Enhanced podcast
Encyclopedia
An enhanced podcast is an audio podcast
that can display image
s simultaneously with audio. These can contain chapter markers, hyperlinks, and artwork; all of which is synced to a specific program or device. When an enhanced podcast is played within its specific program or device, all the appropriate information should be displayed at the same time and in the same window, making it easier to display materials. Enhanced podcasting is considered to be a very practical way to present information. This new technological phenomenon is becoming more prominent in schools, universities and businesses; as it is an efficient way to present school and university lectures, slide shows, video clips, and other presentation materials of the like.
and Apple
's QuickTime
. Playing these enhanced podcasts on a computer requires Apple's Quicktime Player or iTunes software. The only portable devices capable of playing these enhanced podcasts are iPods and iPhones.
Authoring is possible on a Macintosh computer using applications such as Apple's GarageBand
(part of their iLife
suite), Podcaster, ProfCast and Apple's Chapter Tool.
The technical details of the mp4 format can be found in the references sections.
The MPEG-4
mp4 acc format mirrors the approaches that can be used for enhanced podcasts:
is a W3C recommended
XML
markup language
that can be used to create enhanced podcasts.
has the ability to handle media specific metadata, which includes chapters and subtitles.
has the ability to handle multiple stream types including subtitles and chapter information.
Podcast
A podcast is a series of digital media files that are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication...
that can display image
Image
An image is an artifact, for example a two-dimensional picture, that has a similar appearance to some subject—usually a physical object or a person.-Characteristics:...
s simultaneously with audio. These can contain chapter markers, hyperlinks, and artwork; all of which is synced to a specific program or device. When an enhanced podcast is played within its specific program or device, all the appropriate information should be displayed at the same time and in the same window, making it easier to display materials. Enhanced podcasting is considered to be a very practical way to present information. This new technological phenomenon is becoming more prominent in schools, universities and businesses; as it is an efficient way to present school and university lectures, slide shows, video clips, and other presentation materials of the like.
Apple approach
The most popular approach is based on AACAdvanced Audio Coding
Advanced Audio Coding is a standardized, lossy compression and encoding scheme for digital audio. Designed to be the successor of the MP3 format, AAC generally achieves better sound quality than MP3 at similar bit rates....
and Apple
Apple Computer
Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation that designs and markets consumer electronics, computer software, and personal computers. The company's best-known hardware products include the Macintosh line of computers, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad...
's QuickTime
QuickTime
QuickTime is an extensible proprietary multimedia framework developed by Apple Inc., capable of handling various formats of digital video, picture, sound, panoramic images, and interactivity. The classic version of QuickTime is available for Windows XP and later, as well as Mac OS X Leopard and...
. Playing these enhanced podcasts on a computer requires Apple's Quicktime Player or iTunes software. The only portable devices capable of playing these enhanced podcasts are iPods and iPhones.
Authoring is possible on a Macintosh computer using applications such as Apple's GarageBand
GarageBand
GarageBand is a software application for Mac OS X and iOS that allows users to create music or podcasts. It is developed by Apple Inc. as a part of the iLife software package on Mac OS X.-Audio recording:...
(part of their iLife
ILife
iLife is a suite of software applications developed by Apple for organizing, editing, and publishing photos, movies, and music. The suite comprises five applications: iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, GarageBand, and iWeb, all of which run on the Mac OS X operating system....
suite), Podcaster, ProfCast and Apple's Chapter Tool.
The technical details of the mp4 format can be found in the references sections.
The MPEG-4
MPEG-4
MPEG-4 is a method of defining compression of audio and visual digital data. It was introduced in late 1998 and designated a standard for a group of audio and video coding formats and related technology agreed upon by the ISO/IEC Moving Picture Experts Group under the formal standard ISO/IEC...
mp4 acc format mirrors the approaches that can be used for enhanced podcasts:
- Audio mp4a
- Audiobook format mp4b
- Video format mp4v (equals mp4 but takes much more space than mp4a or mp4b)
Microsoft approach
The wmv scripted approach is less functional and more difficult to implement. Other Windows solutions exist; these too often require several steps. For example, the online Webpoderator uses Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2003 files, which are uploaded to create Enhanced podcast http://www.celt.sunysb.edu/webpoderator/ jrlearnsmedia.com has a command line tool similar to Apple's chaptertool for creating Enhanced podcasts as well http://jrlearnsmedia.com/blog/archive/2007/07/29/enhanced-podcasting-on-windows.aspx The easy-to-use Profcast application for Macintosh is now available in a Windows compatible version http://www.profcast.com/windows/index.phpID3v2 Chapters
An alternative approach is to use ID3v2 Chapters. This is a relatively new standard and is not widely supported as yet. However an authoring tool is available and a media player for Pocket PCs and Windows Mobile Smartphones.SMIL
SMILSynchronized Multimedia Integration Language
SMIL , the Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language, is a W3C recommended XML markup language for describing multimedia presentations. It defines markup for timing, layout, animations, visual transitions, and media embedding, among other things...
is a W3C recommended
W3C recommendation
A W3C Recommendation is the final stage of a ratification process of the World Wide Web Consortium working group concerning a technical standard. This designation signifies that a document has been subjected to a public and W3C-member organization's review. It aims to standardise the Web technology...
XML
XML
Extensible Markup Language is a set of rules for encoding documents in machine-readable form. It is defined in the XML 1.0 Specification produced by the W3C, and several other related specifications, all gratis open standards....
markup language
Markup language
A markup language is a modern system for annotating a text in a way that is syntactically distinguishable from that text. The idea and terminology evolved from the "marking up" of manuscripts, i.e. the revision instructions by editors, traditionally written with a blue pencil on authors' manuscripts...
that can be used to create enhanced podcasts.
Ogg
OggOgg
Ogg is a free, open container format maintained by the Xiph.Org Foundation. The creators of the Ogg format state that it is unrestricted by software patents and is designed to provide for efficient streaming and manipulation of high quality digital multimedia.The Ogg container format can multiplex...
has the ability to handle media specific metadata, which includes chapters and subtitles.
Matroska Audio Container
MatroskaMatroska
The Matroska Multimedia Container is an open standard free container format, a file format that can hold an unlimited number of video, audio, picture or subtitle tracks in one file. It is intended to serve as a universal format for storing common multimedia content, like movies or TV shows...
has the ability to handle multiple stream types including subtitles and chapter information.