Final Cut Express 4: Visual QuickStart Guide
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Final Cut Express 4: Visual QuickStart Guide

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Product Info

  • EAN: 9780321544322
  • Manufacturer: Peachpit Press

Editorial Reviews:

  • Here to ensure that users start taking advantage of Final Cut Express 4's powerful editing capabilities immediately is a thoroughly updated task-based guide to the program from best-selling author and digital video expert Lisa Brenneis. Users who are eager to make effective, compelling videos but don't want to invest heavily in training or equipment will welcome Lisa's simple step-by-step instructions, strong visual approach, and sound professional advice. In short order, they'll find themselves editing video; applying special effects and transitions; mastering the program's compositing, titling, and audio tools; and outputting their finished work. Readers will also learn about all that's new in this major upgrade: importing iMovie 08 projects, open format Timeline, built-in AVCHD and more.

Spotlight customer reviews:

  • Customer Rating: Average rating of 1/5Average rating of 1/5Average rating of 1/5Average rating of 1/5Average rating of 1/5
  • Summary: Not a good choice
  • Comment: Don't waste your money. I could say more, but that should suffice.
    Not a usable source of information. Non-intuitive and filled with garbage
    that is useless to people interested in editing video with Final Cut.
    There are excellent choices out there for intermediate level video editing
    hobbyists. This is not one of them. Avoid this author.
    Hope I saved you some cash!
  • Customer Rating: Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5
  • Summary: Complements the online manual nicely.
  • Comment: This book has been my indispensable companion to the online manual that comes with the program. The 1152 page online manual is well written and edifying, but one can emerge from a foray into it with no clear idea of what to do in a particular situation. Here is where Brenneis' book comes to the rescue. It is chock-full of how-to information (I don't understand the reviewers who say it isn't). Task after task is explained with numbered step-by-step instructions telling exactly how to proceed. Between this book and the online manual one has a good chance of taming the Final Cut beast.

    With few exceptions each list of instructions is accompanied by a screen shot, often two or three. Thanks to the abundance of screen shots the book can profitably be read away from the computer. You can study it over lunch to figure out what to do next. But you'd better have a strong light, because none of the screen shots is colored. They are not even black and white. They are black on grey, sometimes dark grey. A cost-saving measure no doubt. But if you are willing to put up with the eye-strain the book will see you through.

    I would have given the book five stars were it not for the dark screen shots. But it is still a strong four.




  • Customer Rating: Average rating of 1/5Average rating of 1/5Average rating of 1/5Average rating of 1/5Average rating of 1/5
  • Summary: Huh?
  • Comment: So, I read the first four chapters and then went to chapter 5 to import my video. How exciting! The problem is what I saw on the screen did not match anything in the book. What capture screen? All I saw was the actual video itself being imported, no Capture tab, no buttons, nothing that was discussed in the text. No "Anatomy of the Capture Window." Is this really a book about Final Cut Express 4? So now I'm sitting here with imported digital video and without the foggiest notion of what to do next. Please advise. Why isn't this book working for me? It seems as opaque as a Microsoft help window. QuickStart my foot! More like QuickLost.
  • Customer Rating: Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5
  • Summary: Quick Start Guide for Final Cut Express 4
  • Comment: Peach Pitt Press and the Quick Start Guides always satisfy and in this case for Final Cut Express 4 it did not fail. It is an amazing format that is very intuitive that gets you up and running as no other manual can. The best thing about them is the price is reasonable. That is the best combination one can have. Peach Pit should now have a Quick Start guide for Keynote. In fact for all of iWork 09.
  • Customer Rating: Average rating of 1/5Average rating of 1/5Average rating of 1/5Average rating of 1/5Average rating of 1/5
  • Summary: Don't Waste your Money!
  • Comment: I purchased this book to help me understand the basics of Final Cut Express 4, but it falls well short. There are no detailed explanations or "How To's". I got more out of postings on the Internet - that's why the 1 Star rating (I tried to give it zero stars but the system doesn't allow it).

    I have worked with computers since 1982 and have developed software and written user guides. This one just doesn't measure up.

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