How to Use Digital Video (How to Use) [Paperback]

Dave Johnson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 21, 2000 | Series: How to Use.

So you've purchased a digital camcorder, hooked it up to your PC and now you're in business. You can download Jr.'s birthday party to your hard drive and show it to every unsuspecting friend that drops by. But what you really want to do is learn how to edit and manipulate your footage to create attractive videos. How to Use Digital Video teaches you the basic techniques, such as setting up a good shot, configuring your PC, re-arranging scenes, trimming out unnecessary footage, adding transitions, creating special effects, and even adding a soundtrack. Author Dave Johnson uses several real-world projects to show you how to implement the lessons he teaches. By the end of the book, you'll be able to create a polished home video, film for a Web page, a streaming video that could be used in a PowerPoint presentation, and a montage of still photos within a video.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

So you've purchased a digital camcorder, hooked it up to your PC and now you're in business. You can download Jr.'s birthday party to your hard drive and show it to every unsuspecting friend that drops by. But what you really want to do is learn how to edit and manipulate your footage to create attractive videos. How to Use Digital Video teaches you the basic techniques, such as setting up a good shot, configuring your PC, re-arranging scenes, trimming out unnecessary footage, adding transitions, creating special effects, and even adding a soundtrack. Author Dave Johnson uses several real-world projects to show you how to implement the lessons he teaches. By the end of the book, you'll be able to create a polished home video, film for a Web page, a streaming video that could be used in a PowerPoint presentation, and a montage of still photos within a video.

About the Author

Dave Johnson is the managing editor of Handheld Computing Magazine and Mobile Computer Editor for Planet IT. He has been writing about computer since his first book, The Desktop Studio: Multimedia with the Amiga, was published in 1990. He is now the author of 12 books, including Digital Photography Answer (Osborne).

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Sams (July 21, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0672319233
• ISBN-13: 978-0672319235
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 8.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,175,965 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I am a writer and photographer living near Seattle. In my spare time I play drums, scuba dive, and, along with the rest of my family, take car of my three cats, two dogs, and a slew of fish.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Shows what you can do with a camcorder and how to do it, January 24, 2001

By 

David M. Ng (Palo Alto, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: How to Use Digital Video (How to Use) (Paperback)

I'm thinking of getting a digital camcorder and I wanted to see what I would be able to do with it. From that perspective, the book is a success. First it discusses the equipment: the basics of using a camcorder, and setting up your computer for video. The book then goes through tasks of basic editing, titles (including effects such as rolling), audio, and working with still images (I learned video tools can also be used for making slide shows). Finally, now that you have your video, the book covers producing videotape, publishing to the Web or CD-ROM, and adding video to PowerPoint presentations. The book is organized into chapters that cover various tasks such as adding titles or making credits roll. The book also has four projects that serve to tie the tasks together. The book comes with a CD-ROM that includes trial versions of the software discussed in the book (including video editors MGI VideoWave and Adobe Premiere). While the book is targeted towards readers who already have a camcorder, for my use the book would have been stronger if it discussed purchasing a camcorder. And, since I don't yet have a camcorder, it would have been nice if the CD-ROM included sample videos so I could try the various techniques described in the book. Overall, the book showed me what I could do with a camcorder, and that tools such as VideoWave make the process fairly straightforward.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Winner by a Landslide!, November 8, 2000

By 

Craig E. Weil, M.D. (Marietta, GA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How to Use Digital Video (How to Use) (Paperback)

If you have ever struggled with making a digital video, struggle no more. This book is an easy to read, easy to follow method for making a digital video that includes both Adobe Premiere and MGI Videowave programs on an enclosed CD. Both programs are demonstrated throughout the book, with information on how each video maker is used and their weak or strong points. The only thing better than this book might be your own tutor or instruction by CD showing actual examples of video constrction. I found the book to be better written, with more concise description than any other text I have evaluated.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good introduction to video production and editing, September 20, 2000

By 

Chen Chen (Amherst, MA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How to Use Digital Video (How to Use) (Paperback)

This is a book for beginners of digital video production and editing. With hundreds of pictures illustrating the "how-to", the book gives you a much rewarding hands-on experience. In a learner-freindly environment, readers are led step-by-step into a fun digital audio-vidual world, and yet it allows readers to create professional-looking video with their own imagination. The information keeps you current with the most popular programs of digital programs -- Macromedia Premiere and MGI VideoWave III. The skills you learn will go far beyond these two software applications -- they can be easily adapted to other programs. The only drawback seems that the explanation is too dearth for those who enjoy detailed verbal instruction.