Why Say "No" to DVD's?
DVD's that have been created from digital film can be very impressive. Now, I will admit that I really like watching DVDs on my laptop computer, something I was never been able to do with a VHS tape. However, they do not offer the coach any kind of flexibility.Some states and football conferences, maybe yours, have entered into discussions about changing the format of exchange films for football. During my early years as a coach we exchanged 16mm film. Now, most of us exchange VHS tapes while a few conferences have begun to exchange DVDs.
The guys at Braintree Athletics would recommend the exchange of mini-DV tape. With a mini-DV tape I can make my own DVD, my own VHS tape and most importantly I can import it into my computer and find all the game film clips cut-up into individual clips. With the right software I can move the clips around and make a film study of all of a team's run plays, pass plays or plays that gained more than five yards. I can then make my own DVD or VHS tape of a film study, or a composite DVD that holds several film studies.
I can use a DVD or VHS tape and do the same thing, but I must sit there and tell the computer where each play ends and the next play begins. It is thirty minutes times two or three films a weekend. This task is accomplished automatically if I have digital game film on a mini-DV tape. I will still need to spend the ninety-minutes importing digital video from tape, but I don't have to sit there and watch the game go by. It is not a difficult job, but we all have a lot of things we would rather be doing every Saturday or Sunday in the fall.
Here is a companion article that details making a copy of a digital game film - on a digital tape.
