When Video Just Doesn’t Work Out Right

Several months ago, I started simulcasting my Friday Night Shows on video services, such as uStream and Stickam. Over time, there have been a number of issues with these services and recently, I started simulcasting again after being off video for a time. What I have found, at least for my purposes, is that none of these video streaming services can handle 1 to 2 hour long sessions, reasonably.

Last week, I recorded my show using Stickam. The recording went well, or at least, seemed to, and it even let me save my recording. All was good until I went to look at the saved recording and oops! it was gone! Not even an archived copy, nothing, as though I had not even attempted a recording at all! At least with uStream, I had something I could look at, however, it was usually in segments and not a complete show.

Anyway, I have decided to drop the video all together for now and concentrate on the audio podcasting for the show. Making the audio better, more music beds, etc. and not worry about doing video, with the exception of the occasional YouTube video or screencast.

I will talk more about this on my next episode of Podcaster Training so that I can better explain exactly what is going on here, so that I don’t discourage someone from doing video. That is not my goal here. My goal here is to keep you informed as to what is happening on my show and I will continue to keep up with the video streaming services and when they are more up to par with what I am doing, then try it again!

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Podcaster Training: Using Video as a Platform for Podcasting

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Ok, you got a webcam for your PC and now are looking for a way to utilize it. You have a podcast and like to watch YouTube videos and you see Chris Pirillo and Leo LaPorte use their cameras to lifecast and do their shows and you start thinking that this would be a neat thing to do too!

But wait! How do you go about doing this video thing anyway? Well, before you jump in with both feet, prepare to sink before you swim! Producing a video show is a lot harder than it looks, believe me, I know!

Tonight, we will discuss how to get started producing videos for your podcast. Don’t mistake this as going straight video, because, you aren’t ready for that, just yet! Like with anything new, you must learn to crawl, then learn to walk, before you can learn to run with it.

Let’s look at crawling:
Start by making sure your webcam or digital recorder or whatever type of camera you are using, is properly hooked up to your PC. Next, go to SuperWebCam or ManyCam and pickup a copy of this free software for adding effects to your camera streaming. There is a commercial version of this type of software called VidBlaster that you may want to look at later, once you are up and running.

Now, install and setup the software you chose to download. Go to the Source area of the software and see if your camera is detected. If it is working properly, you should see images streaming from your camera (most likely you, if it is pointing to you, of course). This will help you to determine if your camera is setup and operational. Once this step is completed, you are ready to move on to the next step.

Ok, the next step is to actually produce a video. I’m not gonna cover how to produce a YouTube video in this lesson, however, I will go over how to “go live” to produce a live, interactive podcast with your camera.

In order to “go live”, you will need to go to a live, video streaming service, like uStream, Justin.tv or Stickam, just to name a few, and setup a free account. Once you have your account, you are ready to “go live”!

Now, in order to do this video thing right, take some extra time and get your clothes, hair, face, etc. in order, because unlike traditional podcasting, people will actually see what you look like and like always, appearances count!

Depending on the streaming service you chose, you will have a broadcast or go live button that will open up a broadcast window in your browser. This window will allow you to record, broadcast and even set your audio and video quality settings. You will have an option to choose your camera and audio source, such as a microphone, and then, you are ready to broadcast your show to the World!

I said earlier that producing a video stream is harder than it looks. Here’s why. Think about your podcast or live show you are currently producing. You can usually take a few minutes before the show starts to prep, get your notes together and then call in and go for it. With video, you must give yourself enough time to make sure your equipment is functional, that your streaming service is working, your PC has been rebooted before you do this so that you have enough CPU resources, and then you have your show notes ready and your audio is working and THEN you are ready to start your show. Video, as anyone that does this, takes longer to prep for than an audio show does. This is just the nature of the beast.

So, there you have it, in a nutshell. Going video by itself is easy enough to do, however, if you want to do audio and video podcasts at the same time, make sure you have enough CPU resources (a fast enough and powerful enough PC) and enough bandwidth to handle both. Otherwise, you may find your video stalling, freezing or simply not working at all and your audio may suffer too with breaking up or dropping out. Doing both isn’t for the faint of heart. You have to really be prepared to do this and make sure your equipment is up to the task too. If you have an older, slower PC with little RAM memory, then you most likely won’t be able to make video function with the audio podcasts at the same time, but maybe by itself without the extra overhead of the audio podcasting.

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Podcasting A to V

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No, there is not a typo in the title, I meant to say A to V, not A to Z, because in this post I will be talking about taking your podcast from it’s humble beginnings to the next level, video! Now, before you go running off saying that this is too difficult or I simply wouldn’t understand, let me tell you, been there, done that!

Without getting into too much boring details, let’s start with getting started with podcasting, in it’s original format, pre-recorded.

In the beginning days of podcasting, you would take a recorder (you remember those don’t you?) and record your podcasts and then send them to your PC through your sound card input and save them on your hard drive, then take your saved recording (all your editing was done on the fly on the recorder) and then upload your recording to a podcast host somewhere, and from there, it would propagate across the few directories that were around in those days and people would listen to it, if they had an interest. Lots of work to do this, so podcasts, were infrequent and not real popular.

Then came some new technology in software for PC’s, that would allow you to record your podcast, direct to your computer using a microphone attached to your sound card input and would allow for basic editing right on the computer and would save the recording in a proper format for uploading to your podcast host. Because of this break-through, podcasting became a little more viable for people as they could afford to do this easier now. Some had to purchase microphones, while others already had the right stuff and could go for it now!

Along comes the iPod generation and MP3 Players, RSS, and you get the idea. With the availability of RSS feeds and so many portable players being sold and more and more each day, podcasting became a medium for many small businesses up to large corporations, to use to get market their wares. But what about the everyday Joe, where do they fit in this new equation? Well, some podcast hosts setup “free” accounts for hosting that was advertising based, allowing the normal person to post podcasts about whatever niche they wanted and granted them a small, but usable storage account for these podcasts. There was a learning curve with this, and many caught on, but just as many found it too difficult to do, so they just dropped off the scene as quickly as they had came in.

In 2005, a new company came on the scene offering EVERYONE the chance to do Live, Interactive Podcasting. This company, Talkshoe, gave even the little guy a way to sign up, for free, free hosting, free storage, and a way to talk about ANYTHING they wanted, for as long as they wanted (with 3 to 5 hours) and even record it, on the fly, using a simple phone interface! The phone interface meant that there was no equipment to buy, no microphones, no hookups to the PC, etc. just place a phone call and login. You could instantly be “on the air” and start you road counting down to your 15 minutes of fame. All of this for free!

A lot of people, from novice to experienced podcasters, jumped on this site and started broadcasting. Some lasted only a few shows (some less than that) because they didn’t have the passion they thought they had or simply suffered from burnout, early on. The ones that hung in there (and many still are) began building audiences of loyal listeners and started building their own communities in this social media network. Some that dropped out of podcasting, became loyal listeners of other shows and some even found their passion again and went back for another try to only succeed this time!

Like with any technology, there is always growth. In this next “growth spurt”, along comes live, video streaming. Now, in order to do this, you MUST have a web cam or other type of camera that can act as a webcam. You also need a microphone and a “reason” to plaster your face (literally) in front of potentially thousands or viewers. When you visit any of the video streaming sites, such as uStream.tv or Stickam, you will find a variety of celebrity streams, but you will also find the “run of the mill” streams that aren’t really filling a niche as much as they are just taking up some air time. These type of streams don’t do much for me, however, they seem to have lots of viewers, so there must be something that I am missing (or not).

After you have been podcasting for a while, whether old style by pre-recorded and posting or via live, interactive podcasting, there comes a time that you feel you could expand your horizons and take your podcast to “the next level”…live video.

In order to do this, you really need to stop and check your PC (or Mac) to insure that you have enough RAM memory and CPU to handle to extra workload. Also, you must have a decent broadband upload stream (500k and up) to insure that you don’t tank everything when trying to do this.

If you don’t have enough bandwidth, stop right there, and don’t pursue it any further until you get more bandwidth. Ask anyone that has done live video about this and they will tell you that this is very important. Take into account that your live audio will also take bandwidth, add on top of that the bandwidth requirements for video and if you have enough, go for it, otherwise you should really wait to go to the next level for now.

Now, if you already have a live podcast with loyal listeners, don’t just jump ship and go straight video (because of the bandwidth) and abandon your live audio podcasts. Remember, doing this, you will be starting over and you may not be mentally prepared for the shock that comes with not having anyone watching or listening to you, like you originally had! Here, I’m talking from experience. Having done this, I found that the live video streaming services aren’t always up to par with a live show that has a serious minded niche. Especially if that show goes more than 10 or 15 minutes. If this is you, don’t try this. Believe me, you will be disappointed, I know I was.

Well, that’s the gist of what I had to say. I am preparing a webinar on this subject and would like your feedback. Is this something that you would pay to learn the ropes from someone who has been there and you can learn from their mistakes? Or is this a subject that really doesn’t have a value for you, so you wouldn’t pay for it, but would like the information presented free of charge, even though you might not get the full value of it, if it was free? One last question, if you feel this is something you would pay for, say a three hour webinar, what would you pay to learn the ins and outs of going from the basics to more advanced levels of podcasting?

Leave me a comment letting me (and others) know what you think. I really want to know what you thing about this. Thanks in advance!

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The Return to Talkshoe - A Necessity or Just A Good Idea

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For the faithful few that was on The Podcaster Training Show Friday Night, you already know what I’m going to say about using Stickam to produce a show. Needless to say, it may work for Leo LaPorte, but it sure didn’t work for me! Aside from having Internet connectivity issues in Rhode Island, the Stickam issues didn’t help matters at all.

Ok, so let’s take a step backwards for a minute and review what brought us to this stage in our podcasting evolution. Nearly two years ago, I started live, interactive shows on Talkshoe. Having produced pre-recorded podcasts and doing live teleseminars and training prior to that, Talkshoe provided me with a platform in which to build an audience and promote my shows, products, services as well as myself. All of this, I did until the technical issues started creeping into my shows. When it seemed that these issues would not or could not be fixed, I made a very hard decision to leave and go to a straight video format using uStream. It didn’t take too many episodes to realize that uStream was not the right platform to host a show like mine. Too unstable and too unpredictable.

Over the course of a few months, I have tried no less than six different video streaming platforms. Including uStream, Justin.tv and Stickam, just to name a few. Yes, there are more out there, however, it is now very apparent that these services are not ready for shows like Podcaster Training, they are ready for the kids down the block that want to play their video games live so that the world can see them “at their best” or the person(s) that want to just sit and talk live on a chat room while everyone watches them do this!

So, after last Friday’s little glitches with Stickam, I had a long talk with Jeff Chandler, my Co-Host, about leaving the video arena and going back to audio. Knowing that Jeff uses Talkshoe on a regular basis and the fact that I still have an active account there, the decision was made to “get back to basics” and start producing an audio only show once again.

Beginning Friday Night, September 12th, 2008, at 8:00pm EST, we will resume The Podcaster Training Show on Talkshoe at Show ID 16829 (same as it was before). I will be using the Talkshoe RSS Feed as well as my new RSS Feed for this show, so if you have subscribed to the new feed, you won’t have to go back in order to keep updated.

To answer the question at hand (see the title above), this move back to audio is out of necessity (partly) to keep the show alive and kicking and also a good idea, since at this time, there is no other platform like Talkshoe that I can rely on to keep the show alive.

In any event, be sure to join us on Friday Night for our return to Talkshoe show!

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Remote Studio Testing Results Are In

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As many of you already are aware, I am on vacation this week in Rhode Island. I have brought with me a “remote studio” setup so that I can still produce the Podcaster Training Show this Friday at 8:00pm EST. For the past few days, I have been setting up the equipment and making the software ready, etc. to get to the live stream testing. I have been using Justin.tv for the past few weeks and after last weeks show, Justin.tv would not allow me to save the recorded show. BUMMER! After some time, I was able to pull the recording from the archives section, however, this still left viewers after the fact, unable to watch the last episode online (unless they know to go and watch the archives).

Well, in any event, I finally got the live stream testing completed today and Justin.tv STILL would not allow me to save the recorded episode. Since I like having the recorded episode ready for any one to view, this really can’t go on, so I am going to produce this weeks episode on Stickam.

When you visit http://www.newmediapro.tv, you will be able to watch the show and hear the audio, even participate in the chat room, WITHOUT having to go to wherever I happen to be broadcasting from. I will rework the Live Page to remove Justin.tv’s code and embed Stickam’s code in preparation for Friday Night’s Show.

I have been doing some testing on Stickam and they were next on my list to try out. So, I guess this week is good as any to try them out!

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