Importance of Editing!!!

[Cookiepuss]

I have listened to a lot of Podcasts lately. One thing that strikes me is the lack of editing. To be honest I had to stop listening to the first Daily Source Code I ever attempted to listen to for that reason.

After all. . . I don't want to hear a guy stopping mid-sentence to reply to an email or Skype message. But perhaps it is just me. So my main 'howto' recommendation would be to get a audio editing app. Even a free but great one like Audacity (http://audacity.sf.net) and play with learning to just edit your own ramblings BEFORE moving on to the intro music etc. Let's think complete sentences people! :roll:

To get a taste of how NPR sounds so good read this transcript:
http://www.onthemedia.org/transcripts/transcripts_123104_curtain.html

Just my 2 cents. . .Happy Podcasting! :)

[allthewhile]

If I could just chime in, I would say that the charm of that type of genre is that it's off the cuff and there are mistakes and errors. But I agree, I get board by someone talking to themself for an hour. I'm pretty sure that all successful broadcast models include more than just monologue.

[trevor]

I agree with allthewhile, I like the "non-professional" feel to some of the podcasts, but I also enjoy the really "professional" podcasts.......

[Cookiepuss]

I'm not saying 'off the cuff' is a bad thing. But it seems to work better with more than one person. Then the banter is more like morning radio. Glad to see am not the only one who has noticed. :)

[MinisterOfStripes]

I agree with allthewhile, I like the "non-professional" feel to some of the podcasts, but I also enjoy the really "professional" podcasts.......

Can you make some suggestions as to what podcasts are "really professional"? I'd like to check them out for reference.

[geeknews]

When you have a busy life kids, job, mortage and everything else sometimes you dont have time to edit thats podcasting.

[Cookiepuss]

When you have a busy life kids, job, mortage and everything else sometimes you dont have time to edit thats podcasting.

I know what you mean by not having a the of time to edit. But wouldn't that just be audioblogging (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audioblogging)??? All I was infering is that it would take an extra 15-20 minutes to edit out the blatent things. Not that you have to edit as much as NPR does. :D

[jawbone]

I don't have to edit, since I make no mistakes. ;)

[Dailysonic_Adam]

What a great piece. Thanks for the link.

[bramley]

I have to say I agree with Cookiepuss. I prefer the more edited shows. I spend hours every week editing and feel all the other time pressures of life.

I understand that some folks either are more interested in the content than the style or just don't care one way or the other. Also, some people seem to really like the aesthetic of the open mic night. It's certainly a style in its own right.

With over 1000 podcasts out their now, it would be great if podcasts were categorized in directories according to several criteria -- not just "theme" but also things like whether it's an edited show or more of an audioblog or an interview show minus production. I wouldn't mind being able to choose by time in existence and other criteria as well. But most most directories are still just trying to get the themes down still. In the meantime, if you don't like unedited shows, you can tell within a few minutes of listening what sort of thing you've downloaded.

[Cookiepuss]

. . .

With over 1000 podcasts out their now, it would be great if podcasts were categorized in directories according to several criteria -- not just "theme" but also things like whether it's an edited show or more of an audioblog or an interview show minus production. I wouldn't mind being able to choose by time in existence and other criteria as well. But most most directories are still just trying to get the themes down still. In the meantime, if you don't like unedited shows, you can tell within a few minutes of listening what sort of thing you've downloaded.

I'd say that is a great idea. If someone put that together they would stand out in the crowd from the seemingly endless number of sites trying to compile diretories of podcasts now. Of course i like Podcast Alleys directory best. ;)

[dannywall]

it would be great if podcasts were categorized in directories according to several criteria -- not just "theme" but also things like whether it's an edited show or more of an audioblog or an interview show minus production. I wouldn't mind being able to choose by time in existence and other criteria as well.

Fully intending to plug my own site here :D ... but my pod directory has exactly those things! I'm still writing the search engine to allow searching on that criteria, but that information about each show is captured now.

Well ... not exactly. It was your suggestion that made me realize how cool it would be if that WAS captured. So I added it real fast. Right now I've only got 24 or 25 podcasts in my directory so I've got to go back and get them updated with the new info, but fortunately that shouldn't be much of a challenge. If you go over to my site, and you see your podcast listed, please fire me an email and give me the "skinny" on the new info I'm collecting (if'n o course you wouldn't mind that is :-) ... as an example, I know the eatfeed podcast is in my directory, and since the message said the podcast was edited, I just added that.

For those of you with pods, head on over and add yours to my directory, and if you have any other suggestions on how to improve it, that would be fantastic too! (I am already in the process of adding a "vote" mechanism and a comment mechanism to allow visitors to talk about the podcasts in the directory).

[bramley]

Yes, Podcast Alley is the most enticing podcasting site right now. But not for the directory, which I think Chris is still working on, non?

Podcastalley is the best site out there right now because of the very active forum and the great scheme for voting and leaving comments. And because it's nurtured by someone who puts his heart and soul into it. But I'm still waiting for the new categories because once you're no longer new and you're not a tops, then it's hard to find you again -- unless you show up in 5 Random. What's the word on the new directory? I eagerly await it's arrival.

[dannywall]

Even though you are my competition, I will keep it fair.

With that said, I will offer this to you... YOUR SITE IS BROKEN! There seems to be an error in your script. You better get on that :)

I believe a D'OH is appropriate here!

I was away at lenten service and wouldn't have known about it until tomorrow who knows when.

As for competition, a little friendly competition is a good thing. I'll be putting you and ipodder and such in prominent position on my site.

[chubcreek]

I think I agree that editing should be minor, or at least not for the purpose of reproducing what's on TV and radio. I think we've all had enought of that.