The Little Digital Video Book
Michael Rubin
Peachpit Press
ISBN 0-201-75848-2
US $19.99 CA $29.95 UK £14.99
178 pages

As a long time personal computer user and software junkie, I have a bookshelf full of computer software “how-to” books. I’m not ashamed to say I’ve only read a handful from cover to cover. Most wind up being additional resources to the manual, or “missing manual” and I use them like I do a good encyclopedia, skipping around to the parts I really want to understand.
There’s a better than even chance that you’re reading this review and smiling to yourself, having acquired your own library of computer software how-to books, also only partially read.

This book won’t fit in with those. In fact, go to your book shelf where you keep those novels you couldn’t put down once you started reading them, and make a place about 1/2″ wide and a little over 9″ tall to be the home for The Little Digital Video Book once you’ve bought it and read it through twice. That’s right, it’s even better the second time through! I promise.

The author, Michael Rubin, is eminently qualified to write about digital video. He’s the expert’s expert. He was with George Lucas in “the beginning.” His film and video text, Nonlinear, now in its fourth edition, is considered the hallmark text on the whole idea of nonlinear film editing. I have not read that book. It was not written to me. I am not a digital video geek.

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