Books on Digital Video Production
I have personally bought and used each of these books, so I can
attest to their quality and value. I've written a short comment
for each book that I hope you find useful.
Please click through the links below if you plan to purchase
any of these books. I don't get much back from Amazon but what
little I get helps to run this site.
I've split the books into various catagories: General, Editing, Sound and Lighting.
General Movie Making
These books do not directly address Final Cut Pro but deal with film or documentary making
at a higher level. They provide the context within which your work will fit, even
if it is a simple home movie. You'll have to consider: what am I trying to say, how
am I saying it in the film, how will the audience interpret what I'm saying and whether
your message will be received and understood.
Editing
These books focus on the theory and techniques behind editing film or video. You have to
understand both why you are performing an edit, and what type of edit
to use. However, these books go further than just the basics of editing and also cover
how to log, capture and organize your footage, how to perform post-production work
on your masterpiece and finally produce your output for various media formats.
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Editing Techniques with Final Cut Pro
I have read and re-read this book over and over again, and each time through I learn
something new. I highly recommend this book to anyone starting out with Final Cut Pro. it
is written by a member of the original design team who was also an independent film
maker. Wohl really understands both how to make a good film and how to build a good
video editor.
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Final Cut Pro 3 Editing Workshop
Tom's book is second on my list because I read it right after Michael Wohl's book. The
two together make a winning team: Michael's book focuses on theory and higher-level
editing concepts, Tom's book gets down and dirty in the details. Don't get me wrong,
Tom also covers theory of editing, but this book definitely is more practical than
Wohl's book. I recommend that you buy both of them and read them both over and over.
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Final Cut Pro 3 and the Art of Filmmaking
I enjoyed reading and working wth this book because of its high production values. It
is full color throughout, and is a wide-format layout. You can really see details on the
screens when the athors discuss the editing techniques and tools.
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Movie Sound
Lighting
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