FAQ

FAQ Table of Contents

Wed, 06 Sep 2006 10:59:43 -0400

WildVoice Studio

WildVoice.com

General

I have a slow connection and when I try to upload it doesn’t work, what can I do?

Fri, 05 Jan 2007 08:29:02 -0500

Try a Speed test like http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/ (select Atlanta, GA because that a good comparison for our servers). Our servers today are set up to only allow an upload to run for 30 minutes before we cancel it. We also limit file upload sizes to 40 MB.

If you are using the File Upload feature to include a media file, your file must be smaller than 40 MB and you must be able to upload it in less than 30 minutes.

If you had a very large file, say 30 MB, your Internet upload speed would have to be able to handle 1 MB/minute (since our timeout is 30 minutes). 1 MB/min requires an upload speed of about 120 kb/s. (For a quick estimate: 1 MB/min ~= 1,000 KB/min ~= 15 KB/sec ~= 120 kb/s)

If your connection does not support the speed required you have a couple of options:

1. Use smaller files. Make shorter recordings or chose a lower bit rate encoding to make your files smaller. When you save your recording in WildVoice Studio, you can select a lower bit rate to make your files smaller. If you use a different recording tool, it should have a comparable feature when you create your MP3 file.

2. Use WildVoice Studio’s Publish Existing File feature to upload your files. WildVoice Studio performs its upload by breaking your file into smaller pieces so it can more reliably upload files even on a slow connection. If you are trying to upload existing MP3 files and you are having difficulty successfully uploading the files, you can use WildVoice Studio as a reliable file upload tool to make this process easier.

To get the latest version of WildVoice Studio go to http://www.wildvoice.com/Pages/WildVoice_Studio.aspx.

How do I add my Podcast show to Apple's iTunes Music Store?

Wed, 03 Jan 2007 14:13:59 -0500

Submitting your Podcast to the iTunes Music store is easy with WildVoice.com. iTunes is a Podcast directory. You don't upload your Podcast to iTunes. You just submit your Podcast to be listed in their directory. The details can be found in

http://www.apple.com/itunes/store/podcaststechspecs.html#_Toc526931662

To do this with a show from WildVoice follow these steps:

1. Go to your Posts page on WildVoice which is http://www.wildvoice.com/YourUsername/Post where YourUsername equals your WildVoice username.

2. Hover over the Subscribe link with your mouse. Right click and select "Copy Shortcut" or "Copy Link Location". This is the URL to the RSS feed from WildVoice for your show.

3. Now, launch the iTunes program and go to the "Music Store" then to "Podcasts". Then under Learn more click the link to "Submit a podcast".

Or this link should take you there:

https://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZFinance.woa/wa/publishPodcast

4. Paste the URL for your RSS feed into the Feed URL box. Click Continue and follow the prompts.

Additional Tips:

Create a personalized logo in your Podcast RSS feed to be used in the iTunes music store.

Click on "Channel Setup" from your channel page on WildVoice.com.
Click "Yes, choose a picture" from the "Use a picture?" option.
Upload and choose an image

Additionally, add a logo to your Podcast show to be displayed in iTunes. Your Podcast logo should be 300x300 pixels. If you create your show with WildVoice Studio, a logo can be added to your MP3 within the Publish Wizard.
Whenever you create a new Podcast show, it will be automatically added in your iTunes directory Podcast feed. The iTunes directory reads your Podcast feed once per day.
You can also nudge or ping the iTunes music store to update your podcast information by entering the following URL into a browser:

https://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZFinance.woa/wa/pingPodcast?id=FEEDID
where FEEDID is your iTunes podcast numeric ID. Or you can also use:
https://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZFinance.woa/wa/pingPodcast?feedURL=http://FEEDURL
where FEEDURL is your WildVoice.com RSS feed URL. Regardless of the ping method you use, iTunes will return an HTTP 200 code.

After your podcast is submitted, it is placed in a queue, where iTunes staff check it for problems. Your podcast may be rejected for a variety of reasons, including but not limited to:

Technical problems, usually the lack of episodes or the inability to download or play episodes. These problems can almost always be avoided by testing your feed using Subscribe to Podcast in the Advanced menu prior to submission.
Strong prevalence of sexual content.
Use of explicit language in the title or description of the podcast.
Apparent misuse of copyrighted material or other violation of third party rights.
Inclusion of offensive material.

Normally, podcasts that are added to iTunes will appear first in iTunes search, and later in iTunes browse. Appearing in the browse category that you specified can take up to five days. The image associated with your podcast may also require additional time to appear. For more information, please visit http://www.apple.com/itunes/store/podcaststechspecs.html

What happened to my “Spotlight Channel” and my “Journal”

Mon, 06 Nov 2006 17:54:35 -0500

When we first built WildVoice, we thought it would be a good idea to give users separate pages for their audio posts and their written posts. Effectively, the Spotlight Channel and the Journal were a Podcast page and a Blog page. However, after a few months of use we’ve realized that this causes more confusion than its worth. Most people just want one place to post and most viewers want one place to catch up with what you’ve been doing.

So, we’ve rolled out a major change to the site that should really help simplify how you use it. Here is a summary of what has changed:

1. You no longer have dedicated “Spotlight Channel” or “Journal” tabs in your site. New users will never get these tabs either.

2. The oddly named “WildClips” tab is gone. (Actually, it has really been renamed “Posts” but don’t tell anybody. Most people didn’t bother figuring out what WildClips was about and the too-cute name didn’t help much.)

3. You now have a new tab called “Posts”. Posts is a list of all the posts you’ve made on WildVoice. This includes both audio posts or purely written posts. The Posts tab is your primary place to view posts and to create posts. The Posts tab is one stop viewing to see anything new someone has created. You don’t have to browse multiple tabs to find their latest.

4. Theme Channels have been simplified and now we simply call them “Channels”.

5. All users are given two new Channels by default. These are:

a. User’s Favorites – this is a list channel to which you can add your favorite posts. As you browse the site and find something you like, go to the Post menu and add it to your favorites channel.

b. User’s Friends – this is a Smart Channel that will list all the recent posts created by your friends. If you want to see what your Friends have done recently, just look at your own Smart Channel, or even better, subscribe to it and always be up to date.

6. User’s who had a “Spotlight Channel” will automatically have a new list channel created that is identical to your old Spotlight Channel. You can continue to update your Spotlight Channel as you post new items. Simply post directly to your Spotlight Channel, or after posting, add the post to your Spotlight Channel. If your viewers have subscribed to your Spotlight Channel, they will continue to automatically receive updates if you add these items to your Spotlight Channel. Also, if you are using the WildVoice player on an external site like Myspace or your blog, if you continue to add your new posts to your Spotlight Channel you don’t have to change anything. This is an easy way to control which of your posts are heard externally.

7. If you used the WildVoice player on your WildVoice home page and assigned it to your Spotlight Channel, don’t worry. We will convert your player to point at your Posts instead (only posts with MP3 files actually).

8. If your viewers had previously subscribed to your Spotlight Channel and you do not want to manually update your Spotlight Channel with all new posts, then you can ask your subscribers to subscribe to your Posts Channel. This is also true if you’ve used the WildVoice player on an external site, you can regenerate the Html for the player so that it now references your Posts and it will automatically play all your new posts.

9. If you’ve read the previous two points carefully, then you probably realize that if you’ve listed your Spotlight Channel in external directories like iTunes or Podcastalley you have to make the same choice. If you are willing to manually add your posts to your Spotlight Channel list channel, then you do not have to change anything. However, if you do not want to manually maintain your Spotlight Channel with your new posts you can change the RSS URL you submitted to the various directories.

10. The previous points only affect Spotlight Channel subscriptions. If you used the RSS generated by the WildClips or by any Theme, Channel you do not have to change anything. The directories, players, and external subscribers will continue to work unchanged. This only affects uses who have external subscribers accessing their Spotlight Channel feed.

11. RSS Subscriptions can now be filtered by MIME type. If you don’t know what that means, I envy you. Basically, now when someone subscribes to your channel they can request to only find out about posts that include new mp3 audio. By appending a parameter to the RSS URL we can limit the types of posts returned in the feed. For example, our Featured Post feed url is http://www.wildvoice.com/ListId/3672/EmRss.aspx but if you want to subscribe to this feed and only receive posts that include MP3 audio, you can subscribe to the feed with the filter specified as http://www.wildvoice.com/ListId/3672/EmRss.aspx?Filter=audio%2fmpeg.

How can I link to an external audio file?

Wed, 06 Sep 2006 15:41:34 -0400

To link to an audio file that is stored on another web site, click the “Enter URL” button in the file selection control.

Enter the URL for the file you’d like to use and make sure you click the check box that assures us you have permission to use this file.

The URL you specified will be used for the selected file for your post.

How do I select an audio file from the files I’ve already recorded or uploaded?

Wed, 06 Sep 2006 15:22:20 -0400

To select an audio file you’ve previously recorded or uploaded to your WildVoice.com site, click the Choose button in the file selection control.

The file selection control will display the files available for you to select.

Select a file from the displayed list. Then click “Use this File”.

When you save your post or save your comment, this audio file will be attached to your post.

When Upgrading WildVoice Studio, "An error occurred attempting to install WildVoice Studio"

Wed, 06 Sep 2006 15:05:12 -0400

Installing a newer version of WildVoice Studio over an older exisiting version on your computer results in the following message box:

and by clicking the Details buttons shows the following text

The existing version of WildVoice Studio on your computer must be uninstalled by uninstalling the existing version on your computer. This can be done by clicking Start->Control Panel->Add/Remove Programs. Scroll down and select 'WildVoice Studio' then click 'Remove'.

Once this process is finished, you can now upgrade to the newer version of WildVoice Studio.

How can I upload an audio file for use in my posts or comments?

Wed, 06 Sep 2006 14:25:25 -0400

To upload an audio file you’ve recorded with WildVoice Studio or another recording tool, click the Upload button in the file selection control.

This will display the upload control.

Click the Browse button and select the file you want to upload from your computer.

Then click the “Use this File button” to upload your file to WildVoice.com. As your file uploads you will see its progress in the Uploading window.

When the file upload has completed, the file control will display your new file as the currently selected Audio file.

When you save your post or save your comment, this audio file will be attached to your post.

What is the difference between WildVoice Studio and WildVoice Shout?

Wed, 06 Sep 2006 14:09:11 -0400

WildVoice.com offers two easy ways for you to create and record your Podcasts using WildVoice Studio and WildVoice Shout.

WildVoice Shout is a lightweight recorder used within your web browser. Shout offers quick and easy creation of simple Podcasts recordings. It can also be used to create audio comments to other Podcasts. Shout is best used when you want to record quickly with no muss or fuss.

WildVoice Studio is a Windows application, to be installed on your PC, that offers rich audio recording and editing capability. With WildVoice Studio, you can:

Create Podcasts by incorporating music, sound effects and other audio.
Perform basic audio editing
Balance your audio levels thru the built-in mixer
Upload and publish directly to WildVoice.com

Studio is best used when you want to easily create professional sounding Podcasts, incorporating Intro, Outro segments, music, interviews and sound effects.

You can find out more about WildVoice Studio and WildVoice Shout here.

How can I record audio for a post or a comment using the WildVoice "Shout" recorder?

Wed, 06 Sep 2006 13:38:16 -0400

To use the WildVoice "Shout" recorder, click the Record button in the file selection control.

This will display the “Shout” recorder. Please note, presently the “Shout” recorder only works in Windows. Also, please accept the security notice from Vimas Technologies in order to install the Recording Java applet.

When the “Shout” recorder is displayed you will see a Record button.

Click the Record button to begin the recording.

While you are recording the Length counter will display the total time of your recording and your “Shout” recorder time limit. You can press the stop button when your recording is complete.

After clicking the stop button you can click Play to listen to your recording, click Record to erase your current recording and start again, or click “Save Recording” to upload the recording you’ve made to your WildVoice site.

After you save your recording, the file control will display your new recording as the currently selected Audio file

When you save your post or save your comment, this audio file will be attached to your post.

How can I include audio in a post or a comment on WildVoice.com?

Wed, 06 Sep 2006 13:34:05 -0400

You can add audio to Posts you make in your spotlight channel, Posts in List Channels, and in comments you post. Whenever you can attach an audio file to your post or comment you will see the file selection control.

Using this control you can:

Record audio in the browser using the WildVoice “Shout” recorder
Upload audio from your computer that you have recorded using WildVoice Studio or another program that makes MP3 audio files.
Choose a file that you have previously recorded or saved on your WildVoice site.
Enter a URL to link to an MP3 file located elsewhere on the Internet.

What is RSS?

Wed, 06 Sep 2006 13:28:48 -0400

Really Simply Syndication or RSS is used in Podcasting as a method of automatically distributing Podcast files over the Internet using syndication feeds primarily to personal computers. In a nutshell, RSS allows you to subscribe to a Podcast channel and automatically receive new Podcasts as they become available.

On WildVoice, via RSS, you can subscribe to a channel and automatically receive updates whenever the show's creator posts a new show. Find out more here.

A more detailed description of RSS is available here.

Do I need an iPod to listen to Podcasts?

Wed, 06 Sep 2006 12:56:04 -0400

You can listen any of WildVoice's Podcasts with just your computer or if you have an iPod or similar MP3 device, you can download the Podcast to your device and listen anywhere.

Why do some Podcasts sound like a chipmunk in your player?

Wed, 06 Sep 2006 12:43:20 -0400

Occasionally a Podcast will sound like "chipmunks" speaking when played back with the WildVoice player. MP3 files that are not encoded at a sample rate that is a multiple of 11025Hz (11.025kHz) are not supported by Macromedia Flash (used by the WildVoice player). This will result with a chipmunk-like playback of audio. The Podcast will play correctly when you download the Podcast to your computer's media player like iTunes, or Windows Media Player, or to an MP3 player like an iPod.

You can avoid this problem by recording with either the WildVoice Studio^TM or WildVoice^TM Shout recorder. If you are using other recording software, set the sample rate to a multiple of 11025 when encoding to an MP3 file. 44.1Khz is the most common setting for audio recording since this is used by the music industry for audio CD recordings.

How can I use “Page Preview” mode when I view my own pages?

Wed, 06 Sep 2006 11:52:56 -0400

When you are logged in and viewing your own pages in WildVoice.com, you see your page in Edit View. In Edit View you are able to control the modules on your pages. You can control your modules by using the buttons displayed in the highlighted light-yellow bars above each module.

In the top right of each page is a “Page” module that includes a “Preview” button. If you click the Preview button, your pages will be displayed in Preview mode. This will let you see your own pages as other users will see them.

When you want to return to Edit View, click the “Switch to Edit View” button.

What do all the toolbar buttons on the Html editor mean?

Tue, 05 Sep 2006 14:11:29 -0400

When you edit a post, a free-form, or even a forum post, you use the Html editor. When in Design mode, the editor lets you type and format you text much like a simple word-processor. If you know Html you can switch to Html mode to edit the Html of your writing. (WildVoice.com supports a rich subset of standard Html. For security reasons we must filter some tags and attributes you may want to use).

The Html editor includes a toolbar to give you quick access to many of the built in formatting functions. The buttons are the toolbar are as follows:

Icon	Button Name	Description
	Cut	Highlight a piece of text and cut it to remove it but save it on your clipboard.
	Copy	Highlight a piece of text and copy it to save it on your clipboard.
	Paste	Insert the contents of the clipboard at your current insert point.
	Undo	Undo the last change or edit you made.
	Redo	Put back the last change you removed my using Undo.
	Remove all formatting	Remove you current formatting of the text.
	Clean MS Word Html	Clean out any proprietary formatting that was entered from pasting from Microsoft Word.
	Insert Image from Gallery	You can embed images or photos in your text using the Insert Image from Gallery button. Clicking this button will let you upload an image, select an image you’ve previously uploaded, or link to an image stored elsewhere.
	Create a hyperlink	Turn the selected text into a Hyperlink that will link a user to another web address.
	Remove a hyperlink	Remove the hyperlink
	Insert a horizontal rule	This will insert a horizontal line or rule at the insert point.
	Symbols	Select a symbol from the list to insert
	Formatting	Select a formatting style from the list
	Font	Select a font family from the list
	Size	Select a font size from the list.
	Bold	Make the selected text Bold
	Italic	Make the selected text Italic
	Underline	Underline the selected text.
	Font Fore Color Picker	Select the color for the font.
	Font Back Color Picker	Select the color for the text background
	Justify Left	Justify the selected text to the left
	Justify Center	Center the selected text
	Justify Right	Justify the selected text to the right
	Bulleted List	Format the selected lines as a bulleted list
	Numbered List	Format the selected lines as a numbered list
	Outdent	Move the selected text out one level
	Indent	Indent the selected text one level

What is a Free-Form?

Tue, 05 Sep 2006 11:44:12 -0400

Some of the pages you can customize include a module called a free-form. Think of these as mini-word processors. You can use a free-form to write about yourself or topics that interest you, or to introduce your Podcasts or what you plan to talk about in your Spotlight Channel. In a Free-Form you can use the tools in the page to format your writing, or you can use the Html tab to edit the Html code yourself.

Free-forms entries always appear on the page. They are not like Journal entries which are replaced by newer posts.

How can I put my recordings on another Web site like MySpace or my blog?

Fri, 01 Sep 2006 17:56:14 -0400

You can display the WildVoice Player on MySpace, your blog, or any other Web site that allows you to include Flash movies. For more information, see the How-to article:

How to include your recordings in your MySpace profile or blog post

How do I display the WildVoice channel player on my home page?

Fri, 01 Sep 2006 17:36:18 -0400

The WildVoice Channel Player will play all of the audio files from one of your channels. You can include the WildVoice channel player on your home page. To configure the WildVoice Channel Player, first click on the Channel Player Setup link.

Select one of your channels to play and select a skin for the player.

You can then configure some other options to have the player start automatically when the page loads, to automatically move to your next show after a show finishes, and to loop to repeat all of your shows.

When the player is configured the way you like, click Save.

What can I do on my home page?

Fri, 01 Sep 2006 17:22:32 -0400

Every WildVoice user gets a site within WildVoice. The site includes the following pages:

Home
Spotlight Channel
Journal
Profile
Fans+Friends
WildClips

Your home page is set up for you to customize and publish whatever you want. You should think of your homepage as the gateway to your WildVoice site and customize it to let the world know who you are and what you’re posting about.

Your home page has a number of “modules” on it that let you add and customize its contents. A number of modules are on the page called “Free-form” modules. Think of these as mini-word processors. You can use a free form to write about yourself or topics that interest you, or to introduce your Podcasts or what you plan to talk about in your Spotlight Channel. In a Free-Form you can use the tools in the page to format your writing, or you can use the Html tab to edit the Html code yourself.

All users also have a Channel Player on their home page. When you set up the Channel Player you can set it to play shows from your Spotlight Channel. Then a viewer comes to your home page, they can hear your shows directly from your home page’s Channel Player.

What are Theme Channels?

Fri, 01 Sep 2006 17:02:41 -0400

Theme Channels are special channels that users can create. You can create theme channels to group and displays posts in different ways. One unique feature of Theme Channels is that they can contain posts from any WildVoice user. Theme Channels are not limited to posts from the owner of the Theme Channel.

There are two types of Theme Channels you can create. List Channels and Smart Channels

List Channels – List Channels let you create lists of posts that you display. You control the posts you want to include and you control the order in which the posts are displayed. You can use a List Channel to create a My Favorites list, then you can include your favorite WildVoice post in your My Favorites Theme Channel.

Smart Channels – Smart Channels let you create a set of rules or filters and WildVoice will find Shows and Posts that match the rules you’ve defined. For example, you can create a Smart Channel with a rule like “all posts with audio or media from my friends in the past month”. Your smart channel will then automatically collect the recent shows from your friends and display it.

What is Posts?

Fri, 01 Sep 2006 16:41:01 -0400

Posts is a list of all of your posts made in any of your channels. You may post directly to your Posts Channel, or you may post to List Channels that you create. Posts will display all of your posts no matter where you originally created them

What is a post?

Fri, 01 Sep 2006 16:34:35 -0400

A Post is anything you publish on WildVoice.com. It can include an audio file as part of a Podcast or it can be a written entry like a Journal or Blog. Each post you make may have:

Title
An audio or media file attachment that viewers can play
Formatted show notes
A picture associated with this specific posting
Tags

If you create an audio clip or Podcast using WildVoice Studio, you can publish it in a Post. You can also record directly while posting by using the WildVoice Shout in page recorder.

All Posts offer your listeners a “Subscribe” link. By subscribing to your Spotlight Channel, your listeners can automatically receive updates whenever you post new audio.

What does the Freeze button do?

Tue, 29 Aug 2006 13:54:15 -0400

The Freeze button is a unique feature of WildVoice Studio that allows you to pause and resume while you are recording. The great thing about Freeze is it not only pauses your recording but also pauses all sound effects and carts that are playing. When you unfreeze, the playback and recording picks up right where you left off.

In the event that you need to pause your recording due to a phone call or other inconvenient event, click the Freeze button!

Can I hear myself when I talk in my headphones?

Tue, 29 Aug 2006 13:50:56 -0400

Hearing the microphone input in your headphones is called monitor or monitoring. WildVoice Studio supports two types of monitor – hardware or software based monitor.

Hardware-based monitor requires a sound card that supports a “Master Volume” or “What You Hear” built in hardware mixer. This enables you to hear yourself as you speak.

The second type, software-based monitor, routes the audio that will be recorded to your Podcast back thru your headphones. This type of monitoring will represent exactly the volume level and balance that your listeners will hear when they play your Podcast. This type of monitor plays in your headphones with a small amount of latency or delay. The delay is caused by the time required for the audio to be processed by your computer software before you hear it. This type of monitoring should be used to check your audio levels and mixer settings before you record. We don’t recommend using the software based monitoring while you are recording a show because the latency will make it confusing for you.

Monitor can be accessed via the Settings button in the Producer Mixer.

My voice is too soft in my recording. What should I do?

Tue, 29 Aug 2006 13:46:34 -0400

If your recording sounds too soft or faint in your Podcast, try increasing the microphone level in the Producer Mixer.

Additionally many microphones have an input level adjustment that can be increased. Look for a volume control on your microphone or on the headset cable.

Finally, check your PC’s sound card for a microphone boost setting (Control Panel->Sounds and Audio Devices->Volume Tab->Device Setting’s Advanced Button->Set Microphone level and set any advanced microphone settings such as microphone boost.

Why do I hear an echo in my Podcast when I use a Cart or Sound Effect?

Tue, 29 Aug 2006 13:43:45 -0400

If you are using your computer’s speakers during your recording session and not using headphones or a headset, you run the risk of recording audio sound produced by your speakers into your microphone. WildVoice Studio directly records audio played thru the Cart Rack or Sound Effect Rack directly to the Podcast. The echo occurs because your microphone will pick up the Cart or Sound Effect Rack audio a second time from your speakers. We recommend using a headset or turning off your speakers while recording.

What does the Master Mixer Dynamic button do?

Tue, 29 Aug 2006 13:42:06 -0400

WildVoice Studio’s Dynamic recording feature will monitor the volume level of your recording. When ON, Dynamic will automatically adjust your recording volume to reduce the clipping and distortion that can be caused by changes in your speaking volume.

How do I use an external mixer with WildVoice Studio?

Tue, 29 Aug 2006 13:37:38 -0400

Connect the output of your external mixer into the Line In or Aux In jack of your sound card. Within WildVoice Studio, open the mixer options dialog box and choose the appropriate recording input. If your sound card doesn’t have Aux In or Line In, then use the microphone jack.

Why are show notes important?

Tue, 29 Aug 2006 13:35:18 -0400

When publishing your Podcast on www.wildvoice.com, show notes are important to describe the contents of your show. This allows your listeners to quickly understand the contents of your Podcast. Casual visitors may not take the time to listen to your Podcast if they can’t read a summary of what it is about. Think of your show notes as a chance to promote the contents of your show.

Remember that search engines like Google, Yahoo and MSN can’t index search your audio files, but they can search and index your show notes. If you want people to be able to find your Podcast, show notes are very important. (Some new search engines can index the audio of your show, these include http://www.podzinger.com/, http://www.podscope.com/, http://search.singingfish.com, and others.)

How do I find the Windows Mixer Panel and control my hardware recording levels?

Thu, 24 Aug 2006 12:19:41 -0400

To find the Windows Mixer panel, go to Start Menu and select Control Panel. Select “Sounds and Audio Devices”

Click the “Advanced…” button in Device Volume.

This brings up the Windows Mixer Panel in Playback mode.

In the mixer panel go to Options and select Properties. In the properties window change from Playback to Recording. Click OK.

If your sound card supports advanced features it may be helpful to set them here. Go to Options and select “Advanced Controls”.

Typically in PC sound cards only one recording device can be selected at a time. Make sure your Microphone device is checked (or if you are using a different input device, make sure it is selected).

If your sound card has advanced features for your selected input device, click the Advanced button to control the advanced features. In this example this sound card has a Mic Boost feature.

What should I do if I hear clipping (cracking or distortion) in my Podcast?

Thu, 24 Aug 2006 11:59:38 -0400

Distortion in your Podcast is usually caused by over modulation of your volume. This is similar to turning up your car stereo or TV too loud a volume. In podcasting, this happens when the volume or “gain” on what you are recording is set too high. WildVoice Studio includes a real time software audio compressor that minimizes clipping in most cases.

If you do have clipping in your Podcast recording, you can adjust the following in this order:

Turn On the Dynamic button in the Master Mixer
Lower the Master Mixer level
Lower the Microphone level in the Producer Mixer
Lower the Microphone level in the Windows Mixer panel
Some microphones and headsets have a microphone volume boost switch on the hardware itself. If you are still clipping, lower this.
Some sound cards have an additional microphone boost property, usually exposed in the Windows Master Volume control panel. If you are still clipping, turn this off.

Can I edit my Podcast in WildVoice Studio?

Thu, 24 Aug 2006 11:47:13 -0400

WildVoice Studio allows you to:

Split a clip – This is useful if you want to insert an audio clip into the middle of a Podcast.
Trim a clip – This allows you to remove audio from the beginning or end of an audio clip
Combine clips – You can combine two or more clips together to create your Podcast

How do I create a sound effect to use in my Podcast?

Thu, 24 Aug 2006 11:38:15 -0400

It is great to use sound effects to liven up your Podcast. You can use just about any clip of audio as a sound effect. You can create a sound effect by recording into WildVoice Studio or by finding an audio clip on the Internet or other sources. WildVoice Studio can import and play the following audio formats MP3, MP2, MP1, OGG, WAV, AIFF.

To create a sound effect using WildVoice Studio:

Record an audio clip with WildVoice Studio
If your audio clip requires trimming, use the split clip button. For example, you can trim the beginning or the end of an audio clip.
Export the clip by clicking the export button. Save the exported clip into your \My Documents\My WildVoice\ Sound Effects folder.
Add the sound effect to your Sound FX Rack by either right clicking a Sound FX button and selecting “Browse for Sound…” or by dragging and dropping the newly created sound effect audio file onto a Sound FX button.

If you have existing sound effect files:

Add the sound effect to your Sound FX Rack by either right clicking a Sound FX button and selecting “Browse for Sound…” or by dragging and dropping the existing sound effect audio file onto a Sound FX button.

If you have a portable recorder (many MP3 players can also record), you can record sound effects anywhere and assign them to sound FX button in WildVoice Studio.

What do I do if I have a problem with WildVoice studio?

Thu, 24 Aug 2006 11:18:51 -0400

First, post your issue in the WildVoice Studio Support Forum. You can find all of our discussion forums at http://www.wildvoice.com/Pages/Discussion_Forums.aspx.

Second, you can always contact us by email at support @ wildvoice.com (just take out the spaces).

Do you support USB headsets or USB microphones?

Thu, 24 Aug 2006 11:03:39 -0400

We have tested a variety of USB based audio devices including:

Logitech USB Headset 250
Logitech USB Headset 350
Sennheiser PC135USB
Samson C01U USB Studio Condenser Microphone
Logitech USB Desktop Microphone

What kind of basic hardware do I need to create a Podcast?

Thu, 24 Aug 2006 10:57:11 -0400

A PC running Windows XP and a microhpone.

The best way to make a Podcast is to use a headset with a microphone or a microphone with headphones. This will give you the best sound quality. If you use your computer speakers while recording, your microphone pick up the sound from your speakers and you will hear an echo (or worse, a feedback screech to make Jimi Hendrix proud). Using a headphone or headset (or even ear-buds from your MP3 player) will prevent the echo and feedback. You can also turn off your speakers if you don’t have a headset handy.

Many good computer headsets are available inexpensively. Many people already have computer headsets since they are often used in for Internet phone calls and online gaming. Any of these headsets you use on your computer today will work with WildVoice Studio.

We have tested a number of headsets and found most to have excellent performance. We also recommend models that have noise cancellation capability.

Specific headset models we recommend include:
   • Logitech USB Headset 250
   • Altec Lansing AHS202i
   • Sennheiser PC135USB
   • Andrea NC-115
   • Plantronics DSP-500
Specific microphones we recommend include:
   • Samson C01U USB Studio Condenser Microphone
   • Logitech USB Desktop Microphone

Will WildVoice Studio run on an Apple Macintosh?

Thu, 24 Aug 2006 10:33:10 -0400

Unfortunately, not at this time. WildVoice Studio is Windows only.

What version of Windows Do I Need for WildVoice Studio?

Thu, 24 Aug 2006 10:24:54 -0400

WildVoice Studio requires Windows XP. Windows Vista support is being tested and will be released shortly.

What do I need to get started to create a Podcast with WildVoice Studio?

Thu, 24 Aug 2006 10:14:54 -0400

A PC running Windows XP, a computer headset or a microphone and headphones.