Final Cut Pro 2 Editing Workshop [Paperback]

Tom Wolsky (Author)

Book Description

Series: DV Expert Series | Publication Date: February 2003

"Final Cut Pro 2" has been extensively documented by Apple with a 1400 page manual. "Final Cut Pro 2 Editing Workshop" is designed to complement this software documentation with a series of tutorials that provide practical lessons in using the application. Entry level editors and Final Cut users can learn editing principles and how to realize them with Final Cut Pro2 by working through demonstration projects. More than teaching about the kno bs and buttons in FCP, it teaches readers how to edit using FCP; with the same tips and principles given in film schools. The companion CD-ROM contains all of the necessary materials, including raw footage and sequences the reader needs to gain a working knowledge of how to use FCP.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Apple's Final Cut Pro has quickly become a dominant force in the field of digital video editing, but newcomers are forced to learn about things other than editing on the road to becoming good editors. Because the craft is so closely related to the technology, Final Cut Pro 2 Editing Workshop, an outstanding book written by an experienced editor, offers information on not just the technique of using the program but on the hardware on which it should run.

The book opens with a discussion of what you really need in terms of hardware and explains why some drives are better than others, how much disk space you'll need to edit a 30-second commercial versus a 90-minute feature, speakers, monitors, and more. Only after the hardware is squared away and Final Cut Pro properly installed does it discuss the application itself.

The book covers everything from setting up the application to adding clips; editing; and export and compression of finished projects. There is plenty here to help you learn about the mechanics of the program itself, but the book really shines when Wolsky moves away from "push-this-button" mode and into areas of editing technique and language. It is here where we learn that different techniques and styles are used for different kinds of films, and this introduction to the language of film is worth the cost of the book.

There are few things as valuable as a book written by an experienced, working professional. Tom Wolsky is such a professional, and his book reflects his years of work and study as a producer, editor, and teacher. This is an invaluable book not just for people who want to master Final Cut, but also for anyone interested in learning to edit film and video with real proficiency. --Mike Caputo

About the Author

An honour graduate of the London School of Film Technique, Tom worked in film production and editing for many years for the BBC and for ABC News among others. For the past nine years he has been teaching video at Mendocino High School, a California State model technology school and running his own project production studio called South Coast Productions. He has been using Final Cut Pro since it was released by Apple in 1999, and teaching it last year both to high school students and to adults. He lives in Elk, CA.

Product Details

• Paperback: 496 pages
• Publisher: Publishers Group West (February 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1578200903
• ISBN-13: 978-1578200900
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.5 x 0.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,832,205 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best of the bunch, November 4, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Final Cut Pro 2 Editing Workshop (Paperback)

This is the best of the recent books to come out, from the well-know Guide at 2-Pop.com. The author not only knows the program, but you are always getting tips and hints on how to edit, not just what button does what. He tells you why you might want to do something and when it would be appropriate too. His style is very accessable, he's easy to understand even when it's pretty complicated. Comes with a really good tutorial CD, it's like going to film school.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A precise tool, not a blunt instrument, December 21, 2001

By 

Thayer Walker (The Sea Ranch, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Final Cut Pro 2 Editing Workshop (Paperback)

Reading many, if not most, software instruction books, is akin to being clubbed by a thousand hammers...overload, overload. They are constructed as reference books, but one has to fight through tons on incidental material to figure out how to use the program.

Tom Wolsky's Final Cut Pro 2 book is, instead, a precise tool, which gets you cutting in no time. Wolsky's credits list him as an editor and a teacher, and his book make it clear he is outstanding in both regards.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best of the Crop of FCP Instructional Books, December 3, 2001

By 

K. Tanaka (Midwest USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Final Cut Pro 2 Editing Workshop (Paperback)

At first glance you might think that this book is the same as the other FCP click-step books for the manual-adverse. You'd be wrong. Tom has crafted an excellent instructional work that richly supplements, rather than reiterates, Apple's enormous, exhaustive FCP 2 manual. Certainly he has featured many pages of clear dance-step instruction throughout the book. But, more noteworthy, Tom also incorporates a great deal of contextual insight into why certain features might be useful to the reader and draws upon his professional experience to give readers insights into the professional post-production process.

This book quickly became the mainstay of my FCP editing library. The only feature that would improve upon it is a spiral binding enabling it to lie flat while open!