iMovie 2 For Dummies? (For Dummies (Computers))

Editing videotape, once upon a time, was outside the range of what home movie buffs could hope to do. Short of buying expensive equipment, your only choice was to queue tape in your camcorder as you recorded segments on a VCR in the sequence you wanted. Now that iMovie 2 is around, Macintosh users have a much better option. iMovie 2 for Dummies explains how late-model Mac, iMac, and iBook computer users can download video from their camcorders to their computers via a FireWire multimedia link, then edit the raw footage for remarkably professional results. Todd Stauffer is a longtime Mac writer, and, in this book, he communicates the fun of making movies on the Mac.

As you would expect, iMovie 2 for Dummies does a super job of explaining how to accomplish tasks in the iMovie 2 environment--look for precise directions on adding titles, overlaying narration, chopping up audio clips, and doing all the other technical work associated with assembling a movie. The Dummies format emphasizes text descriptions of what to do over the illustrations in the Visual QuickStart Guide series--both approaches are effective. Experienced moviemakers will appreciate the discussion of the iMovie interface; novices will like the ideas about how to make movies more appealing and technically clean. --David Wall

Topics covered:

• The iMovie 2 editing program for digital video on computers running Mac OS
• Importing video
• Editing
• Transitions
• Audio
• Special effects
• Video exports