In running a business, it’s still so easy to get distracted by how I compare to other podcast production / editing companies. I look at a portfolio and think “Why can’t I do that?” and then I remember to look at their /about/ page and see 30+ people listed. 😆

Podcasts + Music in App Experience

I’m so glad Apple decided to split apart Podcasts into it’s own app. Initially I was skeptical that it made sense - why not have podcasts in the same “store” as where everyone was already going for music or movies or TV? It’s all media.

Now 3 years later it really looks like it was the right choice, at least from a user experience perspective. Obviously I have no insider knowledge on usage stats from Spotify or Apple, but Rachel Smith’s experience sums up the sentiment I keep hearing from Spotify users:

In the blessed pre-Spotify Podcasts days, I was a huge Spotify fan. I was paying for a subscription as soon as it was available in my region. Now I curse Spotify whenever they take away podcast content I previously enjoyed: Brené Brown, basically all of Gimlet. I say “take away” because I refuse to use their shitty excuse for a podcast-app-shoved-in-a-music-player that has made my once-great-music-player experience worse! Damn you Spotify, I won’t do it.

Like I said, without actual user data it’s impossible for me to say “Spotify’s approach is economically worse than Apple’s”, and I don’t know what kind of testing Spotify is doing to determine if a separate app would generate more revenue, but it certainly feels like it’s a better experience over all.

Lossless Audio or Video Editing

I’ve long been a fan of Rogue Amoeba’s Fission software for lossless audio editing. I use it if I forget to cut off the end of a podcast’s MP3 file, or cut out a piece of audio that I can make a clean cut of without worrying about the rest of the edit. Or to split large audio files into smaller ones.

When Fission saves it back to an MP3, it does it in a lossless way. (Rogue Amoeba has a support doc explaining how they do it if you’re curious.

Thanks to a client - Stephen Shaw over at CodePen Radio, I learned about Lossless Cut, an open source app for that:

…aims to be the ultimate cross platform FFmpeg GUI for extremely fast and lossless operations on video, audio, subtitle and other related media files.

To try it out, I pulled up a video of a recent Learn with Jason episode I had edited and added chapter markers to for YouTube. With a click of a button I could export all the chapter segments into individual video files which would make for really easy social media clips, or a library of videos on a specific topic that could be smashed together into a compilation video.

Screenshot of a video edit of a recent Learn with Jason video

And it took less than 5 minutes to export all of them out of the original video. Slick!

macOS Finder screenshot showing 14 chapters listed as individual video files from the previous Learn with Jason video.

Lossless Cut is free to use if you download it from the GitHub repo - look for the one labelled ‘LosslessCut-mac-x64.dmg’ - or you can buy it from the Mac App Store as well.

The differences between the GitHub download vs Mac App Store shouldn’t be a big deal for most people, and may actually be the more stable version of the app if you’re using it for critical work related editing.

They have exactly the same in-app features, except for a few platform limitations. Apple doesn’t allow opening VOB files with App Store apps. Apple App Store apps need to prompt for output directory. LosslessCut version in the App Stores is a few versions behind the GitHub version, because I want to be sure that the new versions work perfectly before releasing in the App Stores. GitHub version can contain new, untested features and may contain some bugs.

Accidentally switched our thermostat into “heat only” mode this morning - which was a great way to test out how long I could keep my podcast editing headphones on while sweating out of my ears.

M1 Mac vs M2 Mac

I don’t understand why I’d buy an M1 based Mac Studio when the M2 based MacBook Pro and MacBook Air are out right now - so clearly there’s going to be an M2 based Mac Studio coming.

The obvious deciding factor would be “Do you need a faster Mac right now or can you afford to wait?”

This post on MacRumors.com helps sort out the differences between the two chips - but everything I read there tells me I should wait before taking an M-based plunge with my main work machine - I currently have a 2019 16" MacBook Pro.

This paragraph jumped out at me as a reason to wait for the M2 based Mac Studio:

Both the ‌M1‌ and the ‌M2‌ have dedicated video encode and decode engines for hardware-accelerated H.264 and HEVC, but the ‌M2‌’s video engines are also able to accelerate ProRes and ProRes RAW to enable playback of multiple streams of 4K and 8K video. In addition, the ‌M2‌’s media engine includes a higher-bandwidth video decoder, supporting 8K H.264 and HEVC video.

I don’t do a lot of 4K video right now for clients, but when I do - rendering is the biggest bottleneck to creativity and getting my work done efficiently.

I recently heard someone talk about how fast their M1 Max MacBook Pro is at rendering video on a client’s podcast and that’s what’s got me feeling the itch to upgrade.

It’s a bit of a chicken and the egg for me right now. If I upgrade to a Mac Studio, I’ll get more work done which will allow me to make more money and then be able to more easily afford upgrading to a Mac Studio. 😊

After watching this video review of the Mac Studio and Studio Display, I can’t find a good reason to justify a Mac Studio for my podcast editing work at this point. But it won’t stop me from wanting to get one anyway. 😊

Shout it louder for anyone who sees only money in a podcasting monopoly @gruber:

There’s no need for a YouTube-of-audio. Podcasts aren’t a format that just happen to have thrived on the open independent internet — they’ve thrived because of the open independent internet.

I’m exporting an hour long 1080p video, transcoding a different 720p video, and editing a podcast all at the same time - and I’m still whining about why it isn’t going faster? :)

Ooh fun new feature coming to Descript for video podcasters.

Automatically assign multicam is listed as in Early Access for Descript.

It’s kind of wild to me that as I wrap up (mostly) work for 2021, I’m finishing it off by editing ShopTalk Show - the podcast that I started this “editing podcasts for a living” journey with. I’ve been blessed by amazing clients - past + present - who enable me to love what i do.

Heads up that the Logic Pro 10.7.2 update that came out last week seems to have some sort of plugin compatibility bug. Some projects are fine, others hang as soon as I hit play and require a force quit restart to work. #podcasters

Way Too Seriously

Movies reviewed by the podcast Way Too Seriously:

Way Too Seriously is a weekly podcast in which Jan and Paul Moffett talk about the implicit biases, the assumptions, and the thematic implications of kids' movies with exactly the appropriate level of seriousness.

Available on Apple Podcasts.

...plus 51 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Way Too Seriously

Movies reviewed by the podcast Way Too Seriously:

Way Too Seriously is a weekly podcast in which Jan and Paul Moffett talk about the implicit biases, the assumptions, and the thematic implications of kids' movies with exactly the appropriate level of seriousness.

Available on Apple Podcasts.

...plus 51 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.