Pod Casting Made Easy

1
Pod Casting Made Easy?

• Vicki Martinez
• I do not give permission to make changes to this
  power point without my permission
  vicki.martinez_at_stpsb.org

2
What is a pod cast and why do you want to know
how to make them?

• A pod cast is an audio or video file that can be
  put on the Internet or on iPods.
• Heres one way I used pod casts.
• My class read Cricket in Times Square. I
  created a pod cast for each chapter and listed
  questions. Students can access the pod cast
  without having to have the book available.
• http//pangea.tec.selu.edu/vmartinez/ETEC644/cric
  ketquestions.html

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What else can I do with a pod cast?

• Read science and social studies notes for low
  readers.
• Have students create pod casts of their favorite
  books as a reference for class members who may be
  interested in the same topics.
• This site is also a good resource of ideas and
  information on making pod casts
  http//fcit.usf.edu/podcasts/

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The Basics

• The following step by step How To guide for
  creating a pod cast is taken from documents set
  up by the University of Washington
  http//catalyst.washington.edu/help/audio/audacity
  /index.html .

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Step 1 Download Audacity

• Download and set up Audacity. This is a free
  audio editing software program.
• Go to http//audacity.sourceforge.net/
• Select the Download Audacity 1.2.6 installer.
• 1.3.4(beta) is for more advanced users a work
  in progress.
• It is also recommended that you install
  lame-3.96.1 to make downloading MP3 files
  (compressed files for pod casts). I did not do
  this and my files take quite a while to download,
  but they are good quality. (128 bits is a
  recommended setting for basic audio files)

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Step 2 Before You Record

• Purchase a basic microphone.
• It is also recommended that you purchase head
  phones to limit noise interference from computer
  speakers
• Walmart has combination head phones with
  microphones for about 15. Price varies according
  to sound quality, but mono stereo seemed ok.

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Step 3 Record

• Click on the red dot in the upper left hand
  corner. You will see your audio being recorded.
• To pause during a recording, click the pause
  button ( 2 blue vertical lines) and not the stop
  button (yellow square)
• Stopping and then recording will create a new
  audio track.
• To play back your recording, click the rewind
  button (purple arrows pointing left) and then the
  play button (green triangle).

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Step 4 Editing

• Once you have finished your recording, you can
  clean things up (pauses, coughing, etc.) by using
  the selector tool in the upper left-hand corner
  (looks like a cursor). Simply click and drag to
  highlight the area you want to remove and then
  press the delete key.
• To undo something, go to Editgt Undo or press
  ltCtrlgtz.
• Trial and error process.

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Editing (contd.)

• To make precise edits you might want to zoom in
  using the magnifying glass tool in the upper left
  hand corner.

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Step 5 Importing Audio

• To import audio, such as clips of music to break
  your pod cast up into sections, go to Project--gt
  Import Audio and simply choose the audio file you
  want. This will create a track with your
  selected audio in it. Now you can edit the music
  using the selector tool to cut and paste, and the
  time shift tool ( two arrows pointing in opposite
  directions) to move pieces of audio around.
  http//freeplaymusic.com/search/category_search.ph
  p?tvi17

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Step 5 Volume and Panning

• To adjust the volume and panning of each track
  move the sliders in the track headers from left
  to right.

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Step 6 Effects

• To apply effects to your tracks, select a portion
  of your audio with the selector tool (looks like
  a cursor) and choose an effect from the Effect
  menu at the top. For example, you may want the
  beginning of our podcast to fade in. Simply
  select the first few seconds of your audio file
  and go to Effectgt Fade in. You can also put fun
  effects on your sound, such as a speed or pitch
  change, or you could add reverb by selecting the
  Gverb option under the Effect menu. To undo an
  effect, go to Edit gt Undo or pres ltCtrlgtZ.

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Step 7 Saving and Exporting

• If you would like to continue working on your
  file later, go to File ? save Project as.
• If you are ready to export your project as an MP3
  file, go to File ? Export as MP3.
• You can also go to File? Save as Wav

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Extra Tips

• If you cannot hear your previously
  recorded/imported tracks while recording new
  ones, go to Editgt Preferences and make sure that
  the Play other tracks while recording a new one
  option is selected.
• If you have multiple tracks that you want to put
  the same effect on, you can export your project
  (this mixes everything down to two channels),
  open a new project (File? New), import your
  exported file (Project? Import Audio) and put
  effects on it.

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Pod Casting 101

• This site has the basics on pod casting.
  http//fcit.usf.edu/laptop/Podcasting101/Introduct
  ion.html
• Vodcaster is a tool for publishing and organizing
  audio and video podcasts. http//www.twocanoes.com
  /vodcaster/
• This site also gives a link to Skype, a free site
  which allows you to make calls using your
  computer.
• http//www.skype.com/

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• Apples Suggestions for how to structure your pod
  cast http//www.apple.com/support/garageband/pod
  casts/recording/
• Audacity software for editing your pod cast
  http//audacity.sourceforge.net/ (free)
• Step by step pod cast on pod casting?
  http//revision3.com/systm/podcasting/ They make
  suggestions for supplies that you dont have to
  have unless you are serious. 20 microphone is
  good.