Second term: The Final Reflection

 

Now I would like to write my final reflection about my work and skills I have learned during my Media Project I module throughout this term. I had an opportunity to create visual, audio and written projects. I developed my ideas using a blog and finally shared my work in my website. My first part of this course was photography. I have learned about photography basics, equipment and technical skills. I went in derive to my city and I had opportunity to see invisible using my camera. I have discovered unusual details. Then I have learned about street photography. I had a look to another artists work. They inspired me to do my own images. I have learned how to use different camera settings. The next part of my photography course was capturing movement. What a fantastic journey it was! I have learned how to use white balance and color temperature. I was very surprised with the outcomes of my images using shutter speed camera setting. Then was to capture architecture where I have learned fundamental principles of composition. I created my own architectural photographs. The third part of my course was shooting at night. I was practicing with long exposure and in photography studio. I was fascinated what photos can we achieve while we play with the light. At the end I was able to edit my pictures using Adobe Lightroom, using its presets and development settings. In the result I made ten pictures and shared in on my website as 'The Urban Landscape Project'. Now I will have my eyes wide open and see the world differently. The next part of my Media Project I was creative writing. I have learned how to create the story. I created my own chapbook 'Midnight Rose' using appropriate tools. Creative writing I consider it as a very important part of the module as I would like to be a writer in the future. I had an opportunity to look at other author's work  and it enriched me completely. I was very exciting with the process of writing.  I created my own poem. I'm very happy how I developed characters and how my romance came out. With love I would like to do similar project in the future. The last project that I was working on it was podcast. In my opinion it was the most difficult part of the module. I was able to use podcasting equipment and learn how to use Adobe Audition software to create a podcast. I'm quite happy with the result but I have in my mind that if I want to achieve good quality podcast I need to spend on it much more time. Also I consider fact that my language and writing skills in a foreign language has developed. I feel like I'm starting to have a so-called writing flow. Overall the second term was a wonderful journey through the process of creation. 

Portfolio Finalization

 

Today I will work on adding all my projects to my Portfolio Website and work on further optimization of my website. 

First I noticed my website is out of date and then I change it for actual year

Then I will add Subpages to my Portfolio page by clicking on Add (+) then Add page and then I put the name of the page, so that I will have all two new subpages for my projects as I already have one with my recent writing project

Then Is to design the subpages, I start with photography, I add main picture and then add description and gallery for my images, then add images 

I go to the editor, then click in the middle of my page and click on Change Strip Background and then choose photo from Wix gallery

Then is to work with my project description, I add the text using Add (+) and then Text

And add gallery:

Now is to upload images

This is the final outcome of my Photography subpage

I think it looks clear ad consistent. On the left side we I have the title and description of my project, on the right side there is a gallery with my images. I'm happy with the outcome. 

Now is to add my Creative writing project and this is the flipbook of my chapbook, I open Flipsnack, go to My flipbooks, click Embed and copy embed code 

I embed it to the page by clicking on + (add) and then embed > embed a widget on Wix site

I copy the embed code and click on update

Now my flipbook is added to the website, then is to add the description. 

and this is the final outcome where now I have all of my writing projects

Now I will add my podcast. I will repeat the process of embedding code

I go to buzzsprout website when I uploaded my podcast, go to the details and copy embed code from there

I copy code

Now is to embed it to my website

   

Then I add the text with project description by repeating process of adding text then add theme image from gallery 

This is the final outcome:

I need to make sure all the buttons I have used are good linked to the correct subpages

I also looked at my Contact page and changed the picture 

Now I will test LIVE my website, do quality test, make sure my website is consistent and navigation works well and then do  UX testing to be sure my website is working on various platforms. 

Podcast The Final Outcome

                    Here I share the link to the final outcome of my podcast. I hope you enjoy it! 

                                                           Food Around The World

My task was to record and edit my own podcast. I have used necessary equipment and editing software to complete my podcast. I followed instructions step by step to complete my project. I had an opportunity to go further with my publications as I am media student. I started recording my podcast with good preparation. That means I did brainstorm, prepared interview questions and choose appropriate person. Technical process took a lot of time and effort. I did recordings of questions and later I recorded answers. I thought about which sound effects I would use in my podcast and in which moments to add them. I'm happy with the sound effects in my podcast. They sound professional. I found interesting an idea to interview my fiance. He is still on his journey of learning both English and Polish language and he is working in restaurant. I think the outcome is a bit funny. I enjoyed doing an interview. Then I had to think how to connect all of elements together. I did also short promotional video for Social Media and u can find it on my Instagram.  I think the process of creation went well, however I could work more on technical elements of my podcast. 

Podcast Development

Today my task was to record and edit my own podcast. I have used necessary equipment and editing software to complete my podcast. I followed instructions step by step to complete my project. I had an opportunity to go further with my publications as I am media student. I started recording my podcast with good preparation. That means I did brainstorm, prepared interview questions and choose appropriate person. Technical process took a lot of time and effort. I did recordings of questions and later I recorded answers. I thought about which sound effects I would use in my podcast and in which moments to add them. I'm happy with the sound effects in my podcast. They sound professional. I found interesting an idea to interview my fiance. He is still on his journey of learning both English and Polish language. I think the outcome is a bit funny. Then I had to think how to connect all of elements together. The most difficult part of the project was to adjust recordings in Adobe Audition and to get rid of random noises. I think I should work on this part yet and it is not finished. 

      Here I share the link to the draft to my 'Food around the world' podcast, I hope you enjoy it

                                               Food Around the World

Now I will be working on further development of my podcast and design the logo and cover using Canva and publish it on Instagram then I will upload my podcast on hosting platform Headliner. 

First I will open blank page and look for podcast logos on the left menu bar and decide which template I will use

 

I choose logo related to the podcast idea

Now I develop the logo, add the title, think about it's font, size and color

I add the background, I like the humorous look of fruit

Now I will work on launching my podcast. First I need to export my podcast and save it as a .mp3 file. 

I clink on File>Export>Multitrack Mixdown>Entire Session

Then I choose desired file extension

I will be uploading my podcast on buzzsprout which is free podcast hosting platform 

First I add the title and add description 

Next is to upload my episode by clicking 'upload new episode' and drag and drop my file

Now is to add the description of the episode and add the cover. 

Now my episode is launched and listeners can listen to it

Here I share the link to my Podcast launched on Buzzsprout: Food Around The World. Episode 1: Nicolae's Interview

Now I can embed it to my Portfolio Website by copying code 

And also I get now the RSS and now people can subscribe, stream or download my podcast

Now I will work with the podcast in Headliner software to create a short video and promote my podcast in Social Media 

I will upload my podcast here clicking at Choose file button

Now my podcast is uploaded, I can easily change it's duration if I want

I can choose the cover ratio for Social Media

Now I can work with the design

Now I can choose the template

I choose purple one 

Now is to add the text

This is the result:

                                       

And now the software is doing the process of creation:

Here is the final outcome and I can share it immediately on my Social Media such as Facebook or Instagram

Now I add promotional post to my professional Instagram account and add promotional video, I add description and few hashtags

In the next blog post I will show how I add the final outcome to my website. 

Now I have done my creation of podcast cover and promotional video of it. I shared my work on Instagram and also I will add it to my website as a part of my portfolio. The cover for my podcast was easy and convenient to create because now I'm more familiar with Canva software. There was many free templates that I could use. I like work with Canva. It help me to express my imagination. I choose the template and worked on improving it. I think the template good relates to the subject of my podcast. I think the background is adding energy and humor. What could be improved is the fact that the logo could be a little bit more on the right and that the circle does not overlap the edge and also leaves of the ananas could be shorter. All the process of launching and hosting the podcast was quite easy. Then the work on promotional video was ran conveniently. I followed the steps to create it. I like the purple color so I used it, I added wave and the title. I think all elements good working together.

Sources:

https://www.bcast.fm/blog/podcast-cover-art

https://castos.com/podcast-name/

https://podcastmovement.com/resources/5-tips-to-come-up-with-a-unique-and-creative-name-for-your-podcast/

https://squadcast.fm/blog/podcast-cover-art-best-practices/

Podcast Editing

In today's lesson we have discussed Podcast editing. We had a look at different Digital Workout Stations and talked about post-production techniques. First we should decide which software to use, then edit podcast dialogues, next is to add sound effects, add intro and outro jingle and background music. Then we should work on good mixing all together.

In terms of editing podcast we can highlight three definitions: Stitching, Mixing and Mastering. Stitching means adding, removing or re-ordering the episode content. We aim to cut and condense to have planned duration of our podcast. Mixing is about manipulating different layers to create expected effect. We work on reduce background noise. Mastering is to optimize our podcast. 

I can see I can choose different software to edit my podcast. Here we have the most popular

As almost in everything we are doing in terms of digital work we should remember about the flow. We should cut unnecessary words and disruptive elements of speech as 'er, uhm'. Then edit out pauses. Next is to remove mistakes and strange moments. 

Very important is how we will design our podcast. We should remember about creating memorable intro and outro, use music and sound effects in transition between scenes. Also the dialogue must be more dominant than the music. Also we should use copyright free music. In my podcast I will be using Pixabay music. There I can find many sounds that will suits perfect to my podcast. 

As today we had an introduction I decided to use Adobe Audition to edit my podcast. Audition is a professional tool which allows editing, mixing and mastering recordings. 

First I open the program and I set up New Multi-track session, I add session name, I choose Folder location, I choose the template for Podcast and then click OK. 

Next is to choose from the computer my recording files from Media browser on the left in the middle 

Now I can add them to the Editor in the middle of the screen just by dragging files and start editing 

Now I can play my recording and decide about its duration, then I can increase or decrease the volume by dragging yellow line switch up and down

First I added Intro music and I decided to have it about 30 seconds, so I have to cut out the rest, I will do it my Razor Selected Clips tool from the top menu bar, then click on from where I want to cut and to which moment, and now I can delete unwanted part by pressing Delete button in keyboard

Here you can hear original version: Intro

I would like my introduction music to be stopped by lowering it's volume,  so I click on the yellow line and drag it down in the desired moment, in a result the sound will slowly disappear and make smooth transition to the next part

And here you can hear improved version: Improved intro

Then I add next part which is my voice with introduction, I work witch cutting tool to adjust both recordings together and do the same with the next part working further with lowering volume

Now is to add first question and then answer from my guest and repeat step by step the process:

Here is the instruction how I switch between my Multitrack Session and single file:

After I finished editing my podcast I export the file to the desktop as a .wav file. 

Now is to work on the final outcome to make sure everything is well presented. 

In the further Podcast Final Outcome post I will add the draft of my podcast and add my evaluation and reflection. 

Sources:

https://www.thepodcasthost.com/editing-production/adobe-audition-review/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xv_cslQeIDE

How to Remove Background Noise in Adobe Audition