Reuse Lessons

Starting to piece together Podcast #3. I’m not an audio engineer but I’m starting to hear distortion. Particularly when I combine music and voice.

What I think is happening is the sample rate for my MP3 components is too small for reuse. Storing it at 48 kbs sounds OK as an MP3, but then sweeping it in to reuse for the podcast gets a little fuzzy. I suspect it is like the echoes and ghosts you get on the four or fifth generation of a paper copy.

I re-recorded one of my voice overs and stored the whole works at 128 kbs, for the reuse MP3. Seems to have cleaned it up. But then I may have been hoarse when I recorded the original.

Progress Report

I’m about 90% of the way through Episode Two. Recorded the instructional portion last night. Thought I’d review my checklist.

• Audio Capture and Editing Went with Audacity. Getting better with practice.
• Find music for (a) Free and (b) Useable for (marginally) commercial purposes Located a music site that has Creative Commons music. SectionZ has some useable techno music. Found some that is reminiscent of disco music. Took some 15 and 30 second bumps.
• Podcast Hosting (other than piqueroinc.com [bandwidth]) Using Ourmedia and the Internet Archive for the audio files. I think I’ve figured out how to link to the MP3.
• Examples and Student Map hosting (maybe/maybe not piqueroinc.com) Going to store the supplemental files under the E_Papers section of the Piqueroinc web site.
• Framework for a Series Syllabus ( segment topics/features covered) I’ve mapped out 10 episode. Slightly different sequence than the Fundamentals class outline.
• Create a new company for series examples (Igor’s Balloon Factory(IBF)) Not much progress other than planning on IBF as the example.
• Revise the Student Maps to reflect my objectives Ongoing as I develop each segment.
• Build a Knowledge Management Map to keep track of components Ongoing but started with first two episodes.
• Script the episodes using Mind Manager (and save as Show Notes) Ongoing. I’ve scripted the first two.
• Record and edit the materials Pod#1 complete and Pod#2 is 90% complete.
• Build a better references list of resources for follow-up information Ongoing. Updated my master bibliography, still more work to go.
• Treat This As A FUN Thing to do, once I commit. (like now) It is fun to solve problems.

Podcast #1 Almost Complete

I’ve got the first Podcast complete, I think. The MP3 is 25.8 MB and runs a little over 27.5 minutes. I have to resolve my hosting strategy before I publish it.

Actually, I need to finish at least two more. Then the audience, if any, can have more than one episode to base their opinion on.

It took about 12+ hours to produce, but a lot of that was learning the tools and scripting the episode. I’m using Mind Manager to map/write the script. I create topics and sub-topics, much like the paragraphs in the instructor manual. Then as I read them or decide to modify the description, I can move the topics around. I found I was more comfortable reading them like cue cards.

I’m surprised at how much space the audio takes. I suspect it is a function of how many mistakes I make. “Audacity” is probably saving everything so I can “undo” edits. There are two components. (1) The project, an “.aup” file and (2) a project_data subdirectory. The subdirectory has a bunch of audio files. For the podcast, the .aup was 50 KB. The sub-directory, however, contained 308 objects and consumed 297 MB of space.

I’m guessing that podcast #2 will have less editing since I have the music bumps, intro and outro segments done. Those reuseable segments should just drop in for future projects.

I took the time to think about reuse before I started. I’m keeping MP3 segments for future podcasts. I also started a Mind Manager Map for Knowledge Management (KM). I keep track of each component, by name, and hyperlink to the MP3. The KM map also records and links to any student maps.

Podcasting Primer

Found a resource on the web that provides a Step-By-Step approach to podcasting.

Jason Van Orden has posted a multipage article on How To Podcast. Fairly straight forward descriptions without a lot of technical jargon.

Of particular interest is the Audacity audio software and the video tutorials that Jason provides to get you a quick start.