Product Description
In the Macintosh world, Apple’s digital hub tools–iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, and iDVD—are the driving force behind the convergence of digital media and digital devices. You can use these tools to entertain, educate, persuade, and inspire your audiences at home, school, and work. To help you master this elegant and fun desktop studio, there’s no better place to turn than The Macintosh iLife.
Updated to cover iTunes 3, iDVD 3, iPhoto 2, iMovie 3, new iPod models, and the conversion to .Mac, a fee-based Web service replacing the previously free iTools Web service, The Macintosh iLife is a unique book-DVD hybrid that provides an interactive tour of the digital hub. Written by noted digital media expertJim Heid, a contributing editor of Macworld since 1984 and a Macintosh columnist for the Los Angeles Times, it uses clear, to-the-point text, gorgeous illustrations, and interactive video to do justice to the digital hub’s enormous capabilities. The book-DVD combo addresses the basic concepts behind the digital hub, like how to balance file size and image quality in digital photography and how to create effective DVD menus. It also tackles more advanced concepts, like how to record Internet radio for later playback, prepare video for Web distribution, and get digital photos printed onto mugs and mousepads. Updated chapters include completely new sections covering iTunes 3′s Smart Playlists, iDVD’s AppleScript support, the iPod’s new calendar features, and more!
The accompanying DVD-Video disc contains two hours of entertaining instruction covering all of Apple’s i-programs. You’ll see how to produce professional-looking digital media, and you’ll see hardware add-ons that will round out your digital studio. Beautiful to look at and enjoyable to watch, The Macintosh iLife is your user manual for the digital lifestyle!Amazon.com Review
A DVD/book combo–what a great idea! Think of The Macintosh iLife: An Interactive Guide to iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, and iDVD as “iReading.” You get a 90-minute movie that allows you to peer over author Jim Heid’s shoulder as he demonstrates all the essentials of the four iApps. In iTunes, he shows how to create playlists, change the info tags for a batch of songs, burn a compilation CD, and more advanced features like choosing equalizer settings for each tune. In iPhoto, he shows how easy it is to organize even the largest collection of family pictures, and even how to make minor touch ups. In iMovie, he shows how to create a home movie that won’t put your friends to sleep by incorporating cross fades, an audio track of both ambient sounds and MP3s from iTunes, still images from iPhoto, and titles. He then shows how to use iDVD to create custom menus and chapter openings.
You can watch the book’s DVD on the computer and hit pause whenever you feel like practicing something for yourself. The book goes into even greater detail on each iApp, for example, covering cross fades in iTunes, working with multiple libraries in iPhoto, and tweaking variations of the Ken Burns effect in iMovie. In bonus chapters and sidebars, Heid goes in depth on related topics like the inner workings of an iPod, tips for taking better digital photos and movies, and how to hook up a TV for improved playback while editing in iMovie.
Anyone working in OS X, even seasoned Mac users, will learn new techniques, timesaving tips, and lots of ideas on how to get the most out of everything the iLife promises. And it may even turn skeptics who thought this was just another advertising gimmick into giddy converts. –Angelynn Grant
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I’ve been waiting for this book to release since I saw the brochure on it at Macworld SF, and I must admit that I’m sorely disappointed. The book only weighed in at 193 pages, of which 19 pages is the index. (So, a tenth of the book is its index!) Considering the subject matter, the book is very light, and the DVD seems to be more of a marketing tool for Apple than an “interactive guide to iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, and iDVD”. One thing that really seemed out of place can be found on p. 61, and is labeled as “Inside the iPod”. Please tell me how a diagram of the iPod’s guts is relevant to creating movies and DVDs?
Another oddity can be found on p. 11, showing the FireWire and USB connectors and the sockets found on the back of an iMac’s base. With the FireWire plugs, there’s a diagram of the FireWire 800 plug, but that won’t fit in the FireWire 400 socket on the iMac. With the USB plugs, the author shows plugs for connecting to peripherals (scanners and digital cameras) along with what plugs into the back of the iMac. Why? Plugging a device into your Mac is pretty simple; why take up precious space covering wires and plugs? The first chapter, “Introducing iLife” doesn’t really add much value to the book (and is 15 pages long).
There are a few good things in the book, but you have to wade through the chaff (and cheesy clipart) to find the rare nugget. My recommendation is that you should save your cash and wait for updates to the Missing Manuals.
Amazon User Rating: 1 / 5
Jim Heid doesn’t waste time about getting into doing things with the iLife suite. The DVD alone is worth the purchase price if you’re a new or novice user. I use the iDVD portion of the DVD with beginning students to video editing. It’s a no nonsence approach that keeps things moving.
Amazon User Rating: 5 / 5
As a typical instruction-manual-phobic kinda guy, this is a delight. The real clincher is the well-presented DVD tutorial, so I can sit back and learn on “autopilot”.
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This is the sort of guide that Apple should be shipping with every Mac.
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Amazon User Rating: 5 / 5
Thank goodness Mr. Heid doesn’t use a lot of technical jargon. He writes this book as if he is explaining the iLife features to his best friend. The book is easy to follow and interesting enough to read cover to cover, but it’s also concise enough that I keep it with me just to look up specific sections when I need help with that.
The DVD that comes with the book contains many examples and techniques and is very easy to follow. I learned quite a bit by watching and reading. If you want some basic help with the iLife apps, get this book. You will learn some things and say “Oh, that’s how you do that. Cool!”
Amazon User Rating: 5 / 5
It’s November 2004 as I write this, and I’m surprised and a little distressed to see that this book is still selling fairly well.
Why distressed? Because this book is an older edition that covers the 2003 iLife product.
If you’re using iLife ’04, be sure to check out the new edition of my book/DVD, called — amazingly enough — “The Macintosh iLife ’04.” Every page has been updated for iLife ’04, and the DVD is completely new, too.
Of course, if you’re still using the original iLife suite — or if you want the older DVD, which contains material not present in the ’04 edition — this is the book/DVD for you.
Amazon User Rating: 5 / 5