What is a vodcast?: Difference between revisions

Camcorders are handheld electronic devices that specialize in recording video. As one of the more expensive pieces of equipment, the camcorders do provide some of the highest potential quality for video capture, as well as audio capture with internal microphones or attachments. Camcorders can be bought for a little under US$200 and up into the thousands of dollars. Camcorders often also require batteries, memory cards (or disks), as well as more optional pieces of equipment like tripods that can add additional costs. It should be noted that one of the advantages of a camcorder is their ease of use in many different environments where computers with webcams may be more cumbersome or impractical.

Webcams are video capture devices that are used in conjunction with a computer that often provides the webcam with power and a hard disk to save any recorded video onto. The cheapest video capture option of the two presented here, webcams can be purchased for under US$20. Many webcams offer high-definition recording (720p+) and have built-in microphones to record audio. These days many laptops will come with integrated webcams, allowing the owner to start vodcasting or doing video calls nearly immediately. While being very affordable, they do have the disadvantages of not being as versatile in their potential recording environments or not being quite as high quality as camcorders.

These microphones are, as the heading implies, by themselves and tend to focus on having higher audio quality. These are the microphones that people who tend to do a lot of podcasting, vodcasting, or other recording-based activity will favor. While there is  a wide range of prices and qualities available, they do tend to be a bit higher in both than headsets, though lacking the built-in speakers and wear-ability of the headsets. Microphones also have various means of connecting to a computer or other audio equipment, but, for the purposes of general vodcasting, a USB connection will most likely be used. One feature to look out for when purchasing a microphone is a cardioid polar pattern which, basically, just means that the microphone picks up noise coming from the front and not from the sides or back (or not as much). This helps create a cleaner audio sample, especially if the recording environment is a bit noisy.

Vodcasting does not have to be a solo experience. Using such services as [http://www.skype.com/en/ Skype] or [https://plus.google.com/ Google+ Hangouts] a group can create a vodcast together remotely, over the internet. In the case of Google+ Hangouts', the Hangout can be recorded automatically without the need for further editing or software. Skype, on the other hand, does require a separate program like [http://www.evaer.com/ Evaer] to record the video and audio of the Skype call, which can then be edited in a different program.