New Final Cut Pro 4 Book Focuses on Editing Technique

San Francisco, Calif.--As Final Cut Pro grows in sophistication andfunctionality, it is increasingly difficult to maintain a focus on itsessential task--editing. Novices are especially prone to concentrate onmastery of the application as an end in itself.

Final Cut Pro 4 Editing Essentials (CMP Books, December 2003)focuses on the craft of editing with eight tutorials that providehands-on experience designed to instill the same principles andtechniques taught in film schools. "Tom Wolsky is a mastercommunicator. His years as an educator backed by his years of broadcastexperience with ABC News, make this new book a must-read," according toRon and Kathlyn Lindeboom, founders of www.creativecow.net.

Step-by-step instructions help readers hone their editing craftwhile performing all the essential tasks, including capturing material,organizing it, editing, adding transitions, applying basic titling andsound techniques and outputting from the application. The companion DVDcontains all the required tutorial media.

"The changes in Final Cut Pro 4 are numerous and sometimes quiteconfusing. ... Tom Wolsky cuts through all this confusion masterfullyand in a few short hours you are up and running and thinking a wholenew way of editing in Final Cut Pro," praises Michael Horton, presidentof the Los Angeles Final Cut Pro User Group.

Wolsky guides readers to an understanding of the new editingparadigm in this latest version of FCP. Fundamental changes in the waythe application controls, organizes, and interlinks media and clips cansignificantly affect an editor’s workflow.

Philip Hodgetts, "The Software Guy" on DVGuys.com, says: "Tomdoesn't mandate how you should work but presents the alternatives inthe context of a typical project. His tips keep novice users out ofcommon traps or misunderstandings with as much as is necessary butnothing that's not."

Tom Wolsky is an honors graduate of the London School of FilmTechnique with more than 30 years of professional experience spanningfilm, tape and digital production. Career highlights include working onBBC documentaries and dramas, producing ABC News programs, managingtape operations and news editors, as well as the occasionalscreenwriting gig. Tom operates an independent studio, South CoastProductions. In recent years, he has acted as a guide on a number ofonline forums, published articles in DV and Macworld magazines andtaught in many venues including the Digital Media Academy at StanfordUniversity.

CMP Books' (www.cmpbooks.com)DV Expert Series delivers more of the same hands-on techniques andcreative approaches that professionals have come to expect from DVmagazine. Industry leaders including Trish and Chris Meyer, Jay Rose,Ralph LaBarge and Tom Wolsky address subjects ranging from lighting andproduction to NLEs, Adobe After Effects, audio production, DVDproduction and compression.

CMP Media LLC (www.cmp.com) is aleading integrated media company providing essential information andmarketing services to the technology industry.