| Review: Final Cut Express 4 - Visual Quickstart Guide | 8:52 PM, Aug 14 2008 |
Final Cut Express 4 - Visual Quickstart Guideby Lisa Brenneis Review by Gary Estes
Since Apple has changed their editing technique in the newest iMovie 08, it has been suggested by many that an alternative course of action for those who want more out of movie editing is to upgrade to Final Cut Express. I have done some work in FCE, and I was thinking of doing a SIG on Final Cut Express for those interested in upgrading. I was hoping to find a book that would be simple enough to follow that would be a good course text. This was not that book. As I was reading this book, I kept turning over to recheck the title. “Yup, still says ‘Quickstart Guide’ “. This is a very informative book and a book filled with lots of illustrations that explains the author’s intentions. But it is, in a word, linear. A “Quickstart Guide”, to me, suggests giving you the bare boned tools to get one started quickly working with the program. This book took 118 pages just to explain terms and set preferences. It took another 109 pages to explain how the interface works. Someone trying to upgrade from iMovie would be lost and overwhelmed by the time they got to the basic editing portion in Chapter Nine. It goes from Point A to Point Z very methodically and seems to exclude nothing. However, having said all that, I think this book would make an excellent reference guide to have by your computer after you have learned enough about FCE to really start working in it. Because it is linear and methodical, it should be easy to look up some procedure or trick you might want to use as you explore the program and want to learn it’s finer points and shortcuts. Other than the book not being what I expected, I think that the only real criticism I have is that the illustrations could have used a little journey through a photo editing program before being published. Since these are black & white photos of color screenshots, they tend to be very low contrast and a bit dark. I found myself having to take extra time to really stare at a lot of the illustrations to discern what was being represented. Final advice: I would buy this book as quite good reference material after I found a really good starter book. Read More |
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| Automator for Mac OS X.5 Leopard | 9:49 PM, Mar 04 2008 |
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Review of Automator for Mac OS X.5 Leopard: Learn Automator the Quick and Easy Way, A Visual Quickstart Guide by Ben Waldie. Review by Michael McKee
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| Learning Web Design, a book review | 6:54 PM, Oct 07 2007 |
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Learning Web Design: A Beginner's Guide to (X)HTML, StyleSheets, and Web Graphics [ILLUSTRATED] (Paperback)
a review by Michael McKee Learning Web Design by Jennifer Niederest Robbins is billed as "A Beginners Guide to (X)HTML, Style Sheets and Web Graphics." It lives up to its billing. It is structured as a text book, building a knowledge base chapter by chapter. For those working through the book as a tutorial, there are plenty of exercises that reinforce the skills you've acquired. Each chapter includes appropriate exercises and a "Test Yourself" section. Extra material is offered through the book's accompanying website. Read More |
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| Photoshop Elements 4 | 2:23 PM, Jul 12 2006 |
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If you are using iPhoto 5 or 6 and need more advanced editing tools I can strongly recommend Elements 4. If you already have Elements 3 I personally found Photoshop Elements 4 well worth the upgrade price of $60. As of this writing there was no demo version to try out on the Mac as there is for the PC platform. However, you can visit the Adobe web site and get more information about this new Elements version. Check out the downloadable PDF document (Printable Overview) for many more details and also follow the link to the new features page, especially if you are an Elements 3 user and are considering an upgrade. Here is the url:
Please click on the MORE link to get the detailed, complete review. Read More |
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| Head First HTML with CSS and XHTML | 2:14 PM, May 29 2006 |
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| Firefox Secrets | 1:31 PM, Mar 05 2006 |
| This book is for anyone curious about Firefox. It is also valuable if you are new to the browser and want to become more productive. For those already using it the book is especially good as there are many tips and hacks. If you are using OS X you have several choices in choosing a web browser. You may already be familiar with or using Apple's Safari. There are also Camino and Firefox and others. This book was written about Firefox Version 1. Although version 1.5 is now available as a free download, the book coves most all of the essential features of the newer version. Read More | |
| Powerbook Fan Book | 1:17 PM, Mar 05 2006 |
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This small, well illustrated book, contains a wealth of information for the new Mac user, not just those few with a power book. One of its best features is the photos and recommendations on the many accessories available for the Mac. These include speakers for use with iTunes, digital cameras for iPhoto, external hard drives and, of course, carrying cases for your laptop.
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| Photoshop Filter Effects Encyclopedia, The Hands-on Desktop Reference for Digital Photographers | 2:38 PM, Feb 15 2006 |
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This book is one of four in the O'Reilly digital studio series which we recently received for review from the publisher. These are not all encompassing doorstop books on Adobe Photoshop, rather they focus on specific aspects of a more limited use of Photoshop. While the book covers all 109 filters in Photoshop CS2, it will be just as useful for users of earlier versions of Photoshop or Photoshop Elements, which have most of the same filters. he book has hundreds of full-color photographs, clearly written instructions and practical tips. Read More |
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| Photoshop Retouching Cookbook for Digital Photographers | 2:37 PM, Feb 15 2006 |
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Photoshop Retouching Cookbook for Digital Photographers : 113 Easy-to-Follow Recipes to Improve Your Photos and Create Special Effects by Barry Huggins |
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| iPhoto 2: The Missing Manual | 2:35 PM, Feb 15 2006 |
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iPhoto 2 incorporates many powerful new features and improvements that the earlier version of iPhoto lacked. These include better picture editing that let users enhance color or touchup photos within the iPhoto application, better slide shows, new printing templates, the ability to send photo attachments with a variety of email programs, burning directly to CDs and DVDs from within iPhoto, and much more. Read More |
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Join PT SLUG Mailing List
General Meeting
On the second Thursday of each month, PT SLUG holds its general meeting. Each meeting features a guest speaker, who offers interesting information on Macintosh or related topics. Following the meeting, SLUG members will be available to answer questions. Meetings are at 7:00 p.m. at the Tri Area Community Center. Call Michael McKee 385-3631 for details.
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Mac Programs SIG
Our Mac Programs SIG (special interest group) which meets on the third Friday at the WSU computer lab, covers programs that come free with the Mac, such as Address Book, Preview, iCal, iPhoto, iTunes, Stickies, TextEdit, Widgets, and many more. The SIG will also cover AppleWorks from time to time. For more information contact one of the SIG leaders: Bob Snow: 437-0592 or Francesca Drum: 385-3346
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Digital Media SIG
Our Digital Media SIG is focused on mainly on photography related programs. In this SIG we cover photo enhancement and effects with a number of programs including iPhoto and Photoshop Elements along with elements of digital photography. Other media editing programs like iMovie will get coverage, too. The SIG meets monthly on the fourth Friday at the WSU computer lab. For information contact the SIG leader, Joy Bland 732-4914
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A Review by Bob Snow
