Customer Reviews

Macworld DVD Studio Pro Bible (With DVD-ROM)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

Anybody could have written this book by working their way through the menus. They went out of their way to make this book thick, but there's nothing in it that an experienced Mac user couldn't figure out in an hour or two.
What they DON'T tell you:
-How to write scripts.
-How to use "non-simple" hi-lites and overlays.
-how to do anything except make a pretty straight-forward chapter by chapter DVD
I use the Flash Bible and the Final Cut Pro Bible all the time. They're great, and really go in depth to teach you how to do the complex things professionals typically do with these tools. However, for the DVD Studio Pro Bible, these authors only describe the menus, and then fill up the rest of the book with useless interviews and commentary/promotions from third parties.
Big disappointment. I'd recommend another book, but I blew my money on this one and can't afford another, and feel guilty about selling a useless book to someone else.
My only thought is that DVD Studio Pro 1.5 is so new, that the authors didn't have time to do anything with the software except read the manual.

I trust the Macworld Brand, based off the Photoshop and Illustrator Bibles that are insightful, indepth, and cover all angles with the software. They are written by dedicated users.

This books appears to be written by weekenders with the sole credit of authoring one DVD. They are not heavies or pioneers. They just wrote about the software, and rely too heavily on the existing DVD SP manual.

This book is difficult and frustrating. The subtitling section would be great if they didn't jump forward and backward as they do. Plus they never distinguish accurately between 30fps and 29.97 with the quicktime movie for subtitling. This book left me questioning all its answers because of stupid oversights such as this.

The scripting section is readable and well thought out, and explains scripting for newbies.

I didn't get much from the sidebar folks. It was more "you can't do this..." in tone than "hey! Here's the workaround!" Also they parrot the same line that you can replicate a DVD-R from DVD Studio Pro, but don't go into specifics.

Perhaps I expected something inspirational and informative like the Hillman Curtis Flash book, or any of the Macworld Bible series. This is just poor technical writing filled with half thoughts and assumptions. Far from tried and true experience that would warrant the name "bible."

So that's my summation. Borrow, don't buy.

I got this book a couple of days before I recieved my G4 with a SuperDrive and began to study how to burn DVDs. Reading merely the first chapters on how the tutorial works and how you make a project using DVD Studio Pro will be enough to get you started. Within a couple of days after getting my computer I burned a full functioning DVD disc with several video tracks, a couple of complex menus, bonuses and a multitude of chapters...and I had never been exposed to DVD Studio Pro previously.

The people slagging this book in their reviews obviously thought this 'Bible' would burn the DVDs for them. You will have to do a great deal of problem solving if you are trying to create complex DVD projects, and refering back to the Apple documentation helps fill in areas this book doesn't cover- for example my first DVD kept bombing while recording saing 'BitRate too high' , the Bible never solves such a problem, but the Apple documentation explains that a maximum bit rate cannot be exceeded and the video must be rerendered at lesser quality. Also, the DVD previewer doesn't synch the audio and video perfectly, but not to worry because when burning the DVD all tracks synch up perfectly. Perhaps this book's tutorial was eroneous, but I never use tutorials if I can produce my own project and learn through actual application, and the information provided was enough to get me through the project and understand most all abilities and limitations of the DVD Studio Pro program.

The most apparent limitation of DVD Studio Pro is the ability to make motion menus with highlighted text for menu buttons, instead you can only overlay a color block onto of text presented in the motion video. Also, you cannot loop to a specific marker in a motion menu. I still can't figure out how to put markers on the specific frame of video for chapters, but only every 15 video frames. Hopefully Apple will produce a far more professional version of this program soon.

My recommendations for a person wanting to use DVD Stuido Pro are these- get Final Cut Pro, Photoshop, and a couple monitors. You can put DVD Studio pro on one monitor, Final Cut on another and place Photoshop underneath the two applications. With these three programs and the two monitors you will never be confused to where your pieces are, which program you are using, and you can do all the bits of a complex DVD in a production line without having to close and open programs in order to organize your work space.

Sure, the authors of this book didn't make a perfect Bible, but what can you expect from a book jumping quickly into an extremely complex program and video format. DVDs aren't VHS tapes- you can't just push REC and enjoy the program you are taping. With a bit of thought and persistance this book can help you burn DVDs using DVD Studio Pro's full capabilities.

This latest volume in MacWorld's series of Bibles is indeed a true revelation. Apple's DVD Studio Pro 1.x software brings professional level DVD authoring to the Mac desktop in a moderately-priced application. Yet, like so many first generation products, it lacks extensive documentation.

DVD Studio Pro, unlike so many computer "how to" books which merely are rewrites of the developers' manuals, goes beyond Apple's skimpy documentation and provides true hands-on guidance to the use of the program.

The authors employ extensive visuals of menus and concise explanations of their functions. Perhaps the most valuable contribution is the step-by-step guide to the creation of DVD Menus in Adobe Photoshop. Photoshop is necessary for the creation of menus and overlays and the Apple manual provides insufficient guidance. The DVD Studio Pro Bible fills that big hole left by Apple.

A companion DVD/ROM contains several try-out applications (not really very useful) as well as very-useful tutorials, real-world scenarios and a pdf of the book complete with color illustrations.

DVD Studio Pro is essential reading for anyone beginning to use this program and will also provide tips to intermediate and advanced users.

Ned Soltz

While this book does contain some accurate information...it is full of inaccurate information about real life use of DVD Studio Pro. There are even some pieces of tutorials that will cause a disc authored in the manner described to be non-functional.

This is absolutely the worst technical book I have ever purchased in my entire life. I can't believe that the project manager for DVD Studio Pro from Apple is quoted on the front cover.

It appears that this was a back door approach by the author to try to get a record deal for his band. If you don't believe it, check out the included DVD disc. (which at some points must be ejected from the drive and restarted because the author forgot to program it to return to the menu)

Loaded with potential, but lacking in sufficient follow through. The cover looks nice. The table of contents stirs a little excitement. But hope deferred makes the heart sick. Don't expect any details; expect generalities.

With the word "Bible" in its title, this book is over ambitious and all too general. The book is confused in its objective, lacking in critical substance, and therefore is not successful.

The book will seem at times like an advertising gimmick as it spends most of its time speaking in generalities about other software applications. Of course DVDSP is an authoring environment for which one must create assets, but the book even goes so far as entertaining discussions of software that relates in no way to developing assets for use in DVDSP or even the DVD specification at that.

In the end, the book fails for lack of detailed follow through. My recommendation is that you give yourself to fully understanding the DVD specification as you work intuitively with the DVDSP interface. If you understand the specification, mastery of the software will naturally follow.

A remarkable reference for understanding the DVD specification is Jim Taylor's DVD Demystified. And if you will take the 45 minutes to do the tutorial that comes with DVD Studio Pro, you will know more than you would from reading this book.

One of the arts of creativity is being precisely aware of your limitations and creating work that pushes the envelope of those limations without reflecting them (unless, of course, the subject of your art is the limitation).

If you want to author for DVD, get to know the spec. The generalities to be found in this book will only frustrate you and send the true author to better references.

Get to know the spec.

Happy Authoring!

At last a book dealing with the ins and outs of dvd studio pro . This book has it all for those who want to produce excellent dvds . It explains every aspect of the software without falling into the trap of becoming boring and over technical while you learn to produce and understand every aspect of dvd creation and authoring . I would advise anyone using dvd studio pro to have a copy of this at hand even if you're and experienced user of dsp it contains information and examples which are easy to follow easy to understand and easy to put into practice . The dvd which comes with the book is also excellent .All my dvds will now have motion menus and better navigation thanks to the tips and tricks in dsp bible .In short it rocks !

don't let the title fool you; this is not a bible and macworld should be ashamed of itself to put its name on this book.

in the right hands, apple's dvd studio pro is a very powerful program, and has the potential for apple to have great presence and respect in the professional dvd authoring world (much like what final cut pro has accomplished for editing). unfortunately, the authors of the book are not the "right hands."

the documentation included with the program by apple is slim, but does show the user, one way or another, most of what one needs to know to use dvdsp to implement the various features of the dvd spec. though not complete, the manual does not give any wrong information and is not verbose enough to be misleading. it also does not attempt to teach one the craft of dvd authoring; it only aids in the use of the program.

dvdsp is actually a relatively easy program; it is dvd authoring in general that requires a good deal of knowledge (a great source of which is "dvd authoring & production" by ralph lebarge) and can be difficult and challenging at times. the authors of the "bible" attempt to teach the reader how to master dvd authoring by using dvd studio pro. they mean well, but not only fall very short of that goal and show how little they know, but actually make many crucial errors as well as being very misleading.

the book is poorly organized and unfocused. it should have been divided into two parts - one for explaining in great detail what all of the buttons, pulldown menus, and other components/functions of dvdsp are and what they do; and the second part for information about the dvd spec, authoring ettiquette, etc., and how to use dvdsp to implement the those items. instead, the apple and dvd communities get a book that, in fact, explains less than apple's lean documentation in an extremely verbose manner, riddled with humor that contains more stupidity than wit. the sub-articles scattered throughout the book are supposed to shed some light on different aspects of dvd production from experts in the field, but less than a handful of them are either useful or are even written by (or about) people related to dvd production!

the book comes with a sample dvd of what can be accomplished with dvd studio pro, as well as including some tutorial files. any multimedia professional looking at the dvd would think that dvd studio pro is a terrible program, written for hobbyists and hacks alike. the included dvd is absolutely the worst dvd-authoring job i have ever seen anywhere (we won't comment on the quality of the content)! it is confusing and sloppy; the text and graphics are poor, unclear, and sloppily implemented; the navigation does not make any sense (or is not working properly - probably both). it makes a bad book even worse, and clearly shows how little authors really know about dvd authoring and dvd studio pro.

the book's greatest fault is that it pulls apple, macworld, and dvd studio pro down to the authors' level - which damages the mac community as well as the post production and multimedia industries' image of dvd studio pro. the program is far from perfect, but like any software it needs time to mature. with the help of input from professional users, it can only improve. hopefully,with the help of professional users, apple, and macworld, this book will go out of print, with existing copies being recalled and destroyed before any more harm is done. - bw

This book was missing pages 65-112. And had duplicate pages for 113-160!!

I spent several days deciding whether or not to purchase this book because some of the reviewers on this site hammered it pretty hard. I bought it anyway and I'm glad I did. This is a great book. Anytime a new program like DVD Studio Pro appears, many users need help. I know I sure did. After 16 pages in this book I burned my 1st DVD. I have gone on to read valuable information about making menus, files, and how photoshop works with DVDSP. This book is a great guide for learning. I can't believe anyone would give it such a poor review. It's well worth the money.