Transcript Pod Casting Made Easy!

Pod Casting Made Easy?
Vicki Martinez
I do not give permission to make changes to this power point without my permission: [email protected]
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What is a pod cast and why do you
want to know how to make them?
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A pod cast is an audio or video file that can be put on
the Internet or on iPods.
Here’s 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/cricketquestions.html
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What else can I do with a pod cast?
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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
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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/auda
city/index.html .
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Step 1: Download Audacity
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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
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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
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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
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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 Edit> Undo or press
<Ctrl>z.
Trial and error process.
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Editing (cont’d.)
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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
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To import audio, such as clips of music to break your
pod cast up into sections, go to Project--> 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.php?t=v&i=17
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Step 5: Volume and Panning
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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
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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 Effect> 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 > Undo or pres <Ctrl>Z.
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Step 7: Saving and Exporting
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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
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If you cannot hear your previously recorded/imported
tracks while recording new ones, go to Edit>
Preferences and make sure that the “Play other tracks
while recording a new one” option is selected.
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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
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This site has the basics on pod casting.
http://fcit.usf.edu/laptop/Podcasting101/Introduction.html
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Vodcaster is a tool for publishing and organizing
audio and video podcasts. http://www.twocanoes.com/vodcaster/
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This site also gives a link to Skype, a free site which
allows you to make calls using your computer.
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http://www.skype.com/
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Apple’s Suggestions for how to structure your pod
cast : http://www.apple.com/support/garageband/podcasts/recording/
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Audacity software for editing your pod cast:
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ (free)
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Step by step pod cast on pod casting
http://revision3.com/systm/podcasting/ They make suggestions for supplies that you
don’t have to have unless you are serious. $20 microphone is good.
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