introduction

The Visual QuickProject Guide you're reading offers a unique way to learn new skills. Instead of drowning you in long text descriptions, this Visual QuickProject Guide uses color screen shots with clear, concise step-by-step instructions to show you how to complete a project in a matter of hours.

In this book, I'll be creating a movie and DVD from the video and digital pictures my wife and I shot of my eldest daughter's last birthday. You'll be working with your own video, which may be a birthday video, but could be video from a vacation, graduation, or any other occasion. Though the events may be different, the process of editing the video footage and digital pictures into a finished movie will be almost identical. Thus, you can apply the principles you learn here to your own moviesjust replace "birthday movie" with the occasion of your choice.

We'll be working with Adobe's new video editor, Premiere Elements. Why Premiere Elements? Because for under $100, it offers an excellent suite of editing tools plus the ability to produce great looking DVDs.