Rating: 
Summary: Solved a problem in my first reading
Review: 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.
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Summary: Too much to say in 1,000 words!
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: just like he says....
Review: it is as simple as that:
the missing manual -right.
but sure the best to find !
well, if you think you know your mac and how it works, believe me, this manual lets you know - you do not !
this book is great and lets you finally use imovie2 with all there is to it.
go get it.
Rating: 
Summary: It's OK
Review: It's OK. It has about the same amount of material as the "iMovie 2 for Macintosh Visual Quickstart Guide" - The missing manual is fatter because it contains additional stories and things that a reader might find amusing, but that are not particular relevant to the topic. The section on movie making basics is very good. For an expanded view see "The Five C's of Cinematography". I thought I would find more information in this book since it is fatter than in the VQG, but it ended up that they are about even in content.
Rating: 
Summary: If you have or plan to get iMovie 2, buy it.
Review: One reason I say "buy it" is not necessarily because it's fabulous. It IS very good. It DOES deliver what I expected. It is solid, complete and good value for the money. Despite the fact that it constantly refers to the program "iMovie," it IS a manual for iMovie 2, thoroughly revised for iMovie 2, and not just a retread of the earlier iMovie book. But the main reason I say "buy it" is that the time when you'll get the most value from this book is when you're just starting to use iMovie 2. Or, even better, BEFORE you've started to use iMovie 2, maybe even before you've bought your Mac. Don't dither. Don't delay. Don't pinch pennies. By all means, feel angry at Apple for not including any manual with iMovie 2. I know I do. But don't cut off your nose to spite your face. Just go ahead and buy the book, already. Buy it first, fume about the twenty bucks later. If you wait, you'll stumble your way through iMovie on your own. You CAN get by with iMovie's built-in help, but that's what it is--getting by. Buy the book afterwards and it will just be confirming guesses you've already made. Buy it first and it will save you time and trouble. Pogue does a very skillful job of using sidebars and inline "tips" so that the needs of both beginning and proficient users are addressed in a single unified narrative. Part 2 of the book--about 200 pages is the "missing manual" per se. The rest of the book covers topics such as recording DV on a camcorder, readying it for Web publication, and summaries of more advanced editing tools (Final Cut, Premiere, EditDV). I found this material to be excellent. I found the section on using Quicktime Pro particularly helpful. Traditional manuals act as if the software they document is the whole world. This "manual" is better. In fact, Pogue is at his best when he goes a little beyond what a normal manual would cover. For example, there are very sensible couple of pages on what you reasonably can and can't expect if you try running iMovie on an older Mac. There's an excellent discussion of just what iMovie does at different screen resolutions. So, why didn't I give it five stars? Well, it's mostly a matter of taste. I feel that Pogue has too much of the breezy, uncritical, if-you-can't-say-something-nice-don't-say-anything-at-all magazine style. Everything is just sooooo great. "It's fascinating, important, and useful to note that iMovie never actually REMOVES the audio from a video clip." Are all THREE adjectives really necessary? Useful, yes; important, OK. But "fascinating?" Is it necessary to laud the little first-time demo clip as "gloriously filmed" with a "catchy little guitar lick" and "children dancing in exquisite lighting conditions?" You can sure tell that "Pogue Press" has a different editorial style than "O'Reilly." And, for the record, I prefer the O'Reilly style. I honestly don't think you'll find a better guide to iMovie than this one. But if there were such a thing as an O'Reilly Nutshell Guide to iMovie--with an animal woodcut on the cover--I'd reconsider.
Rating:
Summary: Just What I Needed
Review: 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!
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Summary: The iMovie manual Apple couldn't have written
Review: 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!
Rating:
Summary: Just tell me what I need to know
Review: This book is great for anyone just getting into the world of video. Besides all the tricks/tip/how-tos for iMovie, I found this book an excellent resource about film, editing, camcorders, movie production, etc. I have not even started on the iMovie part yet as I am so excited by all the other information I am learning about making movies. As Sgt Friday used to say, "Just the facts..."
Rating:
Summary: A book with depth
Review: This IMovie2 book goes into more depth than others. It not only provides the how-to of iMovie production, but it also goes into some of the theoritical points of digital editing. I also liked the references to related websites. This is not a Dummies type of book. It requires a little more reading, so it would make a great companion volume to a Dummies iMovie2.
Rating:
Summary: An outstanding reference for novice movie makers
Review: This is book is, in a word, phenomenal. David Pogue covers not just iMovie, but basic filming and editing technique. He also discusses technical items like choosing a camcorder and the necessary accessories for different types of video productions. The chapters about the different effects, titles, and transitions are great, as the author not only describes what each one each and how it functions, but also what situations might merit using the different elements. Even better, he has lots of little tips and tricks that can make your movies much more interesting. One of the best that I found (and have since used) is that you can actualy apply one title "on top" of another one. This is great for having one title overlap into another, or having mutliple titles appear at once in different locations on the screen. There are also a number of great usage tips from real-world users who contributed their stories to the book. These give great real-world examples of things you can do with iMovie that you might never have considered (for example, creating "time lapse" movies). The chapters on filming and editing technique, while short, are absolutely great for improving your movies from both the pre- and post-production sides. I used many of his filming tips when on a vacation last summer, and I think it made a tremendous improvement in the quality of the video I took. I'm still no Spielberg, but at least my home movies now look a fair bit more polished and "professional". If you use iMovie at all, do yourself a huge favor and get this book. With everything it offers, it's worth its price many times over.
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