iMovie3 &iDVD: The Missing Manual [Paperback]

David Pogue (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0596005075 | ISBN-13: 978-0596005078 | Publication Date: June 2003 | Edition: Third Edition

Apple's free iMovie software made history by tearing down the barriers to pro-quality filmmaking. In version 3, iMovie offers powerful audio enhancements, slick new photo effects, and integration with iTunes and iPhoto-- but it still comes without a single page of printed instructions.

In this funny, authoritative, updated guide, award-winning author David Pogue provides a complete course in Macintosh filmmaking. The book includes:

• Essentials of film technique. Using iMovie without a grounding in film technique is like getting a map before you've learned to drive. This book offers a friendly guide to making even home movies look professional.
• Editing basics. Part 2 of this book bursts with clever workarounds, hidden features, and editing tricks from the Hollywood film world.
• Finding an audience. You can export your finished masterpiece back to the tape for high-quality TV playback-- or save it as a QuickTime movie that you can post on a Web page, email to friends, or burn as a Video CD.
• Mastering DVDs. If your Mac has a SuperDrive, you can distribute your movies at much higher quality than VHS tapes or QuickTime movies-- by creating your own Hollywood-style DVDs. Four all-new chapters cover iDVD 3 in detail, including dozens of undocumented secrets for extending the program's design tools.

Whether you plan to make the next Blair Witch Project or just better home movies, iMovie 3 & iDVD: The Missing Manual lets you marry the stunning quality of digital video with the power of your imagination.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

David Pogue, Yale '85, is the personal-technology columnist for the New York Times. With nearly 3 million books in print, he is also one of the world's bestselling how-to authors, having written or co-written seven books in the "for Dummies" series (including Macs, Magic, Opera, and Classical Music), along with several computer-humor books and a technothriller, "Hard Drive" (a New York Times "notable book of the year"). Pogue is also the creator and primary author of the Missing Manual series of complete, funny computer books, a joint venture with O'Reilly & Associates. Titles in the series include Mac OS X, Windows XP, iPod, Microsoft Office, iPhoto, Dreamweaver, iMovie 2, and many others. His Web page is www.davidpogue.com, and his email address is [e-mail].

Product Details

• Paperback: 456 pages
• Publisher: Pogue Press; Third Edition edition (June 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0596005075
• ISBN-13: 978-0596005078
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,087,668 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

David Pogue is the personal-technology columnist for the New York Times. Each week, he contributes a print column, an online column and an online video. His daily blog, "Pogue's Posts," is the Times's most popular blog. David is also an Emmy award-winning tech correspondent for CBS News and a frequent guest on NPR's "Morning Edition." His trademark comic tech videos appear each Thursday morning on CNBC. With over 3 million books in print, David is one of the world's bestselling how-to authors. He launched his own series of complete, funny computer books called the Missing Manual series, which now includes 60 titles. David graduated summa cum laude from Yale in 1985, with distinction in Music, and he spent ten years conducting and arranging Broadway musicals in New York. He's been profiled on both "48 Hours" and "60 Minutes."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A MUST HAVE for I-Movie and I-DVD users, May 15, 2004

By 

"psycchic1" (Grand Rapids, MI United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: iMovie3 &iDVD: The Missing Manual (Paperback)

I bought this book as an afterthought when I started using I-Movie. At first, like most of us, I thought--hey, I can use I-movie intuitively without a manual...but after my Imovie 3.0 crashed and corrupted the movie I'd been working on for 100+ hours, I was eternally grateful to have it nearby. This manual is wonderfully organized, very easy-to-understand, and answers virtually every question you could have about I-Movie and I-DVD. It walks you through everything from how to shoot footage that is eye-appealing...to editing it to a work-of-art in I-movie...to converting it to a Quicktime video and/or burning it to DVD. It is honestly one of the best manuals I've ever used for anything---clear, concise, yet comprehensive. Thanksfully, you don't need to read the whole book in order to "get started" with I-movie; rather, it's a great tool to pick up on an "as needed" basis while you're editing. This book is definitely worth the small investment. It truly is "the missing manual" for I-movie. O'Reilley has done it again...great job!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pretty much essential., February 3, 2004

By 

M J Heilbron Jr. "Dr. Mo" (Long Beach, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: iMovie3 &iDVD: The Missing Manual (Paperback)

Yup. This book really made using iMovie for the first time a walk in the park.
Wiht absolutely no prior experience in this sort of stuff (the closest I've come is Photoshop Elements), I was able to, on the first try, make a music video of my son's first christmas.
I was then able to convert an old videotape from the late 70's into a gleaming, groovy DVD.
The book is well laid out, easy to navigate and above all, usable.
It's a five-star manual, no doubt about it.

5.0 out of 5 stars Created a 30+ minute slideshow using this book, November 24, 2007

By 

Michael Johnson (Livonia, MI United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: iMovie3 &iDVD: The Missing Manual (Paperback)

This book served as a guide to go from not knowing anything about iMovie to being able to create a large slideshow project. I ordered another guide first and couldn't get off square one. This guide allowed me from starting at no knowledge to understanding well enough to get my job done. The iMovie icon sat on my desktop for years before this book opened it's utility. A small and worthwhile investment to get the most out of this software. It has even given me the bug to get a camcorder and move from photography to videography.