Windows Movie Maker 2 Zero to Hero

by Jen DeHaan, John Buechler, Jon Bounds

Book Overview

The Zero to Hero series of books published by friends of ED is targeted at users who are new to the software, with moderate computer skills, yet wish to learn quickly. Other books in the series cover Photoshop Elements 2, Photoshop 7, Fireworks MX, iLife (iMovie 3, iPhoto 2, iTunes 4, iDVD3), Paint Shop Pro 8, Final Cut Express, ActionScript, and Quark XPress.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1590591496
• ISBN13: 9781590591499
• Release Date: July 2003
• Publisher: Apress
• Length: 264 Pages
• Weight: 1.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 7.5" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Fantastic for the DV beginner

I knew nothing about editting video when I got this book - I had a PC and a video camera, but no idea even how to plug them together. Like it says on the cover, "From scratch - fast". If you don't need to learn from scratch, then you'll have to skip bits of the book - but the hero projects are worth their weight in gold to any Movie Maker user.I was surprised by the other review on this page complaining about the book "covering all the bases", so to speak - it's very clear that the book teaches you everything "from scratch" - that's what it's meant to do!

First and best!

I've had this book for a few months now. I was sceptical initally because I hadn't seen any other books about MM2, and hadn't heard of the authors or the seiries, but it really is fantastic- straight to the point and fun too!Each section is divided up into small chunks that answer all the questions you've got about how to make and edit films with your pc. Best of all it doesn't assume anything at all - it's all in there - you simply skip the bits you like.The bit I really liked though was the section at the end, where you are walked through a selection of types of movie that you might make - although getting them to look as good will take some practice.I've seen some other MM books now and I think that this one is by far the best - forget the ones on Movie Maker 1 (they just have Movie Maker -no 2- in the tile) as the programs are just too different, and the Microsoft book is a litle too wordy and makes you follow exercises step-by-step - not quite what you want when you're making your own movies!

'PapaJohn' & Co really hit the spot

One of the authors of this book will be well known to many MovieMaker 2 users as 'PapaJohn' who seemingly answers everyones questions on the online forums and on his website. Well, he and his co-authors cover all the bases in this title, they really give every aspect of MovieMaker throurgh coverage - from import to export!Get this book and you can make pro movies on the cheap too!

Not an inch wasted!

Every page of this book is crammed with information on using Movie Maker 2. You might be under the impression that it is a simple program that dosen't need a manual - but it does if you really want to make movies like a pro, it needs this book!There is a chapter on how to shoot better footage, with great little tips like showing you how to avoid all that camera 'wobble' you see on home movies - even when walking around.It also has troubleshooting tips all the way through that can make using Windows Movie Maker a much less frustrating experience, from how best to set your films to output to editing your movies to replace and correct bad sound - it's all in here.The book is clear with pictures and diagrams all down the pages showign you exactly how to perform each task, and the writers keep on topic and seldom deviate from the tasks in hand.Get this book, and I'll assure you that it'll pay for itslef with the great feeling you get when you premeire you first creation.

full to bursting

Each and every page of this book is covered with either words or pictures, and yet none of them seem to be there just to fill the space - if you know what i mean. The book is encyclopedic, coverign every bit of knowledge that you'll need to edit your home movies on your pc.I've been shootign home movies for years, so some of the first chapter (techniques to maximise the quality of your footage) wasn't news to me, but each tip was obviously born from the same experiences i'd had. How nice it would have been to have read this in a book before having to make the mistakes in the first place.The rest of the book dealls with the entire process of producign movies on your pc, each step copiously ilustrated and explained in the same detail. Best of all the book tries to guess the troubles you could encounter and the mistakes that a first timer can make, and paitnely explains who to avoid each one. The problem with having so much crammed into the book is that if you try to read it all in one sitting you could be overwhelmed, but each part is separate from the others and you can return to, and re-read, the pieces you need as you need them. It can be a little dry in places, but the case studies at the end more than make up for that - they are based on people makign the sort of movie that you will try to make vacations and parties. you can watch the finished results on the book's internet site and they really look professional, it's outstanding that they have been produced with free software.If you've not dipped your toes into the world of digital video editing before then this book will help you make movies you'll not be embarrassed to show people!