Customer Reviews

Producing Video Podcasts: A Guide for Media Professionals

5 star:		(5)
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3 star:		(1)
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I normally don't write reviews, but after meeting the author at a recent conference, I felt I had to spread the word. This is one of the best books on technology I have read in a while, and I read a lot of tech books for my job. If you know technology but need the video part it works, if you know video and need the technology part, it works, if you need both it works. The book just works. I have been following Richard's podcasts for a couple years, but have never read any of his books, my loss. If you are interested in video podcasting, this is the book for you. My only warning would be make sure you are interested in podcasting and not streaming. There is a huge difference and this book shows you the difference, then teaches you podcasting.

A writer friend asked me to take a look at Producing Video Podcasts A Guide for Media Professionals by Richard Harrington and Mark Weiser. As an audio podcaster for two years, he knew I would have an interest in seeing what could be done with video to produce a show. Understanding my desire for quality in any avenue, he knew I would want to do it the very best and most professional way. This book is THE tool for such a purpose.

The authors give good definitions of industry terms that might not be familiar to a novice podcaster. The book covers a wide variety of features and gives step-by-step instruction on using the latest and ever-evolving technology and equipment, but it also discusses the business side of podcasting such as budget, hosting, publishing, and monetizing the show.

You'll be able to understand your audience and how to approach them after reading Producing Video Podcasts. The book is careful to keep beginning podcasters out of trouble with the copyright police by making sure the reader understands what music is safe for use on podcasts and where to obtain such material.

No book on videography would be complete without some information on RSS feed, YouTube, setting up cameras and microphones for filming, how to edit, and understanding HDV (high-definition video) standard sizes and frame rates. This book covers all that and much more. Filled with graphics, samples, tips, and photos, this is the complete handbook on preproduction, production, postproduction, delivery, and promotion of a professional video podcast.

If you are interested in Video Podcasting as a Professional, then this is the resource for you. The book is a treasure trove of knowledge with a great support web site as well providing you additional information, forms and tips that any video podcaster will find useful. If you have never done a video podcast from beginning to end, you will be shocked at the details and the steps required to do this properly. Richard and Mark have put a lot of detail in their book and what has been great for me is that when I ran in to a problem on the book's website, Richard responded to me very quickly and helped me with my problem. I would completely recommend this book to anyone currently doing video podcasts or simply interested in the process. If you are looking to do video podcasts professionally, then this is a must have book.

This is a great book. It goes through all the steps of making a video podcast with examples. The resources on a companion site also offer additional support.

This is the book that I've been waiting for Richard Harrington and Mark Weiser to write. These guys know video Podcasting cold - from brainstorming, to gearing-up, to production, to promotion. They've been in the trenches since the beginning and know all the pitfalls and how to overcome them to achieve success. Great, great stuff! I'm so glad to have all this knowledge in one place so beautifully laid out and easy to read. This is where the industry is going, and this book will become the bible for video Podcasting.

I intend to update this with a full review when I've finished the read, but w/30% completed, I'm disappointed in both FOCAL Press, and the content. So far it's not what I was expecting and I advise, if it matters at all to anyone, to save your $$ for the moment. At least do what I didn't do before you order it, go check it out in a local bookstore. As usual, amazon.com delivered intact, on-time. More later.

8/25- I'm back. Initially I chose this book for a combination of 3 reasons: Publishing date, Publisher, and co-author Richard Harrington.

The publishing date, 2008, because it was the most current compared to other offerings I was considering. At that I was prepared for some of the information to be superseded or invalid and I was not disappointed when this proved to be true. This is after all a very contemporary topic in a fast changing technology in a fast changing environment.

The Publisher, Focal Press, because of the experience I've had with several of their books covering topics in the film-TV business. But, it has been quite some time since I last purchased one of their books. My positive reaction to their imprimatur comes from my previous experiences with what I considered their reliable level of producing Professional level volumes. This book changed all of that and I'll tell you why. Physically, this book measures about 7"X9" but easily could have been just as effective by eliminating the plethora of useless full color photos and printing the text across the entire page instead of leaving many pages with a full 1/3 page of white space from top to bottom. A 5"X7" size with only relevant pics, boxes and graphs would have been much more consciousness on their part and more environmentally responsible. This is a laughable achievement on the part of Focal Press. Had I picked this up in a local bookstore I would have flipped through it, replaced it on the shelf, and continued searching.

The co-author Richard Harrington. Through iTunes, I subscribe to the podcast "Producing Video Podcasts" by Richard Harrington. It is educated, informative, comprehensive and comprehensible. I've never met the man, but I feel he is committed to his subject and to sharing it with others. I learn something useful from each episode and so it is with this book. If you haven't discovered his podcast yet, I recommend you do so. His suggestions, the resources I might never have found in a timely fashion, the lessons he learned, and the logical linear approach to a finished product are the value for me in this book.

In my mind, Video Production is an imaging capture technique, while video podcasting is a specific delivery technique for images and information. With that in mind...This book began for me at chapter 8, page 155. The previous was essentially about video production. People go to specialty schools to learn the techniques of video production and certainly this book can't begin to do more than give an over view, although a pretty good one, of the topic. Page 155: I snapped into heightened awareness...YES! Now we're talking.

I'm now rereading the book, from chapt. 8 on. Using the information, I'm much better informed than I was, and yes I will make a video podcast . As for the book I will continue to give it 3 stars with the caveat that with a better publisher, it could have been so much more.