Podcasts Cut-off

[jevridon]

Hey everybody,

Now, I've been podcasting for quite some time and I've been hearing that my podcasts have been getting cut off from time to time. I've listened to other podcasts that occassionally get cut-off, as well, and I'm wondering if anyone has come across a solution (or even a reason) for this problem.

I currently utilize a Macintosh to record and encode my podcasts and I utilize the following software for production:

1) MP3 Rage (for ID tagging)
2) iTunes (for encoding)
3) Feeder (for XML generation)
4) Transit (for FTP)

Any insight or help would be greatly appreciated. I'll give you a shout-out on the show ya'll (for whatever that is worth)!

My podcast is at http://www.joshuajeremiah.name

[ElNacho]

cut off?

[tabulator32]

I'm not really too clear on what you mean, either.

At first, I thought you meant the podcast would freeze while you were listening to it off the internet. If this is what is happeneing and it does not always happen in the same place. then you might have a band width issue. Are you trying to listen through dial up? Are you listening to 44kHz or higher stero recordings?

If you mean to say that the problem is something else entirely, then...what exactly is happening?

Are you saying some portion of your show is just not being uploaded to your podcast hosting server? It wouldn't "successfully" load a part of an mp3 file. It would be all or nothing. Is there someway a portion of your show is not making it when you convert the it to mp3 at the end? How long is your show?

Sorry if I'm confused.

[monkey_one]

have you checked ur file before you ftp it compared to after to ftp it over to your hosting site. that is is it all there after record it compress post produce it what ever you do to it before you upload it for mass consumption
because i have had issues with my server and space that is if i run out of alotted space when i am uploading an audio file it will get cut off at the end
I have to delete some files and re-upload the file and it is fine
i use feeder to for my rss xml needs it comes with an ftp engine built in....

p.s. if u read my message using a capt kirk voice and gate you will understand it better....

[tabulator32]

p.s. if u read my message using a capt kirk voice and gate you will understand it better....

He's right! It helps!

[jevridon]

I guess I should have been more clear on this point. Actually, after resubscribing to my podcast at work, I have been able to compare my downloaded podcast files at work and at home.

Here's the initial problem. I record and encode my shows fine. I relisten to the shows on my home computer and they're complete. Great! No problem. I successfully transfer the MP3 file, in full, to my host's server where it is then made available for download as a podcast (not a streaming file). People have been reporting to me that my show will abruptly end in the middle of a sentence of my recording - POOF! - show over before it has finished.

Up to this point, I have been having zero difficulties with any of my shows, so I haven't been able to replicate the problem.

Back to my resubscription-to-my-own-podcast-at-work scenario. I just got home and looked at a full podcast file at home and then looked at what I thought was a full podcast file downloaded at work. Lo and behold! The MP3 file at work never fully downloaded - it was an incomplete file!

Why are my MP3 files not fully downloading for anybody? Could it be a problem with my web host?

[crybabyemokids]

Probably while you're uploading your file, your internet connection is acting weird and skipping packets on the upload. I'd check to see if my connection is okay or not.

Jay

[pwfenton]

Here's my guess...
When you make your show an enclosure in your RSS feed, you are not including the file size. This must be included and it must be in bytes. I took a look at your RSS feed and I don't see file sizes for any of your mp3 enclosures. I'm sure there is a field in Feeder where you can input that number.

I'm also sure there are tutorials available that explain why this is needed and how to do it.

[jevridon]

Thanks guys, but here's my answer to your guesses.

1) I've been able to fully download shows successfully on various computers. Sometimes the files are complete and sometimes they are not. This is what is making me think it's my host provider.

2) Feeder, the XML program I use for XML generation, automatically forces me to include the file size. I cannot complete the XML without doing so.

[vader]

i'm actually having a similar problem... however my feed comes my wordpress blog, through feedburner. Re-subscribing always fixes the problem, but obviously this is not a fix. Any other thoughts?

[monkey_one]

if you are using feeder i sugest u upload the file from feeder using thier ftp engine then feeder will put the right file size in the enclosure for you

[vader]

i don't use feeder, so i dont think the fault is with them. jevridon, have you noticed this with other clients besides itunes? I've seen it several times in itunes, never in a different cleint, but then again i dont use other clients as much. (and neither do my listeners.)

[ElNacho]

u 2 wudint happen to be using godaddy would you?

[vader]

a godaddy domain name, yes. servage.net hosting.

[ElNacho]

oh, dunno then.

have you tried contacting servage about this?

[womengrow]

2) Feeder, the XML program I use for XML generation, automatically forces me to include the file size. I cannot complete the XML without doing so.
Just for kicks, try another program like http://www.feedforall.com/ or Podcast Maker from http://www.potionfactory.com if you are on a Mac.

Otherwise, if you can narrow it down to your host, I can highly recommend http://www.ipowerweb.com for customer service, pricing and uptime.

[bazookajoeshow]

Why would you not want to include the file size?

Feeder, the XML program I use for XML generation, automatically forces me to include the file size. I cannot complete the XML without doing so.

[alexkillby]

I'm not sure if this is even related, or will contribute at all? But My iTunes is set to download the last three episodes of each podcast, and dispose of old episodes. So when I've missed a couple of episodes of a particular show, and I open up iTunes to listen to them, iTunes begins to download the latest episodes, but I've already clicked on the show I'm listening to (sometimes the oldest show I have), and then I turn my monitor off and listen to it, but when the download completes it will delete the old show and just stop the listening right in the middle.