Testimonial:
Pinnacle Father and Daughter Real Users: Doak and Michelle Holman
Like most proud, video-camera-armed fathers, Doak Holman has captured nearly every softball and hockey game his 15-year-old daughter, Michelle, has played in. He has also recorded most of her practices, some pizza parties and a few other get-togethers as well. But for Dad, video is more of a tool than a toy; and although he's quick to conceed that making "fun" videos may be good for saving memories, as an "athletic improvement" tool, video can't be beat.
"Kids don't listen to their parents," Doak sighed, "especially when we try to give them constructive criticism about how they're doing in a sport. I could tell Michelle over and over that she's dropping her elbow and she'd look at me like I'm just Dad. But when you add video to the mix, the discussion turns to the media and not the parent-kid relationship. They can see for themselves what they are doing well and where small adjustments can improve their game. Video is objective."
Doak has been using video for athletic improvement for several years, and has found two things to be universally true: 1) kids love to watch themselves on video and 2) once you get a child's attention through the use of video, they are very open and quick to recognize what they are doing well, and where they can improve a little.
"The quicker you can get the player to understand what needs to change, the quicker the change will occur," said Doak. "I use Pinnacle Studio™ not because I'm an Avid employee, but I've tried two other video editing solutions and Studio just makes it really easy for me to quickly narrow down, through the editing tools, what I want Michelle or any other young athlete on her team, to focus on. For example," continued Doak, "a couple of weeks ago I video taped Michelle pitching and using the editing tools, I narrowed down the playback to only what I wanted to see, then I sat down with my daughter to review the film. Turns out, she had developed a slight leaning problem that I would not have seen while catching for her. Without the video, the 'leaning' problem would have gone on for some time and probably at some point caused some injury to her arm. My daughter now knows what to work on and in a couple of weeks, I'll re-film her to make sure she has corrected the problem. The video is also great for reinforcing the things she's doing well and to show her how much she's improved."
Doak began editing the videos he was taking of Michelle because he realized that taking a little time to edit, would not only improve the picture quality, but actually save a lot of time later when reviewing the videos with his daughter.
"I've found that the problem with just playing back the video on the TV, via the camcorder, is that the video is blurry, takes way too long to skip through the video to get to what I want Michelle to see," explained Doak. "The quality of the video within Studio is extremely high, making it very easy to see and diagnose pitching mechanic-type issues. Plus I really like the ability to adjust the frames with just a click of a mouse."
"I like that my Dad videos my practices and games," said Michelle. "He uses Pinnacle Studio to slow down the film so I can see what I'm doing right and what I need to improve, things I need to work on, things I need to fix. It's really hard to look at yourself and see what you're doing without being able to review the video on the computer or TV. I think seeing the videos are better than having the coach or my Dad tell me, because I can see for myself what I need to work on and when I get it right. I'm able to make corrections much faster and improve my game."
Although Michelle agrees with her Dad that video is a great athletic training tool, in her opinion, the best part of video and video editing is saving and sharing fun memories of friends, high school activities and family.
"My Dad videos everything" said Michelle, "my softball pitching, things that have gone on over the summers, things that I've done, things that I want to remember in life and he puts them in videos so I can show my friends and family. He adds pictures to the videos of the places I've been over the summer with softball or over the winters traveling with hockey. Things like that."
But Michelle isn't content with merely sitting back and watching the videos her Dad has created anymore. Since January, she's been tapping into her own creative side, editing and producing her own movies from the videos and photos that her Dad has taken.
"I like to edit too," said Michelle. "I like to go on our computer at home and create videos with Pinnacle Studio; put in some transitions, add some music, include some effects and stuff like that. When I'm done, I like to send the videos to relatives that live across the country that I haven't seen in quite a while. I also created a video of Home Coming and I showed it to my friends and they really liked it. I make videos of sleepovers and stuff like that. So I don't just use it for sports, I use it in other areas too."
Michelle got a lot of her video editing experience at her high school where the students are encouraged to participate in various computer-related activities at school.
"So I kind of know how to work with things on the computer, like PowerPoint and stuff like that," said Michelle. "Pinnacle Studio is different than PowerPoint because you're working with video, so it was a little tricky at first, figuring out what to do and stuff, but after a while you get it and it's really cool to make videos. I actually learned how to use Pinnacle Studio at home," continued Michelle. "It's not that hard to get the hang of, I didn't read the manual or anything, but my Dad did help me with a couple of things that he figured out on his own. The software really lets me be creative and I just love using it. I like the music in it and all the transitions and different pictures and stuff."
Being a high school student and an athlete, Michelle's schedule is pretty busy. Beyond those demands, she's also preparing to graduate and trying to be seen by as many college softball scouts as possible. To relax and unwind from all that pressure, she sits down at her computer, turns on some music and works on her videos.
"It lets me be in my own world where I can create something fun," said Michelle. "For me, the greatest satisfaction I get from making my own videos is that it's something I created and something I've completed. Some of my videos I really enjoy looking at and even though I've seen it once, the pictures, the memories, I really enjoy seeing it over and over again. Sometimes it's personal; sometimes I want to share them with my family and friends. I like having the satisfaction of having something of my own that I did and I'm pretty proud of what I've completed. It just makes me happy that I did something for myself."
According to Michelle, her family is very supportive of her video editing and they have often asked her to teach them how to produce their own movies. Her cousin has even asked her to create a video of her recent trip to Europe.
"She isn't paying me," laughed Michelle, "but I'm workin on it! She at least owes me a movie and a latte afterwards!"
Even if it isn't a paying job, the creativity of making videos has been more than enough to keep Michelle producing. And these days, she isn't the only one on the softball team who's caught the movie making bug, several of her friends have started editing the videos using Pinnacle Studio as well.
"My friends all love creating movies they can show people and give out to show what they've accomplished and the experiences they've had," said Michelle. "I really like the idea of movies that can be shared with other people. My friends and I all share editing tips now and show each other what we've created. It's a lot of fun. Maybe someday you'll see my name on the big screen, hopefully. That would be pretty cool."
Softball scouting video Doak made of Michelle: http://video.yahoo.com/watch/2191957/6938441
About Pinnacle Studio Software version 11
To meet the video authoring and budget needs of consumers, ranging from beginners to experienced users, the award-winning Pinnacle Studio version 11 family of products includes Pinnacle Studio, Pinnacle Studio Plus and Pinnacle Studio Ultimate. Equipped with powerful personal video creation and sharing capabilities, Pinnacle Studio can be used to create Hollywood-style DVDs that can be played on any set-top DVD player or PC. Movies can even be enjoyed on a Sony® PSP™, Apple® iPod® and other portable devices. The Pinnacle Studio version 11 family of products is available now through e-tail and retail stores.