New Media Skills: How To Create Audio Slideshows

New Written Road Column 

The blood continues to flow among print journalists this week, but that just makes our opportunities to build skill sets even more important. We can react to the change in our medium by throwing our hands up in the air or we can act by setting ourselves up for the next wave of media opportunities. In my next few posts, I’m going to overview a handful of new media skill sets that may seem beyond reach, but are actually a lot easier to learn and master than you may think. One of my personal favorites, and a useful one for reporters and photographers alike is the audio slideshow.

How to Create Audio Slideshows:

It is no secret that photojournalists are becoming more valuable if they can produce audio along with their photography. Some of the nation’s largest papers are featuring stunning slideshows, intertwining eye-catching photography with NPR quality audio and usually accompanying it with a print-based article.

But how do they do it? The answer is more simple than you think.

Have a computer? Digital camera? Audio recorder? Perfect — now you just need $70 and you’re in business.

When creating slideshows the typical workflow is:

1) Capture photography and audio

2) Download media to your computer

3) Edit audio track

4) Import audio track into a photo-editing program and edit the slideshow

5) Export the slideshow and post it on the web.

The two following programs provide easy-to-use functionality, while keeping costs to a minimum.

Audio Editing:
First download Audacity and import your raw audio tracks into the program. Once the tracks are imported you can instantly begin refining, tweaking, and merging tracks together. Once the track is complete, simply export the track to your computer. The program is free, compatible for both Mac and PC, and works with .wav and .mp3 files, though a special plugin (downloadable from the site) may be necessary.

Photo Editing:
Spend $69.99 and download Soundslides — a powerful, yet easy-to-use editing program created by a multimedia pioneer. After importing the audio track form Audacity, import your photos and start switching around the sequence, adding titles, customizing player settings, and even adding basic motion to the photographs. Exporting can be done either as a .mov video file (Mac only at the moment) or a .swf flash file (both Mac and PC) which is ready to be uploaded directly a website. (Uploading can be tricky if you’re not a web guru so make sure to check out Soundslides upload tips)

Need some examples? Check out MediaStorm.com, the New York Times Multimedia page, and Poynter Institute’s powerful blog post: Creating Multimedia: A Novice Shows The Way.

Next week I’ll talk about video editing and how you can get started for under a few hundred bucks. And of course if you have experiences, tricks, or comments please feel free to add them below.

It Tipped – Christian Science Monitor Ditches Print Goes Online

Too many things to say at the moment, so I’m going to spare you from my gut reaction and just post a link to the story. I’m headed on a hellacious hill-climb trail run and hope to processes some of the building excitement. So if you have a moment check out their new site and a glimpse into the future.

http://www.csmonitor.com/announcement/Website/

Rethinking Newspaper Travel Stories – Don’t Just Tell, Show

New Written Road Piece

We read a lot about the death of print these days. For travel journalists like myself the statement is usually followed up with a stiff drink and not-so-fleeting moment of insecurity. Just this past week at the Society of American Travel Writers’ national conference in Houston, Texas, I met travel editors from around the country who were feeling the pain of budget cuts, restructuring, and mounting pressure to do more with less. But even after a series of potentially deflating conversations, I still maintain that there is a space for travel writers in the new media landscape: it’s just a matter of finding and pitching evergreen content that can be supported online.

Take for instance this stellar piece the New York Times produced focusing on the last stop of subway lines. The concept was simple: what’s at the end of the line? The delivery: genius.

The article itself was a long piece of beautifully written prose, but what really makes it a bright spot for me was the well produced multimedia package (video, audio, and photography) that accompanied it.

Sure, the production cost was huge, and this kind of content goes beyond the typical skill sets of most freelancer writers, but the concept is important: as we move forward, we would do well to adopt a screenwriter’s perspective: don’t just tell, show.

A few weeks back I spoke with Tyson Anderson, a visual journalist with a strong affinity for infographics and online storytelling. His insights and experience at the Rocky Mountain News play nicely into the change that is happening, and provide an insiders look to how travel writers need to rethink traditional newspaper stories.

Written Road: Would you mind elaborating a bit on infographics, and explain what they are, and how they can enhance a story?

Tyson: An infographic does more than just add decoration to a publication. An “info”-graphic’s job is to display information visually. After a certain point, a list of numbers or a textual description makes it hard for us to understand or draw any conclusions because we don’t have the ability to take all that information in, categorize it, and then relate it to the rest of the data. An infographic does a great job of doing these things, and if used properly can help people visualize stories and increase comprehension. Infographics are also very good at conveying a large amount of information very quickly to readers, which is very good in today’s internet world where you might only have someone’s attention for a few seconds before they are off to something else.

Written Road: While you were working at the Rocky Mountain Times, did you learn inside tips on how to pitch editors multimedia packages?

Tyson: Most of the things I did at the Rocky, luckily didn’t really have to be pitched. They were either planned before I started or I was given an idea and I got to take it where I wanted. However, I think the best way to pitch multimedia to an editor is to show them a little piece of it. Things are much easier to imagine if there is at least a little part you can see. For example, I did a map at the Rocky comparing 1908 Denver to 2008 Denver. The project consisted of two maps, one 1908 and the other 2008, displayed on the screen together. If you drag one map around, the other one moves simultaneously. Also, two cursors appear on the graphic, one at the exact place you’re looking at on both maps. Because this interface was something I hadn’t really seen anywhere before I had to create some kind of way to demonstrate it before I actually spent the time creating it. I did this by mocking up the interface. I made two ugly boxes in the place of where the maps would be and wrote the code for the basic interface. I was then able to show my editor and others the general idea of the project and get feedback on how we could make it better.

Written Road: What advice can you give travel writers just starting out about producing new media?

Tyson: Take advantage of the tools around you. If you don’t know how to write code, don’t feel you can’t utilize the web for telling stories. The web provides many free services that you can use to enhance your stories without knowing a single line of code. For example, if you don’t know how to use the Google Maps API, a service used to embed custom google maps in your website, you can use Google’s myMaps service which requires no coding at all. Learn and adapt. Don’t allow yourself to get stuck in a buggy while the automobile drives past. The internet changes every day, it takes a lot of work to keep up with it but it’s necessary. I like to read blogs about upcoming technology or view sites like digg.com that allow people to submit things that are new and exciting on the web. Don’t be afraid of learning a little code. I think that there is a common misconception that code is something only for MIT grads sitting in dark rooms typing ones and zeros all day. The truth is that with a little training, code actually isn’t that hard to learn. Just one example, Flash, is a good place to start because it combines a traditional drawing environment that can be used with little or no code but then, as you get more experienced, can be extended with Flash’s coding language ActionScript. There are also great resources online to help you out, lynda.com and gotoandlearn.com are just a few of my favorites. Remember that if you can teach yourself to utilize these wonderful new tools and not be scared of them, you can let readers experience the stories you are trying to tell in ways never before possible.

Aggregation vs. Originality – The Real Online Content War

Businessweek.com Editor and Chief John Byrne, recently said, “It’s not, as some people say it is, “online vs. print,” because the contrasts are actually more insidious and dangerous than that. The more threatening contrast is between aggregation and original content — because aggregation is something that’s cheap.”

His words, though now buried deep in the archives of Media Bistro, ring true as the economy tanks and publishers are telling online editors to do more for less.

As a freelance writer myself, the real problem hits home in a different way: it requires me to produce original content that can be packaged and neatly wrapped around aggregated content. I can’t approach an online editor and suggest just a video. Nope. It’s got to be a video, with a long tail effect. Say something that can support previous or future editorial content without becoming stale our outdated.

Just this past week I finished a short course preview video for Bicycling.com. The final product, less than seven minutes long, was complimented with an interactive GPS-supported map, links to Moab bike shops, and every mountain bike ride Bicycling.com has ever mapped in Moab.

Essentially a racer could watch the course preview video, read expert advice on what to eat during the race, click on a link to rent a bike, and then decide which post-race rides to tackle. All without leaving the page.

The fresh editorial content was the course video and the map. The aggregated content everything else. The long tail is that the race happens every year in the same spot, and unless we have a major flood, the course isn’t going to be changing too much. The evergreen angle is people are always going to Moab, and this list of rides creates a digital guidebook of sorts.

But it also had its problems. Bicycling.com was limited in how they could package it online, and even though I think it turned out well, there is room for improvement. Online editor Dave L’Heureux, did a fantastic job working with me and my production team to push boundaries, but he was still constrained by budget and ad placement.

The next step will be when publishers begin to see content and editorial as the same, and when they are able to produce new editorial content and wrap it with aggregated older editorial content, while having the flexibility to package the content appropriately. Of course it’s already happening on some levels, but not everywhere.

So if you are thinking about pitching multimedia remember to ask yourself the following questions, and if you can answer them well, then you’ve got a pretty good shot of at least being heard.

1. How does this content support/complement content already on the site?
2. If I were to go back in five months, would I still find this interesting?
3. Can this content standalone in a video player, while also being able to be interweaved into other pages on the site?
4. What is the serviceable information readers/viewers will get from this content?

New Video On Bicycling.com – 24 Hours Of Moab

Went to Moab last week and had a day to film the 24 Hours of Moab race course for bicycling.com. My talent, colleague and good friend Mark Harrison, took a beating and rode well over 25-miles, but nailed the shots and was even willing to endo a few times for the credits.

Overall the video took roughly 40 hours from pre to post production, with enough problems to make me age a few more months than I should have.

But as I kept saying while editing, “Holy crap I can’t believe I am lucky enough to get paid for this stuff.” 

So follow the link and check it out. The more views the better, and if I get enough, they might even let me do another one.

http://video.bicycling.com/video/24-Hours-Of-Moab-GPS-Map-Previe/theater#theater_title

The Hills Are On Fire… Colorado Aspens

Gave up sleeping in on Saturday to head up to Rocky Mountain National Park and soak in the Aspens one last time this fall.  Rumor has it a huge storm is headed our way and the leaves might not last past midweek. So please enjoy.

PS: The girl is Jessie — a good friend from DU who I love to explore the woods with.

 

 

24 Hours of Moab

Won’t even try to come up with an excuse as to why this blog has been suffering lately. Reality is I just don’t have time, and it keeps getting pushed back.

After two days back in Colorado, I ended up heading off to Moab, Utah, to shoot a video for Bicycling.com. Most everything I did was with a video camera, but I did take about five minutes to snap some shots along the way.

I’ll post the video shortly when I’m given the all clear by Bicycling’s online editor.