Ken's Bookshelf

[Michael Wisniewski]

Aha!!! So now I know how to look like a real pro! :-p

> I would look like a complete beginner
> reading it. So I just put a Playboy over
> the top.

[K. Forman]

Hey... Most people see you with an XL1, and they think you're making Porns anyway. Or so I have heard...
Keith

[Keith Loh]

<<<-- Originally posted by Capt Quirk : Hey... Most people see you with an XL1, and they think you're making Porns anyway. Or so I have heard...
Keith -->>>

That's always among the dozen comments I get from people who talk to me about my shooting DV. "When are you going to get into porn?"

My reply: "How much?"

[Steve Nunez]

It's funny- a fellow I know just bought a ton of DV stuff- Skycrane, Glidecam, XL1s, Varizoom controllers, MA200, batts etc....his intention is to promote his website via media- his remark was
"and if this doesn't work- at least I can make some awesome porn movies"....

XL's seem to be the weapon of choice in the porn industry- funny when you think of it....

Anyone see Mr. Deeds the movie?- in the opening scene there's a multi-billionaire being taped on his mountain climbing expedition- and the cam doing the video- you got it- an XL1S

The XL is a movie star in it's own right- the celebrity amongst DV cams!

[K. Forman]

My motto is- "You do it, I'll film it. No kids, no animals." Fortunately, I have only had decent proposals.. So far. It's tough making a buck these days.
Keith

[Christian Calson]

Hi Ken-

You are right on about this text. It's beautiful and inspired. It reminds or reveals why so many of us got into visual work in the first place. It's just amazing to give language to things when you feel, 'they work' or are 'beautiful'.

christian calson
nebunule films llc
nebunule.com

[Alexander McLeod]

This book is a real jewel for the vast majority of video camera owners who just want to shoot familiar subjects (family, friends) and edit that footage to achieve better-than-average results. As it's title implies, this is a relatively short book (172 pg). But it's filled with outstanding advice on using any consumer-grade equipment to shoot and edit like a pro. Rubin has organized the material very logically and his lively writing style makes this book a real page-turner (assuming, of course, the reader is interested in the subject).

I bought this book for my wife to help her get the geneal idea of shooting and editing video. But, honestly, I found myself reading this book nearly cover to cover.

If you're a professional cinematographer, videographer or editor who earns a living with your hard-learned skills you will probably not find this book worth your time. But if you're not in that group I'd bet that you'd find this book a very enjoyable and even enlightening read. OK, so if you're a "film school" person you may have to outfit it with a plain brown cover before reading it in public. Go ahead...we won't tell. -->>>

Ken, I finally found this book after looking for it since your review. You are absolutely spot on. For me, who has a bit of experience shooting both at home and on the road (but never professionally) it has given me a good deal of (for want of a better word) focus. I'm glad I finally found it.
Sandy

[Ken Tanaka]

Delighted to hear it, Alexander! It really is a little gem.

[Ken Tanaka]

Final Cut Pro 3 and the Art of Filmmaking
by Jason Cranford Teague and David Teague
Sybex Books, 2002
ISBN 0-7821-4027-0

@amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0782140270/
--------------------
This is an excellent reference for beginning and early-intermediate Final Cut Pro 3 users. In many ways it represents what a good "users' guide volume 1" for FCP should have been.

Several features make this book a winner for its audience.

* It's extremely well-written, presenting general editing concepts as well as dance-steps to accomplishing those goals with FCP3. Careful editing of the text also avoids the common show-stopping ambiguity found in so many other books of this genre.
* Skillful type design and layout draw you into topics and avoid fatigue by excellent use of type, leading, color and page layout. Although the usual "sidebar" tips are used frequently, they are not the usual grainy, hard-to-decipher black text on gray backgrounds.
* Liberal use of color screen shots and illustrations, often keyed and annotated, thoughout the book. What you see in the book is what you will see on the screen.
* Landscape orientation makes the book easier to prop open as you work through the examples.
* Excellent organization of content and progression of concepts. The book is divided into five color-keyed sections:

• I. Getting Started
• II. Editing Your Movie
• III. Adding Special Effects
• IV. Advanced Techniques
• V. After The Editing Is Done

Also included are an index and an illustrated Glossary of Terms.

This is hands-down the finest book of its kind (and for the above-mentioned audience) that I've seen. If there's a down-side to this book it would have to be its price. Listed at US$60, but with a Web-price around US$42, it's a bit pricier than other works, probably due to it's extensive use of 4-color printing. But, viewed differently, it will be perhaps $20 cheaper than buying two other books (one to fill-in the blanks of the first).

So if you're a FCP beginner or an early intermediate FCP editor this would be an excellent choice for a basic how-to reference.

[Rob Lohman]

Ken, would you say this book is also good for general editing
with another editing application (I'm not on mac)? Or is it better
to look at another book then?

[Ken Tanaka]

I'd have to say that this book is quite specific to the Mac platform and FCP.

[Paul Sedillo]

Ken,

Yes this is an excellent reference book for beginners. It is a book that I look to when working with FCP. There was another thread that talked briefly about this book:

http://new.dvinfo.net/conf/showthrea...&threadid=2433

[Ken Tanaka]

Final Cut Pro 3 Editing Workshop
(Second Edition)
by Tom Wolsky
CMP Books, 2002
ISBN: 1-57820-118-7
@amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg.../-/1578201187/
----------
Tom Wolsky is a veteran film and video editor who has likely forgotten more about Final Cut Pro than most of us will ever learn about it. If you spend time at the 2-pop forums you've probably seen Tom offer thoughts and tips there since he frequently haunts that site.

The first edition of this work, published in 2001, represented a milestone in this genre because it was the first time such an experienced editor has taken up the mantle of writing a Final Cut Pro tutorial. Unlike other works at the time which offered little more than point-and-click dance-steps (ex: Lisa Brenneis' book) Wolsky's book offered its readers some insight into the film/video editing decision mindset in addition to process instruction.

Wolsky's second edition follows the same format and style of the first, adding new sections for FCP3's new features and the OS-X platform. To be sure, this is a thorough treatment of FCP3 thoughtfully collected and composed for the beginner and intermediate user. Like its predecessor it offers abundant insight into the editing thought process simultaneously with FCP3-specific instruction. I was delighted to see more space given to FCP3's advanced-intermediate features such as key-framing. The book's work-along exercises, included on a CD, are generally well-planned to be illustrative and instructive. Quality time invested with this book will certainly be rewarded by a better understanding of nearly all aspects of FCP3. Guaranteed.

Nevertheless, this book does have some weaknesses. One criticism I had of the first edition, which has carried over to the second, is that Wolsky spends too much space tutoring the reader on many of FCP's cheesy effects and transitions, most of which would never be used in a professional application and all of which can be quickly learned by self-exploration if needed.

My other criticisms are related principally to the book's publisher, CMP Books, rather than to Wolsky's content, per se. Quality of manuscript editing is my first barb. Many, if not most, sections of the book are written in what could only be described as a stream-of-consciousness style that no good book editor would ever let stand. It almost seems as though the publisher took the "workshop" concept to a literal extreme, letting the book read more like a transcript of a real workshop than like the instructional text that it should be.

Format and design constitute my other criticisms. Although the book features liberal screen-shot details as illustrations the low-resolution of the black-and-white format all but destroy the value of those which feature video snapshots. The new sections on keying and color correction are severely crippled by CMP's decision not to include 4-color pages for the accompanying illustrations. Additionally, the book's design is very, very visually busy. Many pages looks more like a scrapbook than a text, featuring body text, screen-shots, sidebars and "tip" boxes all in different fonts. Each page turn is a new and often unexpected experience for the reader, a distracting attribute for such a book.

In summary Tom Wolsky is to be commended for this second edition. He delivers what he promises to the reader. But as the popularity of Final Cut Pro has steadily increased so has the market for instructional texts on the subject. There is new competition for FCP readers' dollars today that didn't exist a year ago. The Teagues' "Final Cut Pro 3 and the Art of Filmmaking" (reviewed at http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthrea...&threadid=4811) have set a new benchmark for this genre of text. While they probably do not have the professional experience that Wolsky has, they've managed to cover most of the same ground for the same audience in a much more attractive and, in my opinion, effective manner than Wolky's book. To be sure, both books are very good works. But the Teagues' book excels in its design and presentation.

hey ken,
nice post. do you have any suggestions for books completely dedicated to the more advanced features of final cut, such as keying and other forms of compositing?

[Ken Tanaka]

Good question. Unfortunately, no, I don't. Ask again this time next year and I'd bet I'll have a different answer. Final Cut Pro is still a relative newcomer on the editing scene. But it's making rapid in-roads into the professional post-production world. Right now the demand seems to be for the novice/intermediate FCP book market. But it won't be long before today's "FCP intermediate" becomes tomorrow's "FCP chop-meister" and begins demanding more advanced treatments. (This is especially true of experienced Avid users who are picking-up FCP savvy to expand their toolset capabilities.)

I predict that we'll begin seeing "advanced" FCP books within the next 12-14 months dealing deeply with subjects such as color correction, video-to-film preparation and possibly uncompressed/HD handling. We might even see some similar Avid Express works.

For now, the best books on keying and compositing (of which I am aware) are the Trish and Chris Meyers' books on the Adobe's AfterEffects product. While it's not FCP, the concepts and some of their techniques transfer well to FCP if you don't have AE.

FWIW, the most extensive general discussion of digital compositing I've ever seen is "The Art and Science of Digital Compositing" by Ron Brinkman. (@amazon: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0121339602/) I've not (yet) reviewed it here but it's a hard-cover goodie if you're really interested in the subject.