Rating: 
Summary: A Good Start to Editing
Review: "Editing Digital Video" is a good overall review of editing. The book tries to touch on both the creative and the technical. It may be hard to teach the creative in these short pages, but it at least points you in the direction. Although it was in depth in teaching the basic of the basics of editing, such as "What is a shot?" it lacked when it came to describing more technical terms such as "What is 16:9?" It also gives an overview of all editing systems, nothing in depth on specific ones, such as Avid or Final Cut Pro, granted many have conformed to the same operations, it would have been nice to have subtle differences pointed out.
Overall, I think this book is a good book for beginner's and for advanced editor's that occasionally have brain freezes when working.
Rating: 
Summary: A pro editing book to keep handy
Review: Chapter 3, "Beginnings, Middles and Ends" is my favorite chapter. Not only does it start with teaching editing, but it makes an very good introductory effort to communicate the aesthetic concepts involved with the craft of editing. It starts appropriately with the tradition of storytelling and goes on to discuss different editing workflows (bricklayer vs. sculptor), the concept of the montage, techniques for continuity editing, Pace and Rhythm, and offers "Five Guidelines of Editing". Overall I was amazed at not only how much was covered in a single book, but at how valuable the information was that was provided. I recommend this book. I can see it as a text source for video editing instructors, and for anyone that wants to get started in the craft of editing.
Rating: 
Summary: Rock solid advice
Review: I came across this book through an online community of documentary filmmakers, where I also had the opportunity to get some direct advice from Robert Goodman, one of the authors behind "Editing Digital Video". I must say that all his individual comments and recommendations have, with no exception, turned out to be most useful and accurate, be it about Mini-DV or High Definition. This book is a brilliant and up-to-date compendium of this rock solid advice.
Rating:
Summary: A True Eye Opener
Review: I've been in the marketing communications field for twenty years. During my tenure, I have worked in a variety of professional environments - from one of the world's largest marketing communications and advertising agency networks to operating my own small consultancy out of a home offfice. And, everything in between. Obviously, in larger organizations there are typically support personnel to develop and produce all video related efforts. In my past life all I needed to do was properly fill out a requisition form and wait for the results. Now that I'm operating independently, I'm always searching for the most appropriate educational resources to support my efforts in developing the best work I'm capable of. Upon discovering Editing Digital Video by McGrath and Goodman, I knew I found the perfect tool to enable me to more thoroughly understanding and orchestrate the many nuances associated with producing and editing professional videos. This book is a must-have for anyone needing to understand the road to better video editing and production.
Rating:
Summary: Needs editing!
Review: I've never posted an Amazon review before, but I've got to share the irony that this book is the worst-edited book I've ever read. The material is good and I'm learning a lot, but there is an enormous amount of redundancy. Beyond that, there are more than a few grammatical errors, accidentally-inserted words or characters, and odd and oddly-used metaphors. I realized when I started to laugh out loud at the text that I needed to share this. Someone EDIT this please!
Rating:
Summary: Editing Digital Video a must for beginners
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Invaluable
Review: 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 terminology Cons:
* No finished professional edit of the project
* More detailed info on professional techniques would be nice
Rating:
Summary: This one delivers
Review: 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 Jones Independent writer/producer/director
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic combo of aesthetic and technical know-how.
Review: This book actually comes through on both fronts--it provides sound technical advice and instruction as well as excellent guidance in aesthetic and formal issues. I'd recommend it to anyone seeking to get into video editing and even to more advanced editors looking for new ideas.
Rating:
Summary: Great comprehensive guide
Review: This book does a super job of explaining all the techniques of editing digitally without walking or talking like a boring, old textbook. It made even difficult concepts easy to understand, and it explained them in a conversational, even humorous way. It really helped me learn quickly and easily! You wanna get up to speed on digital editing quickly (and know what the pros know)? I highly recommend rushing a copy of this book to your house immediately!
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