Customer Reviews

iMovie HD and iDVD 5 for Mac OS X

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Jeff Carlson's Visual Quickstart Guides for iMovie are the best software manuals I've ever used. I've been dipping into the Visual Quickstart Guides for a number of programs for 5 years and I find them easy to read, direct, and clear as a bell. It's a great series and for people who are slow learners like me, they're a pleasure. I also teach iMovie and this is the book I recommend to my students.

So Here I am once again everyone. Hello, this is Chris, and I first started my review project with my video camera, a JVC GDR-270 purchased at Best buy for $299 and iMovie HD, The missing manual, and started to record everything I saw. Using the camera was not difficult but iMovie HD was at first. When opening the application, seemed almost intuitive. But any assisted guidance sure helps in the production process. Having said this, I used the book as I did my work following the guided pictures. I imported my video and began my personal version of a Hollywood production studio (Watch it Warner or Paramount, I think I found my niche,) and edited my movie for final output. During the process, there are tools in iMovie HD that will help make your movie look a bit more professional. What is not there is someone to help in which the book did well. Using the iMovie HD help file can be tedious, and can be very time consuming going back and forth, but with this book in one hand and a mouse in the other, I simply glided through the pages very easily. From start to finish, it was easily explained. I had no problems finding out how to utilize the video from my DV cam. I could explain the process of using iMovie HD but that is a whole other review, my review is on the book and I am glad I did. iMovie HD, the missing manual was a well organized, color photo book with easy to use guides and tips. I am glad I had the opportunity to review it because without it, I would still be importing my video 30 days later. Following the book was easy. But it is lengthy, over 400 detailed pages to follow. But with enough patience, not only will you be able to use iMovie hd on the fly, you will be on your way to utilizing more professional applications like Final Cut express an Final Cut Pro.

This is a vast improvement over previous versions. I can't wait to get six when it comes out. I volunteer at a local TV studio and we use iMovie to edit all of our productions. We are just learning Final Cut Pro, but iMovie is just as good.