Streaming Media, Podcasting and Syndication (RSS): New Digital Distribution Options

Why a nonprofit should use video

Michael Hoffman's 7 part short series on how npo's can effectively use video to advance their cause. http://www.see3.net/guide/

VIDEO & AUDIO FOR A CHANGE: FROM CHANNEL 17 TO YOUTUBE

Streaming, Podcasting and RSS

Media Maven Workshop delivered in March & November 2007

NEXT STEPS:

>Sign Up for Membership and training by contacting:

> WHY USE MULTI-MEDIA TO GET YOUR MESSAGE ACROSS?

Once you produce your program on Channel 17 there are a variety of new distribution opportunities to consider. From YouTube to blip.tv to Internet Archive, streaming/podcasting combined with rss feeds provide rapid ways to distribute your content to your clients and supporters.

People across Vermont (and the U.S.) are using community access channels to spread the news about their ideas and public issues. The combination of “personal media devices”, broadband internet speeds and our personal/organizational social networks is resulting in an EXPLOSION of online media distribution. Our organizations can use these tools to distribute our programs more widely and—ideally—have a wider impact.

> DIFFERENT WAYS TO SHARE YOUR NEWS

>Produce a community access TV program – Borrow equipment and go into the field or come into the studio and record a program—long or short. These programs will air on one or more of 43 channels across the state (www.vermontaccess.net). You can use a number of communications tools to let your supporters and the community at large know when your program is going to air.

If you have not yet thought strategically about how to match your audience with your message and appropriate media, check out: http://www.npowerseattle.org/education/resources/communications.htm or www.spinproject.org

There are a number of distribution strategies that will help you to reach a wider—and even more targeted audience. The more people who know, the greater impact it will have.

>Show your programs to small groups - Make a DVD of your program and show it at a small group presentation or send copies directly to supporters who are likely to do this for you. Here are some tips that might help with this: http://www.concentric.org/outreach/page16.html and
http://www.videoactivism.org/howscreen.html**** and http://www.thisisdemocracy.org/3_howto.html.****

>Show your program on line – The gist of this Media Maven Lunch is to demonstrate how to produce and distribute short and long video program on-line. You can distribute your program to a wide social network with online, EASY TO USE tools. There are a number of ways that you can share on-line digital video and audio.

>> SOME DEFINITIONS

>Streaming Media
- From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streaming_media**
Streaming media is multimedia that is constantly received by, and normally displayed to, the end-user while it is being delivered by the provider. The name refers to the delivery method of the medium rather than to the medium itself. The distinction is usually applied to media that are distributed over telecommunications networks, as most other delivery systems are either inherently streaming (e.g. radio, television) or inherently non-streaming (e.g. books, video cassettes, audio CDs). The verb 'to stream' is also derived from this term, meaning to deliver media in this manner.

>Podcasting - From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podcasting**** A podcast is a digital media file, or a related collection of such files, which is distributed over the Internet using syndication feeds for playback on portable media players and personal computers. The term, like "radio", can refer either to the content itself or to the method by which it is syndicated; the latter is also termed podcasting. The host or author of a podcast is often called a podcaster.
The term "podcast" is a portmanteau of the words "iPod" and "broadcast",[1] the Apple iPod being the brand of portable media player for which the first podcasting scripts were developed (see history of podcasting). These scripts allow podcasts to be automatically transferred to a mobile device after they are downloaded.[2]
Though podcasters' web sites may also offer direct download or streaming of their content, a podcast is distinguished from other digital media formats by its ability to be syndicated, subscribed to, and downloaded automatically when new content is added, using an aggregator or feed reader capable of reading feed formats such as RSS or Atom.

>RSS Feeds - From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rss** RSS (formally "RDF Site Summary", known colloquially as "Really Simple Syndication") is a family of Web feed formats used to publish frequently updated content such as blog entries, news headlines or podcasts. An RSS document, which is called a "feed", "web feed", or "channel", contains either a summary of content from an associated web site or the full text. RSS makes it possible for people to keep up with their favorite web sites in an automated manner that's easier than checking them manually.
RSS content can be read using software called an "RSS reader", "feed reader" or an "aggregator". The user subscribes to a feed by entering the feed's link into the reader or by clicking an RSS icon in a browser that initiates the subscription process. The reader checks the user's subscribed feeds regularly for new content, downloading any updates that it finds.

> INGREDIENTS

1. DIGITAL MEDIA CONTENT
2. COMPRESSION & EXPORTING SOFTWARE
3. A DIGITAL MEDIA FILE SMALL ENOUGH TO TRAVEL EASILY ON THE INTERNET (MP3 OR 4)
4. A LOCATION (SERVER) TO HOST THE DIGITAL MEDIA FILE
5. AN ADDRESS OF THE FILE
6. EMBEDDING THE ADDRESS IN A WEBSITE, BLOG, WIKI, MEDIA HOSTING SITE, EMAIL, OR NEWSREADER
7. A STRATEGY TO LET PEOPLE KNOW WHERE/ HOW TO FIND YOUR PROGRAM

> THE DIGITAL ASSEMBLYLINE

The first thing you need to do is to create an account at a streaming media (online video) or podcasting service. Or, if you are producing a program for Channel 17, we can do it for you at our blip.tv account or at www.gcast.com

STEP 1: PRODUCE
Come up with an idea and use a video camera to record footage and material. (You can also use a digital camera that records short movies if you want, but the quality won’t be as good).

STEP 2: IMPORT YOUR FOOTAGE
Import your footage/material (ONLY what you are going to use for the final project) from the tape onto a computer with video editing system. Video editing is now done by software--Final Cut Pro , Final Cut Express, IMovie, Windows Movie Maker, Adobe Premier to name a few. (Imovie and Windows Movie Maker come on all computers as standard software these days and are robust enough to create internet files, but don't always make the most stable television quality video.)

Your program/ footage will be recorded on the computer’s hard-drive in a digital format. It will take will take the actual length of the footage to import the material.

STEP 3: EDIT
At this point you will want to clean up your footage using the editing software. If your program is already completed, proceed to Step 4.

STEP 4: EXPORT
Create a channel and upload video to one of the video sharing websites. YouTube is the most widely known but we prefer to use blip.tv.

To compress your digital video file into a size that can be easily handled on the internet you will use your computer/software to “export” your program into a digital file. You will:

Customize your compression settings (each program has a different process for exporting, pre-set settings are not always your best choice).
Hit the Export Button and name your new, compressed file.
Remember the name and its location in your computer directory.

STEP 4: UPLOAD
Once you log into your online video service you will:

be asked to complete program INFORMATION (name, date, author, tags that you want to use so people can find it)
BROWSE for your file and then
hit the UPLOAD button.

STEP 5: SPREAD THE WORD
At many of these sites you can

Send email directly about your new posting
Make RSS feeds available
Take the html code and paste it into your video blog, email or website.
Some video hosting sites allow you to cross post to your blog automatically. This happens easily between blip.tv and blogger for example. This means that if you tell it to, the video will show up as an inline post at your selected blog with the text you include.

TOOLS

Sites we visited during the workshop:

www.bliptv.com
www.gcast.com
www.itunes.com
SamLand

Podcasting & Streaming

How to Podcast

RSS - Syndication: Getting out your News

RSS Made Easy
http://www.commoncraft.com/rss_plain_english**

Easy Ways to Publish Your Own RSS Feeds
http://www.techsoup.org/learningcenter/internet/page5820.cfm?cg=searchterms&sg=rss%20feeds**

Why Campaigns and Organizations Should Use RSS
http://www.epolitics.com/2006/11/15/why-campaigns-and-organizations-should-use-rss/**

Nonprofit Guide to Getting Started with RSS
http://www.consultantcommons.org/node/105**

Organizing a Feed Reader
http://marshallk.com/**

The Year of the Widget?
User-generated content was a hallmark of 2006. It's a fair bet 2007 will be all about further customizing your online life.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16329739/site/newsweek/page/1/****

> EXAMPLES

>Link the video to your web site
http://www.freepress.net/video.php
http://www.barackobama.com/

>Create a video blog – a website that is designed specifically to feature video programs.
*

- - Mashups: A mashup is a website or application that combines content from more than one source into an integrated experience.

Definition: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mashup_(web_application_hybrid

Create a community map with video links
- http://www.patv.tv/iowacit ymap.htm
- Other Examples: Earth Album http://www.webmashup.com/cgi-bin/jump.cgi?ID=160****
- Mashup Sites: http://www.mashups.com/****
- Mashup Directory: http://www.webmashup.com/**

Also:

FOSS Codecs for Online Video: Usability, Uptake and Development

A review of the best available tools for the creation, playback and embedding of online video using Free and Open Source Software video codecs, and a set of recommendations for development to enhance their adoption by social change video projects on the web.**

Wiki
http://wiki.transmission.cc/index.php/FOSS_Codecs_For_Online_Video:_Usability_Uptake_and_Development_1.2#Recommendations

A version in PDF is also available here: http://www.engagemedia.org/Members/anna/FOSS_Codecs_For_Online_Video_1_2.pdf

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