iPhoto 6: The Missing Manual (Missing Manual)

The Macintosh iLife 06

Mac OS X Tiger: Missing Manual

Apple Training Series : iLife 06 (Apple Training Series)

iPod & iTunes: The Missing Manual, Fourth Edition

Other Operating Systems

iMovie 6 & IDVD : The Missing Manual (Missing Manual)

Format: Paperback
Author: David Pogue
ReleaseDate: 01 May, 2006
Publisher: O'Reilly Media
Rating:

Worthy Update in the iMovie Series
Physically, the book is solid. I want to concentrate mostly on the differences between this edition (iMovie 6) and the previous (iMove HD (5)). As other reviewers mentioned, the pages are no longer the glossy kind, but they are thick and smooth, and I can't see any loss in detail in the graphics or screen shots. In addition, since the pages are no longer glossy, they don't reflect light when the book is sitting on my desk. So, it is easier to read. For my money, this is an improvement. The book is about half a dozen pages lighter, but physically it is slightly thicker, so you know the pages still feel solid not thin or flimsy. One final note, the front cover did separate from the binding after reading it for a couple days. It did not detach in the back. This doesn't bother me, but I wanted to mention it.

That's probably way too much on the physical. What's inside? Pogue and Sadun (who writes the iDVD chapters) have thoroughly updated the book. I'm impressed with the small changes through out to make the entire book better. The book is slightly shorter, as I mentioned, but it is the same font type and size. Obviously, some material has been deleted. Pogue spends less time reviewing the older camcorder technologies. Also a few minor features that have disappeared from iMovie are gone too, like importing songs into your movies directly from CD. Some sections are streamlined, like how the trash (and disk space usage) works. This topic, in particular, used be in various places, but the new book represents a consolidation of that material. In the iDVD section, they've eliminated the section on how to customize iDVD and also the themes catalog. The latter was a disappointment to me. I like having a reference all in one place where I can review the various iDVD themes. I also liked the short advice associated with each theme, regarding when to use the theme and when not to (sometimes that advice was "never").

There is, of course, plenty of new material. All the new features of iMovie 6 are included: a new section on time-lapse recording and importing of footage, the graphic iMovie themes, GarageBand integration and movie scoring, audio "fx" (like reverb, etcetera), new sections on volume adjustments and locking audio clips to video (though these are not new features). Of course, creating video for the iPod is covered. This is new, since the video iPod is new within the last year. He has a small section on video sharing sites ("youtube" anyone?). And, the new "Share" menu is covered, although little on that menu is new, it's new that it is now in a menu. Finally the appendix on Troubleshooting has been reorganized and updated, although, understandably, much of the advice is the same.

Other new features are covered like full-sized previews or the ability to open mutltiple projects simultaneously, but these are covered as part of existing sections and not new sections. In addition to missing the catalog of iDVD themes, there is no catalog of iMovie themes either. Admittedly, there are only five of them, but why not have these catalogs when the book includes a catalog of the iMovie titles, effects, transitions, and even a list of the new audio effects.

I found a few typos, but they are minor. No mistakes in the actual coverage of the material and that's a big positive for this book.

Overall, a great improvement on the series. I probably should disclose that this is the fourth book in the iMovie Missing Manual series that I bought (five if you count that I bought two of the last edition), so I guess I would have liked this book regardless . . . I found each new edition to be extremely helpful in getting me up to speed on Apple's latest version of iMovie and iDVD. This one is no different. It's a safe buy. .

Good book on both movie making and iMovie
There is a great deal of referencing, cross-referencing, and nothing is smoothly laid out. iMovie has tools that help your movie look professional, but the iMovie help files are very tedious to go through. This book is another story, as it is very well laid out with clear instructions and illustrations. It is very long, but since these applications are powerful, it would be expected that any clear explanation of them is going to require some space.
What is particularly good about this book is that the author doesn't assume you are a professional video author, and he spends part one of the book helping you learn how to shoot videos and shares tricks that will make you good at it. Part 2 is dedicated to iMovie, and shares not just how to use the application, but the little extras that will make your video special - transitions, effects, titles, captions, and even how to work with sound in your movie. Part 3, on finding your audience, was another unexpected treat. There the author shows you how to move between iMovie and Quicktime, and how to post your movie to your phone, to the web, and even to the iPod. Part 4 of the book is on iDVD. I particularly liked the chapter on iDVD secrets, where the author shows how you can use AppleScript to customize iDVD itself.
I also own Pogue's other book on iMovie 5, and even though the chapters in this book have almost exactly the same titles as the book on the previous version, it is still a worthwhile upgrade for several reasons. Chances are, if you upgraded from iMovie 5 to iMovie 6, you did so to take advantage of the several upgrades to the new product such as the five new Apple-designed iMovie "Themes". Designed for ease of use, the user can easily drop movie clips or photos into these preset themes to give the project a professional look with each theme including full motion-graphic bumpers and transitions. There is also cinematic real-time titling and real-time video effects newly included in iMovie 6. Also, the audio in iMovie 6 has been greatly improved via greatly enhanced effects such as equalization and reverb. All of these new features are covered in the book. Finally this book covers the connection between iMovie and the iPod. There are also a host of subtle changes in the way that iMovie 6 works versus iMovie 5, and for that reason alone it is worth the price of the book to save yourself time and head scratching over problems. The only bad thing I can say is that the print quality of the book is not nearly as good as the previous edition. It is not good to scrimp on such things, especially if you are writing about multimedia and you need clear and aesthetically pleasing illustrations. I notice Amazon does not show the table of contents, so I do that here:
Part 1: CAPTURING DV FOOTAGE
1. The DV Camcorder
2. Turning Home Video into Pro Video
3. Special Event Filming
Part 2: EDITING IN IMOVIE
4. Camcorder Meets Mac
5. Building the Movie
6. Transitions and Effects
7. Titles, Captions, and Credits
8. Narration, Music, and Sound
9. Still Pictures and QuickTime Movies
10. Professional Editing Techniques
Part 3: FINDING YOUR AUDIENCE
11. Back to the Camcorder
12. From iMovie to QuickTime
13. Movies on the Web, iPod, and the Phone
14. QuickTime Player
Part 4: iDVD6
15. From iMovie to iDVD
16. iDVD Projects by Hand
17. Designing iDVD Themes
18. iDVD Secrets
Part 5: Appendixes
A. iMovie 6: Menu by Menu
B. Troubleshooting
C. Master Keyboard Shortcut List
.

Good Book, Cheap Paper
People should know, though, that the nice coated stock (ie, glossy paper) of the previous "full color" edition has been replaced by cheaper, uncoated paper. As with previous installments in this series, the book is very informative and amusingly written. As a result the photographs are grainier, duller, and less sharp; there is more "bleed-through" of text from the next page; and the overall look is significantly less bright. I'm sure somebody saved a bundle because of this, but you're paying 5 bucks more for this dubious privilege.