Podcast Producer

Podcast Producer is complete podcasting solution for the enterprise.  It is very simple to use.  Podcast Capture, the program you see a screenshot on the left, is part of the OS X 10.5 (Leopard) operating system.  To use it, you need to have access to a Mac OS X server.

You log in, chose how you want to record, and choose one of the workflows available.  Workflows tell the Mac OS X server how to compress the video and where to send it or publish it.  Options for publishing include iTunes U, Apple Blog on the server, ftp, sftp, and to a volume.

Podcast Capture is only available on the mac, however using a web browser, PC users can upload files for compression and publishing, and select workflows.

Creating workflows is not easy.  There are many examples but few instructions on how to do it, or how to customize it. A workflow is a series of XML and script files in a directory on the server.  Behind the GUI are powerful command line programs.  One University has put a Mac mini in each classroom and tied the computer, audio and a camera to it.  A schedule is used to record each class and automatically publish it to iTunes University.  Makes it available to students without any human intervention.

My experience with this system has been very positive. It is easy to use for the end-user, and not hard to set-up.  You will need someone who understands the OS X server software to get it all going.  The nice part the client (podcast capture) is already on the mac desktops.

The system can capture audio online, video with audio, and the computers screen with audio.  You can also choose to upload a file.  Screen capture is a powerful tool for creating podcasts of software demos, lecture presentations and more.  

The bottom line is this. If you have an Apple server, you have no additional cost associated with getting it going. You might need some hard drive space, perhaps lots of hard drive space. It will depend on where you publish to and what backups or archives you want to keep.  This system is a winner in my book.  We will be using it here at USU for some podcasting work.