iMovie 3 for Mac OS X (Visual QuickStart Guide)

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Summary: iMovie 3 for Mac OS X (Visual QuickStart Guide)
Review: Focusing on the video components of Apple's iLife applications (see Computer Media, LJ 8/03), these three guides cover moviemaking more thoroughly than general iLife overviews, as well as the newer iMovie v.3 (available as a free download, with new Macs, or as part of the iLife CD purchase); libraries that own older titles should update. QuickStart spruces up an older edition with material on new features in v.3 (e.g., improved audio editing) and working with stills; there's also a short appendix on troubleshooting. After discussing digital camcorder features, it moves through shooting video and capturing audio, not getting into iMovie basics until a third of the way through. Extensive screen shots and step-by-step instructions make this a solid, nonthreatening purchase for beginners and all libraries, in conjunction with more comprehensive guides. For beginning to intermediate readers, Teach Yourself shows how to use iMovie and iDVD 3 together to create movies and burn them to DVD using Apple's SuperDrive. Notes, tips, and cautions add more info; suggested tasks, quizzes, exercises, and Q&A aid in self-study. One caveat: in pursuit of simplification, the authors sometimes use nonstandard terms ("adding" rather than "importing" audio, for example), which can make it difficult to locate a topic of interest. A good choice for task-based coverage of the most useful and common functions of both popular programs, for all libraries. Missing Manual also covers both programs, although the bulk is devoted to iMovie. Topics range from buying a DV camcorder, to adding titles, to using built-in themes in iDVD. Appendixes address each menu of iMovie 3 and iMovie troubleshooting extras; downloads are available online at missingmanuals.com; sidebars and tips add info. More thorough than Teach Yourself, this is appropriate for all libraries and beginning to intermediate users. If you can buy only one, choose Missing Manual.

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Summary: It might be what you're looking for...
Review: The iMovie 3 Visual Quickstart Guide is a thinner book than most others
in the VQSG series. It has only 170ish pages and is labeled for the
beginning to intermediate user. After looking through the book, though,
I don't see any topic that is not covered (and I have used iMovie
pretty extensively). So I think that maybe there isn't such a thing as
an advanced iMovie user; advanced users are probably using Final Cut.
For any iMovie 3 user, this book would seem to satisfy the need.

iMovie is meant for the novice user; it is meant to give the average
person the ability to produce videos that look semi-professional and
can be easily burned to CD-ROM or emailed. This book undeniably meets
this demand. OK, you say, but what about iMovie 4, the newest version
of iMovie? Well, I chose this book for two reasons: first, there is not
a good selection of iMovie 4 materials yet, and second, only buyers of
iLife '04 and new Macs (since March 2004) would have that program
whereas iMovie 3 is still a free download and usable by anyone with
10.1.5 and up.

Although people argue that iMovie 4 is worth the upgrade, that is
another discussion. My focus on the utility of this book is intended to
reach a larger audience. This book contains EVERYTHING you need to know
about iMovie 3 and has added sections on using a digital video camera
and integration with iDVD 2 (only available on Macs with a Superdrive).
The iMovie 3 VQSG is an excellent resource to have around and will
likely find a home in my classroom where my students can benefit from
it.