Lessons Learned from the First Season of the Podcast

 The first season of The Otaku Network Podcast wrapped up with episode 12 and is now preparing to move onto season 2.

    Season 1 was filled with a lot of lessons to learn, some that are still being worked on, particularly consistency in the recording levels of the microphones.  I have dealt with audio and recording for over 25 years now, rather confident in my abilities as a mixer and engineer.  But the podcast is the first time I have ever done any real work with microphones.  We started out recording with a single Blue Yeti...but that was less than ideal.  At times the input level between my and David's input was not consistent and too quite a bit of editing work to make usable.  The very first episode my level was clipping way too much and the gate set up would cut off the tail on some parts too much.  This was eventually corrected by introducing a Rode PodMic mic to the mix.  Allowing us to have our own dedicated audio track.  But that also presented some recording issues since the Rode runs into the computer via XLR and the Blue runs in via USB.  At the moment the Blue has been removed from the equation and a second XLR mic, a 20+ year old cheap Shure condenser mic has been added in addition to the PodMic (which is a fantastic sounding mic).  Though...I still need to get a pop filter for the old Rode, but in all honesty, I just need to get a second PodMic set up.

    The recording was initially set up to be done with OBS, with the idea that David would be joining the session remotely, but every recording session has taken place in my home studio...which has zero treatment for acoustic.  All of the audio I record and edit is direct input from my synthesizer set up or from a DAW, so I have never really felt a need to work in a treated environment.  For those that are unaware, a room treated for acoustics has a series of objects placed strategically in the room to absorb as much random sound waves as possible.  The idea is to prevent the mics from picking up an reflections of sounds from the walls and furniture in the room.  Usually this is done with large panels that can absorb the sound, such as made of foam.  That said, a lot of effort has been put into setting up the mastering for the mic's we use for the podcast to minimize 'hearing the room'.  Which, I think has worked relatively well.  There is still some work that is needed to ensure the gain remains consistent.  I end up having to do a lot of micro editing to the levels in post production, that would be great if I didn't have to do!  The majority of the mic handling is done in OBS, with a series of plug-ins running to help smooth out the incoming audio.

    Even though the recording has never been remote, we still use OBS to capture each session.  With the current limitations of how the set up is currently though I had to use a trick of hard panning my mic to the left and Davids to the right, to simulate two separate audio tracks.  All of the visual cuts for the main podcast episodes is handled live in OBS during the recording.  After its recorded I isolate the audio, bounce it to Adobe Audition and bounce the left and right channels into their own stereo tracks, creating individual stereo tracks for both of our mics.  Those, along with the video portion from the session are loaded into Davinci Resolve, where the real work begins.

    I started using Resolve at the beginning of the year, after using VDSC for video editing for the past 7 years.  All I have to say is Resolve makes this part significantly easier than if I was attempting this in VSDC.  The program is amazingly flexible and easy to navigate and I wish I had learned about it 10 years ago.  Anyways, once I have the video file and both audio track in Resolve its time to edit the episode so that it sounds a bit more professional.  Both of us, being amateurs at this type of thing, are undisciplined when it comes to recording dialogue.  I edit out a lot of pregnant pauses and a lot of the hesitation markers in our discourse.  There is also a significant amount of ancillary discussions and house keeping dialogue that are not needed for the episode or not appropriate for that topic.  Particularly with myself, if I don't like how well I enunciated something I will restart the line after pausing for a second, knowing I will edit out the line I wasn't satisfied with.  Other times we have to look information up if its unknown or we suffer from a lapse in memory.  And ever so often, someone else who lives with me will wander through the recording session and make noise or decide to strike up a conversation.

 

    A typical recording session will capture around an hour or so of footage.  I work to cut that done as close as I feel I can to a 30 minute episode.  Focusing on sticking with discussions relevant to the topic.  Some tangential discussions are isolated and saved to turn into other, shorter videos for the channel.  Once the video is cut down, I add a few more layers of processing to the vocal tracks and the intro/outro and bed audio.  The music heard through out the standard podcast episodes is from a song I wrote years ago in a random recording session.  It has no name and isn't really any sort of complete or structured song and never will be.

    Once all of that is done I render it down to the final video file, preview that if I have the time as well as rendering out the audio track only.  Both of those get uploaded to the YouTube and Spotify channels respectively and set to premier every Wednesday at 10am CST.  Then its on to the next video/videos.  I have a current back log of Side Quest and shorts to work through, but have not devoted a lot of time to completing them, wanting to ensure the main videos are always ready each week.  We typically record a few days prior to the scheduled release, usually working a week behind the broadcast date of the shows.  Editing, due to my pickiness and out bad speaking habits, tends to take be about 4 or 6 hours to get to a 30 or 40 minute episode.  This can be mitigated through better practices on our end though!!

 

    The hardest part though is building the audience, getting the product out to the public.  I've always been shy with self promotion, not wanting to cross the line of being annoying, but I know I should push harder than I do.  Engagement is the game that everyone on the internet with content strives for and there really isn't an easy solution for it.  Much of it comes down to luck with a healthy dose of perseverance.  While its not exactly been the level I desire, we have worked hard from the beginning to present a product that wouldn't immediately turn away the audience.  Though...were close, not quite there, I will keep pushing forward with this knowing it will just take time to get the audience we want.  We just have to keep faith in the product we're making!

    Feedback is always welcome and I don't hear from the audience as often as I would like.  I am curious what your thoughts are on what you have heard or read in regards to this platform.  I'm always open to suggestions ans advice as well, I never want to stop learning things and there is only so much one can learn on their own.

 

   Anyways, we move into the second season of the podcast with three new shows for the Summer anime season and all of the lessons learned from season one.  So look forward to our weekly conversations centered around Shoshimin, Ramen Akaneko and My Deer Friend Nokotan!