PodcastProcess - Alternate version

Make the Wiki

Call it something you can remember, give it a password your group members can remember.

Make a page for the script, something like MagnetScript or the like. Keep your script easy to read, accurate and informative. Read it out loud, have somebody else read it. Make changes in the script, add information, make it more consice

Shownotes

Make a page for the show notes, again, something like MagnetNotes.

Make a links page Here you will put links to anything you find you need access to during the project. It could be information about how to do the project, or other tools you need to do this assignment.

The format for the links that makes the most sense is a description of the link followed by the link itself.

Make your links like this:

Good explanation of electromagnetism - http://science.howstuffworks.com/electromagnet.htm

Make the Webspace

There are a bunch of places you can host your podcast. For starters, go with the free ones. If you get something really good going, you will have to upgrade for more storage, and especially more bandwidth if you get a lot of listeners.

You may want to make an account with Freewebpage.org: The registration is pretty painless and you get quick access to the controls. You will need to change the welcome page by using a little bit of HTML. You could use Angelfire.com, but they don't give you very much storage space. The instructions below refer mainly to Freewebpage.org

Enter your File Manager

• Create an audio directory This will be where you store all of your mp3 files.
• Create a docs directory to store all of your related files, html, jpegs, anything else.

Change your index.htm page

• Remove your email address from the welcome messge.
• Add a link to your wiki
• Add a link from your wiki to the webspace

Create an audio file

For the Mendocino motor podcast, we will be reading from a script. This will allow us to make sure the information is clearly presented. After practicing the script out loud in front of some friends, you will want to record it.

Rudimentary audio hardware

You can record directly into the sound card of the computer by plugging a microphone in. The pink plug is usually the mic jack.

You can also use some kind of mp3 player with a microphone. Sandisk makes a couple, with flash drives ranging from 128mb to a gig or so. They are pretty cheap you can play back mp3's and some have fm radios too. Rave Mp makes one that also has a slot for a mmc card. The card can also be used in many digital cameras.

You will definitely need a set of speakers to hear what you record. They shouldn't be hard to find. If you want something really good, you might have to pay. Otherwise, the dump or your basement probably has a set if you don't already have something on the computer.

If you want to get really into it, you should also get an audio mixer, but you don't need it to get started. A set of headphones would probably be nice.

Audio recording process

Read your script into the microphone. If you are plugged into the sound card, you will want to run Audacity, a free software package for working with sound. Audacity has lots of fancy features. Stay away from them for your introductory podcast experience. Focus on the script and the information. Make sure your voice is easy to hear, your sound levels are high enough that you don't have to turn the speaker volume level up too loud.

Edit your audio

Open your sound file in Audacity. You will see a bumpy bar in the middle, which is the visual representation of your sound. Play the sound back. Listen to it. Listen for errors. Remove the worst of the mistakes. Don't go nuts on editing it. You could probably make a better recording of the script faster than making a lot of edits. It can be fun to remove ums and ahhs and stuff like that. If you stumbled on a part of the script, you can fix it here. Highlight a section, listen to it, then delete the extra parts. When you are done, export the file as an mp3. The software may prompt you to look for a file called **lame.dll* It is probably on the c drive in a folder called lame

Upload your mp3 file

Use the File Manager. Upload the file to your Audio Directory

Make your RSS document

Save it to your docs directory.

If you want to look at some rss documents, follow these links: