How do I make a football recruiting or basketball recruiting highlight video – Part 2

As the fourth step in my five steps to a scholarship article, there is little doubt the important of putting together a recruiting highlight video to send out to college coaches.  This may actually be the most important overall step in the hunt for a scholarship and it is vital that you make sure your highlight video is of great quality.

But in order to save money, most parents and athletes want to try and figure out a way to do the video themselves.  While I will not always recommend going down this path, it just depends a great deal on your computer knowledge and if you have worked with video before.  If you are up for the challenge, you should definitely follow the things that I have mentioned in the article, Making a Quality Highlight Video.  But this article is more than just that.  Part one of this article talked about getting the video onto your computer so that you could edit it.  This second part of the article talks about the software choices that you have so you can edit it yourself.

There are going to be a wide range of choices for video editing software.  The biggest thing that you have to find is something that you are comfortable with and can get the job done.  Some of the software also offers a built in DVD burning option, which is very important because they can be expensive to buy on top of the hardware and then the software.

One piece of software that I am familiar with and have used in the past is that from Pinnacle.  This product, called Pinnacle Studio Ultimate Version 12, is something that many do it yourselfers use because it is somewhat of a low cost and pretty easy to use.  The cost of this product is $124.99.  I have previously used Pinnacle software and it does allow you to edit the video and then produce a DVD.  While I have not used this most recent version, one thing that I did dislike about it is that they seem to nickel and dime you.  What I mean by that is you purchase the software but it was somewhat limited.  If you want to do certain things, you have to go online and buy that portion of the software so you can use it.  In my opinion, if you buy the software, everything should be included.

Here are a few other software options available with their price as well:

Adobe Photoshop Elements 6 & Adobe Premiere Elements 4 – $119.99
Corel Ulead VideoStudio 11.5 Plus – $59.99
Apple Aperture 2.0 (For Mac Users) -$159.99
Nero 8 Ultra Edition – $59.99
Roxio Easy Media Creator Suite 10 – $57.99
Final Cut Express 4 (Mac Users) – $199.99

There are also much more expensive options out there but if you are only planning on using this for a one time thing, then it may not be best to pour hundreds and hundreds of dollars into it.  Many of these programs offer free trials that you can download online.  While I won’t be providing the links for these, visit their website so that you can get a good feel for the program.  The last thing you want to do is spend a great deal of money and have a program you hate to use.

The good news about these programs is that many have free tutorials online.  This allows you to find help for different things that you may want to do within your DVD.  Another hint, this time about saving money, is if you work at a college or have the potential to get an academic discount.  Many distributors give huge financial breaks to those that are in academics.  Some employers do the same so speak with those around you about that.

What software is the best choice for making this recruiting highlight video?  That really just depends on what type of program that you are looking for.  Again, make sure that it has the ability to edit video and then burn a DVD.  I am sure most people would rather have it done in one program, although it doesn’t always work that way.

If this is a bit overwhelming, there are two different routes that you can go now that the options have been laid out in front of you.  The first is to try and talk to the high school coach about what options are available with this.  The coach may have a video editing system that you could use.  It would be a huge money saver and allow you avoid going to these steps and spending this money for everything.

The second is just get a professional to do it for you.  Check out www.highlight-videos.com as a I site I would recommend.  There are so many others out there that it is is worth seeing what options are available.  However, make sure the professional that eventually does it knows about the recruiting process.  A videographer who normally does weddings may struggle in knowing what a college coach is looking for.

Click here for part one of this article.