The Macintosh iLife 05: An Interactive Guide to iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, and GarageBand [Paperback]

Jim Heid (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0321335376 | ISBN-13: 978-0321335371 | Publication Date: April 17, 2005 | Edition: 1

The first and best book about iLife is back—and better than ever!  Since its debut two years ago, Apple’s iLife suite has provided users with a way to organize, produce, and share their digital media, whether they’re editing and emailing digital photos, burning home movies to DVD, or creating a CD of original songs.Apple's newest revision of this software— iLife' 05—includes new versions of iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, and GarageBand. and all four programs—along with iTunes—work together better than ever.

Here to explain how it all works is  The Macintosh iLife '05, a completely revised and expanded edition of Jim Heid's bestselling book/DVD on Apple's revolutionary digital media studio.

This lavishly illustrated handbook and a two-hour instructional DVD combine to create the ideal iLife learning experience. Its innovative, full-color design puts everything you need to know about iLife and digital media at your fingertips. Each two-page spread is a self-contained tutorial or set of tips on a specific subject, all written in the friendly writing style that has made Jim Heid one of the most admired writers and instructors in the Mac community. Along the way, you'll find plenty of screenshots, diagrams, and easy-to-follow instructions to guide you through the steps.You'll also find informationt shows you how to do more with your Mac—Jim Heid covers the latest iPod models and accessories, offers tips on using microphones to create better sounds for your iMovie and GarageBand creations, and provides useful advice on how to convert your old tapes and albums to a digital format.

The companion DVD has been completely updated for iLife '05, and contains two hours of video instruction on all five iLife applications. Watch over Jim Heid's shoulder as he creates iLife projects ranging from photo books to home movies (complete with sound effects and transitions)  to original GarageBand compositions. The DVD also includes software, GarageBand loops, and more. Soon you'll find yourself eager to create compelling iLife projects of your own. Inspiration guaranteed.

Product Details

• Paperback: 360 pages
• Publisher: Peachpit Press; 1 edition (April 17, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0321335376
• ISBN-13: 978-0321335371
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 8.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,299,295 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #21 in Books > Computers & Technology > Apple > iLife
  • #21 in Books > Computers & Technology > Apple > iMovie + iDVD
  • #22 in Books > Computers & Technology > Apple > iPhoto

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Apple should bundle this book with its iLife suite. Plain and simple., July 14, 2005

By 

jbzoller (Manitowoc, WI) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Macintosh iLife 05: An Interactive Guide to iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, and GarageBand (Paperback)

From now on, as long as Apple continues to make improvements and enhancements to its suite of applications known as iLife, I will continue to get an updated version of Jim Heid's book. Due to some error in mailing, I never actually got my Jim Heid book for the iLife '04 suite. I muddled through using another book and a site on the Web. When this new version was published, I grabbed one of the first copies and kept my fingers crossed. I was delighted when it got here without delay or problem!

At my home, we are an iLife family. I only have one copy of the suite, but it suits us well in our two-Mac home because while I like using the cutting edge version of iMovie and Garageband, I have little need or use for iPhoto. My wife, on the other hand, loves and uses iPhoto extensively. Of course, iTunes is a free application, but the other iLife apps are not free. It is therefore nice that Apple makes it easy to install single applications from the iLife suite, and so we have each updated our Macs accordingly.

We both, however, share Jim Heid's book whenever we have a question about our respective iLife applications. Even without the accompanying DVD, this book is great. It is wonderfully laid out, so that a person need not read through an entire section to learn how to do something or even to learn of a new feature compared to the last version of a particular iLife app. It is also a book that you could sit down with on the couch and read through WITHOUT having your Mac right in front of you. The content is presented in such a way that you can learn from it and then easily recall what you read and saw pictured in the book the next time that you are in front of your Mac.

So it should not be a surprise that I think this book is as great as the first iLife book I reviewed in Spring of last year. The accompanying DVD is the icing on the cake here. As mentioned of the DVD accompanying the first book, Jim does a superb job of anticipating the iLife users' questions as they follow along with his guided instructions and his explanations of the various features. It is almost as good as having a live person right there along your side, and I'm confident that with this book, you will have less of a need to contact your usual "go-to" Mac expert.

Lastly, to address the review below that says that this (and other books of its type) are a waste of money, I feel it necessary to say that, as a Mac expert and leader of a Mac User Group, I find his comments both short-sighted and arrogant. Sure you could get along without buying any book, but the point is that if you own a program, you probably want to get the most out of it that you can, and finding the best resource to help you do that is a very important and worthwhile thing. I happen to think that this book is an excellent one to help you do that.

...and no, I don't say that about every book I review.

...and no, I don't get any money from Jim Heid or owe him anything other than my appreciation for creating a good resource of which my family makes good use.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I had great use of this book/CD, October 2, 2005

By 

Sitara (Norway) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Macintosh iLife 05: An Interactive Guide to iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, and GarageBand (Paperback)

When I bought the book, I was a totally novice in working with Mac. Being a PC user for 20 years, the transition to Mac was a challenge. So I bought this book, hoping it could simplify the process. I started with the educational CD, and just by watching the demos, I learned so much, that the rest was a piece of cake. Getting started with the demos, I haven't had any need for reading the book yet, I guess I'll look into it when I need to go more into things.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent when combined with (included) DVD, July 11, 2005

By 

ray bab (Rochester, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Macintosh iLife 05: An Interactive Guide to iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, and GarageBand (Paperback)

I heartily reccommend the book especially when you supplement it with the DVD that comes with it. Between the book and the DVD demonstrations you can develop a sense of what you can do with each program and (very importantly) how far you don't want to go (at least not yet.)
What a relief after sorting through a number of books on Photoshop Elements 3 (PS-3) that porport to be useable for Mac when in fact direction is almost exclusively Windows. iPhoto 5 will make you glad you are back in Mac country and will probably be able to most of your editing right there, without going on to PS-3. (The exception is layers, for which you have to go into PSE-3) but only really advanced photographers use this. And who knows, at this rate, iLife '06 might have layers, clone stamp etc as well. Apple is on a good roll here with iPhoto, as indicated by the fact that the editing possible is so much more powerful than in iLife '04.