My Presentation from the National Press Club on Podcasting

Podcasting: Get It Online — National Press Club Presentation from Richard Harrington

What is a podcast and how can it help my organization reach people online?

At this month's "Get It Online" lunch discussion, learn what a podcast is and why both communicators and journalists are increasingly using them to successful reach niche audiences. This informative session will share secrets on creating professional looking video for podcasting and other video-sharing technologies.

Podcasting is another name for audio and video blogging. The general idea is that you post audio or video content that someone can subscribe to. You are essentially creating a channel, one that you add audio, video, or print content to so it can be automatically downloaded to a subscribers’ computer or media player. All of this can occur without the need for email blasts, people logging onto websites, or expensive shipping bills.

Additionally, podcasting is much more affordable than streaming and web video options. Podcasting uses a distributed model, so instead of everyone coming to your website and clicking (then wanting to watch the video at the same time), podcasts download in the background automatically. This means that podcasts are there, waiting to be watched whenever and wherever the consumer wants them.

Start with a Compelling Title

The title of your eBook, app, or web video series needs to instantly capture the attention of your audience. Your title is most likely the first exposure someone will have to your digital content. There truly is something to the saying “You only have one chance to make a good first impression.” Your  title has only a few seconds to attract your target audience, grab their attention, and make them want to read, purchase, or watch.
A good title instantly tells people what your digital content is about.  Avoid “clever” puns that people have to think about. I find that being short and to the point works best. Many websites, online stores, and web video directories have character limits as to how many letters can be displayed.
Get to the point and hammer it in.

A Bigger Video Network

While major sites like YouTube and Vimeo remain important, here are a few additional sites to keep in mind as you build your video distribution network:

• 5min (www.5min.com)—Tutorial videos shorter than five minutes in duration.
• Bing (www.bing.com)—Microsoft’s new search engine has a video directory.
• Brightcove (www.brightcove.com)—A paid service that lets you target many outlets including mobile phones.
• Dailymotion (www.dailymotion.com)—A broad interest site that also has distribution to many mobile devices.
• GrindTV (www.grindtv.com)—A site for extreme sports videos.
• Howcast (www.howcast.com)—The site specializes in educational videos and offers applications for both the Android and
• iFood.TV (www.ifood.tv)—A site all about food.
• Sclipo (www.sclipo.com)—A paid site that offers e-learnin systems.
• Streetfire (www.streetfire.com)—A site for automobile enthusiasts.
• StupidVideos (www.stupidvideos.com)—A site for humorous videos.
• Videojug (www.videojug.com)—The site only offers “factual” content rather than entertainment.

For more news like this, be sure to read the IAEPUB Site — You also won't want to miss the TAP!2013 conference for Digital Content Creators.

How to Publish Video to the Web

DP Best Flow - How to Publish Video to the Web from ASMP dpBestflow on Vimeo.

I explain how to export video from your nonlinear editor to make sure your movie is ready for the web.

From the dpBestflow.org project.

Vimeo Discontinues the Desktop Uploader

Vimeo has discontinued their Vimeo Desktop Uploader. This tool was often used as it allowed for uploading larger files. It also always seemed faster than the web interface in my opinion.

"Our decision to discontinue the Desktop Uploader is the result of the many improvements we’ve made to the web uploader. When the Desktop Uploader was first released, it was the only way Vimeo members could upload files over 1GB. Today, Vimeo members can use the web uploader to upload files up to 5GB, rendering the Desktop Uploader obsolete. But when it comes to technology, obsolescence is a fact of life."

The company suggested that the new website uploader works great and takes the apps place – http://www.vimeo.com/upload.

What do you think?

Adobe Media Encoder: Compressing Files for the Web

• Watch the whole class for free (actually all my classes). Free 7-day trial.

This tutorial describes how to use Adobe Media Encoder CS5 to compress large files into a standard format such as an MPEG-4 or H.264 file.

This specific tutorial is just a single movie from chapter two of the Maximizing Your Web Video and Podcast Audience with Hypersyndication lynda.com author Rich Harrington. The complete Maximizing your Web Video and Podcast Audience with Hypersyndication course has a duration time of 1 hour and 27 minutes and shows how to distribute content across all media platforms quickly and efficiently using hypersyndication.

Watch more of this course on lynda.com:Maximizing Your Web Video and Podcast Audience with Hypersyndication

Maximizing your Web Video and Podcast Audience with Hypersyndication table of contents:

• Introduction
• 1. What is Hypersyndication?
• 2. Using RSS Feeds
• 3. Targeting Computers
• 4. Targeting Portable Media Players
• 5. Targeting Television Sets
• 6. Targeting Mobile Phones
• 7. The Importance of Branding
• 8. Essential Tools to Keep it All Running
• Conclusion

• Watch the whole class for free (actually all my classes). Free 7-day trial.

Affordable Compression Tools

Image by iStockphoto

As web video has become the dominant standard for video consumption, there are many affordable (or even free) options to create optimized video files. The biggest difference here is that many of these tools lack batch processing and often offer minimal support for customized presets.

• QuickTime and QuickTime Pro (www.apple.com/quicktime/pro) – This versatile tool makes it easy to convert video from one format to another. QuickTime Pro is a cross-platform solution and lets Mac and Windows users convert video files to work with Apple’s portable media players. The files QuickTime produces are very compatible, but don’t offer as many options as other tools. A version of QuickTime that can create iOS compatible files is included with newer Mac operating systems. The more versatile QuickTime Pro sells for $29.99 and is a preferred tool for most media pros toolbox.
• iTunes (www.apple.com/itunes) – While generally though of as a media player, you can use iTunes to convert incompatible media to an iPod/iPhone ready format. Additionally, iTunes is essential for testing your files to see if they are compatible with Apple’s portable media players. iTunes is a free, cross-platform solution. Free.
• MPEG Streamclip (www.squared5.com) – MPEG Streamclip is a powerful video converter, player, and editor. It works on both Mac and Windows. It can encode to many formats, including podcast compatible formats; it can also cut, trim and join movies. The biggest benefit, its free!
• Stomp (www.shinywhitebox.com/stomp/stomp.html) – This Mac-only tool bridges the gap from consumer to professional. It offers an easy-to-use interface but also unlocks filters and customized presets. The tool produces great results and offers excellent visual feedback when changes are made to a clip. Another unique feature is that the tool offers Core Image Filters, which are very fast and can perform tasks like color correction. $30.
• Microsoft Expression Encoder & Expression Encoder Pro (www.microsoft.com/expression/products/Encoder4_Overview.aspx) – This PC-only tool comes in both a free and a pro version. It is replaces the Windows Media Encoder, which was retired in mid-2010. It can create both Windows Media Video and Silverlight files. The Pro version can also output H.264 and AAC files as well. Basic version is free.
• Apple Compressor (www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/compressor/) – This powerful compression tool used to be included with Apple’s Final Cut Studio bundle and is now sold as a standalone application through the Mac App Store.. It has full support for batch processing and filtering. $49 from Apple App Store.
• Adobe Media Encoder (www.adobe.com) – The Adobe Media Encoder is not a stand-alone product. Rather it is a core-technology in the Adobe Creative Suite products that work with video. You can easily access it through products like Adobe Premiere Pro. It supports several formats besides podcasting, and offers excellent control. Bundled with Adobe Premiere Pro, After Effects, and Creative Suite.

This post sponsored by iStockphoto – Save 10% – Get a Free Audio Track

Hypersyndicate Video and Social Media with HootSuite

Watch the whole class for free (actually all my classes). Free 7-day trial.

This tutorial describes how to connect multiple social networks together, and how to setup scheduled RSS feeds through HootSuite.

This specific tutorial is just a single movie from chapter two of the Maximizing Your Web Video and Podcast Audience with Hypersyndication lynda.com author Rich Harrington. The complete Maximizing your Web Video and Podcast Audience with Hypersyndication course has a duration time of 1 hour and 27 minutes and shows how to distribute content across all media platforms quickly and efficiently using hypersyndication.

Watch more of this course on lynda.com:Maximizing Your Web Video and Podcast Audience with Hypersyndication

Maximizing your Web Video and Podcast Audience with Hypersyndication table of contents:

• Introduction
• 1. What is Hypersyndication?
• 2. Using RSS Feeds
• 3. Targeting Computers
• 4. Targeting Portable Media Players
• 5. Targeting Television Sets
• 6. Targeting Mobile Phones
• 7. The Importance of Branding
• 8. Essential Tools to Keep it All Running
• Conclusion

Watch the whole class for free (actually all my classes). Free 7-day trial.

How to Publish Video to the Web

I explain how to export video from your nonlinear editor to make sure your movie is ready for the web.

Publishing a Video to Facebook

Facebook is the most popular social networking site in the world. In fact, in many countries, more than 50 percent of all adults have an account. Facebook is a free service that makes it easy to share video and news with friends, family, and colleagues. Most editing tools can publish directly to Facebook and it supports all major video formats like QuickTime and Windows Media but converts all these formats to Flash Video (and HTML 5 for mobile versions) after you upload.

Here's how to post a video to Facebook:

1. Sign up for a Facebook account at www.facebook.com. If you’re already a member, just log in.

2. Near the top of the page, click the Add Photo / Video button.

3. Click the Upload Photo/Video button.

4. Enter a description into the field labeled “Say something about this.”

5. You can use the buttons along the bottom of the post to tag people in the video or add location information.Be sure to give details about your video to help the viewer understand the scene.

6. Click the “Choose File” button to select a video on your computer for posting. Facebook says it supports more than 30 different formats, but it prefers an HD MP4 file. I find using the YouTube preset works great for Facebook. The upload limit on your account will vary, but to increase it, just verify your account on your profile page.

7. Click Post to add the video.

8. A status window opens to show you the progress of the upload. Depending on duration and site traffic, it can take a few minutes for your video to process and become available online.

9. The video is added to your video collection and is posted to your timeline. You can use the standard sharing features of Facebook to tell your friends about it.