If he is serious about getting a good tone to promote his own basses then I would recommend either:

a) get one hour of studio time somewhere and mics the bass up to a bass cab with a professional engineer to capture the best sound.

OR

b) if he doesnt have the budget or abillity to get to a studio, invest in a Sansamp Bass Driver D.I. unit - they are quite cheap and they are known for capturing the best quality DI from a bass.

OR

c) the other alternative is either a Bass PODxt or a regular PODxt with the Bass expansion pack.

The PODxt goes DI in via USB connection whereas the Sansamp runs off XLR or 1/4" cable (XLR if you want to avail of the phantom powerered overdrive circuit) - so you would need a good soundcard with 1/4" or XLR in.

To be honest if it's for something like the NAMM show then he should be thinking how to capture the best signal possible. I would look to hire an engineer with a portable/mobile studio to come along for the couple of days. It's a lot cheaper than you would think and he would have a far better chance of capturing the best quality.

I've no experience in hooking up with video software but if you want the best sound the above methods should do it.