Editing Digital Video: The Complete Creative and Technical Guide [With CDROM]

Let's face it, most people doing digital video are self-taught. Sure, there are some who've been to film school or have lots of experience with film but of all the DV camera owners, they're in the minority. The result: hours and hours and hours of weddings, school plays, birthday parties and... well... tripe. This book can help turn that tripe into gold because it covers the black art of editing.Editing is one of those subjects that seems to be hard to teach through a book and, therefore, hard to learn. The solution employed by the authors is to include a CD containing three video clips for the reader to edit. The overall process is described in the text.There's a wealth of other good information, some quite basic, some fairly advanced - a perusal of the table of contents will be informative to you.Pros:* Platform and edit system neutrality* Video clips to edit* Tour of all the important concepts* Simple terminologyCons:* No finished professional edit of the project* More detailed info on professional techniques would be nice

This is an amazing book that is a must-have for anyone that is in the industry, interested in being in the industry, or just plain interested in the world of digital video. Editing Digital Video by Robert M. Goodman and Patrick McGrath is an exceptionally well-written book that covers techniques in craft and theory about editing that can benefit the novice home video editor to the professional feature film editor. The authors complete the daunting task of covering all of the many different digital editing interfaces by stripping them down to the essentials. They also cover the many different kinds of formats, such as narrative, documentary, commercials, music video, etc. I found the Keyboard Shortcut Cross Reference exceptionally handy. This book also covers recording DVDs, EDL formats, and details about exporting graphics. Being an editor initially learning editing techniques by physically cutting film and graduating to digital video editing, I very much appreciated this book that respected editing as a craft and art. The fundamentals about storytelling and editing are definitely worth reading. Some of it might be a bit too Editing 101, but surprisingly, held some gems. The "Films to Watch" chapter with films that have been recommended for different genres of editing to lists of Eddie Award Nominees and Oscar Nominees is an added bonus. Written in a very readable and likeable prose, Editing Digital Video is an absolute joy and a must for any editing enthusiast, whether in trade or in hobby.

This is an amazing book that is a must-have for anyone that is in the industry, interested in being in the industry, or just plain interested in the world of digital video. Editing Digital Video by Robert M. Goodman and Patrick McGrath is an exceptionally well-written book that covers techniques in craft and theory about editing that can benefit the novice home video editor to the professional feature film editor. The authors complete the daunting task of covering all of the many different digital editing interfaces by stripping them down to the essentials. They also cover the many different kinds of formats, such as narrative, documentary, commercials, music video, etc. For the expert, I found the Keyboard Shortcut Cross Reference exceptionally handy. This book also covers recording DVDs, EDL formats, and details about exporting graphics. Being an editor initially learning editing techniques by physically cutting film and graduating to digital video editing, I very much appreciated this book that respected editing as a craft and art. The fundamentals about storytelling and editing are definitely worth reading. Some of it might be a bit too Editing 101, but surprisingly, held some gems. The "Films to Watch" chapter with films that have been recommended for different genres of editing to lists of Eddie Award Nominees and Oscar Nominees is an added bonus. Written in a very readable and likeable prose, Editing Digital Video is an absolute joy and a must for any editing enthusiast, whether in trade or in hobby.

If you are considering entering the world of digital video this is a great book to help get you started. It will help guide you in the right direction for making educated decisions on the proper hardward and software that you will need.You will be able to learn the terminology used in the industry along with technological applications that you might not get with your software manual. This book has been written so the most basic entry level person, like myself, can read it and have an understanding of what your next step will be.

The title of this book really says it all. It is an excellent combination of creative and technical tips and explanations.As a writer and producer who has been editing (mostly offline now) for 23 years, I was able to get information at a level that was appropriately technical without talking down to my well-honed creative side. Like Goldilocks said - this book was "Not too hard. Not too soft. It's just right."A well thumbed copy will be on my reference shelf.Chris JonesIndependent writer/producer/director