Step 3 - Recording a conversation
There are a variety of way to capture both ends of a telephony call or online conversation. Some of these allow people to listen in live, others do not.
Simple
Conversation Recording Programs
Webcasters cannot use this method to stream a
conversation so non-participants to listen live, but is the easiest way
to simply record a conversation so that it can be published online
afterward. The Simple
Conversation Recording Programs page has a
list of programs that can be used to record Skype calls.
There are also several telephony programs listed
other than skype that support call recording.
Web Conferencing Services
The Conferencing Services Page lists are a variety of conferencing services that allow webcasters to record online conversations. These can be web-based, telephone based, or a combination thereof.
Advanced Recording
Methods
These methods will let you capture and record all ends of a
telephony call and/or all sounds on your computer in a way that allows
you to stream that audio out to services like Shoutcast, Ustream,
& Livestream so that others can listen live. These
methods involve a number of variables including Operation System and
hardware specifications. They can be the most challenging for
webcasters to figure out, but provide more flexibiltiy and streaming
options.
External Links
Task:
Record and publish a 3-5 minute
conversation with at least one other person. You can use whichever
method you prefer, but in order to take the next step,
you will need to use one of the web conferencing or Advanced
Recording methods.
Once you'vep posted the conversation recording and it has been
reviewed, you will be granted 'intern' permissions which will provide
you with additional upload space. You can then move on to Step#4
- Live Streaming of a conversation
Conferencing Services
Web based hosting:
- BlogTalkRadio - allows participants to call in to a North American phone # or use a web based 'click to talk' feature.
- Talkshoe - provides a chat interface and automatically records conversations. Can usually telephony to call in to a North American phone number. Long distance rates might apply. Now supports mobile based call-in webcastign
- WizIQ - web based 'virtual classroom' platform that allows multiple participants, presentation sharing, and whiteboard.
Teleconferencing
- FreeConferenceCall.com - the service we have sometimes used to include teleconferencing in our webcasts, now includes an optional recording option.
- Freeconference.com - another free teleconerencing service, reservations required for free version
Recording a Conversation with VAC & USB mic
Recording A
Conversation - VAC & USB mic Method
Hardware
- Soundcard - you
will need a soundcard that has 'stereo mix', 'What U Hear', or 'Wave
out mix' as a recording option.
Many recent Dell computers do not come with this option, but you can find information about a work around here.
Microphone
- It is necessary to use either a desktop
USB mic like this or USB Headsets like these which have
two separate inputs for 
the
mic and ear piece. Models that have been confirmed to work include:
- Altec Lansing AHs320
- Logitech Premium Notebook Headset
- Plantronics 470 USB Headset
- Plantroics Binaural PC Headsett 625 USB
- Logitech USB Desktop Mic (AK5370)
You can also use any USB audio device that has two separate jacks, such as - Star Tech USB Audio Adaptor
- many of the no brand name devices listed in this google shopping search
Software
- Telephony Program - we use Skype for demonstration purposes,
but Oovoo, Gizmo, Yahoo Messenger,
Google
Talk, Jajah,
& others will work as well.
- Audio Bridging Tool - Virtual
Audio Cables
is the 'magic ingredient' of this method - a funky little program that
alllows you to capture audio from your microphone and soundcard at the
same time
- Audio Recorder &
Editor - there are
others out there, but we primarily use Audacity - it's open source and works
quite well.
Capturing both ends of a conversation
|
Overview
The major challenge of producing a live interactive webcast is capturing both ends of a telephony call in a way that it can be streamed. If all you want to do is record both ends of a call without streaming it, there a number of programs that can be used (see this page for more info). To do so in a way that allows the audio to be streamed live, it is necessary to use an audio bridging tool like Virtual Audio Cables along with the hardware described above. There are other ways to do this, additional hardware and/or software is usually required. |
 Screencast |
- If using a USB Desktop mic, plug it in to any USB port.
Plug any headset into your standard speaker jack.
- If
using a USB headset (with separate jacks for mic and earpiece), plug it
into any USB port, remove the earphone jack and plug it into the
standard speaker jack as shown below.
Configuring your computer so you can capture both ends of a telephony call.
Parts of this will vary from computer to computer and it is possible that webcasters will need to go through some trial and error to get this working. The most common places to alter settings are your Windows Volume Control, Sound & Audio Device Settings, & your Telephony audio settings.
- By default, most computers are set up to record from your
microphone. This needs to be changed. Using Windows Volume Mixer,
set the Recording Control Properties of your soundcard to 'stereo mix'
, 'What U Hear', or 'Wave Out Mix'. With some sounds cards you will
select his item, with others you will make sure it's unmuted'.
In
Sound & Audio
Device settings, select your sound card as the recording
device in the 'Audio' and 'Voice' tabs.
- Open Audacity.
In Edit/Preferences/Audio I/O , select your sound card as your
recording device.
- Open
the Audio settings of your telephony program. In Skype, it's under
Tools/Options/Audio Settings. For microphone, select your USB
microphone.
Install
Virtual Audio Cables (the
trial version will work for experimentation purposes, but to produce
actual webcasts, you will need to get the full version
(US$30). Go
to Virtual Audio Cable in your start menu and click 'Audio Repeater'.
In the 'wave in' section, select your USB mic. In 'wave out', select
your sound card. For total buffer, select 100. You can experiment with
the other settings, but it shouldn't be necessary to change any of
them. Press 'Start'. Open the Audio settings of your telephony program.
In Skype, it's under Tools/Options/Audio Settings. For microphone,
select your USB microphone.
- If all is working properly, after you
press start, you should hear an echo when speaking. You are now
capturing all audio on your machine - your voice, voices of others in
the telephony call, audio played from media players, program noises,
etc. (Note: you might want to disable notification noises in Skype and
other IM programs)
- Call someone (you can call skype lady at 'echo123'). Press record in Audacity, and you should see that you are recording audio when you speak and when the other person speaks. If so, you're ready to complete the Step 3 task (recording a conversation). If not, let the troubleshooting begin.
Two Computer Method
Simple Conversation Recording Programs
Recording both ends of a telephony call is necessary in order to stream and record a live, interactive webcast. This is usually the trickiest part of webcasting as most systems are not set up to record your voice and those on the other end of the call.
If you want to record a telephony call without streaming, you can use a number of skype 'extras', 3rd party recording programs, or telephony programs that support recording. Please note, this will not be adequate to stream both ends of a telephony call. It will only allow you to record the conversation and record it later.
Telephony Programs that support recording: Gizmo , ooVoo (premium version)
Other Programs & Guides
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Programs Fee based
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