Whether you consider yourself a pro or a hobbyist, you have to admit that Apple's iMovie 08 and iDVD 08 are amazing right out of the box. Unfortunately, the box doesn't include much of a user's guide, so learning about these applications is another matter. iMovie 08 & iDVD: The Missing Manual gets you up to speed on all of the themes, motion graphics, titles, effects -- everything that lets you turn raw digital footage into highly creative video projects. You get crystal-clear and jargon-free explanations of all the iMovie 08 and iDVD 08 features, including the new video library, how to view transitions, titles, and sound in real time as you add them, and ways to publish your creations directly to YouTube. Renowned author David Pogue -- tech columnist for the New York Times -- uses an objective lens to scrutinize every step of process, including how to:

• Work on multiple iMovie projects at once and drag & drop clips among them

• Output your creation to a blog, its own web page, or as a video podcast with iWeb

• Use "Magic iMovie" to import your video and make a movie for you

• Integrate with other iLife programs to use songs, photos, and an original sound track

• And a whole lot more

From choosing and using a digital camcorder to burning the finished work onto DVDs, posting it online, or creating versions for iPod and iPhone, iMovie 08 & iDVD: The Missing Manual zooms right in on the details in a concise and understandable manner. The book also provides a firm grounding in basic film technique so that the quality of your video won't rely entirely on magic.

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 24 Ratings

Just Switched from a PC to a Mac - 2009-01-25
Reviewer Rating:
One reviewer suggested this was a good book for the beginner, and he is correct. However, if you don't want to waste your time with curse-filled hours of trial-and-error, get this book. I've used a PC for 25 years and made the switch to an iMac this year, most frustrating at times, because Microsoft and Apple don't use the same words to describe common procedures. The Mac came with iMovies and no manual for it. Mac help is pathetic, and days of sifting through a Mac users forum is no fun. I'm converting old analog VHS and 8mm tapes to digital using a Canopus ADVC-55 converter, and wanted to do some still photo splicing, voice over narration, add music soundtrack from a vast iTunes library, then burn to DVD, and was incredibly frustrated until I got this book. Great tool, life is much better, and the wife doesn't have to listen to the bitching anymore. iMovies is a nice app, but for those of us with a mind organized by MS Wndows, it's not totally "intuitive" - one of the words I hate most when talking with computer geeks. Get the book. If you're an expert, have fun with your trial-and-error. I've got better things to do with my time than flop on the deck like a fish.

Finally trying to learn iMovie on my Macbook - 2009-05-08
Reviewer Rating:
I just received the book "iMovie '08 & iDVD" that I ordered here on Amazon from CollegeBooksDirect who sells here on Amazon. I went with their cheaper price and they were on Amazon where I like to buy most of my online purchases of books, merchandise, products, etc. I know how to edit videos and burn DVDs under windows - I record TV, edit out commercials, and burn to DVD or make DivX videos, or I do home videos and edit those - but now I have to learn how to do all that on a Mac. I have a Macbook running Tiger and it has iMovie '08. I know that Leopard and iMovie '09 (with iLife '09) are currently available right now at the time that I am writing this, but I don't plan on upgrading until Snow Leopard is out and probably iMovie '10 may be coming out by then. So, I have iMovie '08 here and I have to learn it. The first thing that puzzled me was how to do transitions and how to do titles or running text on the screen. How do you do that in iMovie. Agh! So I stopped peeking at what iMovie does on my Macbook. I was putting off learning iMovie since I still had the comfort of my windows pc-tv video system to edit with. But I wanted to learn iMovie. So I got this book. Now about transitions and titles. There's a whole chapter on transitions in this book. Yea! And there's also another whole chapter on titles etc. in this book. Double Yea! So I'm done. Well, not quite, but that's all I needed to know for now. I know, I know. There's more to learn. But I didn't turn to a book to learn how to edit video with Nerovision on my windows machines. But with a Mac, maybe it's because it's a different world, I needed a book. There's online tutorial stuff out on the net to search for, but having a book particularly these "missing manual" books by David Pogue are a great crutch to lean on and learn from when going over to the Mac side of the computer world. I also have the "Mac OS X Tiger: Missing Manual" book which I found useful in that other book's chapter(s) for learning more about the unixy side of the Mac. These books are cool to flip through for if you want more in-depth how-to information because you really don't get any printed manuals with the Macbook. Thanks for reading!

Any library strong in video production and computer filmmaking needs this - 2009-07-17
Reviewer Rating:
David Pogue's IMOVIE '08 & IDVD covers the basics of film technique and Mac film potentials, from editing basics to locating an audience on the Web, exporting files, distributing movies on DVDs, and more. Any library strong in video production and computer filmmaking needs this.

IMovie tips - 2009-01-31
Reviewer Rating:
It sure saves time to quickly check the index for the topic and find great detail on how to to things. I had the basics down, but the in depth treatment of all the features of the software make it much easier to use.

Excellent resource. - 2008-12-21
Reviewer Rating:
Excellent book... contents has already been very helpful.
A "must have" for all iMovie and iDVD project creators.

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