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It is unquestionable that audio driven web sites are taking the internet by storm. Many online marketers or web site owners have audio streaming software installed in order for them to add audio to their web site. Audio streaming has added more excitement to a pure text web site. Many internet users are delighted not only to read web pages but also listen to audio. Even online marketers would say that their sales and subscriptions have increased since they employed an audio software for their web sites.

For your convenience, you need a step by step audio wizard that will teach you how to install audio on your web site. One very important thing that you must consider is the sound quality. It is very essential that your message must be clear and efficient. Otherwise, you web site’s visitors will be turned off if you have a poor sound quality. Remember that you will be imparting important information about your products or services, so it is but apt that you deliver your message clearly.

Aside from the software that you will be using, make sure that your web site’s visitors will also hear a good voice quality from whoever will do your streaming audio. The voice must be able to enunciate words clearly. Usually, it is advisable that you put audio streaming in pages of your web sites that are considered to be a little dull. Setting up a spoken message for your web site need not be complicated if you choose an easy to learn audio software. It must be user-friendly that even people with little technical knowledge about the internet will be able to understand and use the software.

Many online marketers believe that by using a spoken message on your site, you will be able to save time from rewriting your web copy. With the right software, you will be able to make changes or make customer updates through audio recording. If you are selling products on your web site, voice messages are guaranteed to make you pitch more products to your customers instantly. If in case you have a new product to sell, you do not need to waste a lot of time in making a new ad copy.

However, you can have a streaming audio done in less than five minutes and be able to sell your product instantly. With spoken word on your site, downloading your page might be a little heavy. So, ensure that you compress your files so that it will much easier to download and won’t eat up a lot of space. Look for the best audio streaming software that is easy to use and is not too expensive. Most of these products do not need monthly subscriptions. With the right software to help you spice up your web page, you are surely updated of the trends online.

Videos are exploding all over the Internet. Some go viral, and some, let’s face it, are viral. A lot of us are making our videos public for the very first time… while wild video camcorder work attracts attention, it’s good to have some control over when it’s wild and when it’s not.

Sound, or “audio” is another story; if it’s bad, it’s just bad. If your audience can’t hear the person who’s talking, they’re just going to click “next.” When people using a camcorder get involved in what they’re shooting, (even those with some experience), the first thing they forget about is sound. Audio that accompanies video has a major impact on the perceptions of the audience, but when you are capturing a scene, you are part of that scene. Your brain tends to block out sounds that appear as normal until you watch the playback later. Then, Ooops!

The following article is excerpted from our book “How To Shoot Better Home Videos – Help From The Hollywood Pros.” We hope it helps stamp out bad camcorder video!

Shhhhhhh! The audience is listening…

No Talking!

It might seem that it “goes without saying,” but… don’t talk, laugh or gasp while recording, unless you’re deliberately commenting on the scene. Your mouth is two inches from the on-board microphone. Anything you say can, and will, be used against you. Once you have learned to curb your enthusiasm enough to shoot in silence, you can begin training yourself to hear the sounds that are going on around you. It’s not just enthusiasm that can draw attention to the camera operator – shuddering sighs of boredom can bring the viewer’s attention to a standstill, especially if it is accompanied by an unexpected camera movement that feels like a huge wave just rolled under the boat.

Hearing your surroundings

If there is a loud air conditioner and you have control over it, turn it off. If there is freeway traffic outside the room where you are shooting, get a “cutaway” shot of the freeway, through a window. (A “cutaway” is a shot of an element that may or may not be part of the scene but contains information helpful to the audience). Once the audience knows why the sound is there, they will find it less disturbing.

Example:

You may be shooting a wedding outdoors and crows suddenly start making a ruckus. Get a shot of the crows and you’ll be less likely to have to spend futile hours trying to eliminate the screeching of the crows from the “soundtrack” (the audio track that accompanies the video), once you start editing the ceremony.

Microphones

The “microphones,” those instruments capable of converting sound waves into electric current that are built into consumer camcorders, are very good for general sound. They are particularly reliable. If you’re getting picture, you’re getting sound. However, they are very limited when it comes to interviews, acting scenes, and important conversation.

The further away you are from the person whose words you are recording, the more general audio the microphone is going to pick up. It will also pick up air conditioners and any motor that may be humming away, including a desktop computer.

When you purchase your camcorder, make sure your camcorder has an external microphone jack. That is, an input, usually a “mini jack” that takes an external microphone, if you intend to use it to record clean audio such as interviews or narration. Many camcorders are now being built without these, and audio capture is restricted to the built-in microphone. This could really limit the usefulness of your audio. If you have one of these cameras, try to shoot as close to your subject as you can to eliminate unwanted ambience (general sound being generated by the location in which you are shooting).

Camcorders and other electronic devices do so many things; a person is inclined to assume it’s going to do the simple things, too. When we visit the sales associate in the camera department we always ask, “What is it that this camcorder doesn’t do?”

Besides the on-board omnidirectional mic (which captures sound from all directions), you will want two types of additional microphones in your home video arsenal, assuming you bought a camcorder with a microphone jack. The first and most important is the shotgun. This is a unidirectional microphone and the cardioid version (with a heart-shaped pick-up pattern) is designed to reduce feedback. This means that the pick-up pattern of the mic will pick up the on-camera subject at whom it is pointing, but sounds occurring at right angles are greatly reduced. This results in much higher quality audio.

The second type of microphone is known as the lavaliere (lah vah leer), it attaches to the speaker’s clothes and is perfect for interviews, so having a pair of them is a good idea. The cordless “lavs” or “lav mics” are the most useful, but it’s important to listen for occasional radio interference. The corded type is much cheaper and okay for sit-down interviews.

Headphones:

Now that you have some control over your audio, you will want to “monitor” it with headphones. Any will do, but the better the quality, the more useful they will be, and those that block noise coming from anywhere but the camcorder are preferred.

Once you’re monitoring the sound with a headset, you’ll be listening for air conditioners, dogs barking, radio interference, and any other noises that distract from the audio that you’re capturing. It’s good to remember that there are at least 2 sound recordists on any serious movie set (the boom person, and the actual recordist). One catch-phrase in professional video production goes, “If you didn’t get the audio, you didn’t get the scene.”

As a company that sells streaming media services for a living, we get questions everyday about what needs to be done to make an audio or video presentation that will stream well over the Internet. Most of these inquiries come from small businesses with limited budgets for marketing and advertising. They are always pleasantly surprised when we tell them that they can do it themselves!

Let’s start with an audio only presentation:

• Write out your script first! Focus on two to three points that you feel are essential to explain your products or services. Keep the script simple. If your site offers a wide variety of goods or services, you might consider several different messages with each one keying in on one or two important areas.
• Have someone who is not familiar with your business review the script and your site. Be sure that they understand your message. If they don’t, rewrite it!
• Practice reading the script until you feel completely familiar and comfortable with it. (You can hire professional voice talent for reasonable rates if you’d prefer not recording the audio yourself.)
• Use the best quality tape recorder available to you. A cassette recorder is fine.
• Use a high quality brand name audiotape.
• An external microphone that plugs into your recorder is preferable to the one that comes built-in. They are very inexpensive and produce a better recording.
• Do your recording in a quiet place with as little background noise as possible. (That one seems pretty obvious, doesn’t it?)
• Speak naturally! It can help to have a friend or colleague act as an audience to give you focus.
• Record your presentation several times. Select the one that will sound the most natural and inviting to your site visitors.
• Send the tape to the encoding (streaming) vendor. They’ll take it from there!

A video presentation takes a little more time and effort, but you really can do it yourself. Your home video camera will work just fine! All of the same rules you used to make your audiotape apply here including the use of an external microphone. Good quality videotape is essential. The following suggestions will help you prepare a video presentation for your site that should stream very well:

• Keep the camera steady! Put the camera on a tripod or brace it against something solid like a table or a wall. If you must pan or zoom, do it very slowly. (Too much motion can cause a “blurry” stream.)
• Simplify your frame. Think about where everything is going to be. People coming in and out of the frame can create movement that may cause confusion.
• Stay focused. A lot of auto-focus cameras can’t focus properly if you are too close to your subject. Five or six feet away is a good distance. Don’t try to shoot through a window; the camera will focus on the glass.
• Good lighting is essential. Try to light your scene from the front. Don’t stand in front of a window; the backlighting will cause you to be in silhouette. Try shooting outside if possible.
• Use the fastest record speed. This will insure the best video quality.
• Record in a quiet place. Hold the mike close to your mouth to cut down on external noises.
• RELAX AND ENJOY YOURSELF! It really shows. Practice until you feel comfortable.

If you have additional questions or concerns, your streaming vendor should be ready and able to assist you.

Early adopters of Rich Media techniques, streaming being one of them, have already started to reap the rewards of higher click-through rates and increased conversion rates. If your message is meaningful and relevant to your site visitors, your streaming presentation will add to their enjoyment of visiting your site and encourage them not only to buy but also to return and buy again!