Over the summer, I had the pleasure of attending PodCamp Boston. One of the first presenters that I listened to was Guido Stein, passing on some tips to getting started in podcasting. There are more of the technical than creative vein, but good stuff, nonetheless.
Recording Audio
- GarageBand is great. Sadly, only available for Macs. However, the default file format is MP4. Go to “Share” and change for iTunes/MP3 for best results and most versatility
- Use Levelator to unify audio levels in the recording *before* doing any other editing. This is especially important if you have more than one person on the recording, and are not in the same location.
- Audacity is a pretty good and easy to use editing tool for getting rid of mistakes & deadspots.
- Speaking of mistakes, if you do make a slip up while recording, leave about 5 seconds of silence after, so it will be easy to find while you’re editing
Recording Options
There are many ways to get audio into a file on your computer. The key, though, is getting it the best format possible. I’ve suffered through podcasts that were obviously recorded over the phone or similar, and one person is LOUD and you can hear paper shuffling, sniffling, everything, and the caller is so soft that you want to turn it up to hear him/her, but you’re eardrums get blown out when the first person comes back on.
- Headset – with so much VOIP techonology being used, there are many headsets on the market these days. Find one that comfortable, with good sound quality. I use one that was actually designed for Sony Playstation, but it’s lightweight, comfortable, and delivers pretty good audio quality.
- USB Microphone – the cheap $7 versions probably aren’t going to give you the best quality but if headsets aren’t your deal, try a standalone microphone.
- Digital Recorder – this could be a great option if you plan to be recording your podcast when you’re not at your computer. You can transfer the recorded file to your computer later for leveling & editing.
- VOIP – some VOIP tools like Skype allow you to record a call, which could be an ideal solution if you have multiple people on the recording from different locations. Please remember to run the file through and audio leveling program, through, to be nice to your listeners.
- Another option is a service like drop.io, where (I’m told) you can call in and set it up to automatically post the recording to your podcast. Neat.
To test out a microphone, record something and play it back. Make sure the output levels are satisfactory, and quality is good – no scratchy noises, pop, background noise isn’t too loud, etc.
Next time, I’ll share some of the tips I’ve picked up for how to publish your podcast, and where to get it listed to maximize your exposure.
Until then, I’d love to hear how you currently or plan to record your podcast…
This question recently came up, so I thought I’d put a quick how-to up here for future reference.
Basically, there are two ways you can do this – by individual document, or change the default file format to Word 97-2003 compatible.
Save individual document as Word 2003 format
- Click on the Office icon button in the top left corner of the screen.
Office button in Word 2007
- Select “Save As” & “Word 97-2003 Document” from the flyout menu
Save as Word 97-2003 Document
Change default file format to Word 97-2003 compatible
- Click on the Office icon button in the top left corner of the screen.
Office button in Word 2007
- Click on “Word Options” button at the bottom of the menu
Word Options button
- Select the “Save” tab from the left-side navigation and change the selected file format in the drop-down box to “Word 97-2003 Document”
Hope this helps. If you have any questions, feel free to leave me a comment below, and I’ll do my best to help you out.
We all know the importance of routinely backing up our important files, right? Software systems and online services abound that make this seamless and easy for you. But what happens when your backup fails?
It is important to have two backup systems. Ideally, one should be on site and one should be off. Use archiving software and an external hard drive (never backup to your primary drive – this defeats the purpose!) for routine backups. You’ll also want to have a backup kept off site, such as CDs or DVDs in your safety deposit box, or at your best friends house.
Why two backups? Having one on site is great for when you accidentally delete a file, or your hard drive crashes. But if something happens to your office, such as fire, flood or theft, that completely compromises both your primary hard drive and your external, you’ll be very glad to have an off-site backup that you can retrieve data from.
Many computer security software suites, such as those from Norton, McAfee, or TrendMicro, have backup options available with certain flavors of their software. Frequently, external hard drives will also come with backup software, either already installed on the drive, or packaged on a CD with it. Depending on your needs, it becomes a matter of finding which software fits your needs and your lifestyle best.
Web-based services such as Carbonite and Mozy run in the background on your computer, and copy the files that you designate to their servers for safe keeping. You can set the backup to run daily, weekly, or even constantly, so that it updates every time you save changes to your files. This is very convenient, but can also be problematic if you have a major error with a particular file, and don’t realize it until the corrupt file has been backed up through your automatic service, whether on site or online. Having this secondary backup can help save you hours and dollars of recovery time and effort.
What’s your favorite backup system?
You’d think, perhaps, by now, that certain things would no longer shock me and yet daily I stumble across websites that make me want to cry. Or fix it. Or just leave. If any of these websites was one that I had navigated to hoping to purchase something, they definitely just lost a sale.
And so began my journey last evening. I ventured to the site for the local chapter of an International business group. Though the site lacked oomph. It looked user friendly and not terribly laid out. Then I started clicking on links. Calendar – dead link. Events – last updated with 2006 events. Hmm. Contact – lists 2006 board names and contact info. Well, the national group wouldn’t still have it listed if the group was defunct, plus someone was paying for their hosting and domain reg, right? So I send an email to their Communications director. Email is returned because address could not be reached. Yeah, this is really not looking good. I looked up the whois info for the domain, and looked up the websites for the admin and technical contact. Admin site is not too bad, but not great, either. Tech contact’s site, however? This person should turn in her mouse and keyboard right now. Clunky, with bad color combinations, tables everywhere, and tiny tiny text. For kicks, I looked at her portfolio page, and checked out some of her “happy clients”. I’ve now got a new group to market my services to.
Just because you enjoy doing something doesn’t mean you’re good at it. I like to garden, and I love to sing, But there’s a reason you haven’t seen me on Martha Stewart or American Idol. Also, just because they make software that professionals use to create something, it doesn’t mean that you become a professional by using it as well. And seriously, if you can’t create pages without tables and with valid code, do not(!!!) offer web design services. Sheesh.
