HOW-TO, Techniques, & Best Practices Channel

Chris Cavallari has been working in television, video, and film for 11 years as a cameraman, lighting director, video editor, and grip. By day, he is the Lead Television Studio Technician for an Internet Webcast TV Network; by night, he writes and directs films and podcasts for his company Filmosity Productions, produces the podcast, �The Martini Shot: Moviemaking for Beginners,� and runs the New Jersey Podcasters Association. His website is www.filmosity.com.

Podcasting has become a hot topic over the past year and with good reason. The format, which uses RSS to automatically download audio content to a user�s computer, has brought freedom of speech to a whole new level. Ordinary average guys (and gals) are now able to switch on their mics and broadcast their thoughts to anyone willing to listen. And people are listening. However, many would-be producers are finding that learning the in�s and out�s of podand vidcasting is not so easy to grasp.

First Things First.
We should start with a definition: A podcast is an audio file, most often .mp3, that is automatically downloaded to a user's computer via an RSS feed with enclosures. We�ll go more in depth into RSS later. Technically, any file can be downloaded via RSS, but podcasting specifically refers to audio content. A vidcast is a derivative of podcasting, but uses downloaded video files instead of audio files.

The Basics.
You're going to need to do some prep work to get started with vidcasting. Podcasting and vidcasting aren�t the easiest undertakings, so it's best to get all the technical material out of the way first. Following these steps will get you moving on the fast track to creating your vidcast.

1) Get a blog. Any will do. Blogger (www.blogger.com) and WordPress (www.wordpress.org) are two popular ones. Blogger will host the blog for you, while Wordpress requires your own web server for hosting. Liberated Syndication, or Libsyn (www.libsyn.com), is a good one-stop shop for podcasting, providing both a blog and hosting services. Set up your blog, and get it going by making a post. If you know HTML and CSS, you can tweak the code to make the blog page visually interesting. We all like to look at some eye candy every so often. Just don�t go overboard, or you run the risk of oversaturating your audience and driving them away.

2) Set up your RSS feed. RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication, and is a way to send content � like news stories - down to a reader without the reader having to do much of anything. A reader simply subscribes to the RSS feed using an aggregator, (in the case of podcasting, they are called �podcatchers�). The news aggregator automatically downloads fresh content on a predetermined, userconfigurable schedule.

RSS uses the Extensible Markup Language, or XML, to do all this. Podcasts use a specification of RSS called �enclosures.� These are simply lines in the code that point to a file � any kind of file, in fact, located somewhere on the web � and alert an aggregator that there is something to be downloaded. Special aggregators, such as Doppler, Juice, and even iTunes, are needed to download podcasts.

FeedBurner (www.FeedBurner.com) is a good free service that will automatically configure the RSS for you and give you an easy-to-remember URL for your feed. It also offers some good tools specifically targeted towards pod- and vidcasters, like automatic formatting of your feed to be in compliance with iTunes Music Store specifications, and feed subscriber number tracking. You can also go with Libsyn, which I'll get into in a moment.

3) Prep, shoot, and edit your video. Keep it relatively short, as the attention span of most online video content viewers tends to be pretty short. People are finding they don't want to watch long shows on the tiny screens of their portable media players, so keeping your content short, sweet, and to the point will likely make the most impact. Also, file sizes in video can become very large very quickly, so keeping the length shorter helps to limit the load on people's bandwidth.

Choosing the right codec to encode your video can aid in that. (See Step 4 for more on codecs.) In a huge contradiction to myself, I will say that some shows have been known to be up to an hour long; these shows, however, are generally produced in the standard television format, which includes unique segments, interstitials, and even commercial breaks. The shows that are successful are also the ones with very high production values. Oh yeah, and the content isn�t half bad either.

4) Export your video. This is the tricky part. I�ve found that the best way to do this is to export as mpeg4, which is the .mp4 file extension. You can also use the .m4v extension with either Sorenson or h.264 compression. These two codecs offer the best quality for file size. You could do a Windows Media file, but iPods won't play those, or a .mov file, but those file sizes tend to be quite large. Apple requires that iPods with video capability only play movies encoded in .mp4, .m4v, or .mov. You can export any of these formats directly from Quicktime 7 Pro, so using it with the Final Cut Pro or Express non-linear editing system should be a snap. They are all MPEG codecs, so the difference between them really boils down to file size and image quality. Experiment with each and compare to see which works best for you.

5) Upload your file to a server. It can be anywhere, as long as your RSS feed's enclosure points to it. If you're using the Feedburner service, you don't have to worry about RSS and enclosures, but if you're maintaining your own feed, this is an important step. A good file hosting service dedicated to pod- and vidcasting is Liberated Syndication (www.libsyn.com). It's inexpensive and features unlimited bandwidth. You also get a blog that you can customize, and the service will do all the RSS work for you. All you have to do is post! At $5 a month for 100MB of storage space, a podcaster really can�t beat the price. At the end of the month, your shows are archived to the Libsyn archive servers, and your 100MB space is renewed. Past shows are always accessible. There are other package prices available as well.

6) Post to your blog with a direct link to the video file. If you chose not to use Libsyn as your blog or webserver, then you need to host your files somewhere. Any web hosting service will be fine. Just be mindful of your bandwidth usage. If you've used FeedBurner, the service will automatically update your RSS feed every time you post a link to a file in your blog, and viewers' podcast aggregators will automatically download the file. Again, Libsyn will do the same, but at this time, you have less control over certain things in the feed.

7) Publicize your vidcast. That's a whole long, drawn out mess with lots of drama, espionage, and intrigue. Well, not really, but it does take some effort on your part. Start out by going to one of the many podcast directories available on the web. A Google search for �podcast directory� will leadyou in the right direction. These directories usually have a section in their user forums specifically for promoting your show. If you have a specific topic you talk about, find user forums for that topic and register. People will be receptive to you promoting your �cast, as long as you participate in the forums on a regular basis.

8) Submit the feed to the iTunes Music Store's podcast directory. Again, long, drawn-out drama, but with more espionage and less intrigue. (Just kidding. It�s easy.) In iTunes version 5 or above, click on the �Podcast Directory� link at the bottom of the �Podcasts� playlist. Click on the link to �Submit a podcast,� located in the menu bar on the left. Add your vidcast�s feed URL and hit submit. The vidcast will then go in for review by Apple, and if you�re lucky, you�ll be listed in their directory.

9) Revel in your vidcast afterglow. 'Nuff said. There are many more intricacies to the vidcast/podcast world, but this primer will set you well on your way to being a vidcast producer. There is, however, one more important thing: vidcasting. By its very nature, it is a chronological beast. This means that you don't just put up one video and nothing more, then call it a vidcast. One file does not a vidcast make. Thou shalt not be a one-cast wonder. You have to keep at it. Enjoy your new hobby, but � as with any hobby � make sure you have the time, money, and resources to keep it going and make it a success.