Absorb What's Useful

Many people who are not podcast subscribers think of podcasting as a audio file only.  This is why video podcasting has opened major opportunities to entertain and inform another audience of listeners.  In this post I discuss a few basic tips on why a tapeless podcast is good for archiving and editing.  As I review cameras and digital gadgets on this blog that are essential in producing a quality recording it is important to also explain their benefits.

I remember vividly as a child seeing my father’s camcorder having an actual wheel tape on it and reviewing his motorcycle gang pictures on negative slides in the garage.  Those old gadget days have flashed forward to a world of digital content and creation. Making podcast one of the defining evolutions of hundreds of 20th century inventions.  They have been “remixed” into similar products and functions but with more sophisticated memories.  For individuals who looking to develop your own podcast whether video or audio here are three reasons to go tapeless.

3 Suggestions to go Tapeless:

1. Speed.  With tapeless recordings you can capture your footage and then move to editing it much faster.  Sometimes if your equipment set up is large enough you can do both at the same time.  With tapeless devices like a Flip Camera, digital voice recorder, or wireless mic the ability to move your recordings to the editing software is much easier than loading a tape and rewinding it constantly.   When transferring the media editing it can take up to 10-15 times faster than using tapes.  
2. Easy to Share.  Digital media recordings make it simple to share with others you desire.  If you have a recording that needs to be uploaded fast to make the social production impact you want then using a tapeless camera gives you more compatible choices since many computers have USB connections.  If you using the recording for a podcast you can add a interview you made earlier into the broader episode you release later.  If you have a production team they can then begin editing and transcribing the interview just in case some participants ask for a paper log.  
3. Archiving.  As a DJ for over 17 years collecting vinyl has become a hassle more for personal space reasons than passion.  When collecting tangible media we have to store them and archive them properly or the materials becomes useless.  The name of this website comes from a martial arts quote “absorb what is useful and discard what is useless”, proving that over time we have to decide what we really need.  When using tapeless recorders for you podcast you are minimizing your storage for future purposes.  So make sure you develop a good folder system of archiving your videos and interviews.  Each episode should have a title and date making it easy for you to know when you recorded it.  I also suggest that you save your episodes according to a season or yearly calendar.  

Now that you read about the benefits of using a tapeless device I would like to explain just a few reasons on the downfalls as well.  I will get into this topic more with a later post dealing with the technologies on video podcasting.  

One major set back with using digital recording is obviously without tape you have no backup.  A tape recording give you the confidence to know you have a “master tape” to use when editing later.  Since technology requires a major trust factor on mobile devices for us we still can’t go wrong with a old fashioned tape recording.  

Alvin Singh