The Digital Video Manual
Robert Hull and Jamie Ewbank
Carlton, £16.99
ISBN 1-84222-515-4

This book describes itself as ‘an essential, up-to-date guide to the equipment, skills and techniques of digital videomaking’, with ‘200 photographs and specially commissioned diagrams’. If it was what it claims to be, it would certainly fill a need.

Unfortunately, it isn't. You can get the picture from the first chapter: a 'Brief History of Camcorders', with lots of photographs of cameras. The book appears to have been written for (and by) camcorder hobbyists rather than film-makers.

The book does contain some useful information and advice, but this is often let down by the lack of adequate illustrations. For example, the section on lighting could have been much clearer if it had included good line diagrams linked to photographs which clearly showed the effect of different setups on the image. Instead, there are colour cartoons which are worse than useless. Very few of the photographs appear to have been specifically commissioned for the book. Most are clearly library pictures chosen for vague relevance to the text, holiday snaps, or pictures of camcorders or people holding them.

The coverage of some areas is feeble: for example, as the authors correctly but clumsily point out, "audio has always been something of a troubling matter for camcorders." You might assume from this that the book would contain a substantial section on the choice and use of external microphones. Instead, a paragraph of under 200 words describes the difference between dynamic and electret microphones, and sensitivity patterns. It doesn't mention tieclip microphones ( there is a picture of one, but the caption doesn't say what it is), radio microphones or windshields - and though the caption says "Use the right microphone for the right purpose" it doesn't give any indication of what is the right microphone for the right purpose. I found much more useful information in ten minutes using Google.

Large sections of the book are atrociously written, in a cliched and jocular style. The publishers don’t appear to have gone to the expense of employing a sub-editor, despite two people being credited with ‘editorial’. The whole book appears to have been put together quickly and cheaply to cash in on the growing popularity of digital video: it's certainly not worth £16.99.

Tom Barrance

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www.MediaEd.org.uk, the UK media and moving image education site