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BaD day 8: on the subject of podcast editing.


On 02/08/2016 at 09:07 PM by Julian Titus

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So, there’s a new little bonus episode of Nerds Without Pants that I just uploaded. I take the producing and editing of the show very seriously, and I’ve been fighting with the show’s audio quality for about a year now, with varying results. Recording over Skype has tons of problems inherently, and for a time I thought I had found a great workaround that unfortunately only worked once. That would be our third E3 special from 2015, which sounds light years better than the rest of our episodes.

It's an ongoing struggle that I take to heart. The show has not sounded very good since we returned from our hiatus after my mother died, and I have been struggling with it on every episode. I bought a new mic during the break, and I still don’t think I’ve configured it just so. Patrick is in the same boat, but I’m hoping that I finally ironed that out for our next recording tomorrow.

We’ve been trying to record our individual audio feeds in Audacity recently to give me more freedom to edit the show and make it sound more professional, but we have run into problems with every recording since we started doing that and I’ve had to fall back to our Skype recording. The bonus episode that was just released was run through a new program called Auphonic, which did a pretty bang up job of leveling out the audio, so I’m hoping that this program, along with other settings and recording methods, will improve the show. We got an iTunes review that said the show is great, even though the audio quality isn’t always good, and I aim to change that. Yes, we’re just a Skype podcast, but I want us to be the best sounding Skype podcast we can be.

The bonus is only 35 minutes long, so even if you aren’t a regular listener of the show, I would appreciate it if you checked it out.


 

Comments

Matt Snee Staff Writer

02/08/2016 at 09:16 PM

audio is a bitch.  It's easy to get a decent recording, but people who listen to professional podcasts get used to professional quality. It's the same thing with music. I record lo-fi music, which is the style I like, but I'm coming to grips that people hate that.  SO I'm at a point where I want to record higher fidelity too. 

Unfortunately it usually costs more money for equipment, software, and time to do so. And still it's not guaranteed.  

I guess my only piece of advice is, keep on trying, and also don't worry about equipment as much as technique, because sometimes audio quality isn't exactly about the equipment but how's you're using it, the environment, etc etc.  

Good luck though.  I imagine it's difficult.  

Julian Titus Senior Editor

02/08/2016 at 10:33 PM

I really love the editing and producing of the show. I've just been frustrated lately. I've sunk a lot of money into the podcast in the past year and feel like I don't have much to show for it. I do think that I've ironed out some of the kinks from the past few episodes, so I'm hopeful for tomorrow's recording.

KnightDriver

02/09/2016 at 12:42 AM

I'm trying to listen. I don't know why everyone seems to want longer and longer podcasts. How the heck am I going to listen to all this great stuff. I feel like an hour, which some of my podcasts stick to fairly rigidly, is a perfect maximum length. I guess if I only listened to a couple podcasts (and not 18 like I do) I'd want them longer too.

Julian Titus Senior Editor

02/14/2016 at 12:03 PM

I understand your point. There seems to be a split down the middle for long and short podcasts. I listen to a lot of shows as well, but I prefer longer shows. Like, I'm sad when the Giant Bombcast is under 3 hours.

I'm trying to keep the show around 2 hours this year. The episode going up today is 2 hours 15 minutes, but the last 5 is outtakes. I'm thinking that if we have episodes that hover around the 3 hour mark I am going to split them in half, like we did last year with episode 65 and 65.5.

KnightDriver

02/15/2016 at 01:25 AM

I listen to podcasts about an hour or two a day. I want to get to everything, but it's difficult. I know some poeple listen at work all day long. Then longer is better. I just gotta get my audio books and music in too. Such is life: time, time time.

Super Step Contributing Writer

02/09/2016 at 06:06 AM

If you want, Adobe Audition has a lot of features that could help with editing (Audacity gets the basics done fine, but I much prefer multitrack in Audition) and stabilizing audio, and it would be included w/Adobe Cloud for a monthly fee.

Since you're moving and might not have the money, I do have a free copy in my office and my 210 students are having work days this week if you want me to try and spruce something up for you and see if you like it. 

Of course, the best way to "edit" is to produce stuff really well before it gets to that point, so better mics are the best way to go, but I know that's expensive.

For what it's worth, I think the podcast sounds fine, since I am able to hear what's being said, and Blake and I's podcast will probably sound much worse since I at least am just using an on-PC mic. 

Julian Titus Senior Editor

02/14/2016 at 12:05 PM

I *think* I may have cracked the code this week. Patrick and I finally got our Yeti mics on the same page, and we were all able to record directly into audacity with no problems this time. That allows me to mute any background noise on individual feeds, as well as avoid any issues with the call quality on Skype. Let me know if you see an improvement, because I think the new episode sounds fantastic.

Super Step Contributing Writer

02/14/2016 at 12:26 PM

I bet it will sound great! I'll keep that in mind. Tbh, though I know a lot of production stuff, I'vealways felt the main thing to get right is an entertaining product and I think y'all have that.

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