Inside The Cover
Book Reviews
Review by Patrick Beltran
Digital Editing with Final Cut Pro 4: Professional
Post Production Technique
Bruce Mamer & Jason Wallace
Michael Wiese Productions
2004
320 pp.
Filmmaking-related
Amazon.com price: $22.37
I've always had mixed feelings about Final Cut Pro, Apple's top-of-the-line
digital non-linear editing (NLE) software. On the one hand, as an indie producer
who keeps one eye on the budget and the other eye on production values, I see
Final Cut as a godsend. I mean, look at it-- a professional, full-featured NLE
package with real-time rendering, telecine support, built-in effects, sound
editing, color correction-- all for only $999?! What's not to like?
On the other hand, I've done my share of digital editing, having cut my teeth on
event videography and an early version of Adobe Premiere. And, I'm not ashamed
to say it: I welcomed the simplicity of Apple's iMovie software when it came
out. Not that I stopped using Premiere, but now I had two items in my digital
toolbox that I was comfortable using.
When Final Cut Pro first appeared I was excited about the heady possibilities,
but I have to be honest-- the complexity scared me. Don't get me wrong, I love
gadgets and gizmos and new technology as much as any guy, but when I tried to
conquer the software's dizzying array of buttons, tools, and power functions, I
felt wholly inadequate. It was all I could do not to hyperventilate just staring
at the screen.
Well, I can cancel my anxiety management sessions, because Digital Editing
with Final Cut Pro 4: Professional Post Production Technique, an upcoming
book by Bruce Mamer and Jason Wallace, is a digital-editor's therapist in book
form. It's an excellent guide-book to the functions and features of Final Cut
Pro 4, and a perfect primer for anyone who's ever been intimidated by the
complexity and power of Apple's superb digital editing suite.
The book includes three extensive, step-by-step "visual" tutorials,
using real clips and files (contained on a DVD) which guide the reader through
the major steps of a professional-level editing project. As editor-in-training,
you're even provided a copy of the sample project's lined script and camera log,
and you're encouraged to experiment with your own creative choices. Along the
way, you face many of the issues that editors normally deal with, including
things like having to edit around flubbed shots and continuity errors. All of
this is ordered toward the book's primary purpose, which is to allow the reader
to explore fully the features of Final Cut Pro's version 4.
The authors are well organized, devoting the first few chapters only to those
things you absolutely need to know to get started, and then moving quickly into
the tutorial; they wisely save many of the hairy, deep-level details for later
chapters. Using plain-English explanations and plenty of visual references,
Mamer and Wallace let you clearly see, in pictures and illustrations,
what they're talking about-- a critical factor for me, but maybe most editors
too, whom I suspect are also likely to be visual learners.
As the book's subtitle implies, though, this is not just a beginner's "how
to" book; the emphasis throughout is on the professional use of Final Cut.
There are chapters on audio design, special effects, and film matchback, along
with in-depth discussions on color correction, compositing, and Apple's
companion Cinema Tools application. In a sense, the book is a tutorial on how
the pros use Final Cut to edit their film projects (as opposed to video-only
projects).
My only hesitation is that I was unable to evaluate the book's DVD, since the
pre-publication galley I was sent did not include one. But, if the DVD is as
well put-together as the rest of the book, I'm sure I would have no problem
endorsing it.
Overall, this book would make a valuable addition to any Final Cut Pro beginner's
shelf and a great desk reference for the more seasoned digital veteran. The book
is due to hit bookstores in June 2004, so watch for it; I give it a strong
"buy" recommendation. The only one hyperventilating now is my
therapist!
CLICK
HERE TO ORDER THE BOOK.
Patrick Beltran is a screenwriter, independent producer, and
freelance writer who works as an IT professional during the day to pay the
bills. He lives in Virginia with his wife and three daughters.
