Summary
This visual guidebook grabbed and held my interest with the book's color photos and graphics. The table of contents gives you insight into iLife, iTunes and iPhoto,iMovies, iDVD, Garageband and iWeb.
Pages Worth Bookmarking
Pages viii-xx. Read me first includes how the book works and the website www.maclife.com for video tutorial links. The author, Jim Heid, developed the videos at www.apple.com/life.
Pages 2-3. Computers get personal with a spreadsheet of audio, imaging, video and storage information. Period covered is from 1960s to 2007.
Page 10. iLife keeps you connected. Audio and video podcasts, YouTube and blogs. Also, mentioned are RSS feeds in Safari and net newswire.
Pages 12-13. This has a good illustration of iMac G5 and how to use the iMac G5's rear connections.
Page 22. Audio formats explained. The different encoder options: aac, mp3, Apple Lossless, wav and aiff. Note: The iTunes store delivers music tracks in Apple's aac format and becomes distorted when changed to mp3 and aiff and burned to a CD.
Page 66. Coverflow and Art matter. Using advanced tab to get Album Artwork when using Leopard (Mac OS 10.5) in screensaver with the iTunes visualizer.
Pages 74-75. Learn how you can import old tapes and albums' audio tracks using Griffin Technology's iMic and Final Vinyl. Also, you can use Roxio's CD Spin Doctor.
Note: the new Quicktime 7 Pro allows you to import audio. Impressed with information on Griffin Technology's iMic, I purchased an iMic. I attached an external microphone in the iMic's audio port for voiceovers in both the iMovie HD and Final Vinyl programs. The iMic works quite well on my Mac G4 and iMac G5's 20 inch screen.
Pages 80-81. Excellent tips on using cross fading songs, sounds enhancer and how to crop songs in iTunes.
Page 90. Included are iTunes, applescripts, visualizer plugins and iTunes videos.
Pages 96-97. Give you information on the full-sized iPods: first to second generations. Also, detailed Information on first to fifth generation full-sized iPods.
Pages 290-291. iDVD at a glance with illustrations showing the icons and their various uses.
Pages 296-297. Learn how you can add movies to your DVD using Jim Heid's step-by-step procedures. Also, learn tips for DVD Movies with encoder settings: The very best to the fastest.
Pages 301-302. Refining a slide show with icons fully explained. Also, slide show tips with TV-Safe area so you can avoid cutting off the outer edges of your photos.
Pages 314-315. Burning DVD tips. Learn how to create a disc image to your DVD and how to use Roxio's Toast software.
Pro Reaction
This is a wonderful book for beginners and intermediate iLife users. There are excellent teaching graphics and photos throughout the book. Also included are sidebars and glossaries to help you learn how to use iLife programs. The book has two-page spreads with concise illustrations. This is an excellent way to quickly learn The Mac iLife `08 programs.
Con Reaction
Missing in the index are keyboard commands for the iLife programs. The index print size is small and major sections are not boldfaced. My wish is for a separate iMovie HD and iDVD book by author Jim Heid.
Final Reaction
I highly recommend Jim Heid's Mac iLife `08 Book. This is a very good book for learning how to use iLife `08 programs.
Paul Gerstenbluth is President of the ARIE Foundation and is a Macintosh consultant. The ARIE Foundation's mission is to provide VA hospitalized patients with hobby materials and Macintosh Powerbooks that help in their stay and recovery.
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