and over-write, must have missed that bit somewhere.)

I should also point out that now Ive some idea what I'm doing I can now use and appreciate the on-screen manual, but as a complete beginner it was soul-destroying.

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great way to learn FCE, July 9, 2008

By 

Marc R. Bravo "weedmeat" (New Orleans, LA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Final Cut Express 4 Editing Workshop (Paperback)

I plowed through the book in order of the lessons & I can't imagine having learned FCE any other way. While learning, I produced 2 new TV commercials for a local New Orleans gardening & gift shop, & I'm ready for more. The veteran video guys at the tv stations couldn't believe we did the spots in the attic of the store on an iMac. I couldn't have done them in iMovie--and I couldn't have done them so quickly without this book.

21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tom's the best, July 16, 2008

By 

Ronald E. Carlson (Naperville, IL USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Final Cut Express 4 Editing Workshop (Paperback)

I've gotten each new edition of this book, even though there aren't a huge number of changes. It's just nice to see the updates he's made and draw from his rich knowledge and experience with Final Cut Pro/Final Cut Express/iMovie, and the new nuances he throws in with each edition.

You can already learn some key points to keep in mind about the latest version of FCE in the Excerpt from the front of the book available for viewing on Amazon. It's worth the price of the book right there!

Tom works so hard providing lucid and practical support on the Apple Support page for FCE, and no doubt uses that to enhance the next edition. You're going to be getting his free advice sooner or later, so you might as well throw a few bucks his way and give him some credit for all that you will benefit from his wisdom. I've bought several of the other FCE books over the years, but Tom is the best.

Ron Carlson