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Rating: 
Summary: Best book out there
Review: After purchasing numerous books on the subject, in recent months, Scotts' book was a breath of fresh air!!.I was overwhelmed with the brutal honesty and passionate guidance of this book, that of which can only come from significant experience!!
All of my questions regarding "Which Camera ?", "Which Editing platform?", "Which Asylum will I be in at the end of all this ?" etc were answered. As someone who is about to spend close to 30k on a system I have been in "research mode" for the past 2 months.This book answered ALL my questions.
It is not only incredibly factual, but a very amusing and inspirational read. If you are thinking of purchasing digital equipment this is the best resource that I have come across.
Excellent book, worth every penny and great web-site for reference. Highly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: Read between the attitude to get to the valuable content
Review: As per the other reviews,if you're not transfering to film, there's a fair amount of information here that may be only of nominal use. HOWEVER, Billups does such an incredible job of pulling the curtains off not only the movie industry (1st chapter) but of dropping the shiny anvil of reality onto the heads of idealistic amateurs (like me) as to the real ins and outs of video and DV technology that you'd have to be a TOTAL moron not to read what he has to say.
It's great stuff, he's fun to read and all the little gears in my head are STILL spinning around in contemplation. Not a lot of authors can do that for me, especially when it comes to a technical book.
Rating:
Summary: Serious how to book, but written with humor. Entertaining.
Review: Buy this book IF IF IF you plan to seriously transfer digital video to FILM (i.e. 16mm or 35mm) for example to submit to your documentary or movie to a film festival. He shows anyone who is serious can pull it off.If you DON'T PLAN to transfer to film it is completely over the top. Nonetheless, the book is written for a layperson and is quite entertaining to read. The author shoots straight from the hip and tells you his highly opionionated views on equipment and processes - exact models and estimated prices are described. Refreshingly honest in comparison to the usual "how-to" type books.
Rating:
Summary: A great read But, watered down Knowhow
Review: I found this book a very enjoyable and easy read. However, what I got out of it technically, as far as digital moviemaking was thin. I realize that everyone has their way of doing things but some of Billups suggestions I found questionable. The message that I walked away with from this book was; There are many ways to make a movie, choose the one that works for you, But that's not what's important. What's really important is the content of what your lensing. Which is a great message, but kind of a strange one for a how-to book. I have to admit that since reading it I've been walking around repeating to myself, what are the three most important things when making a movie; "Content, Content, Content"
Rating: 
Summary: There are better books out there on this subject
Review: If you want to learn about the process of making a low budget film that's digital this probably is not the book for you. I'm in the process of producing a film (my first) and thought this book would help guide me. It didn't. It seemed to me that the author spent most of the time talking about the techniques to use that would allow the best transfer to film. Don't get me wrong, this is useful information but that's not exactly what I was looking for. So, if you've never made a film before and want to get an understanding of what's involved and your only going to buy one book, don't buy this one. I highly recommend Digital Filmmaking 101 by Dale Newton and John Gaspard (same publisher). This is a great book on how to make a digital film on a low budget. Check it out before you buy this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Great reference for video-to-film
Review: Scott Billups draws up his extensive experience in the film industry and in using cutting edge technology in the film industry. This book is an excellent reference for digital filmmakers who want to produce industry-quality films using digital equipment. Billups primary goal with the book is to help filmmakers produce high-quality video that can be converted to film without looking like it was shot on video. Experienced filmmakers will understand that this is not a simple process. Even if your goal is not to go from video to film, the techniques Billups shares in this book will undoubtedly help you improve the quality of your films. Billups pulls no punches when it comes to his thoughts on Hollywood, the movie industry in general, technology and what you should and should not be doing or using in the production of your films. High quality filmmaking is technical and though Billups attempts to make it understandable, individuals not familar with basic filmmaking methods and equipment may find themselves lost from time to time. I highly recommend this book to anyone who uses or plans to use video for filmmaking. Without a doubt, Billups knows from experience what he's talking about -- he shot the entire first day of filming of "Barb Wire" using a MiniDV camcorder. And that's just a fragment of his experience in this arena.
Rating:
Summary: One of Two Best Books On Subject
Review: The technical mumbo-jumbo in this book is very well explained by Mr. Billups, and this is one of two books that I found essential in starting my digital movie business (SPEXProductions) with only limited knowledge of the essentials required to make intelligent decisions to purchase the best equipment at the best price. Many of the toys featured in his book are already outdated, but essential need-to-know technical basic concepts haven't changed very much. It was doubly hard for me because I'm using a lot of greenscreening techniques in our LIBERTY 72 project. Like almost everything else in this genre, many of the featured toys and tech are already outdated. But wait! Don't miss out on this book. It's real diamond mine is that Billups has managed to (cleverly) slide in the best (and most humorous) description of the totally insane Hollywood mindset that I've ever seen from a Hollywood Insider. I don't know if he still gets invited to those "A-List" Hollywood parties (yes, I do believe I've seen him at more than one!) but he is always welcome out here where the real people are - and where hopefully a lot of great movie makers of the future will originate! Anyone can find a "how to" tech book ... but it is rare to find so many more things that everyone who wants to join the business need to know about some of the other pheripherals of the business. This is like buying several books under one cover. A must read for beginners!
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