Week #9: Podcasts
This week, we are each creating a podcast. Video podcasts are really just videos, but created with software that is specifically designed for easy combination of multiple sound tracks and a video track, thus, a podcast application program. The only one I know of is Garageband (I'm open to learning if there is another program that does this combination of tracks like Garageband, as Garageband only runs on Apple products (Mac computers and iPads 2 and 3, iPhones, and iPod touches with cameras). Originally, podcasts were only audio, but i think those days are quickly moving to the past, so including still slides or video in your podcast is a worthy goal.
Here are some steps to consider when making your podcast.
1. What. What will you choose to share for 30 seconds, or 1 minute max. This could be a public service announcement. My students in1973 made their public service announcements on Mopiko, a new brand of toothpaste to save everyone's teeth. It should be a fun activity, with the content not so important as we learn the technique for quickly making podcasts.
2. How. Once you have your idea down, create a folder to store your work. I prefer the desktop, so I can find it easily when I'm done and transfer it to my flash drive when I leave the computer I created this on. For sure, I want a copy to restore my post should the world crash and the cloud come down. Very unlikely, but, I do like knowing where my files are saved. In this folder, I need my video that I'm going to create using Photo Booth and I need my soothing audio track to run in the background. I can download an audio track from the Internet. One free site that allows me to do this just for educational purposes is www.flyinghands.com and I can download an mp3 audio file, give them credit for it in my podcast and never sell my podcast, and that solves the soothing audio music track in the background (I can turn the volume up and down with ease in Garageband). Now, to video me, I open Photo Booth, it has a count down to tell me when it will start recording, and it has a clock so I can see my 30 second time approaching, and I just click the red button to start and stop the recording. Now, I open the Garageband software, choose the option for a "podcast" and drag my video from the list of PhotoBooth videos within Garageband into the video track (I get a warning message that my podcast can only have one video, but that's okay, I only have the one). I take my mp3 file from the iTunes list of music (this list shows up in Garageband too) and I drop that file into the track for audio (or create a new track if I like, but no reason to). Then, I check the volumes on each track and raise and lower so it sounds good, go to the "Share" drop down menu on the top toolbar and Export Movie to Disk. I have to select the encoder for ACC, not mp3, as this has a video section that requires encoding for video. This movie should take only a few seconds to export as it is short, one of the reasons for a podcast, to communicate something very quickly.
Then, upload to your own blog as a movie within a new post.
There are some video tutorials posted to the right on using Garageband. If you need access to a Mac computer, we have some in the TRC which is open from 8 to 5 daily. I'll not be around this upcoming weekend, but glad to help after 5 PM through Friday this week, just let me know so I can get access to the room in advance.
Hope this works for you, but don't hesitate to ask questions if you get stuck.
