Web Video

Animoto Creates Rocking Slideshows

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Looking for something different? I discovered Animoto at this year's SXSW conference... Load up your photos, pick a song, and within a few minutes you have a rocking music video. You can use their cleared music or load up your own. Thirty-second movies are free, full-length videos cost $3. You can get a full year's access for $30.

The whole process is a piece of cake. Be sure to check them out – here. You can post the videos to a website, download them for an iPod, or even use YouTube to share. The videos you download

Here are a two more of mine that you can check out.


New Book on Video Podcasting is Out

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Our new book called Producing Video Podcasts is shipping. We're really happy with how its turned out. It's a comprehensive title that explores all aspects of producing video podcasts (as well as web video).

If you are a budding podcaster or a multimedia professional I strongly encourage you to check out the book. Here are several links to give you a good idea of what its all about.

The Book: To Order – Read Chapter 1 – Table of Contents – Index
The Website – The Podcast

Double the Size, Quadruple the Rest

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Many video podcasters are embracing larger video podcast sizes. While the 320X240 size is well-suited for portable players like iPods, those viewing on laptops and televisions prefer the image clarity offered by larger sizes. But what’s the impact of using a 640X480 podcast?

  • File sizes are approximately four times larger.
    • Download times are approximately four times longer.
    • Hosting and delivery costs are approximately four times greater.


Don’t be discouraged, just be sure that you can afford to give people what they want and that they are willing to wait for that larger size. Some podcasters take the “easy” way out and offer both sizes. This strategy can work against you though as your show’s ranking on the iTunes charts can be negatively impactd as each version is tracked seperately.

New Podcasting Book About to Ship

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My podcasting book is now off the presses and on its way to stores.

Here's Chapter 1

The initial reviews are in:

"This guide is full of solid information from people who know online video and are in the trenches doing it. It's a must read for anyone who wants to produce professional video podcasts." – Jason Van Orden, podcasting consultant and author of Promoting Your Podcast

"Required reading.Starting with a clear analysis of the nature and business of podcasting it covers the essentials of production and finishes with the all-important topics of delivery, RSS feeds, publishing, and hosting." – Tom Wolsky, vp editorial, National Podcasting System, www.nationalpod.com

"WOW, the accumulated knowledge from 1000s of hours of planning, production, post and delivery essentials delivered in a simple, concise fashiona professional resource manual that needs to be a part of every video production library" –. Gary Adcock, digital artist and technology trainer

"Not just a book about Podcasting, but a full primer on professional audio and video production and digital publishing that is lavishly illustrated and full of practical tips." – Philip Hodgetts, president and ceo, Open Television Network openTVnetwork.com

You can order the book here.


New Podcast Advertising and Traffic Standards to Be Announced

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Mashable.com, the Social Networking News site reports that “the Association for Downloadable Media has finally announced a date for when they plan to release their long awaited Advertising and Sponsorship Standard and Guidelines for Traffic Measurement - April 16th. The announcement will be made during the upcoming San Francisco ad:tech conference.”

Click here to read the full article.


Troubleshooting Apple Compressor

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A lot of folks use Apple's Compressor to create podcast video files. That is when its running. I use Compressor all the time and think its a great application that harnesses the power of Apple hardware and software... but it can be a bit buggy.

Apple has posted a useful article on what to do when Compressor isn't starting up properly or performing normally.They offer basic troubleshooting steps to remedy the situation. This is the right place to start if you are attempting to to submit a batch and you see the following message:
Unable to submit to queue. Please restart your computer or verify your Compressor installation is correct.

Check out the whole article here.



Washington Business Journal Article on Podcasting

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If you think podcasting is just for kids, you might be missing the next big thing

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Richard Harrington looks out on the small crowd of businesspeople sitting on red plastic chairs in RHED Pixel's Falls Church studios. Dressed in black, topped by a subtle black-and-white pinstriped velvet blazer and hoop earrings, he is the epitome of geek chic.

The audience has come to hear Harrington talk podcasting. These folks already are convinced there is something to podcasting, but they are trying to determine if it can help their businesses.”

Read the full article for free at their website.


Testing the Feed

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FEED Validator
There are lots of things that can break an RSS feed. A misplaced character, a misformed date, the list goes on. Fortunately testing a feed is easy. Once you have your feed and media available online, you’ll want to test it. The easiest way is to visit http://www.feedvalidator.org/ where you can enter the adress for your feed. If there are errors in your feed, they are clearly identified. The website also offers suggestions and links to more information on how to fix common problems. This website is invaluable and shoot be a part of your testing process.


An International Survey on Podcasting

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This international survey has a lot of information on podcasting. The survey size is a little small, so the numbers are skewed a bit... but it is still a good read. You can download some of the statistics at: http://podcastersurvey.com/ipcs07.pdf. Some of the interesting findings include:

  • Podfading seems to be a minor problem at the moment
  • The European podosphere is commercially less ambitious
  • Podcasting is not only attracting "techies"
  • Podcasting is about identity and relationship management
  • Most are interested in sharing information and expressing of opinions