Sports Scholarships

Sports Videos

Improve your child's chances for a sports scholarship.

CREATE A SPORTS VIDEO TO APPLY FOR COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIPS.


My child is a fine athelete.


Looking for a sports scholarship for your son or daughter? One of the best ways to present your child to the college decision-making process is through a videotape that showcases his or her talents. The tape must be short, about six minutes in length to have the best chance of being viewed.

When should I start?


Start early in your child's sports activities. If possible, you should create one tape after each year of your child's high-school. Sending out progress tapes each year alerts the coaches that a prospect is coming along.

Use a good quality camcorder and ALWAYS tape ONLY on the SP (Standard Play) setting of your camcorder. Recording at the EP (Extended Play) or SLP (Super Long Play) modes will result in poor-quality images which will only get worse as they are copied through the editing and duplication processes.

How do I do this?


When you tape action, keep your child in the center of the screen as much as possible, while also showing his or her interaction with other participants. Team play is vital. Never wait until the play starts to press the RECORD button of the camera. It takes a second or two before recording begins so you may lose vital parts of the action. Tape is cheap! These events are not replaceable so don't miss them. Also, keep recording for a second or two after the play ends to be certain you have all the action and to leave room for the edit to take place.

What else do I need?


Next, sit your child down in front of the camera and have him or her state their name and give a brief summary of their school activities and their goals in their own words. This segment should be no more than thirty seconds in length. Their marks and grade standing are very important as well as all extra curricular activities in which they are involved. Most schools stress the desirability of well-rounded students.

What do I do with these tapes?


When your tapes are completed, typically at the end of the season, bring or send them to us. We will create and return to you copies of your tapes with a digital clock running in the picture. This is called a 'time-code' copy of your tape. There is a $5.00 charge for each tape we prepare in this manner. The tapes, however, become your property and you can use it later as you wish.

What do those numbers mean?


You then watch the time-coded tapes through your home VCR and select the segments you wish to have inserted in the final tape. This 'Time Code' consists of four groups of two digits each.
00:00:00:00
The leftmost digits represent hours of video, the next two, minutes and the third group, seconds. The two digits on the right represent 'frames' of video and change at the rate of 30 frames per second. You may ignore these two rightmost numbers.

For instance, on Tape 1, you may select the segment from 00:01:45:00 (one minute forty-five seconds) to 00:02:15:00 (two minutes fifteen seconds), a thirty-second segment. You will record this as shown in the example below. The next segment may be from Tape 3 and may encompass from 00:45:20:00 (forty-five minutes twenty seconds) to 00:45:30:00 (forty-five minutes thirty seconds); which is ten seconds in duration. This is also shown below.

Tape
Start
Finish
Length
Title
:10
See Note
1
00:01:45:00
00:02:15:00
:30
3
00:45:20:00
00:45:30:00
:10
-----
-----
-----
-----
6:30
When you have completed selecting the segments you wish to use, we suggest you add up all the times to ensure that your final tape is no more than six or eight minutes in length.

Then you'll put it together?


You may retain the time-code tapes and simply mail or fax us your edit list. (You may keep the time-code tapes and use them as you wish - as blank tapes for instance, to record further games, or in your VCR.) We will then integrate your selected video segments to create your master tape. We will then send you a copy for your approval. When you approve the final tape, we will duplicate the quantity of tapes you require and forward them to you. If the length of your tape is no more than eight minutes, each copy will cost no more that $5.35, and will be somewhat less if you order more than ten copies.

How much will this cost?


Here is a summary of the costs involved. There is a base editing charge of $50.00. Each edit segment you select will cost $3.00. You will be provided two graphic titles to be used as you wish at no cost. Each graphic title you add will cost $4.00. We will, however, include a continuous running title superimposed over the video of the name and number of the player at no added cost.

How about extra copies?


As previously mentioned, if your final tape is less than ten minutes in duration, your duplication cost will be no more than $5.35 each. If you have fewer than five copies duplicated, however, there will be a one-time setup charge of $5.00.

We can also provide you with hard plastic cassette cases with custom-printed slip-in labels. These labels can even be printed with a picture of the athlete taken from a photo or from the tape. Ask us about prices for these added features.

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