static_whisper | Entries tagged with prep

Originally written 30 April 2021 in Notepad (while my internet was slow due to uploading a file to Archive.org): Something that might help future me when it comes to creating an M4B file.

So, when you're exporting as an MP3, you get to choose from a whole list of different kbps compression values, which affects the final file size that someone will download. If you let Archive.org compress an uploaded WAV, it uses 128 kbps, which is often held to be too high for podfic beyond a few minutes, so I usually export my own MP3 file to upload to Archive.org at 96 kbps. Of note, I also haven't uploaded anything longer than about 55 minutes before (and I usually don't have SFX to worry about).

I have no idea how often I'll do fic of the length as "Come Undone", but 96 kbps is a smidge too high when trying to work with the entire work. I know it's nearly 7 hours, and there's only so much compression I can do, but I used 64 kbps for the MP3 files used to make the M4B in AudioBook Converter (uploaded to Google Drive for downloading purposes on my Windows laptop). For future fic, I may want to keep that in mind as I go, so I don't have to re-export and re-download at the end.

13 April 2021

A note to self: While cold reading the rest of a multi-chapter fic isn’t horrible, I should maybe get a chapter by chapter word count for planning purposes at the beginning.

I am - yet again - behind on uploading Come Undone chapters and anything else because some of these ending chapters are long. Like, the raw file for this one chapter got over 50 minutes, and while editing out mistakes and long silences will take that down, it’s also about the limit of what I can reasonably record in one day.

27 March 2021: Just some fiddly, behind the scenes notes.

Instead of uploading a WAV file to Archive.org and letting it compress a 128 kbps MP3 file, I could’ve just uploaded the smaller kbps MP3 file exported from Audacity for the purposes of having a backup file on Google Drive to Archive.org.

This means I can link to a smaller file to download - which will be important as I read longer works - and I can free up space on the Google Drive account. I’m in no danger of reaching the 15 GB limit right now, but for example, I could choose to host files for fests, challenges, etc. and anything over a certain time limit instead of trying to host everything.

(I’m looking at someone with blanket permission to podfic in a particular fandom with over 100 works. So, eventually, smaller works are going to add up in terms of storage space. I’ve tagged #prep because I may need a reminder for future me to take into account the longer upload time to Archive.org.)

I don’t expect this to be terribly interesting, but in the interest of keeping track of this podficcing process, I think I’m going to try AudioBookConverter to make M4B files out of MP3 files.

It’s for Windows, so the process will be 1) upload MP3 file from Audacity to Archive.org [which is already done on the Linux laptop], 2) download Archive.org MP3 file on the Windows laptop, and 3) use this program to get the M4B (without needing additional programs).

An Auralphonic episode mentioned Chapter and Verse, but I’m not aware of that being updated since sometime when I was in undergrad (2012 to 2016), so I went looking to see if anything else had been updated a little more recently than that. (It also involves downloading other programs, like iTunes, in order to work.) I think Audiobook Binder came up in being a recommended alternative, but it involves money. (I also wish these different programs didn’t all sound so alike in names.) As far as I can tell, AudioBookConverter doesn’t involve iTunes and doing an MP3 to AAC conversion first, so I should be able to directly convert the existing MP3 files into an M4B.

Behind The Pod - Series (or Season) 2, Episode 4: Podficcing on the Periphery. Dated: August 2020.

Summary: Creating podfic in a fandom or part of fandom where podfic is a relative unknown. Discussion points: what to do when no one even thinks about blanket permission, what it's like creating most of the content yourself, and how isolating and discouraging it can be.

AO3 user ~peasina created Pioneer Podfic, a collection for being the first podfic in a fandom.

Behind The Pod - Series (or Season) 2, Episode 3: Am I Speaking Your Language? Dated: August 2020.

Summary: Podficcing in languages the podficcer doesn't speak.

The one mod felt more comfortable with pronouncing languages they have encountered offline, even if they’re not fluent. Some of what affects podfic is what writers choose, and it also factors in issues with writing non-monolingual characters (when it’s weird or expected to switch to another language). It might depend on the fandom, but it’s not uncommon for fanfic writers to include terms of endearment in a non-English language. [Most fic is in English, so most podficcers read English, even if it’s as a second language, so it’s more noticeable to talk about the non-English examples.]

Making a good attempt at looking up the pronunciation and some confidence when recording can carry some podficcers through additional languages in a fic. Getting the emotion right can also cover not getting the pronunciation completely correct. The responder also felt a little less pressure with fictional languages, even though a lack of audio examples can make it harder to practice, because she didn’t feel like she was messing up someone’s language. It’s a little more common for the one mod to run into names that need pronunciation double checked than long phrases. (You can tell when certain podficcers get to the end of watching The Untamed because they start asking about Mandarin pronunciation. Fandom has crowdsourced pronunciation guides on Twitter.)

Auralphonic Episode 5: Sexy Podfic. Dated: April 2015.

It really depends on the person. Some people don’t get as embarrassed when they don’t try to voice act, add heavy breathing, moan, etc. Some people don’t feel embarrassed unless they’re reading something they actually like (one host gave an example of reading a particular kink). Others get in the reading zone and may not even be physically affected, even if they are when listening to other podfic. There’s an NC-17 Podfic Advice Document, but it didn’t really seem very helpful on my read through.

Auralphonic Episode 36: How We Choose What to Podfic. Dated: January 2018.

Various reasons: Drawn to certain authors (writing style), or permission factors in (waiting for replies vs blanket permission [BP] and mostly relying on FPS List). [FPS List = Fanworks Permission List organizes Fanlore’s BP page by fandom.] Some people have done a lot of outreach with particular fandoms. Pod farr (riff on pon farr from Star Trek), or the excitement of needing to record Right Now. Changes in when you can record and how long you can record (f’ex, one host can’t record for more than one hour at a time these days). Personal reasons (only read below a certain word count, liking certain tropes, doing different voices, etc.). The one host makes a point of doing relatively short podfic that match environmental factors (f’ex, it’s raining where you are, so you do a fic that involves rain).

You don’t always love the fic you read, though. Challenges can have requirements (Podbang, ITPE (Informal Twitter Podfic Exchange), Podfic Bingo, Amplificathon, etc.). Some collaborative challenges may involve working with other podficcers and cross fandoms. Some charity exchanges [listeners donate to XYZ, podficcers will read certain requested fandoms and such] also might not be what you like (or even be a fandom you’re in, officially speaking).

Auralphonic Episode 34: Pre- and Post-Production. Dated: November 2017.

Vocal warm-up tips, and some commonly repeated advice (like avoid dairy right before). Experience with podfic betas. From the notes: Avoiding Mouth Noises in Podfic, and Forvo (Pronunciation Dictionary).

Auralphonic Episode 28: How Platforms Affect Podfic. Dated: April 2017.

I ignored the LiveJournal stuff at the beginning, tbh, but there’s a tie-in with the one host’s vidding experience and YouTube. My Little Pony podficcers are on YT, but more communities that the hosts can think of don’t tend to use YT (including copyright issues, especially for those who include music).

Through trial and error, Tumblr has an upload limit around 10 - 15 MB, which probably can’t handle more than a 10 - 15 minute podfic. Most people don’t host solely on tumblr because it seems more based around songs than podfic itself.

The bit about Flash isn’t true for AO3 anymore (episode is from 2017, and the phasing out of Flash happened in 2020). This platform has affected where some people choose to host (so they can easily post to AO3), coming up with podfic posting stuff ([Podfic] Title), and what they include (some read the content warnings).

Auralphonic Episode 20: Posting Tips. Dated: July 2016.

Talkback for the previous episode (GarageBand tips and tricks) mentions that there are other sound editing programs than Audacity and GarageBand. It is noteworthy that a lot of podficcing tips are aimed at free options, though, so some sound editing programs don’t catch on for people who have to buy programs separate from work (or other) purposes.

I’m not sure why there’s so much about spreadsheets and Excel, tbh. It sounds like they keep all that info I put in “Top Matter” sections there. I can admit that keeping track of cross-posting across platforms and multi-voice would be helpful for some podficcers.

In response to a question from a Twitter person, there are different attitudes to multi-chapter works-in-progress. Some will not listen to a WIP whatsoever, and some feel differently if the original work is a WIP (such as uploading a new chapter as each one comes out). On the podficcer end, some people don’t want to wait until a long fic is done to upload everything (f’ex, it’s not unreasonable for someone to want encouragement and smaller steps while working on a +100K fic that might take months, over a year, etc.). So, you do you.

For multi-chapter fics, there are different preferences for posting chapter by chapter (multiple files) vs “Entire work” (one file). Some people don’t want to download a ton of files. One host gave an example of offering individual chapters as MP3 files and a M4_ file with all of the chapters. Another one talked about an audiobook program (Chapter and Verse; for iPod, iTunes, and QuickTime on Windows) where they can have each chapter file literally be its own chapter. [M4A is for music on Apple/iTunes, and M4B is specifically for audiobooks.]

Podfic: A Resource Index:

> About Podfic and Comprehensive Guides

> Choose what to record and Blanket Permission

> Recording

> Editing

> Posting (and Hosting)

> Sound Effects

> Music

> Cover Art

> AO3 Works Skins

> Supporting Podficcers

> Podfic Events

> Other Resources

AO3 Guides, Tutorials, and Links

AO3 FAQ: How do I post audio content, such as a podfic or playlist?

If you don't want to use a site's embed code, or it's not hosted on a permitted site, you can host the file in MP3 format on any external site and then use the HTML <audio> tag to embed the file in your work. [Click the above link for more.]