Product Description

Editing Techniques with Final Cut Pro, 2nd Edition is an insightful and practical guide for intermediate to advanced Final Cut Pro users who want to extend their use of the tool to achieve sophisticated storytelling. The second edition of this popular book by professional filmmaker and editor Michael Wohl includes an entirely new chapter on finishing and outputting video to a variety of formats for both film and the Web; a major new section on color correction, including color photo illustrations; and a comprehensive look at how to create effective sound design. A unique blend of editing theory and practice, this book opens the readers' eyes and ears, making them more perceptive movie viewers and giving them the essential film vocabulary they need to advance their work to the next level and develop their own editing style.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #762617 in Books
• Published on: 2003-09-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 584 pages

Customer Reviews

Great supplement to other FCP books.
I picked up an advanced copy from the author at a Bay Area Final Cutters meeting. The book is different from most other FCP books in that it covers some basic editing techniques in a real world setting using FCP2. Rather than just go over every feature of the program, it tackles the craft of video editing using FCP. This makes it a great complement to the Lisa Brennis' excellent FCP2 Quick Pro Guide, which covers most of FCP2's functions.

For example, Michael explains different ways to use the Trim and Edit tools in editing a sequence as well as different approaches to logging clips. It also goes over issues of continuity and pacing how to deal with these problems in a non linear editing system. All this for me (at least) was worth the price of the book.

This book might be too basic for seasoned NLE editors. But it definitely will be a big help to begining or intermediate FCP editors looking to polish their craft .

I would have given the book 5 stars, except that I felt that the author should have devoted a little more space to areas such as exporting and importing from After Effects and ProTools. These were covered briefly. Also the CD included with the book should have had some examples of the exercises in the book. (The CD had some basic tutorials on FCP) I feel I would have benefited more from some Quicktime movies, illustrating the techniques covered in the book.

Despite the cons, I feel this book is a good buy and covers a lot of areas missing in the current crop of FCP titles. It doesn't cover everything in FCP, but what it covers it covers well.

WOW! Best FCP Book yet!
I have been a professional editor for more than 10 years and I recently migrated from AVID to Final Cut Pro. I wanted a book to supplement the manual and actually bought 4 different FCP books to glean what I could from each of them.

This one REALLY stood out. It's extremely well written, uses excellent examples that really help to illustrate the concepts and features and much more than just teaching you how to use FCP, it really teaches you how to edit.

WELL WRITTEN
Okay, maybe I'm a bit of a geek, but I couldn't put this down. I read it from front to back like a good novel. (Complete with my wife repeatedly asking me to come to bed :-) After I was done, I was so jazzed, I couldn't wait to get back on my computer!

EDITING TECHNIQUE
Although much of this was review for me, Michael really explains the language of film very concisely and very practically. He includes a recipe of commonly used editing "phrases" and teaches you not only the rules I learned in film school but also the ways modern editors have reinvented some of them. For newbies to editing, this section alone makes this a MUST HAVE.

FINAL CUT PRO
He uses such good examples, it's really awesome for understanding not just how the tool works, but why there are so many different ways to do each thing, and which one is right for your situation. Maybe it's because he helped to design the software or maybe he's just a great instructor but I found the lessons crystal clear, even when he's explaining some of the super-complicated features like multi-track trimming or replace-editing. Some of it may be over the head of new editors, but this makes experienced folks like me feel like we got our money's worth too.

GREAT BOOK
I don't think any book can make you a great editor, that takes years of practice, but I do think every so often there's a technical book that's not just good at teaching you about a technical subject, but is just a good book that inspires you in ways beyond anything the author could have intended. Editing Techniques with FCP is definitely that. Thanks Michael!

Oh- I almost forgot! Between each chapter is an interview with a high-profile film editor about their style and techniques! Great stuff! Especially the interview with WALTER MURCH!!

A perfect mix of editing theory and practical advice
If you are serious about Film Editing, you are probably already been looking at books like Shot by Shot by Steven Katz, and checking out local training courses. You may also be trying to learn how to use Final Cut Pro, and checking out the many books on that topic.

This book could save you a lot of time and effort, by combining both subjects into one. It teaches, from a completely practical viewpoint, how to frame and edit shots. It also discusses how to use Final Cut Pro in order to achieve the right effect. There are also sections on sound, special effects and distribution - and again, all are realistically explained.

At every point, real-world editing examples are used, so it's not simply a discussion of every menu option. There are plenty of screenshots, and even though it doesn't cover the very latest version of FCP, everything is still 100% relevant.

After working through the huge pile of paper that is the FCP manual set, this book should be next on your list. It will tell you which features you will actually need to know, and pass on some very useful cinematic editing information at the same time.