iMovie 2 Solutions: Tips, Tricks, and Special Effects [Paperback]

Erica Sadun (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 3, 2002 | ISBN-10: 0782140882 | ISBN-13: 978-0782140880

Create Thousand-Dollar Video Effects with iMovie and QuickTime Pro

You can do more with iMovie than you might think. You don't have to trade up to Final Cut Pro or Adobe Premiere to build stylish and exciting videos. iMovie 2 Solutions brings high-end visual effects to the iMovie community with easy-to-follow projects, step-by-step instructions, and companion sample videos. Whether you're a hobbyist, a budding producer, or a dedicated video prosumer, iMovie 2 Solutions will help you create unique and breathtaking videos on a budget.
Inside, noted author Erica Sadun shows you the ins and outs of iMovie video tricks, including:
* Adding logos and watermarks to your movies
* Producing exciting picture-in-picture effects
* Creating larger and more dynamic title sequences
* Combining animated elements with your iMovie footage
* Making slide shows with great special effects, including camera pans
* Designing interactive QuickTime skins that surround your iMovie videos
* Converting your PowerPoint presentations into iMovie form
* Authoring captions and subtitles for your movies
* And more!

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Erica Sadun proves that you can do more with iMovie than you think." -- James Alguire ComputorEdge Magazine

"This is an outstanding book for those who want to move beyond the iMovie's easy, built-in effects." -- From a review in MyMac.com, written by David Weeks, December 16, 2002

"[Author Erica Sadun] has taken a well-designed piece of multimedia software to another technical level. It feels like iMovie 2.5." -- Tony Reveaux, Film/Tape World

From the Publisher

iMovie fundamentals can be fairly intuitive. Our goal with iMovie 2 Solutions is to go well beyond those fundamentals, focusing instead of the kinds of tips, tricks, and special effects that come with time and experience.

This book combines a full-color, heavily illustrated design with author Erica Sadun's direct and engaging step-by-step instructions. Her personable approach opens up Apple's amazingly powerful software, making potentially complex techniques accessible. We hope you enjoy the results.

--Associate Publisher, Graphics, Sybex, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Sybex (May 3, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0782140882
• ISBN-13: 978-0782140880
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,704,620 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #41 in Books > Computers & Technology > Apple > iMovie + iDVD

More About the Author

Erica Sadun is the bestselling author, coauthor, and contributor to three dozen books on programming, digital media, Web design, and other topics- Sadun holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Georgia Tech's renowned Graphics, Visualization, and Usability Center.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Chris Seibold MyMac.com Book Review, October 24, 2002

By 

Tim E Robertson "Publisher MyMac" (Battle Creek, Mi United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: iMovie 2 Solutions: Tips, Tricks, and Special Effects (Paperback)

Say you make a fairly great movie with the worlds greatest program: iMovie. Still, you think your newly birthed video masterpiece lacks something. Perhaps it's a unique blend or a splashy title. At the moment of export you might stop and wonder: "Should I upgrade to Final Cut Pro?" I can answer that question for you, just follow the following formula: (Money you plan to earn from this movie)+(Money you plan to earn with next 10 movies)/(cost of Final Cut Pro)=Justification. If "justification" is greater than 1, I say buy the program. If not it is far wiser, fiscally speaking, to stick with iMovie.

Does that mean you're stuck? Have you reached the absolute limits of iMovie? Are you forever wondering in a morass of lifeless titling and yearnings for a few special effects? Heck no, if you're willing to mess around with a couple other programs for a bit. Of course saying you're not stuck and showing you how to unstick yourself are two different things. So, you'll have to trust me, you're not stuck. That tidbit should be worth a nickel. To actually get unstuck you'll have to pony up $40.00 for iMovie 2 Solutions . With this handy offering by Erica Sadun you'll be pleasantly surprised at just how much you can get out of iMovie if don't mind mixing in a few other apps.

iMovie 2 Solutions is not really so much about iMovie, it's more about extending iMovie with the careful use of a few programs. That is not to say iMovie 2 Solutions doesn't have iMovie specific info, it does in spades (want to change the default "My Great Movie Title"? See page 4). Most of the iMovie specific tips are redundant or of little value. The value lies in combining iMovie with programs such as QuicktimePro, Adobe Photoshop Elements (nee Photoshop LE, I suspect if you have a copy of Photoshop LE most of the tricks will still work) and a few other assorted programs. It might seem strange to buy a book ostensibly about iMovie that focuses so heavily on other programs. Trust me again when I say it's money well spent as long as you realize iMovie 2 Solutions is in no way an iMovie tutorial or reference but indispensable if you want to trick out your movies to the maximum level of Jurassic Parkness..

By now the interested reader will begin wondering: "Just what kind of stuff will this book show me how to do?" I can't list all the tricks iMovie 2 Solutions covers (that's a lie, I could actually list all the tricks, but this is a review not an index) but I can point out a few that seemed particularly cool to me. Ones I particularly include: the "Big Titles" trick, See through Big Title trick, Movie in Movie trick and customized QuickTime skin playback tip. and, my uber fave, use iMovie to work on a silver screen sized movie instead of the default TV sized screen (a tip worth $999 clams for those who posses nice cameras but not Final Cut Pro). The aforementioned tips just scratch the surface of iMovie 2 Solutions there is plenty more movie making goodness contained within the wraparound softcover.

So we have established the book contains useful tips and/or tricks. Hence it's time to get down to style and presentation. After all, the world's most clever tip isn't worth much if it is presented in an obscure incomprehensible format. This is not a problem with iMovie 2 Solutions. The tips are presented in easy to follow steps illustrated with small thumbnail sized photos. The average number of steps seems to be about ten but range up to a still manageable twenty actions to get the desired effect. The writing is fairly comprehensible providing you know a bit about iMovie a little about Photoshop and a smidgen of QuicktimePro. If you don't know much about those programs I strongly suggest you read the book from the very beginning, it makes the going much easier.

iMovie 2 Solutions also comes with a super nifty CD that contains every program the author asks you to use to augment iMovie and a visual tutorial of each chapter. If you're on a 56k connection the 40-dollar price tag is worth the disc alone. If you're a Mac user from way back the disc is reminiscent of the floppies that came with the earliest Mac Bibles. By that I mean the disc is chock full of nifty utilities and such. You can have plenty of fun with the stuff on the disc without bothering to read the book.

Summation time: This book shows you plenty of stuff you never thought you could with iMovie at a reasonable price and gives you the tools to follow through.

MacMice Rating: 5 out of 5 *Power iMovie Users MacMice Rating: 3.5 out of 5 *Average iMovie Users<P

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I decided not to upgrade to FCP because of this book..., July 3, 2002

By 

Lawrence Jacobsen "LJguitar" (Cheyenne, WY USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: iMovie 2 Solutions: Tips, Tricks, and Special Effects (Paperback)

I have always been a 'multiple programs to finish a project' kind of guy. I had already been doing that with iMovie 2...to a degree.

Well, turn up the temperature! Erica's book/CD combination puts thousand dollar solutions in your hands for under a hundred.

I use iMovie 2 and Quick Time Pro regularly, and after reading and digging through the CD, I had barely tapped the potential.

You probably already own the programs you need, but if you don't many of them are included on the CD (with the book).

You get:
Movies (over 100)
Utility programs...
File converters...
Templates, templates, templates, templates...
Instructions on creating your own templates...
Step by step demos for you to use...

This book/CD are essential to tap the full potential of a really powerful set of inexpensive (if not free) programs.

L a r r y \o/ J

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Don't expect an iMovie how to, February 23, 2003

By 

Guy B. Serle "Mac Afficiado" (Alexandria, Virginia USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: iMovie 2 Solutions: Tips, Tricks, and Special Effects (Paperback)

As always, begin at the beginning. If you're looking for an iMovie manual, there are plenty of other authors to choose from. That is NOT what this book is about. Ms Sadun has written a book that borders on heresy. How to take a free program and make a movie that does the types of things only previously available for programs costing hundreds (and thousands) of dollars. What do you need? QuickTime Pro (30 bucks), and Adobe Photoshop Elements (Less than 80 bucks if you shop carefully). Almost any effect you can think of is covered by this book. It really is that good. Granted, doing the same thing with higher end (and much more expensive) video editing software is less complicated and probably takes less time, but the point of the exercize is not always the destination, but the journey (How Zen!). Let's face it, if you're a video professional, you already have the latest from Avid, or Apple, or something like that. If you're editing your son's birthday or a friends wedding, this book is a must have!