Product: Exploring Digital Video, Second Edition by Lisa Rysinger Publisher: Thomson Delmar Learning ISBN-13: 978-1-4180-4206-6 Price: $49.99 US Media: Book with DVD (QuickTime needed) Level: Beginner Rating: 4.5 out of 5

The subtitle of this book, "A Definitive Guide to Digital Video Technology & Techniques Featuring Today's Best Pro Editing Applications," succinctly captures its content... I should stop there with my review because in a nutshell that is what this book is about. But what the subtitle does not divulge is the clear and concise manner in which this book is written and the wonderful updated information in the Second Edition. Lisa Rysinger is a teacher by profession and has the gift of clear communication with her audience. She leaves no stone unturned when it comes to finding ways to communicate a difficult topic in an easy and unintimidating manner. She tackles all the complicated topics relating to digital video technology with an enviable ease of understanding.

For example, the topic of rendering and outputting digital video is among the most important concepts to understand and apply. After a person takes wonderful digital video footage, they need to know how to render the audio and the video so that it looks and sounds great for their audience. Nothing is more disappointing and discouraging than to have spent a lot of time shooting video footage and when it comes time to share it, you find out that it looks terrible because you didn't know what your were doing. Chapter 10 in the book, in a very precise manner, walks the reader through what settings to use for each media so the output is just beautiful.

The book contains lots of black-and-white graphics to illustrate concepts. It is well organized by topics, and includes a QuickTime DVD. At the end of each chapter are review questions and exercises to reinforce learning.

This is a must-have book for the video professional or hobbyist. It is available from Amazon.com, but please buy it there through the link below, to give Lisa the "referal credit." Lisa Rysinger is the owner of VIDE Productions (www.vide.com) and a member of the MUGSNJ (Macintosh Users Group of Southern New Jersey) and SJAUG (Southern New Jersey Apple Users Group) groups.