Podcasting 101 Por Manuel Collazo

What is Podcasting? Audio content delivered via subscription to a Mac, PC, or portable media player such as an iPod or other MP3 capable device Portable On Demand-casting (some say) Push not pull, download not streaming audio Uses RSS 2.0 Enclosures + Podcasting software (iPodder) to let users subscribe to audio content and have it automatically sync to the desired device Tivo for your iPod, radio delivered via blogs

Brief History Term “Podcasting” coined by Dannie J Gregoire The product of a shared vision from Adam Curry and Dave Winer RSS enclosures created to take better advantage of always on broadband Adam Curry writes and releases the iPodder AppleScript to the community - August 25th 2004 Released as an open project to the community Cross Platform iPodder App released Sept 2004 – Today 1,000+ Podcasts online

So how is this new? You’re right … the pieces of the puzzle are nothing new The magic is in how it all comes together –Capable low cost recording options –RSS/Blogging success –The iPod big bang - explosion of devices –Content creators catering to micro-audiences for pure fun and passion Podcasting is the “pied piper” of a movement to democratize audio and video content creation as blogging was for text and photos –Music –Talk Radio –Video –Film

“Our first computers were born not of greed or ego but in the revolutionary spirit of helping common people rise above the most powerful institutions.” - Steve Wozniak (Newsweek, Feb 19, 1996)

I don’t have an iPod … now what? iPods rock … but you don’t need one to participate You can listen to Podcasts on: –Macs –PCs (Windows or Linux) –iPods and any other MP3 players –PDAs –MP3 enabled mobile phones

Subscribing to Podcasts Mac iPodder iPodderX NetNewsWire (2.0 beta) Jäger Sparks! PoddumFeeder PlayPod Linux BashiPodder Get_enclosures pyPodder Windows iPodder Jäger Doppler Nimiq Podfeeder Windows Mobile PPC FeederReader PPC Tunes iPodder for PPC Pocket RSS Egress

Recording Your Own You can record a Podcast on ANY platform using free/lowcost software and hardware + a Website with an RSS enclosures feed No end to end commercial packages for Podcasters … yet Requires a little research to get up and running still A few short cuts …

Recording - Hardware The Bare Essentials External Mic –VOIP headset –Lapel Mic –Pro quality Mic Headphones –Acts as monitor for your mix The Nice Stuff (gear heads) Pre-Amp –Dbx 26A Mixer –M-Audio Firewire 410 –Cubase LE –TAPCO 6360 Dedicated MP3 recorder –Optional, but great for mobile interviews –Edirol M1 - MP3 and WAV recorder

Recording Software - Mac Free/Cheap Audacity (free) QuickTime Broadcaster (free) GarageBand ($79) SoundStudio 2 ($49) Bias Deck LE ($99) Logic Express ($99) + - Rogue Amoeba Line-in - SoundFlower Pro-quality Bias Deck 3.5 ($399) Logic 7 ($999) Ableton Live 4 ($999)

Recording Software - PC Free/Cheap Audacity (free) MixCast Live (beta) Cakewalk Home Studio 2 ($149) Pro-Quality SoundForge 7.0 ($399) Adobe Audition 1.5 ($299) Ableton Live ($999) Cakewalk Sonar 4 ($479)

What Makes a Good Podcast? A topic/subject you care about - have fun –Don’t worry about the audience size, chances are someone else out there cares about it too Good audio quality –Get a good mic –Check your input levels –Test your recording setup –Record in a quiet place Watch your file size –Quality vs. Size –Bandwidth - yours and your listeners

Audio Compression Compress your final recording based on: –Content (ex: music, voice) –Desired file size vs. desired quality iTunes MP3 or AAC encoder –Windows –Mac

Generating your RSS RSS Enclosures can be added with a few additional lines to a new or existing RSS 2.0 feed: Use a tool to generate your RSS 2.0 feed –Feedburner –Podcast RSS feed generator –MFeeds

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