At work I’m the “producer” of a podcast, and here are the tools we use:
1. Apple Garageband — Found on every Mac, this free app makes it easy to record and combine tracks, add effects and art, and create podcasts.
2. Logitech USB Headset — This isn’t a professional mike, but it works fine for us and it’s comfortable to wear and use.
3. WordPress — The best open source blogging platform. You’ll need web hosting and your own domain to install this.
4. PodPress — A powerful WordPress plugin that turns your blog into a podcasting platform. This plugin takes care of all the nitty gritty (podcast enclosures), offers an embedded Flash player for easy listening, and provides stats.
5. Mime Config — If you plan to publish “enhanced” podcasts for iTunes, chances are your server isn’t configured to recognize the “m4a” format. Install this WordPress plugin and add the mime type “m4a = audio/mpeg”.
What other tools are you using for creating podcasts?
3 replies on “5 ingredients for a do-it-yourself podcast”
Final Cut Pro, Sorenson Squeeze, WordPress, CS3, Good Stat trackers… The longer I have been podcasting, them more tools that I use. It has been interesting shooting in HD, and then down rezzing for an iPod… 😉
Trent, good point about Audacity. I actually should have mentioned Audacity because one of our podcast personalities uses it. He’s on a PC so he records his half of the podcast with Audacity and then sends it to the Mac user for mixing and publication.
I use the open source Audacity to edit my files since I don’t run on a Mac. Audacity isn’t as polished as Garage band but in my opinion is just as powerful, and is simple to use (and free). So, if you don’t have a mac pick up audacity. Other than that I use the same tools as well as a custom php class for certain things.