Blog Azeroth

It's not going to get started unless we start it.

I am right now saying that I want to start our first attempt at a podcast for THIS Sunday, February 3rd.

I am, at this time, assuming that Game Dame will be able to supply the mixing skills for the final podcast.

This is my plan;

That people are going to sign up here committing to being present for the podcast this Sunday. Time is flexible for me; if you want to do it, suggest when exactly will work for you.

I would suggest that we have no more than three live speakers on the first show, plus perhaps one 'guest'.

Once we have the speakers nailed down, we can discuss topics to discuss.

I'd love to participate, anytime after 5:30 central would probably be good for me. Looking forward to it

Planning for getting ready for the show

For right now, what I think each of us will need to make the podcast;

A decent quality microphone. The final sound quality of the podcast is only going to be as good as what we put into it. Please, if possible, use headphones instead of speakers so that you don't get feedback into the mic.

A quiet area during the recording. I know that life happens, but once the show starts, the more interruptions we have, the harder it will be to make the final mix. Our ideal should be to have one smooth, uninterrupted file that can make the final product. Otherwise, Game Dame or any other audio expert making the final mix may begin to hate this. So although it may be hard, try to arrange things to minimize the chance that you'll have ringing phones, barking doggies, etc during the actual show time.

Skype, Ventrilo or Teamspeak. Skype is a free Voice over Internet program that you can download here http://www.skype.com/. We are going to need to chat live for the show. We are NOT going to record the actual chat, we are going to each record our own audio file with a different application. But we will need to talk and interact with other. I know that Skype has a bit of lag, but sounds clean. I am open to which we finally choose. Skype benefits from not needing a seperate, paid server over the long term.

A solid sound recording application. What we are going to do for the actual podcast is take individual recordings and splice them together in a final mix. To do this, you need to be able to record your audio locally on your computer at a quality of 128kbps, 44khz, Stereo. If you don't have a suitable application, you can use Audacity, an open-source sound editing application. I am hoping that we can get feedback, possible alternatives, and a how-to on this step from our audio expert before the show. If you do use Audacity, you need to make sure you change the default save and work drive to a very large one. The 1 hour live recording can take gigs of space prior to saving as an mp3 project. Also, in order to save files as mp3 with Audacity, you need a plugin that can be downloaded seperately. Just a heads up. http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

The process as I see it happening this Sunday;

1) A half hour prior to the show start time, log into our chosen live chat program. For this first show, please email me at bigbearbuttedone@yahoo.com with your identity if on Skype. Otherwise, we will need the host of a vent or teamspeak server to share server info.

2) Adjust your microphone volume levels so they are correct.

3) Start up your audio recording program, make sure that you are going to be saving to a hard drive with lots o' free space.

4) Test your audio recording program to make sure it's recording your mic channel, and only your mic channel. Start a recording, do a test one two, test one two. Stop the recording, play it back. Make sure that you like the sound you're hearing. Work out any problems. I am hoping that, with a half hour prior to start, that our audio expert will be on the chat with us to help us work through any problems.

5) Once the sound from your mic is recording cleanly, make sure you stop your current recording and delete it, so you will be ready to start a new recording fresh.

6) About 5 minutes before the start of the show, we will have one person say to start the recording, and then have a slow 15 count of silence. This will make sure that, generally, everyone will be starting their audio recording at about the same place to help the audio expert to sync them up later. The period of silence will provide a 'white noise' sample from each person, to allow the audio expert to sample the background noise from each individual channel, and then create a filter to edit it out of the final podcast.

7) Whoever is running the show will give a 10 second warning that the show is about to go hot... and then will begin the show with the intro monologue. (Welcome to the first episode of the yada yada show, I'm such and such, and today I'm joined by such and such of such and such, and such and such. )

Leave your recording running, and do the show. Do NOT stop or pause the recording at any time.

9) Once the show is done, and the sign off is read by whoever is running the show, the lead will say 'stop recording in 3... 2... 1... NOW'. It's not necessary for syncing, but what the heck. It will be a nice note to signal a show being 'in the can'.

10) Now save the recording in the following format: 128kbps, 44khz, Stereo. For a naming convention, I would suggest calling it "podcastfeb_3_08_bigbearbutt.mp3", etc as an example.

11) We will upload the files using http://www.yousendit.com, a free (at least initially) Web based large file uploading service, to send our individual files to the audio expert (I suppose we should call them the Producer. Cause that's what they will be doing, Producing the podcast.). We will need to determine exactly who this will be, so we know what email address to send these files to.

On our end, that will be it. The show will be done, and lack only intro music, final mixing, and upload to iTunes. At this stage, the Producer has a ton of work.

Now, we need to determine the fun stuff... who is on the show, what do we CALL the show, etc.

I volunteer for this one too... any time up to 7pm pacific time is ok (which is midnight for my time zone... have to work the next day)

oh, and p.s: i'm not a native english speaker, but i spent some time working in the US on a student program.. my english is good, but has an accent... just so you don't say i didn't warn you..

Depending on the time that is decided, I wouldn't hate participating. Either now or later, no matter to me.

Unfortunately I'm busy this Sunday, as I'd like to volunteer, but perhaps next time. Just wanted to show my support for the whole shindig.

I'm free anytime before 330 PST on sunday (That's when my raid starts). If you plan on shooting before then, I'm all for it.

I'm available pretty much any time on Sunday.

I definitely want to join you, and any time Sunday works for me!

See you then! (hopefully)

[EDIT: I think "BlogCasting Azeroth" is actually a pretty good name for the podcast}

Do you people not support Superbowl Sunday???! What is with you people!


Just joking...but in case you forgot

Is that like a FFA in STV Arena or something? I would support that Sunday event!

Sports bore me.

I sadly work 7am to 7pm on Sunday, so I will bow out for htis, but I look forward to hearing the podcast when it is up.

Actually, Matticus reminded me, forcefully, that this Sunday is the Super Bowl.

Funny thing is, I just do not watch or follow sports.

I have played plenty, I enjoy the actual playing...

But watching other people have fun bores me. I'd rather DO.

And watching people get paid millions of dollars to play a game I enjoy playing for fun serves no purpose except to piss me off.

I know there are people that like to watch, but I'm not one of them...

kinda like sex, I suppose. I'd much rather be doing.

Oh yeah, I went there.

Now admit it... you're trying to scrub the idea of a super-bowl sized stadium of people watching...well, you know, a bed. Even a large bed... and cheering, or having a gambling point spread, or an injured player roster OUT OF YOUR HEAD right now.

Scarring the minds of todays' youth. Just one of the services I provide.

okay... I want to preserve this somewhere, so here we go... in the BlogAzeroth AOL buddy chat channel, we had a followup after my last post...

I'm pasting it here.

Maybe this will spur some of you to come join us!

TheBigBearButt (09:00:23 am): hehe... lord, I'm evil. I love going into a forum and posting something that will cause screaming and heartache.
ravariaa (09:00:37 am): oh?
TheBigBearButt (09:01:05 am): yeah, replied to a post in blogcasting azeroth... guarenteed to make someone lose it.
ravariaa (09:01:16 am): ::bouncing off to read::
ravariaa (09:01:48 am): ROTF!
JuiceboxDani (09:02:12 am): XD
TheBigBearButt (09:02:44 am): Ah, see? I actually made you go burn your retinas... I am an evil person
ravariaa (09:03:05 am): Maybe Dani, but not me. I'm heavily amused by the idea.
ravariaa (09:03:16 am): How exactly would you score it?
JuiceboxDani (09:03:16 am): Wait, why are my retinas burned?
JuiceboxDani (09:03:18 am): I mean
JuiceboxDani (09:03:21 am): OH GOD
JuiceboxDani (09:03:23 am): MY RETINAS.
TheBigBearButt (09:03:25 am): lol
ravariaa (09:03:27 am): what's considered a "foul"?
TheBigBearButt (09:03:46 am): See? See? I'm still contemplating the injured player list
ravariaa (09:03:52 am): and what would penalties be?
ravariaa (09:03:58 am): lol true
TheBigBearButt (09:04:41 am): I think turf burns would be an issue... astroturf versus real grass would definitely have an impact on gameplay
ravariaa (09:04:51 am): oooo yeah
TheBigBearButt (09:05:19 am): Ah, yes... and of course the biggest question... how many players on each team?
ravariaa (09:05:29 am): oh yeahhhhh
TheBigBearButt (09:05:38 am): okay, I'm stopping now.
JuiceboxDani (09:05:45 am): Aw. but i was having fun
TheBigBearButt (09:06:08 am): lol\
ravariaa (09:06:13 am): awww
ravariaa (09:06:25 am): I was trying to think of the uniforms. >.>
TheBigBearButt (09:07:28 am): uniforms.... well, there is already a tradition of fans going naked with colored paint... I think that points the way
ravariaa (09:08:27 am): hmm there's that... but what would the fans do for team merchandise? Team logos on.... okay stopping there.
JuiceboxDani (09:08:51 am): you can paint the team logos on?
TheBigBearButt (09:08:52 am): and you're forgetting the whole 'piercings' category...
TheBigBearButt (09:09:16 am): team jewelry... and sponsors logos?
JuiceboxDani (09:09:16 am): would those count as illegal advantages or disadvantages?
JuiceboxDani (09:09:38 am): sometimes people say jewelry enhances things...and other people get turned off.
ravariaa (09:09:57 am): hey I'm thinking what would the fans get in the gift shop! Somehow I don't think team jerseys would cut it anymore
JuiceboxDani (09:10:35 am): the "gift shop" would probably have blackened windows, tbh.
ravariaa (09:10:42 am): mmm prolly
ravariaa (09:10:46 am): lol
ravariaa (09:11:27 am): hmm commercials for players endorsing products would prolly have to be run after midnight.
TheBigBearButt (09:11:58 am): oh, I don't know about that.... you can get by with a lot on cable these days.
TheBigBearButt (09:12:24 am): Oooh, but can you imagine sitcoms vying for 'guest stars'?
ravariaa (09:12:30 am): LOL
TheBigBearButt (09:13:02 am): You mentioned scoring... what about the nerds that track player stats over multiple seasons
TheBigBearButt (09:13:06 am): OMIGOD!!!!
ravariaa (09:13:11 am): Fantasy Leagues!
TheBigBearButt (09:13:14 am): Fantasy Leagues!
ravariaa (09:13:18 am): ROTF!
TheBigBearButt (09:13:24 am): Great minds think alike!
JuiceboxDani (09:13:26 am): XD
ravariaa (09:13:27 am):
TheBigBearButt (09:13:46 am): okay, that was too funny

See what you guys are missing?

Come to AOL's Buddy Room, 'blogazeroth'

Beware the House of Sin that is the BlogAzeroth AIM Chat! Do not wander in, for you will not wander out with your soul intact!

But.. if you do go in.. I'll see you there.

I'm not available this sunday. Perhaps later on I will be able to participate.