Allow me respond to your comments…

1) Could you may try watching the video again from work, when you have a chance? It *seems* to me that, here at UAS, it downloads faster than it plays; at least I’m able to just click play and start watching without any buffering.

If it is, in fact, your 3Mbps home connection, I’d do some speed tests if I were you. The video is encoded at about 1.5Mbps… should be easy for your connection to keep up!

At any rate, deciding on the best data rate is always an issue. I decided to go for full-size (640×360 widescreen) at a data rate that all iPod videos can play. Gets a little blocky at times, but I didn’t want to trim the resolution, just for a sharper picture. (Kind of an oxymoron there.)

2) Yeah, I’ve gotten some feedback about the audio. There’s a hiss in the background that’s either room noise, or a bad microphone (we’re using a shotgun mic mounted on the camera, about 5 feet away; should be better!) That mic was banged around a lot in travel, though, so maybe that’s the problem. Don’t want to spend $200 on a new one, but maybe that’s the best solution.

In the meantime, there are 2 or 3 more Iguazu videos, half-edited, with voice-overs recorded at the same time. I’m going to experiment with correcting the hiss in post, see if people notice the difference (I tried to clean up the audio a bit on this one, but didn’t like how it came out; sounded like we were talking in a culvert!)

But anyway. Experimenting with the different aspects of our workflow is EXACTLY why we’re doing these “old” travel videos now, though, and good feedback (like yours) will help us develop a better podcast. I hope.

3) Neat comment on the Coati. I thought that was sort of an awkward transition, just a tangent on an animal in the middle of an overview of a waterfall park, but I’m glad to hear it worked!

* even on my 3mbit connection, the video in your blog post was sluggish to load (bummer for me, time to upgrade) – perhaps there were other people in the house downloading items too?
* your audio, while clear, was tinny (is that how you spell it?) as though you were in a big room with a sub-par microphone (not a big deal, but I noticed cause I’m accustomed to you producing uber-quality results from lame-o equipment)
* I like those long-nosed critters and how you mentioned their name before describing what they were – i felt engaged through curiosity.

hrmmm. that’s about all I could think of… other than that I look forward to future installments.

-cb

jfa