Audio Assignment - Create an edited audio news report or podcast

One of the basic multimedia skills that Web editors/producers use is audio editing. As you strengthen your technical skills for audio editing, you can use this knowledge to produce your own audio news segments, podcasts and even narrated slide shows. The same skills are also transferable to video editing (which shares a similar "timeline-based" interface).

NEW AUDIO ASSIGNMENT -- DUE  Thurs., Nov. 3

Write and produce an audio news or podcast production. Duration should be approximately one and two minutes in length. You may complete this production alone or with up to one other person on your team.

Tell a news or feature story with a production that includes a narration and/or integration of audio interview segments from at least two sources.

THIS PRODUCTION IS NOT A SIMPLE READING OF YOUR SCRIPT/WORDS.

You should include music or other production elements to bring the story to life. Some examples of existing productions are at the end of this post.

Use Audacity or another editing program to edit and "mixdown" this production into a single audio file that will be posted on your genre-specific blog.You can use a file-hosting service (such as SoundCloud) to create an embeddable version of your audio production when completed.

Please note that SoundCloud supports uploading of audio files in these formats: AIFF, WAVE (WAV), FLAC, ALAC, OGG, MP2, MP3, AAC, AMR, and WMA files.

TROUBLESHOOTING:

SUPPORT HELP FOR IMPORTING AUDIO FILES INTO AUDACITY

If you have recorded an audio file and wish to import it into Audacity, then first check to see what file format you have saved your audio recording in. (Note: Many cell phones and apps use different file formats -- so there is no guarantee that your file will work without it first being converted into a compatible format.)

• List of compatible file formats for importing to Audacity

If your file type for importing audio is not supported or working, you may need to install the free FFmpeg encoder.

• Visit this page for the free FFmpeg plug-in and instructions.

SUPPORT HELP FOR EXPORTING AUDIO FILES INTO MP3

Some students prefer to export their files into an .mp3 file, which is a popular digital music format that is compatible with various portable media devices. Please note that .mp3 compatibility is not built in by default within Audacity. It requires that you download the external LAME MP3 encoder, which you can download for free.

• To get and install this free Lame MP3 codec, visit this page.