iMovie 2: The Missing Manual

By David Pogue

This entertaining guide not only takes readers through every step of iMovie video production--from choosing and using a digital camcorder to burning the finished work onto CDs--but also covers in... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0596001045
• ISBN13: 9780596001049
• Release Date: March 2001
• Publisher: Pogue Press/ O'Reilly
• Length: 420 Pages
• Weight: 1.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 1.0" x 7.0"

Customer Reviews

Informative, Clearly Organized and Useful

I bought three books to teach myself how to produce DVDs. The Erica Sadun book is for advanced users and was not helpful to me. The Bob LeVitus "Little iDVD Book" is probably one of the most poorly organized and edited books I've ever come across on any subject.Pogue's "Missing Manual", on the other hand, is comprehensive, clear and well-organized. I've produced about half a dozen DVDs since reading (and re-reading) Pogue's book and it clearly made a huge difference in what I was able to construct using iDVD.In my opinion, this is the only book you need to read to learn how to produce movies using iDVD.Beyond teaching readers to work with iDVD, Pogue also offers loads of helpful suggestions about editing in general. This book is outstanding.

Solved a problem in my first reading

I love this book! I was ready to give up trying to use iMovie because of a small glitch that was incurring. After browsing thru the book the very first time I opened it, I came across the trouble I was having with iMovie. Mr. Pogue directed me to the correct settings and I am now having a great time editing my DV movies.I would highly recommend this book to anyone attempting to use iMovie. There is so much more to this program than Apple addresses in the help file. Mr. Pogue's writing is concise but not out of reach for the average Mac user.I have many books by Mr. Pogue and I would recommend any of them if you are stumped and need a well explained how-to-manuel.

Too much to say in 1,000 words!

If there was an Academy Award for manuals, this is the winner. Part One, of this 402 page manual, is worth the total cost of the book. David Pogue creates an excitement for Digital Video Photography, and iMovie 2 editing on a Macintosh. The manual is very well written, and is full of illustrations, hints, tips and techniques. It reads like a great novel, you do not want to put it down. Apple's iMovie 2 is a very powerful Digital Video Editing program, but lacks in documentation like Don Rickles lacks tack. If you have spent a $1,000 for a Digital Video Camera, and have a PowerMac computer with iMove 2, your next step to using them is, "iMovie, The manual that should have been in the box." I was editing video clips, and creating DVD (disc) movies after just a few hours with this book.

Just What I Needed

Thank you, David Pogue!I've been working with iMovie and iMovie2 for nearly a year, learning pretty much by trial and error, and by haunting discussion forums. The built-in help files were barely adequate, and another iMovie2 book added nothing. But here comes David Pogue with all the tips, tricks, how-to's and--even better: completely understandable explanations.For example, I was having a hard time with the quality of my QuickTime exports from iMovie2. This book gave me exactly what I was looking for. I finally even understand what codecs are!From the artistic through the technical aspects of iMovie-making, Pogue has done it again. Wonderful!

The iMovie manual Apple couldn't have written

The saying, "All I asked for was the time, and he built me a clock," probably best describes the scope of this book. This isn't simply a comprehensive manual covering the how-to of using iMovie and troubleshooting; it includes mini-courses on selecting a digital camcorder, home video filming, special-events filming, professional editing techniques, using QuickTime, making movie CDs, putting your movies on the web, and detailed instructions on how to create your own graphics using popular programs such as PhotoShop, AppleWorks, PhotoDeluxe or GraphicConverter. It even includes a chapter on Final Cut Pro, Premiere and EditDV for anyone thinking about eventually going in that direction. Almost all of the questions raised in the iMovie forums at the Apple, MacWorld, MacAddict and other web sites are answered in this book. I glanced through a couple other iMovie books at the bookstore, and, altho they cost about the same, they fall far short of "The Missing Manual" in terms of scope, tips, workaround hints, and an enjoyable writing style. I would strongly recommend this book to anyone thinking about getting into digital video editing, as well as for anyone who already has all the hardware and uses iMovie. I would place myself in the "prosumer" category, have been using iMovie2 for five months, and thought I knew it all. Well, I didn't. But, after reading The Missing Manual, NOW I know it all. Buy it!