iMovie '08 & iDVD: The Missing Manual

The great thing about this book is that it talks about the best times to use iMovie 06 (most of the time) instead of iMovie 08.

Basically, if you want to assemble short clips to post on the Internet use iMovie 08.

For longer projects or if you want the make a DVD use iMovie 06 with iDVD 08. (Apple includes iMovie 06 as a free download to iLife 08 owners.)

The book is an excellent resource for iDVD 08 and describes the seamless integration between iMovie 06 and iDVD 08.

You will never get the full benefit of iMovie and iDVD without this book. A good resource for users of iMovie 06, iMovie 08, and iDVD 08.

"iMovie '08 & iDVD: The Missing Manual" is a very helpful, step-by-step guide to use these programs. It is well written book that is concise, easy to understand, and very accurate. I highly recommend it. I tried having some friends with considerable iMovie experience help me with my first project, but they were stumped with the completely redesigned iMovie '08 interface and work flow. The introduction for the book essentially opines that iMovie '08 is a steaming mound of excrement, you would be better served by using any previous version of iMovie, but if you insist on using '08, this manual will help make the end product less stinky. I did not heed this advice, and pushed forward using iMovie '08 creating a 12 minute production. Thanks to this manual my presentation received glowing reviews from several hundred people, many stating that it was the best presentation at the annual event that they had seen in ten years.

This is a great easy to understand book. The graphics help with the learning process and gives you simple step by step instructions. The book makes it easy to use the program while reviewing the pages without having to switch back and forth like the video tutorial. I just wish the author would produce the missing manual for Final Cut Express.

I went from not knowing a thing about Mac and it's applications (imovie 08/idvd) to making a professional looking slideshow, in a few hours. I definitely could not have done it without this book.

Anyone who is shooting home movies, whether using iMovie '08 or another editor, will find a treasury of useful information in this book. The features of iMovie '08 and iDVD are explained in a thorough, straightforward and easy-to-understand way, with superb color illustrations throughout. Pogue offers excellent guidance on connecting camcorders or other devices, effective lighting techniques, sound recording, composition, editing, exporting -- all the critical aspects of video production.

Amateur shooters ought to buy this book just to read the treatise on limiting zooming and panning -- the most egregious mistake I've seen as I watched at the Acropolis, the ruins of Tikal and Yosemite Valley as people swung cameras left and right, up and down as they tried to capture the grandeur of the location. (I just hope they handed out Dramamine when they played the video at home.)

Pogue goes well beyond that, providing valuable insights into a number of hidden features, as well as very useful tips on transitions (both how to do them and when they're appropriate) titles, narration, music and sound, adding still photos and using the Ken Burns effect, exporting to iPod, iPhone, YouTube, moving to iDVD and much, much more. All are thorough and explanations are intuitive.

For those who are still tied to iMovie 6, he explains how to move back and forth to take best advantage of the features of both programs.

iMovie '08 took a lot of hits when it was released, including a particularly blistering one from Pogue himself. But with this book he uncovers the appropriateness and usefulness of the program and makes the transition a bearable -- if not pleasant -- experience. I will not even open iMovie '08 without this excellent book next to me at my computer.