Pinnacle Studio 10 is the latest version of the industry leading home video editing tool aimed at the Windows consumer market. In Pinnacle Studio 10 for Windows: Visual QuickStart Guide, veteran journalist and teacher Jan Ozer tackles Pinnacle Studio version 10 in classic and popular QuickStart style--with step-by-step instructions, plenty of illustrations, and straightforward language. Jan provides the skinny on all popular Studio 10 features like built-in DVD authoring with motion menus and custom navigation; Pan and Zoom, enabling users to quickly create engaging video slideshows from digital photos; SmartMovie II, a tool that let's you create home movies in minutes; dual monitor display; key framing special effects in real-time; and the Instant DVD Recorder. He also covers key Pinnacle Studio Plus 10 features including picture in picture (PIP); Chroma Key effects (green screen); and full HD editing, particularly creating HD slide shows from digital photos.

Corporations, government offices, and academic institutions have long used video to educate and inform. The only thing that's changed is the people who are producing them: With low-priced equipment and easy-to-use software flooding the market, now you're the person behind the camera, not some high-priced video specialist! This is the guide for you, then-and all of the other nonprofessionals who've been called upon to produce top-quality videos. Long on essentials-like where to place the camera, how to connect microphones, and which font to use in titles-and short on theory, this guide focuses instead on the simple steps and best practices needed to produce great videos. Veteran author Jan Ozer gives you the lowdown on shooting, audio, and lighting before describing the workflow and procedures involved in converting raw DV footage to streaming video and DVDs, and distributing the final product. For software-specific guidance, you can purchase downloadable PDF workbooks that use the book's projects to walk you through the production process (click here for more information).
 

So you fancy yourself a filmmaker? Here to ensure that you truly are is a simple, to-the-point guide that leads you through the process of creating your very first digital video project with Adobe's brand-new consumer-level video editing software, Premiere Elements ($99). In these pages veteran author and PC Magazine contributing editor Jan Ozer gets right to the point: Rather than explore every option and feature of Premiere Elements, Jan uses project-based instruction and big, colorful screen shots to demonstrates the quickest, easiest, and smartest route to cinematic success. Each short lesson builds on the last as you learn how to capture and import video; add transitions, titles and effects; take advantage of the program's stunning templates; use the program with Photoshop Elements to edit and incorporate still images; and output your finished video to DVD. The book's small size and even smaller price ($12.99) make it the perfect entry point into the world of digital filmmaking as well as the ideal jumping-off point for further exploration (click here for more information).

PC Magazine's Jan Ozer takes on the most popular Windows-based DV editing software in classic Visual QuickStart style. If you want to explore both video-editing and DVD authoring, there's now an affordable tool--Pinnacle Studio 9 ($99, available Feb, 2004)-- and an affordable book that gives you the background in DV and DVD production technologies to do so effectively. In Pinnacle Studio 9 for Windows: Visual QuickStart Guide, veteran journalist and teacher Jan Ozer tackles Pinnacle Studio 9 in typical QuickStart style--that is, with step-by-step instructions, plenty of illustrations, and straightforward language. The guide initiates readers in the art and craft of digital video editing for streaming-media and DVD. Chapters on project planning and a primer on how to shoot good video for DVD and the Web precede Ozer's task-based instructions explaining every aspect of the program--from capturing and importing video to creating transitions and titles, and outputting the final product (click here for more information).

You've seen your friends' camcorder-shot, digitally edited home movies-and you're pretty sure you can do better! However, that doesn't mean you want to spend days (or even weeks) learning everything there is to know about the free video editing software at the heart of your Windows XP OS. You learn by doing-and this guide delivers. In these pages, veteran author Jan Ozer gets right to the point, using simple project-based instruction and big, colorful screen shots to guide you through the process of editing your very first video project with Movie Maker. By focusing on a single goal (making that first movie) rather than exploring every option and feature, Jan demonstrates the quickest, easiest, smartest route to cinematic success. Each short lesson builds on the last as you learn how to create transitions, titles, wipes, dissolves, freeze frames, and more in the process of editing your video into a finished film that you can then post on the Web or copy to CD or DVD  (click here for more information).

Just because you have the built-in software to transform your homemade videos into compelling, creative content doesn't necessarily mean you have the know-how to do so. For that you need this no-nonsense task-based guide. In these pages video guru Jan Ozer uses simple, step-by-step instructions peppered with plenty of visual aids and loads of time-saving tips to show you how to use Microsoft's Movie Maker 2 video-editing software (which is included with Windows XP) to edit your videos and share them with family and friends. Providing a visual approach to a visual product, Jan shows you how to start making movie magic instantly and effortlessly with the transitions, title options, and 2-D special effects included in Movie Maker 2. You'll learn how to create wipes, dissolves, freeze frames, and more in the process of producing a finished product that you'll be proud to email to friends, post on your Web site, or copy to CD or DVD (click here for more information).

Digital cameras for still pictures have become pretty commonplace, but digital video remains less widely adopted. This must be purely because of equipment cost, because everyone with a recent-model personal computer has access to excellent editing software, and has all the required data ports. PC Magazine Guide to Digital Video shows how to capture, edit, and publish digital movies with the tools available for the Microsoft Windows operating system. This is a fairly comprehensive guide meant for someone who's never had training in videography, doesn't really know about the multimedia file formats Windows uses, and doesn't want to invest a lot of money in professional-grade software for editing and publishing. It's all you need to take some digital home movies, edit them so they're not too boring, and burn them to DVD for distribution to the remote parts of the family.

Jan Ozer explains how to shoot video properly in the first place, offering advice on lighting, composition, and action. Then, focusing on Windows Movie Maker and (to a lesser degree) Pinnacle Studio, he walks the reader through techniques for chopping up the raw footage, disposing of the dull parts, and reassembling the rest into a coherent storyline. Titling and other production techniques get attention, too. His style is highly example driven, and easy to follow (click here for more information).

What once seemed exotic has now become commonplace, as more and more people are discovering the joys of distributing photos and videos on DVDs they've created with MyDVD, Sonic Solutions¿ wildly popular DVD authoring program. Here to make the process even more accessible is MyDVD 5 for Windows: Visual QuickStart Guide, the first guide to tackle the manual-less app. In these pages, veteran author and PC Magazine contributing editor Jan Ozer takes a task-based approach to DVD authoring, in the process explaining everything from installing capture hardware to editing videos, designing menus, adding soundtracks, and burning the DVD. Step-by-step instructions, time-saving tips, and loads of visuals make it easy for you to take advantage of all MyDVD's many capabilities: creating motion-video menus and animated buttons, re-editing previously burned DVDs, and moving video content easily between set-top DVD recorders and PCs. You don¿t have to be a video expert to start creating expert content with MyDVD and this handy guide (click here for more information).

PC Magazine’s Jan Ozer takes on the most popular Windows-based DV editing software in classic Visual QuickStart style.

• Pinnacle Studio is one of the most popular Windows-based DV editing packages on the market with an installed base of 3.5 million!
• As PC Magazine’s DV reviewer, Jan Ozer is a high-profile author whose books have been highly reviewed.
• Newest software version merges video editing and DVD authoring; this volume covers both—as well as the DV production technologies behind them.

Click here for more information.

Publishing Digital Video is an excellent book for Windows users who want to learn to capture, edit, compress, and render digital video. Author Jan Ozer starts out by defining basic concepts, such as compression, bandwidth, streaming video, and streaming audio. He explains the primary codecs for Internet delivery (ClearVideo, VDOLive, VXtreme, and VivoActive) and those for CD-ROM delivery (Cinepak, IVI, Indeo, Power!Video Pro, TrueMotionS, Video1, MPEG-1, and Smacker), rating their performance in high-and low-action movies and at different resolutions and compression rates. You can compare shots of video stills from each test as well. Ozer also teaches you the difference between analog and digital video standards and explains how to shop for and install a video capture board, and how to capture and edit video using Adobe Premiere, Asymetrix's Digital Video Producer, and Ulead's MediaStudio. There's also a lot of hands-on advice for using encoders such as Indeo and Cinepak, using low-end MPEG-1 tools, and learning about the higher end, newer MPEG-2. You can work with practice files and a software program, VCS Play, which are on the CD-ROM that's included. VCS Play lets you play two videos simultaneously to compare codecs, bandwidth, and display rate. The CD-ROM also includes the book itself in Adobe Acrobat (.PDF) format; if you read on-screen, you can click the video stills to watch the test videos in action.

Covers all aspects of video compression, focusing on software-only technologies. Introduces digital video and video compression theory and Video for Windows, and tracks the video creation process from capture to compression. Covers sound synchronization, capture board installation, MPEG, and filming for the digital platform. The accompanying CD-ROM contains a video utility and samples of clips captured by various boards.