QUESTION #4 - How Can I Buy a Copy of the Best of Videos?
EASILY the most frequently asked question. There are multiple options for how to purchase these videos. This is fully explained on the Best of Videos Order Page.
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QUESTION #5 - Can I Buy a Single DVD and then Make Copies for My Friends?
No, the Best of Series Videos are a copyrighted form of intellectual property and protected by all federal laws pertaining to copyright infringement. These DVDs may not be copied and distributed either for free or for sale without the expressed, written concent of Sports Network. Laws pertaining to illegal duplication of these Best of Videos are fairly strict and SNI will prosecute to the fullest extent any cadets or entire units if the duplication is systemic working with their service Headquarters. Individuals or units found in violation of the SNI copyright on these works will not only be charged with a federal offense, the corresponding service headquarters will be contacted about this infringement. What they will choose to do with this information and the penalty given to the offenders will greatly affect the lengths SNI will go to prosecute the case.

SNI made the decision to not include copy protection on the Best of Series DVDs. This protection degrades the overall quality of the videos (causing color shifting and also makes them "glitchy" in some machines) and this is something we feel very strongly about not including in the future as well. SNI has found that making multiple copies of the Best of Series videos available to cities and districts for multiple schools at greatly reduced prices also assists in these anti-piracy efforts.

For individual cadets, instructors or single JROTC units, prices as low as $25 per video have been made available for bulk purchases and will continue to be sold. Selling multiple copies at this low price makes obtaining multiple copies of these fantastic videos both legal and affordable! You should contact SNI directly to make arrangement for obtaining multiple copies of the Best of Series.
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QUESTION #6 - Do the On-Line Orders Always Ship Immediately?
99% of the time, YES! However, all of the orders are fulfilled by John Ladd here in our office within 3 days of placement. When Sports Network International closes our office, the videos do not get fulfilled! Therefore, during the week of Thanksgiving, the office is closed and no orders are shipped, as well as during the two weeks of the Christmas Holiday between mid December and New Years. Also, a delay of several days can also occur if your order is received in the March-April timeframe while SNI is out of town producing one of our many JROTC drill competitions.
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QUESTION #7 - Why Do You Put Only a Part of the Routines on the Videos?
With about 114 minutes of available footage on each video (opening & closing segment of the videos take about 6 minutes), showing whole routines of roughly 7-9 minutes would severely limit the number of schools we would be able to show on each video. This would reduce the various styles and differing routines that we could show. Additionally, some of the routine that we are showing may have been missed by the camera person, or more likely, with only a single camera shooting many routines, the team may have been performing with their back to the camera for an extended period of time or a judge may have blocked the cameras view. This part we omit to not bore the viewer. Doing this makes a performance more enjoyable to watch and keeps the pace of the video moving along a bit faster. Lastly, too many teams simply copy entire routines rather than innovate when entire routines are shown in the exhibition videos. This is not a way to drill excellence - make your own make and put together your own routine!
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QUESTION #8 - But I See Weapon Drops, Rifle Bobbles, Cadet Mis-steps and Other Mistakes -- Why?
When we edit the routines, we try our best to leave the viewer with a good feeling of how the routine went. We do not try to artificially edit the routines to make them look better or worse than they really were -- that is not what we are trying to do. We usually edit only for the sake of time and for the sake of not wasting the viewers time with a portion of the performance that is not worthy of taking valuable "tape time".
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QUESTION #9 - So How Are the Teams Selected to Be on the Video?
Easily, the most asked question! After all the footage that was shot is catalogued, we list every performance. We then put them in order of finish within each event. We try to include as many top ranking performances as possible. We also pay particular attention to the following areas: different service representation, different drill styles, different schools and different teams within a school. We also try to include a fair share of armed and unarmed, as well as males and females. When it is all laid out on paper, we also keep a few teams "in the bullpen" as sometimes the footage we think we have is either not what we believed, or it is just unusable for some reason and we must include a "back-up" team.
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QUESTION #10 - Why Do I See Performances that Are Not That Good?
My father used to tell me that you can learn as much from seeing something done poorly as done well! Once in a while, we will show a performance that has some strengths but also weaknesses. The weakness seems to drag down the entire otherwise solid performance. While ALL of the teams that attend the Nationals do a fantastic job, everyone can have an off-performance. Cadets & instructors viewing this see this right away and can learn from this as much as from a first place performance.
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QUESTION #11 - Why Not Just Put the Best Teams in Each Event on the Video?
Think of the logistics of doing just that. On Saturday, we have six different competition areas going on at once. With only two or three cameras (and not knowing who is going to trophy in what areas), the chances of filming the winners is highly remote. We could get more cameras, but the cost of the videos would soar. Along with that, over the years, we have found that the caliber of the overall teams filmed is lofty and we are proud of the overall caliber of the teams on display on these Best of Videos without additional cameras.
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QUESTION #12 - Why Not Film the Challenge Level Competition and Sell Those Videos As Well?
The market for these videos would be rather limited. With the Masters Level event being filmed, the demand for videos shot at the Challenge Level would come primarily from the 75 or so schools involved on-site at the Challenge Level event, as opposed to the 3,000 JROTC programs and other non-affiliate programs that maintain top-quality drill teams. With the expense of filming this event in a high-quality manner ranging from between $5,000 - $8,000 dollars, it just doesn't make financial sense to film the two events.
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QUESTION #13 - Why Not Film the Events for Each School?
Again, the market would be VERY limited....and the costs per video extraordinarily high! Teams can and do bring camcorders and have fairly open access to most every competition that they take part in.
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QUESTION #14 - Do You Put Only the Things You Personally Like on the Videos?
Oh absolutely not! I primarily enjoy solid, tight, precision routines with awesome bearing -- be it Basic or Exhibition. Rifle throws are great when done with PRECISION I feel they add a lot to any exhibition routine. But things that "push the envelope" as non-military and delve closer to a dance routine or that just plain lack precision, I generally do not enjoy as much. But we put on anything that we fell will benefit a team to see...and even a few things that maybe are just plain cool!

However, contrary to what many people believe, those editing this video do not judge at the Nationals. Therefore, what we at SNI like & dislike is really a point that matters little. What the J-U-D-G-E-S like and dislike, that is what matters. And since this video is viewed by people from all services, from all walks of life, and from all parts of the globe, we try to showcase as many different styles and disciplines that the judges found to be of quality -- I generally do not second-guess the judges (in public!).
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QUESTION #15 - How Many of These Videos do You Sell Every Year?
We start out about $7,500 in the hole so I hope we sell a bunch! Beginning this year, the Best of Series will have a run of 500 DVDs in every disk offered. We have never sold that many before but the price break is just too great not to replicate this many. Additionally, the AFJROTC annually purchases the video series to give to every one of their new JROTC programs. So the bottom line is, it is not a huge money maker, but it gives the schools great exposure, it helps programs train and interest cadets into the drill team, and it helps to get the word out about the fantastic talent pool that annually performs at the Nationals.
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QUESTION #16 - What Equipment Do You Use to Film the Competition?
SNI hires a professional video company to film. They shoot with Sony broadcast-quality digital cameras costing roughly $20,000 per camera (that's why we RENT the cameras!)! The cameras use Sony DVCAM Pro (broadcast quality) videos. Throughout the shooting on Saturday & Sunday, we get about 40 hours of rough footage. They do the video shooting for the Best of footage, and they do the big screen video production for the Masters Level Awards Ceremony. All total, it costs about $8,000 to do the on-site video work, then another $3,000 to edit and produce the master tapes.
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QUESTION #17 - Why Does It Take So Long for the Videos to Become Available After the Event?
Valid question. In fact, this is an area that SNI is looking to make a major upgrade in 2006 and beyond.

Samantha Ste.Claire and Justin Gates do all of the editing on the videos. We really can't turn this over to an outside individual or company as they may know editing, but they would likely know little about JROTC drill and what we are looking for on a finished product. These two SNI members go through and catalogue (write down the who, what, when, where) every team on every minute of every video of the raw footage shot at the event -- and yes, this takes a while! They then, clip by clip, lay all of the footage, background music and voice-over, start to finish. To get an idea how long this takes, a good rule of thumb when estimating how long something took to edit is about 10 minutes per edit for people that know what they are doing -- and that tends to be just about right. Think of THAT when you watch the videotape!

With technology marching forward, the 2003 videos and beyond have been edited using the Pinnacle DV editing software (now Avid) and Nero audio/DVD copying software. The largest reason for this change is the ability to begin editing very soon after the event without the need to rent the equipment through an outside company and compress all of our editing into a single week (due to cost limitations). In 2003 and beyond, it is our hope to have the final product ready for sale no later than September 1st or sooner.
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QUESTION #18 - What About Making Just a Best of Color Guard Video?
This has been brought up on more than one occasion. Currently, SNI does not believe their is sufficient demand to make a 120 minute video of just Color Guard routines. However, we may review this in the future if we feel this has changed.
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QUESTION #19 - What is the History of the Best of Series to date?
When we began making these videos almost 10 years ago, there was a void when it came to training aids for JROTC instructors in these two areas. While most all of the instructors felt very comfortable with training within "basic" drill, many had no clue where to start training for exhibition drill. These videos allowed the cadet commanders and drill commanders to take a more proactive position. JROTC instructors ordered the videos, give them to team commanders, and then have the videos provide valuable and entertaining instruction for the cadets in a small group environment. With so many styles on display, numerous,never-before-seen or thought of items can be found by interested cadets EACH TIME they watch the video -- adding to their knowledge base and thereby making them more valuable drill team members.

Beginning in 2004 and beyond, we will begin to offer BOTH a Best of ARMED Exhibition, and a Best of UNARMED Exhibition video. Dozens of people have pushed for this change every year and we believe it is a big positive. Many viewers have stated they are either interested in EITHER Armed OR Unarmed, therefore many people just skim through the part they are not that interested about. Splitting the videos will allow each video to be 120 minutes of pure exhibition in the style the viewer enjoys the most.

In 2007, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the National High School Drill Team Championships, the Echo Video Series was produced. This 6-DVD compilation is without question the most comprehensive and exciting video collection ever produced on the sport of JROTC drill. It is a timeless look at the best of JROTC drill & ceremony. It is something every drill devotee should own.

As the 2008 competition nears, production planning is already begun to ensure the venerable Best of Series videos return in the style and format that the drill world has become accustomed to. Three DVD will return, featuring Armed Exhibition, Unarmed Exhibition, and Basic Drill for 120 minutes on each DVD. Additionally, because so many people just want to see the Armed Solo & Dual Exhibition (and much more of it!), we will be producing a 4th video that is 120 minutes of just Armed Solo & Dual Exhibition!
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QUESTION #20 - Are These Videos Primarily Training Aids or Are They for Entertainment Only?
The answer to this is -- it depends on the viewer! The videos have been used by over one thousand JROTC units over the years to learn drill over the past decade. Both Exhibition drill and Basic drill are shown and learned by viewers. The videos are not designed to teach step-by-step, this-is-how-you-spin-a-rifle, this-is-how-you-march, etc. training. The units displayed feature routine segments which focus attention on specific skills that are of interest to eager JROTC cadets. The level of study largely determines how educational these products are.

The Exhibition videos have been a driving force in the explosion of exhibition drill excellence throughout the world. New ideas and other fascinating combinations of movements are featured annually on every tape. Cadets watching this see things they like and expand upon it. These videos are invaluable in this regard and have trained countless drill teams to begin and other more established program to get even better for years.

The Best of Basic videos allow less full range training. With the all-service nature of basic drill events shown, as well as the exacting nature of these by-the-book competitions, the videos when presented to motivated JROTC cadets give the viewers a great springboard to learning. Many instructors have stated the Best of Basic videos are great for cadet those looking to see themselves against some of the best units in the Nation. Other instructors have stated they feel the Basic videos give their cadets a large boost out of the box, making their initial instruction easier to absorb after watching others drill at a very high level.

Regardless of whether the primary purpose of viewing is educational or entertainment, it is safe to say these products allow direct exposure to many of the finest JROTC drill teams in the country. Cadets have gained a tremendous advantage by studying these videos as evidenced by the hundreds of e-mails and phone calls stating the usefulness of the videos. Whether the cadets get better because they are entertained or they are entertained because they become better drillers, it becomes the chicken and the egg conundrum but regardless, they work!