Apple Pro Training Series : DVD Studio Pro 3 (Apple Pro Training)

Rating:
Summary: In tutorial form, You'll burn four movies.
Review: Apple And Macintosh Graphics And Sound, Computer Animation, This is the official Apple Pro training course for DVD Studio Pro 3, so it's clear that this is the book you need to get. The nice thing about is that it's also very well written. If you have the earlier versions of this guide, you'll know what I mean.

The approach used in the book is to go produce DVD's. In fact after just a few pages of introductory this is what we're going to do stuff, you get started making a DVD. The first DVD is planned to take about one hour to make, it includes getting started with learning your way around the Studio Pro authoring window, making a title page and a simple menu. At the end of the hour you should have a burned DVD ready to play.

Having hit the ground running, from here the projects get more and more complex, and in each DVD you have to repeat some of the steps of the earlier one, this kind of repetition makes it familiar. By the end of the fourth project you've used basically all of DVD Studio Pro.

The format of this book is a directed hands-on tutorial. It's neither a cram for the test nor a general reference manual. But after working through the course material in this book, you can become a certified Apple Pro by taking the certification exam. You will have been exposed to and practiced everything you need to know.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent book, but not flawless
Review: First of all its actually 4.9 stars out of 5, but since the book is not flawless it cannot get 5 stars.

Apple Pro Training Series -- DVD Studio Pro 3 (with a DVD attached to the inside back cover) is a great book for the novice DVD Studio Pro 3 learner. (I am referring to ISBN 0-321-25610-7 Copyright 2005 by all4DVD and Martin Sitter)

The Book
There is no doubt, that you will learn a lot from this book, and if you are a novice in this area, do not waste your time looking any further: This is the book you want and need. I am a novice myself and therefore cannot say how helpful it may be to the Pro.

The entire book is in color (with the usual "Apple Blue" for certain text parts) and full color graphics (compared to the same-series Final Cut Pro HD book, where all graphics are in b/w)

The DVD contains:
My_Projects (that folder is empty, so you can save your lesson file here) 0MB
Media (contains all the files you need for your lessons) 3.45GB
Lessons (contains start- and finish lessons) 32.8MB
Appendix A (contains a PDF with a lesson: "Creating a Motion Menu in Final Cut Pro" which is not covered in the book) 4.6MB

There are some flaws, which may or may not make you angry while going through the book and by the book. Some drove me nuts, while others made me smile. You decide for yourself.

The Flaws (after reading the first 225 pages (total: a little over 720 pages)):

Page 31, Step 15, 2nd Paragraph
"As you select each button, it should turn red." Well, it does not turn red. Apple must have changed the appearance. But do not worry, it is working anyway.
[angry]

Page 45, Keyboard Shortcuts
Cmd-P Burn (It should read: Cmd-Shift-F Burn)
The Cmd-P (Command-key, also known as the Apple-key, plus the P-key) is usually opening the Print-Dialogue Window.
[angry]

Page 80, Step 1, 1st Paragraph
" . . . double-clicking the DVD Studio Pro icon in your Dock . . . "
A single click is enough for the Dock.
[smile]

Page 104, Step 1, 2nd Paragraph
Cmd-Option-O should read Cmd-Option-0 (Cmd-Option-zero)
[smile]

Page 194, Step 13, 2nd Paragraph
""Main Menu" should appear . . . "
That's correct: "should", but it does not, since it is not mentioned, that you will have to switch back to English Subtitle first in order to make this work.
[very angry, took me quite a while to figure this out]
And the next step after "Step 13" should be "Step 14" and not again "Step 13".


So and now I can't wait to continue with my lesson.

Good luck to you in becoming a pro -- this book will help you a lot.


One final advice for overseas orders: I ordered this book via Amazon.com to be shipped to Tokyo/Japan via "via DHL Express (averages 2-4 days)". It actually took 8 days to arrive. You may not waste your money on DHL's Express [loughing out load] Service.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Resource
Review: I've used DVD Studio Pro since version 1 and when our company upgraded from version 2 to 3 I decided to buy this book to see how to utilize the new features in my DVD productions. Not only was I happy to find easy to read instructions and tutorials on the new features of DVD Studio Pro 3 (all in color), but this book has taught me some new tricks for some of the older features as well. One chapter that caught me off guard that was a pleasant addition was a detailed account on how to create you own custom presets for Compressor, including a great description on how MPEG-2 compression works (excellent for beginners and advanced). I'd recommend this book for anyone using DVD Studio Pro 3, even if your an advanced user this makes a great resource for your desk.