THE MOST FREQUENTLY ASKED
VIDEO EDITING SOFTWARE QUESTION

Since we began offering our highly affordable Easy-Scout Professional video editing software, football coaches often ask the same question ...

Question:  What do the much higher priced ($3000 and up) video editing programs do that yours does not do?

Answer:   As a general rule, these more expensive programs have a different approach to capturing video than that which is used by Easy-Scout Professional.  This enables them to create play "timing marks" automatically, and some coaches feel the time savings justify the cost differential. In Easy-Scout Pro, the user watches each play and sets the desired Start and End of the video for that play. 

Most of the products that perform video capture require a specific type of camera or capture device (firewire usually) and work only with one type of video file format.   Many video editing products do not perform their capture function through a USB-connected camera or capture device, and some that attempt to do it, can make "mistakes".  Furthermore, few if any can work with video that is on a DVD unless, it too is captured, and when they do the ability to automatically index plays is often not available.

Easy-Scout Professional does not capture video, but rather allows a user to choose any camera, capture device or software that can transfer the video to  the PC in one of our supported formats. This includes the programs that are included in Windows XP and Vista (such as Windows Movie Maker) that are free, easy-to-use, and work quite well and video-editing suites from companies like Corel, Cyberlink Roxio, and Pinnacle (Windows 7 Users should capture video with one of the Video Editing suites rather than Windows Move Maker).

In addition, Easy-Scout Professional works with video that is converted from a DVD when one of our recommended DVD Ripper or Digital Video suites is used.

Question:  Is that the main difference?

Answer:  From a feature/function standpoint, coaches tell us that this is the primary difference - at least so far as what our research tells us are the most essential functions.

Software is a creative effort, so there will be many differences in the way different products are designed and operate, and there will be differences in features from one to another.  In addition, more expensive products may offer features such as voice recognition, that are important to some users.

Question:  So, where do your video editing products fit the best?

Answer: Our video editing products fit best at the High School level, although on the basis of their scouting (data analysis and tendency reporting) capabilities, our products are also suitable for any college at any level.  We know this because we have many colleges as customers and have been told this repeatedly over the years. We also have had a few Division 1A college customers in recent years.

By not competing in the feature "arms race", we are able to offer a clear alternative to expensive video editing software that costs thousands of dollars to purchase, and thousands more in required maintenance fees over the life of the software. Our products accomplish the main video editing tasks at an affordable price (usually thousands of dollars less in the up-front price) and hundreds of dollars per year when the ongoing cost of support and maintenance is considered.

For many schools and coaches, this represents an appropriate balance of features/functions/benefits and cost of ownership.

Question:  What do you mean by cost of ownership ?

Answer: When we talk about  "cost of ownership", we mean all of the costs related to acquiring, maintaining and using a product.  We believe a lot of video editing software is geared toward the needs, resources and budgets of college football programs. 

When a High School football coach finds that it is necessary to add a "video coach" to a staff, or to allocate a significant portion of his discretionary budget each year ($500 per year or more for many video editing software applications) - just to receive technical support and updates, the value proposition for Easy-Scout Professional becomes more appealing to many.

COST OF OWNERSHIP = PRICE+ ANNUAL FEES+ STAFF COST