Real World CompressionBy Andy Beach
Peachpit Press, 2008, $44.99
www.peachpit.comA manageable 304 pages, fully illustrated, forms yet another practical guide from Peachpit. Real World Compression guides you through the forest of media architectures and codecs to the nitty gritty of applying them to your own work.
New codecs, like Apple’s scalable H.264 and Sorensen Squeeze are explored and Beach doesn’t disappoint. The author is a self-professed geek, starting as a video editor and producer drawn into compression out of need. He keeps this stance firmly in mind as he guides you through productivity tips and best practices in preserving image quality while squeezing as little data as possible through varied delivery pipes. The fact that he isn’t an engineer is a blessing to those of us who need compression solutions with only a small dose of techno-babble.
The author also presents compression linked to editing suites like Final Cut Pro, Avid and Premiere Pro as part of the workflow, and no longer the domain of priesthoods. Yet he interviews some of those priests, like Ben Waggoner, who started out at UMass, Amherst, and wrote an encyclopedic book of his own a few years back, and today works for Microsoft evangelizing Windows Media. Beach also interviews himself.
Here you’ll get a useful tour of today’s codecs, containers, proprietary and open source players, video standards, compression dynamics—the world you’re working in now. That includes chapters on compressing for DVD’s like Blue-Ray®- apparently the winner in the HD-DVD showdown-- and for the web; for set-top boxes like AppleTV and Xbox; for mobile devices and the like.
Hands-on step tutorial recipes give you the flavor of working with many tools available, like Apple’s Compressor, Sorenson Squeeze, done clearly and easily followed. There’s something for every platform and toolset.
You’ve spent enough time and money shooting that gorgeous show. Now treat it right. This book affords a broad view of compression and belongs on any producer’s shelf.
Loren S. Miller, a professional film editor, reports on Macintosh tools for designers and filmmakers. Reach him anytime at 
