Final Cut Pro Portable Genius 1st Edition

I've been video editing on Final Cut Pro for about ten years now and I'm always looking for more information on ways to improve my work which is why I purchased this book. While this book may be very interesting to readers who are still new to editing and Final Cut specifically, I flipped through this book and couldn't find one specific tutorial that I wasn't already familiar with. I was looking for a guide of clever tips and shortcuts to improve my skills and work flow but ended up with a refresher guide to Final Cut editing. While the quality of this book is good, I don't see this being useful for experienced editors.

If you know nothing about FCP, do NOT buy this book. The description on Amazon is misleading. They do not mention that you need to be familiar with the program, as far as I could see. It wasn't until I hit a total road block on Chapter 4 - Which Editing Technique Fits My Style - when I suspected this might not be the book for me because the author suddenly went way over my head. So I decided to go back and read the introduction and found this --- "Final Cup Pro Portable Genius is designed for those who are familiar with Final Cut Pro but are looking to take their editing skills to the next level." First off, I"m not sure "familiar" is an accurate enough description, but whatever. Second, on the very next page, there's a paragraph titled "For those new to Final Cut Pro," which offers a recommendation that you read through the entire chapter one---which seems a bit contradictory. This is all very disappointing to me because I'm really eager to learn this program but now I have to buy another book (or maybe find an online training course), which is going to put me behind my schedule. Oh well.

I was pleasantly surprised by the depth and breadth of knowledge doled out in this handy guide. Without being neither overly generalized (if there is such a word) nor dumbed down for novices only, I was able to glean a vast amount of insight from the text (and I consider myself an advanced user). Abundant in tips, pictures and value, this book makes for a great reference source based on its size, advice it imparts, and bang for your buck. Highly recommended over the Peachpit FCP7 book as an introductory text. Kudos to Apple, the publisher and the author!

this just was not a very helpful book. I'm sure there are better, more thorough books out there...prob even from the "dummies" series. I ended up using online tutorials from lynda which were far more helpful than this book. Luckily I got it used for pretty cheap. But still I Do NOT recommend.

This book really helped me a lot in learning how to use Final cut pro and enhance my videos, this was a great purchase for me and I highly recommend this to anyone wanting to learn this application.

Small - easy read. Contains useful information on FCP & Mac OS platform that is not covered in many of the larger "how too" manuals & training series.Well worth the price!

If you use final cut sparingly or all the time, you should own this book. This is a great book to have for reference, or just to learn something new!

Final Cut Pro Portable Genius There couldn't have been better timing! I installed a new Final Cut Pro suite just in time for "Final Cut Pro Portable Genius" to be available. What a life saver this handbook has been, it never leaves my side while I'm editing. I have always considered myself to be more of an artist than an engineer or a computer genius. "Final Cut Pro Portable Genius" takes the guess work out of setting preferences that can critically maximize Final Cut Pro's capability and increase my ability to create an awesome product. The full color diagrams and screen shots throughout the book are easy to follow, and incorporate steps to create any result I can imagine. I am preparing to do my first major project using Final Cut Pro and I am so glad I have "Final Cut Pro Portable Genius"as a reference as I go forward. Help menus are great, but "Final Cut Pro Portable Genius" will be a critical part of my success as a Final Cut Pro editor.Thank you Genius DV!Michael JensenMichael Jensen ProductionsIndianapolis, Indiana

It is an old version not useful