2nd lot of notes on PodCamp
September 3rd 2007 21:05
The problem with trying to sum up anything I learned at the PodCamp at Birmingham (UK) I went to last weekend is:
a. I don’t entirely understand what some of my notes mean.
b. I don’t entirely understand what some of the words that I can read mean.
c. The subject matter, like almost everything at the PodCamp, ranges all over the place, making it rather hard to synthesize.
So if this post, and others that I hope will follow, seems a bit random in its approach, bear with me. I’m doing my best.
I’ve just realised that the first page of my notes relates to a particularly chaotic session held in the early afternoon, where at least a dozen (and often more) articulate techno people threw info and ideas across a table loaded with laptops (which were simultaneously being used by their owners, both for notes and to check out sites). These people were simultaneously funny, wise, slightly cracked, earnest, straight-talking, and full of ideas.
So I won’t work from those notes, but will look at the next set of notes, which come from a much more orderly session taking by Paul Parkinson, who was editor of Podcast User Magazine up until recently, and who writes a blog (with podcasts included) here.
Paul was very practical about how to prepare a podcast recording, but some particular things stood out, such as it was often just as good to use the earphones and microphone you used for Skype as to buy an expensive set. Closed headphones are still better than open ones, however. You can make a pop filter out of a bent clothes hanger and a pair of nylons. (For instructions ask me in a comment!). Audacity is a great program for sorting out a recording, but not for turning a WAV. file into an MP3. He says the best place he’s found to sort this out is on ITunes site. And it’s very wise to put ‘tags’ on your podcasts: they help ITunes and other sites to identify the material much more readily. (I'm not sure which part of ITunes he was talking about as yet, but no doubt I'll find it in due course.)
Okay, that’s in brief. I don’t know if I’ll ever get to write it up more fully, so if you’ve got any questions, leave a comment!
a. I don’t entirely understand what some of my notes mean.
b. I don’t entirely understand what some of the words that I can read mean.
c. The subject matter, like almost everything at the PodCamp, ranges all over the place, making it rather hard to synthesize.
So if this post, and others that I hope will follow, seems a bit random in its approach, bear with me. I’m doing my best.
I’ve just realised that the first page of my notes relates to a particularly chaotic session held in the early afternoon, where at least a dozen (and often more) articulate techno people threw info and ideas across a table loaded with laptops (which were simultaneously being used by their owners, both for notes and to check out sites). These people were simultaneously funny, wise, slightly cracked, earnest, straight-talking, and full of ideas.
So I won’t work from those notes, but will look at the next set of notes, which come from a much more orderly session taking by Paul Parkinson, who was editor of Podcast User Magazine up until recently, and who writes a blog (with podcasts included) here.
Paul was very practical about how to prepare a podcast recording, but some particular things stood out, such as it was often just as good to use the earphones and microphone you used for Skype as to buy an expensive set. Closed headphones are still better than open ones, however. You can make a pop filter out of a bent clothes hanger and a pair of nylons. (For instructions ask me in a comment!). Audacity is a great program for sorting out a recording, but not for turning a WAV. file into an MP3. He says the best place he’s found to sort this out is on ITunes site. And it’s very wise to put ‘tags’ on your podcasts: they help ITunes and other sites to identify the material much more readily. (I'm not sure which part of ITunes he was talking about as yet, but no doubt I'll find it in due course.)
Okay, that’s in brief. I don’t know if I’ll ever get to write it up more fully, so if you’ve got any questions, leave a comment!
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