November 4, 2008 PLEASE FORWARD
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Tips, Tricks, News and Reviews for Web Coders
by Kevin Yank (techtimes@sitepoint.com)
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INTRODUCTION - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Would you subscribe to a SitePoint podcast?
SitePoint is toying with the idea of doing a regular podcast,
and Kevin is working with a few prominent members of the
SitePoint community in the hopes of making this happen in the
near future. In order for us to get a picture of the support
such a podcast might have, email techtimes@sitepoint.com and
let us know what you think about a regular SitePoint podcast.
In this issue, Kevin reveals his top tips for producing
professional podcasts.
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IN THIS ISSUE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- Introduction
- 8 Professional Podcast Production Tips
- New Technical Articles
- Techy Forum Threads
- More Techy Blog Entries
8 PROFESSIONAL PODCAST PRODUCTION TIPS - - - - - - - - - - - - -
If you're interested in my take on living in Australia
when you're not Australian, check out my old podcast, Lost
Out Back [1]. If you're not, sit tight -- I hope to have
something a lot more relevant to this newsletter for you to
listen to soon!
They say the audio quality is far more important than the
picture quality when it comes to producing watchable video for
the Web. When all you've got is the audio, it's even
more important!
No matter what your podcast is about, a little extra work to get
the details right will go a long way. Here are a few quick tips
that I've learned through hard experience. If you have any
to add, leave a comment [2] and I'll post the best ones in
an upcoming Tech Times!
1. GET A NICE MIC
There are crappy microphones, and there are really crappy
microphones. If it came with your computer, or if you found it
hanging in a blister pack at your local discount computer shop,
it's probably not suitable for producing a nice-sounding
podcast.
Good podcasting microphones are directional, which is to say
they capture sound from directly in front of them, and not the
various hums and echoes in the rest of the room. A really good
microphone can make your voice sound more pleasing than it does
in real life!
Microphones are one of those technical areas that you can sink a
whole day into researching (dynamic vs. condenser, directional
vs. omnidirectional, USB powered vs. phantom powered), and still
not be sure what to buy at the end of it. If you're just
getting started, however, Macworld's recent review of 8
good quality USB microphones [3] is a great place to start.
For best results, think about getting a pop filter for your mic.
They're relatively cheap, and can squash those popping Ps
that can ruin an otherwise perfect podcast.
2. PICK A GOOD SPACE
It goes without saying that a quiet space is essential, but the
room you choose to record in can make a big difference. Blank
walls, big windows, large tabletops, and hardwood floors all
create echoes that can completely ruin that "up close and
personal" sound you're going for.
A good directional microphone will block out a lot of the
echoes, but anything you can do to get rid of them entirely will
make a noticeable difference to the end product. You can fix a
lot of things in editing, but an annoying echo isn't one
of them.
Thick carpets, drawn curtains, and soft furniture are all
excellent echo absorbers. That's why I prefer to record
podcasts at home, rather than in the austere surroundings of
your average office.
3. RECORD SEPARATE CHANNELS
If you plan to podcast alone you can skip this one, but for my
money the best podcasts are conversations. If you will be
speaking with your co-hosts (and guests!) over Skype [4], you
may be tempted to use software like Pamela [5] to record the
call as a podcast.
The problem is that sound quality takes a big hit when your
voice is transmitted over a Skype call, so podcasts produced
this way tend to sound uneven, with one voice sounding a lot
better than the others.
The ideal approach is to get each person participating in the
podcast to record his or her own audio on his or her own
computer, and then edit them together after the fact.
Audacity [6] is an excellent, free program that anyone can use
to produce a good-quality recording. Whoever edits the tracks
together will need to invest in multi-track recording software,
however. Amadeus Pro [7] is a nice, affordable multi-track
option on the Mac. The real pros use pricey software like Adobe
Audition [8].
4. STEREO OR MONO?
If you go to the trouble of recording each of your participants
separately, you have the option of balancing the voices at
different spots in the stereo field.
For example, you might pan one voice slightly to the left (so
that it's a little louder in the left ear than in the
right ear), and the other slightly to the right. This can make
the conversation easier to follow (if only subliminally),
without requiring the listener to have both earbuds in to hear
both voices.
The downside of stereo separation is that you have to publish
your podcast as a stereo audio file, which makes for a
significantly larger download. Consider your audience (and your
hosting bill!) before you make the leap to stereo.
Read on below the ad for 4 more tips...
[1] <http://www.lostoutback.com/>
[2] <http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs/2008/11/03/8-professional-podcast-production-tips/>
[3] <http://www.macworld.com/article/134114/2008/07/usbmics.html>
[4] <http://www.skype.com/>
[5] <http://www.pamela-systems.com/>
[6] <http://audacity.sourceforge.net/>
[7] <http://www.hairersoft.com/AmadeusPro/AmadeusPro.html>
[8] <http://www.adobe.com/products/audition/>
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5. COMPRESS
Good audio editing software (including all the titles mentioned
above) will have a compressor feature -- and not the kind of
compression that makes files smaller.
In the audio world, compression is a filter that reduces the
volume of the loud parts of your podcast so that they are closer
to the volume of the quiet parts of your podcast. Compression is
arguably the easiest way to make a recording sound more
professional after it's on your hard drive.
It's worth doing some reading (or listening to a podcast
or two [1]) on compression to really understand how it works. If
you use too much compression, you'll crush the life out of
your sound. If you use too little, your sound won't have
that professional touch.
6. NORMALIZE
Once you've compressed your audio, you need to normalize
it. Normalization boosts the volume of your audio so that it
uses the full volume range of which speakers are capable. If you
forget to normalize, your listeners will need to crank up the
volume to hear you properly!
Because compression followed by normalization first pushes the
louds and softs of your podcast together and then stretches them
back out again, you can lose some sound quality in the process.
If your audio editing software supports it, convert your 16 bit
audio to 24 bit before going through these steps. Although few
listeners can hear those extra bits, they will save a lot of the
detail that would be otherwise lost.
When you're done fiddling with your audio, you should
convert it back to 16 bit in preparation for output as a
finished MP3.
7. EXPORT TO MP3
Although some podcasts offer fancier file formats, an MP3
version is mandatory, and is often all you need. We discussed
the choice of mono or stereo output above, but there are a
couple of other decisions to make when exporting to MP3.
The bitrate of an MP3 directly controls the quality of the
sound. The higher the bitrate, the better it will sound, but the
larger the resulting MP3 file will be. If your podcast is mostly
voices, a bitrate as low as 96kbps (64kbps for mono) will sound
pretty good. For a podcast where frequent music needs to sound
really good, a bitrate as high as 192kbps (128kbps for mono)
could be justified.
You can also choose constant bitrate or variable bitrate (CBR or
VBR) compression. A variable bitrate can make complex portions of
your show sound better without taking up a lot of extra space for
the simpler parts. Constant bitrate compression can be more
wasteful, but offers better compatibility with cheaper MP3
players. Unless achieving maximum quality with minimum file size
is especially important to you, I recommend sticking with CBR.
8. TAG IT!
This is a pet peeve of mine. Find some software for setting MP3
metadata (commonly known as ID3 tags), or just use iTunes.
However you do it, make sure the following is embedded in your
file:
- Track number: the episode number of your podcast.
- Title: the title of the episode.
- Album: the name of your podcast.
- Artist: your name, or your company name.
- Genre: set it to Podcast.
...and if you really want to look good, take the opportunity
to add an image as the album artwork for the episode. Typically,
this would be your podcast's logo.
Do all that, and you should have a pretty solid podcast on your
hands. Now you just have to publish it! In two weeks, I'll
be back with my podcast publishing tips.
In the meantime, leave a comment with your tips for producing a
great sounding podcast!
Comment on the blog entry:
Web Tech Blog: Technically Speaking
by Kevin Yank
8 Professional Podcast Production Tips [2]
[1] <http://digiaudio.blogspot.com/2006/05/great-sound-on-budget-compression-101.html>
[2] <http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs/2008/11/03/8-professional-podcast-production-tips/>
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Thanks for reading this issue of the Tech Times. See you next
week!
Andrew Tetlaw
techtimes@sitepoint.com
SitePoint Technical Editor
NEW TECHNICAL ARTICLES - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Scratching the Surface with August de los Reyes
by Matthew Magain
At the Web Directions South conference last month, SitePoint's
Matthew Magain caught up with the creative director of Microsoft
Surface, August de los Reyes, to talk about design literacy,
design process, and the next generation of user interfaces.
http://www.sitepoint.com/article/1684
Enjoy Tomorrow's Web Today with AIR and CSS3
by Jonathan Snook
While we all wait patiently for CSS3 to be supported by the
popular browsers, you can take advantage of CSS3 features now by
building web applications within the Adobe AIR platform.
Experience cross-platform utopia with this look at the advanced
CSS styles you can use.
http://www.sitepoint.com/article/1683
TECHY FORUM THREADS - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Reusing Modules
<http://www.sitepoint.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=575131>
***** The SitePoint Community Awards 2008 - it's nomination time!
*****
<http://www.sitepoint.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=578825>
MORE TECHY BLOG ENTRIES - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Web Tech Blog: TECHNICALLY SPEAKING
Twitter Competition, Part 2: CSS Book Giveaway (1 comment)
http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs/2008/11/03/twitter-competition-part-2-css-book-giveaway/
SitePoint Edge Of The Web Competition: And The Winner Is... (2
comments)
http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs/2008/10/31/sitepoint-edge-of-the-web-competition-and-the-winner-is/
Sometimes the Smallest Amount of Help is Greatly Appreciated (2
comments)
http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs/2008/10/30/sometimes-the-smallest-amount-of-help-is-greatly-appreciated/
Last Chance To Win A Free Adobe AIR Book!
http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs/2008/10/29/last-chance-to-win-a-free-adobe-air-book/
News & Trends Blog: INDUSTRY NEWS FOR WEB PROFESSIONALS
6 Great Crowdsourcing Sites For Freelancers (7 comments)
http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs/2008/10/31/6-great-crowdsourcing-sites-for-freelancers/
Google Removes OpenID Whitelist Requirement (1 comment)
http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs/2008/10/31/google-removes-openid-whitelist-requirement/
How To Crowdsource Your Research & Development (7 comments)
http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs/2008/10/31/how-to-crowdsource-your-research-development/
Poll: How Do You Use LinkedIn? (4 comments)
http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs/2008/10/30/poll-how-do-you-use-linkedin/
The Single Sign-On War Will Ruin OpenID (12 comments)
http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs/2008/10/30/the-single-sign-on-war-will-ruin-openid/
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