Doc
10-05-2008, 07:00 PM
The hardest part of doing these podcasts is coping with lag.
Lag screws everything up. It delays reactions to jokes, it causes people to talk over each other.. It also makes for a nightmare when trying to edit (which we will get into on Tip#3).
IF AT ALL POSSIBLE, you should try to ELIMINATE LAG. With so many calling plans available, if you intend to do a show LONG TERM, I reccomend the following.
ELIMINATE LAG with a common telephone patch.
If there are 2 or 3 of you on a show, call each other (three way or standard call) and listen to each other on the phone, while recording yourselves each at home. Then send the files to whoever is doing the editing to sync up.
We sync up in a manner similar to that black and white clack board you see before movies.
count down together.
5-4-3-2-1 MARK!
When the editor gets the files, all he has to do is line up the words MARK on each person's track and PRESTO.... the rest of the audio will be synced up.
THIS DOES NOT WORK WELL if you are using skype. skype's lag is not consistent and can very anywhere from a half a second to a full 4 seconds.
It makes for a MISERABLE editing, and again throws off your timing which is CRITICAL if you're trying to be funny or even combative.
I know this isnt easy or economical for some of you calling between countries, but if you can, you will find your shows sounding MUCH BETTER both froma timing standpoint and the audio quality, since everyone will be submitting clean, locally-recorded audio instead of the watery skype sounds we've all come to expect from many podcasts.
Lag screws everything up. It delays reactions to jokes, it causes people to talk over each other.. It also makes for a nightmare when trying to edit (which we will get into on Tip#3).
IF AT ALL POSSIBLE, you should try to ELIMINATE LAG. With so many calling plans available, if you intend to do a show LONG TERM, I reccomend the following.
ELIMINATE LAG with a common telephone patch.
If there are 2 or 3 of you on a show, call each other (three way or standard call) and listen to each other on the phone, while recording yourselves each at home. Then send the files to whoever is doing the editing to sync up.
We sync up in a manner similar to that black and white clack board you see before movies.
count down together.
5-4-3-2-1 MARK!
When the editor gets the files, all he has to do is line up the words MARK on each person's track and PRESTO.... the rest of the audio will be synced up.
THIS DOES NOT WORK WELL if you are using skype. skype's lag is not consistent and can very anywhere from a half a second to a full 4 seconds.
It makes for a MISERABLE editing, and again throws off your timing which is CRITICAL if you're trying to be funny or even combative.
I know this isnt easy or economical for some of you calling between countries, but if you can, you will find your shows sounding MUCH BETTER both froma timing standpoint and the audio quality, since everyone will be submitting clean, locally-recorded audio instead of the watery skype sounds we've all come to expect from many podcasts.