Moving at the Speed of Creativity by Wesley Fryer

iChatCast?

In preparation for a skype and blog inspired skypeconference that will hopefully take place later this week (and be subsequently published as a podcast/skypecast) involving educators in Texas, Canada, and Scotland, I have done some brief Skype audio-conference test calls this week.

The connection was fine for the 2 users connecting with the Skype application, but for some reason the audio kept cutting-out for the person who was connecting via a land-line phone. I had connected them with a skype-out connection. Not sure what the problem was, but it was bad enough to make the conference call not doable with that configuration. Tried again, this time with the non-computer user on a cell phone, same poor results.

Just learned tonight that the new Garageband 3, when you are using iChat to videoconference, will record audio streams to different channels and even snap still images of each person automatically when they start to speak, making this perfect for podcasting. This is a HUGE technical development. With a skypecast, like the one we are planning, all the audio signals are recorded to the same channel, or at best split between the left and right channels. With this Garageband iChat recording feature supporting separate channels, it will be possible to make audio enhancements to individual voice tracks. When recording levels are not equal, this is critical.

Wow! This will morph a skypecast into an iChatcast, but take it to a different level I think. I can’t wait to give it a try myself! For this week, however, we’ll be going with skype. If anyone has any tips for Skype audioconferences recorded with Audio Hijack Pro (the configuration I’m planning to use) I would to hear them!

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2 responses to “iChatCast?”

  1. Darren Kuropatwa Avatar

    Hey Wes, have you tried Audacity? It’s free and it’s easy to use. 😉

  2. Conn McQuinn Avatar

    Wesley, take a look at Gizmo Project (www.gizmoproject.com). I’m just trying it out today for the first time. It’s a Skype-like product, but includes conference calling and the ability to record conversations within the product. I’ve only messed around with it for a few minutes, but it looks like a nice alternative to Skype.