DVD Studio Pro 3 for Mac OS X: Visual QuickPro Guide (Paperback)

by Martin Sitter (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

If you thought you were producing fairly sophisticated DVDs before, wait 'till you see what you can do with Apple's just-released DVD Studio Pro 3! With its stunning QuickTime-based movie transitions (Alpha Transitions) and a brand-new Graphic View that lets you interact with your project in a storyboard environment, DVD Studio Pro 3 promises to bring a whole new level of sophistication to your DVD projects. This task-based guide ensures that you start taking advantage of it immediately! In these pages, you¿ll discover how to build on your existing DVD authoring skills to master version 3's many powerful new features--including more than 30 additional transition styles, superb HD-to-MPEG-2 encoding, and more. Veteran author Martin Sitter breaks down each DVD Studio Pro task--from setting chapter markers to adding subtitles and creating scripts--into concise step-by-step instructions accompanied by informative screen shots. By the end of the volume, you'll be juggling multiple audio tracks, creating custom transitions, creating smart buttons, and more in the quest of DVD perfection!

About the Author

Martin Sitter is a veteran audio producer, multimedia artist, and author specializing in track-based video and audio applications. Martin is the author of LiveStage Professional 3 for Macintosh and Windows: Visual QuickStart Guide, DVD Studio Pro 2 for Macintosh: Visual QuickPro Guide, and Apple Pro Training Series: Logic 6. When not writing or producing DVD-Video, Martin teaches DVD Studio Pro and Logic Platinum as an Apple Certified Trainer.

Product Details

• Paperback: 696 pages
• Publisher: Peachpit Press (November 15, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0321267893
• ISBN-13: 978-0321267894
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6.9 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #783,927 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #16 in	Books > Computers & Internet > Digital Photography & Video > DVD Studio
  #90 in	Books > Computers & Internet > Apple > Desktop Publishing

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Took me from "somewhat willing" to "very able" in two days!, May 19, 2005

By	Lisa Bevis - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Thank you Martin Sitter! I am a filmmaker/photographer who needed to move into the realm of making DVDs. You took me from A to Z in an informative, easy to understand way. I really liked how you started at the beginning of what the differences are between DVDs and CDs and especially what countries use what format (all those film festival markets!) Words like MPEG-2 video streams, encoding, and assets roll off my tongue now and it all makes sense!
You have opened up a new world for me and I am grateful!
- Lisa Bevis, Los Angeles, CA

11 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Mix of Theory and Instructions, November 26, 2004

By	John Matlock "Gunny" (Winnemucca, NV) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

DVD Studio Pro was born as DVDirector, a $5,400 software package from a company named Astarte. Seeing a very good thing, Apple bought Astarte in April of 2000 and turned it into DVD Studio Pro for a price of $1,000. The first release was - well it was a first release. In competition with this software was DVDMaestro, a quite advanced product, but also a quite advanced $25,000.

Apple mixed all this technology together with the golden third release at only $499. All of a sudden professional quality DVD authoring was available to virtually anyone.

This book starts with a discussion on what hardware you need to work with DVD Studio Pro 3. DVD files are huge, often measured in gigabytes. You'll need processing power, memory, and disk space. Starting from this simple view, it continues in a step by step basis through every aspect of producing a DVD. The writing style is clear and concise, with just the right amount of theory mixed in with practical instruction. Considered an intermediate level book, this is not exactly a beginners 'this is how you turn it on' book.

You'll note that this is also a very reasonably priced book.

4.0 out of 5 stars A Great Help for Beginners ..., August 15, 2008

By	Tim Warneka "Leadership Expert, Keynote Speak... (Cleveland, OH USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Some reviewers have suggested that this is not a beginner's book. It's not ... if you are looking for an A-B-C approach. But as a beginner DVD maker who wants to learn more about what's going on "under the hood," this book is great!

Thanks, Martin! :-)