iMovie: The Missing Manual by David Pogue

Review by Gary Pool

Author David Pogue describes this work as "the book that should have been in the box," and he's right. The whole "Missing Manual" concept is right on. The series provides hard copy documentation for otherwise undocumented or under-documented software. There's no software needing its' Missing Manual more than iMovie.

Apple provides an interactive tutorial with iMovie. I found it fun and easy, and it looks like a real home movie. The two kids washing a dog with a handheld camera staggering around them gives the user a strong feeling of, "Hey, I can do that!"

Compared to other video editing programs, iMovie is incredibly easy to use. If you use Mac OS 8 or above, you can try to get by with the tutorial, the Help file, and some trial and error. In fact you could click on everything to see what happens, just like a game. I don't think iMovie was supposed to be a game, just useful software for content creation.

The tutorial, embedded in the iMovie Help file, is nicely laid out and it's simple to navigate through. You just click on subjects in the Table of Contents, or type in a topic and hit the Search button. It will have you thinking the program is simple... until the first time you need more info.

That's where this 373-page book comes in. The book is filled with information that is well illustrated in a tasteful way that helps you understand the concept by using images. (Since I'm a visual learner I always like to look at the pictures). It is easy to read and it is easy to find what you want.

About half of this book is for the novice iMovie user and the rest is explanatory and reference material that everyone will use regardless of their degree of iMovie expertise. The book also tells intermediate and experienced iMovie users how to do better work by developing skills that go beyond the software.

After I read the sub-chapter Video Composition: A Crash Course (found in Chapter 2: Turning Home Video Into Pro Video) I looked at the tutorial's dog-washing movie again, and I found a pro video disguised as a home video. You can avoid my disappointment by keeping in mind that there are a whole lot of pro-level film and video reference books to help you, with lighting and camera handling and the like, but they're expensive and specialized. At your current level of experience you're entitled to the base information NOW, not after you read a bunch of books or take a lot of classes. Seems like the best way to get all your information is with iMovie: The Missing Manual.

Incidentally, there's another way to get lots of this kind of information these days-look on the Internet. There are many friendly people going through (or who have already gone through) the same thing you are, sending messages and answering questions that will help a novice user. Subscribe to iMovie-List@egroups.com (or any of the others) to share techniques and experiences as there are plenty of questions being asked and answered.

I recommend iMovie users start their library with iMovie: The Missing Manual. Now, iMovie2: The Missing Manual is out, but this doesn't make this first book any less valuable. If you're using iMovie 2, that's really great. I've been told all you have to do is download the iMovie 2 appendix and stick a printed copy of that PDF in the back of the book.

You need this book if you're an iMovie novice. If you're an iMovie intermediate, you'll want this book. If you're an iMovie expert, this book is probably one of the reasons you're an expert.

If you're hesitating to spend $19.95 to document a free program, instead, try thinking of what an amazing deal iMovie would be if it cost $19.95 and came with this book in the box.