Adam Dachis with Basics of Video Editing Series at Lifehacker

On of the ways I learned photography when I was a teen was to read the stripped photography magazines* I could buy for 50 cents. I didn't understand any of the terms or the equipment.

What I would do was start at the first ad, read that and then keep reading until I found an article that explained the word in the ad. Crude methods but effective.


Adam Dachis over at Lifehacker has written a primer guide to video editing for the Night School series of posts. Adam does have a video that introduces the software and text for those that don't have time to watch the video. He is using professional level software like Final Cut Pro and Adobe Premier.

I would ask that you would approach this will an open mind. Just watch or read, let it soak in and get comfy. When you get to the next post in the series you will understand just a bit more.

That is how you learn, by being exposed to new ideas and concepts. Your goal? To make the connections.

* Back in the late 1960s Bookstore owners who had outdated or un-sold comic books, magazines and books were required to strip the title or cover and mail that back to the publisher. Then they were to throw away the item.

Well, some of them discovered that you could do a good business by having the stripped items sell for 25 or 35 cents. People would buy a 2 month old Home and Garden for 15 cents. Those of us who were/are book-a-holics came out with bags of the stuff.

Information recycling. All kinds of people were discovering new works, readers and experiences.

Everybody was happy. Except the publishers. By the mid 1970s there was a serious crack down on the practice. By the late 70s no bookstore was allowed to sell the stripped stock. That's why in some books you'll see a warning notice that a book sold without a cover is a very bad thing.