Video Podcasting Guide

Video podcast — also referred to as vidcast or vodcast — is just another form of podcast, but the content is in video format instead of audio. It also shares the same benefits as audio podcast.

Just so that you know, podcast feed allows media publishers to deliver any kind of digital file to the audience. This includes documents, audio and video. There is no limitation to which file can be syndicated and which one cannot.

What’s with video podcast

If all are the same, all you have to do is to substitute the audio file with video file. So, what’s the problem?

At a glance, it is just as simple if you already know how to produce and publish podcast, but those who are aware of the complexity of shooting live video should realize that there are more to it.

Rest assured though, practice makes perfect and really the process is not as hard as you might have imagined.

Like in audio podcast, your setup can be as simple or complex as you want to, but I recommend that you start simple and upgrade later when you get to certain level.

Marketing with video podcast — the benefits

Audio podcast has its own benefits when it comes to delivering your messages to consumers. Read marketing with podcasts and podcast business case for detailed information.

Video podcast takes it even further by introducing visual aspect of communication. Imagine that when you are talking about one thing, you are able to demonstrate it right in front of the viewers.

Internet TV?

What makes it different from TV?

Well, with video podcast, the audience is very targeted to whose who are really interested with the content. In the long tail era when people have the power the choose, they are not limited to the same content and program.

By narrowcasting, video podcasters should target only certain demographics and/or psychographics segment instead of being everything to everyone.

Moreover, other than focused content, your audience also is not limited to certain date or time to tune in and view your show. Talking about the power of time-shifting…

Just like audio podcast compared to radio.

So, how is it compared to TiVo

TiVo allows the users to record TV shows and watch them later. This gives the audience the freedom to consume content at their leisure.

But it is not video podcast. A podcast lets its subscribers get updated content downloaded and synced to their media player, be it on the desktop or to the portable media player.

TiVo realizes the importance of podcast. There are software that allows you to subscribe to videocasts and videoblogs from your TiVo DVR. The more content people can get into their TiVo, the more likely they are going to use it.

The technology behind video podcasts

Just like audio podcast, video podcast doesn’t use any proprietary standards or protocols. This means you can use the same hosting server that host web site files and audio podcasts to deliver videos.

A video podcast can be distributed through an existing web server either through direct download or as a stream. Downloading video podcasts in advance gives the consumers the ability to take the content with them or play on their desktop without any glitch.

The drawback is that users may not view the podcast after they download it, making it hard to measure views and other metrics.

With streaming, you have more accuracy in statistics, and to certain extent, it can even save bandwidth because viewers who fast forward don’t have to download the entire thing, just the segment they are interested in.

Streaming video has its limitation though, if the users are hooked up to the Internet using slow connection, they may not be able to view the video smoothly.

For podcast feed, you can use exactly the same technology as with audio podcast. Here is a complete tutorial to create and publish your own podcast.

Note: iTunes now supports and includes video podcasts in its podcast directory, making it easy for users to find and subscribe to your vodcast.

How to create you own video podcast?

Instead of recording audio, you also need to capture video to produce a video podcast. Well, that is obvious. Fortunately, you can do the recording and editing on your home PC to.

This section will not cover the publishing part of the video podcast. Please refer to podcast tutorial for complete instructions and options.

Video podcast equipment

What gear do you need to start producing your own video podcast? Besides a computer, all you need is a camera and microphone. Many modern digital cameras allow users to capture video.

That may be enough to get you started as a vodcaster.

Although camcoder usually has built-in microphone, for better results I recommend you to use an external microphone. It is not expensive so grab yourself one.

Video editing software

Windows (with at least XP SP2) comes with simple yet powerful video editing software. It is limited to Microsoft’s proprietary WMV format. It does a good job of compressing your video, but if you want to produce iPod compatible video, you may want QuickTime Pro or other add-on that can convert the file.

File format and size

The file format you should publish your vidcast in depends on your audience. You want to ensure that your video uses one of the most commonly recognized format so they are playable on most computers and portable media devices.

Remember that just as podcasts don’t necessarily need to be listened to on an iPod, vodcasts lets you consume the content on your desktop computer too.

Here are some of the most common video formats to ensure compatibility in Windows and Mac operating system: .mp4, .m4v, .mov.

For desktop viewing pleasure, you should encode your video at a higher resolution. In iPod video, the screen is small enough that you can have pretty decent video using lower resolution. So, while the video player in iPod was designed to support up to MPEG-4 VGA (640×480) resolution, the iPod maximum video resolution is limited to size of the screen.

You can achieve best results by using QuickTime Pro to convert your video file to Apple’s H.264 encoding and reduce the resolution to no more than 320×240. This ensures optimal playback on iPod video.

If the video is shorter, the video file is smaller.

If the video is encoded to lower resolution, the video file is smaller.

You should balance between video length and resolution to allow the audience to download the files faster. In several occasions when quality is most important, you want to consider having two versions of videos; one for broadband users and another for slower Internet users.

Video podcasting is increasingly popular nowadays. If you really want to start tapping into this marketing and publishing channel, spend some time learning about it. Your time will be well rewarded.