The video portion is for reference so that you can compare what Mimic is creating versus what the clip shows. With Mimic Pro, you have the option of using the sound portion of the video clip (.avi). Mimic doesn't analyze the video clip, only shows it. At $2,000, this is an expensive piece of software and there are other software and hardware packages out there. I definitely would get the evaluation copy. Have you looked at the others? What concerns me, is that if you can do this with just software and a video camera, why are there the expensive hardware solutions?