Creating audio interviews for people to download?How do I do it?

Hi Everyone,

I have several audio phone interviews that I'll put together in one file for people to download. Maybe up to 3 hours of audio total. Is that easily doable for people to download? It's just audio, not stereo, no music.

What's the best way/settings to export the audio files (aiff?) and then do I convert to mp3s in iTunes?

It'll probably be over 100 MB, so how do I get it to them, since yousendit.com only goes to 100 MB.

If I decide to make these fiiles into CDs, then what's the best way/settings for that?

Thank you sooooooo much!
~ Elaine

With as much as three hours, I personally wouldn't combine the files. It's very awkward to try to random-access different points in such a long clip. I would just leave them separate if possible, give them unique file names, and the recipient can play them back to back if they want.

Are they trying to edit with this audio? If so, I would leave them at as high a quality setting as possible rather than squash them into MP3s. Just send a USB flash drive (a 2GB stick is $7 now, and an 8GB one is around $15) or a data DVD with the first-generation AIFFs or WAVs.


www.derekmok.com

Thank you so much for your reply.

That's a great point about making each separate! I'll do that.

Now, can I download them all in one file? It goes to 50 or more people. Would mp3s be still too large of a file to download? Maybe about 3 and a half hours of audio.

If I did a hard copy, it would be CDs so they can play in their cars. It'd be so much easier as a download though . . . I think?

Many thanks,
Elaine

> Now, can I download them all in one file? It goes to 50 or more people.

I still don't recommend it unless the files are small enough. If you did want to compress them into MP3s, then you can keep the files separate, but then zip them (CONTROL-click in OS and choose "Compress" -- it used to be "Create Archive" into one file. However, multiple files are better in my view -- because with one big file, if your download is interrupted or something goes wrong, then you've wasted that time, because many downloads don't have the ability to pick up where they left off. Whereas with multiple smaller files, if something goes wrong, you've waited 10 minutes to find that out, not 30. Plus, you can start working with one file as the others are downloading.

With 50 recipients, the option of sending a flash drive isn't really practical. But it still comes down to: What is the purpose of the upload/download? With 50 people, I assume they're not all going to need the files to be top-quality uncompressed, So an MP3 conversion would probably be the way to go.


www.derekmok.com

Create an MP3 like Derek says. And then:

Use a service/program like dropbox to share the files: [www.dropbox.com] (full disclosure--this is a referral link, but will benefit both of us if you sign up by giving an additional 250mb free in addition to the free 2 gb account).

The free account accepts up to a total of 2gb of file storage--no limit on individual file size as long as it stays under the overall 2gb cap. You can put the audio files in your "public" dropbox folder, right click, and copy the link to an email or to post on a webpage, etc. Anyone with an internet connected computer can then download your file--they don't need to have a dropbox account.

Everything in your dropbox folder is automatically synced to the web, so in addition to the cool/easy sharing tools, it's also a way to do an offsite backup for limited amounts of files, and gives you access to your files anywhere with internet access. I use it all the time for sharing quicktimes of my current projects with my boss, and also for keeping current project files (FCP project files, Motion files, PSD assets, etc) backed up offsite. It's so simple, and I've become somewhat of an evangelist to my co-workers and friends. Imagine being able to work on a file on your home computer, save it, then go into work and have the newest version right there ready and waiting for you without needing to email it to yourself or upload it to an ftp server, etc.

There are a ton of other cool features that you can learn about by visiting their website and watching the video, but suffice it to say, I've yet to find someone that can't find a way to utilize even the free version of the service for some purpose that I haven't even thought of.