Podcasting
Sources:
In this Podcasting Assignment you will be creating your own podcast that others can "subscribe" to using an RSS feed aggregator (iTunes, Google Reader, etc.)
Step 1: Record a short audio event
Begin by spending some time considering what kind of podcast you'd like to create for your website. Your project can be as simple as an "about me" radio broadcast that introduces you to your visitors, or it can be something more complex - be creative!
Technically you can record audio in a number of ways. If you have access to a smartphone you can record audio using the built-in "Voice Recorder" app -- both the iPhone and Android platforms have audio recording functionality. You can also record audio by using your computer's built in microphone along with Audacity or Garageband. Record at least 20 seconds of audio.
Step 2: Edit your audio file
Next you should use Audacity or Garageband to edit your audio file. (Another alternative: www.nch.com.au/wavepad)
Step 3: Construct a podcast
The next step is to create an XML document that will allow anyone on the web to "subscribe" to your podcast. Here's how to get started:
- http://cims.nyu.edu/~kapp/xml_assignment/
- http://www.ehow.com/how_2003176_add-podcast-website.html
In this Podcasting Assignment you will be creating your own podcast that others can "subscribe" to using an RSS feed aggregator (iTunes, Google Reader, etc.)
- You will be creating an audio file using your favourite audio recording software. If you are unfamiliar with audio recording software, you might want to try Audacity, a free sound recorder and editor. An alternative is to use something like Garage Band
Make sure that you have installed Audacity, an open-source audio editing tool, before continuing. Refer to the Audacity quick-start tutorial for more information.
Step 1: Record a short audio event
Begin by spending some time considering what kind of podcast you'd like to create for your website. Your project can be as simple as an "about me" radio broadcast that introduces you to your visitors, or it can be something more complex - be creative!
Technically you can record audio in a number of ways. If you have access to a smartphone you can record audio using the built-in "Voice Recorder" app -- both the iPhone and Android platforms have audio recording functionality. You can also record audio by using your computer's built in microphone along with Audacity or Garageband. Record at least 20 seconds of audio.
Step 2: Edit your audio file
Next you should use Audacity or Garageband to edit your audio file. (Another alternative: www.nch.com.au/wavepad)
- Create a new folder on your computer that will serve to hold all of the files associated with your podcast project.
- Mix in at least one external sound effect (you can find free sound effects in one of these public domain / creative commons licensed sound effect libraries):
- Incorporate at least one sound effect (fade in, fade out, etc)
- Save your project properly
- Convert your audio file to MP3 format. MP3 format is the standard format for podcasts and will ensure that all of your listeners will be able to hear your files.
If you use Audacity, you can simply export your file to MP3 format, but you will likely need the open-source LAME tool installed on your computer to do this. For more information please refer to the Audacity quick-start tutorial. - Upload your MP3 file to your Web server (In our case, within the project folder in our dropbox accounts)
Step 3: Construct a podcast
- Create a link to your MP3 file on the Web page on which you wish to publish your podcast. Create a link that listeners can click to open your file. Your link will look similar to this: http://yourwebsite.com/myfirstpodcast.mp3.
- Be sure to provide a title and brief description of your podcast above or below the link to the podcast so listeners will know what your podcast is about.
- Create an RSS feed for your podcast. Your RSS feed will include your podcast title, description and link. You can create an RSS feed easily by using the free podcast RSS Feed Generator by TD Scripts.
The next step is to create an XML document that will allow anyone on the web to "subscribe" to your podcast. Here's how to get started:
- Open the Podcast template
- Create a new text file and copy the podcast template into this file
- Save the file as "podcast.xml"
- Replace the title, description, pubDate, link and copyright values with your own information
- Replace the <item> tag with information that relates to your podcast. Note that you need to upload your MP3 file to your website and provide an absolute hyperlink to the file in the <enclosure> tag
- Upload your XML file to your website
Step 4: Test your podcast and link it to your website
You can test your podcast by copying and pasting the absolute hyperlink to your XML file and pasting it into iTunes via the Advanced -> Subscribe to Podcast command. If you did everything right you should hear your podcast play inside iTunes!
Next you will need to create two new buttons on your website so that visitors can subscribe to your podcast. Here's how:
- First, create an absolute hyperlink to your XML file and attach it to a "podcast" graphic. This will allow anyone with a feed aggregator to subscribe to your audio channel. The graphic below links to a sample podcast. Note that, depending on your browser, you might see the raw XML file when you click on it.
- Second, create a special button that will allow iTunes users to directly subscribe to your feed. You can do this by constructing a hyperlink that uses the iTunes protocol rather than the http protocol (i.e. itpc://i5.nyu.edu/~kapp/podcast.xml) The graphic below links to a sample podcast and will open in iTunes.