I spent some time this afternoon playing with a web based application over at AudioMerge.com essentially what the site allows you to do is put markers in your audio files and then link them to graphics that will pop up when you hit certain segment. This is designed for people that listen to your show on the web.
I was in IM with the developer and told him I would like to license a stand-alone version that would run on this website which with some enhancements you could use this to query information in the show notes or the RSS feed to display the various websites that are discussed. But it has to be so simple that from the time I get done producing my show to the time I am ready to have it available for the public would be minutes.
I don’t think it’s quite there yet and there is not a way you can buy the product currently to run it on your own website. I am of the thought process these days if my branding is not tightly integrated into the delivery vehicle I am not got to be pointing any of listeners away from this site. The trade-off at this point is not worth it. But for those of you that don’t mind sending your web based listeners to a portal to listen to your content then you should by all means check out [AudioMerge.com]
Several things are incorrect.
First of all, it does NOT alter your .mp3 file at all.
In fact, your .mp3 file remains whereever you currently have it hosted.
Also, there’s no ‘pop up’ of graphics. Any image which you have designated to display during the playback is simply rendered within the confines of the project player.
Alas, audiomerge is NOT a portal, todd could simply link to his audiomerge projects as Rob Walch of Podcast411.com did for his 113th episode, in which he was very impressed.
If that approach was taken, your site visitors would just click on the link, the player window opens, and playback begins. If you have created any pages to be displayed at any given time mark, then your listeners would be able to see them, and also click on through to the websites referenced.
AudioMerge is currently working on a mini-player, which will allow chaptering, but will not display any page templates during playback. The tracking statistics will still be there, so you can see what portions of your show were most listened to.
AudioMerge is also working out a process which will allow its members to save their projects as enhanced podcasts for use in offline listening on an iPod – currently something which is only available using ChapterTool from Apple.
Lastly, AudioMerge is more than an XML file associated to an .mp3 – there are database dependencies, custom functions, and a whole lot of other proprietary methods happening behind the scenes.
If anyone is more interested in just displaying images along with their podcast, through the use of a simple XML file format, and does not wish to track any sort of playback statistics, other than the widely used ‘download counts and subscription statistics’, please contact us at info@audiomerge.com
Thanks for letting me set things straight,
Michael Bailey
Developer.Owner
AudioMerge.com
Just wanted to leave an updated post/
The audiomerge post-production system is now compatible with ALL Major browsers.
PC USers: Internet Explorer, Netscape, Firefox, and Opera.
Mac Users: Safari
Another update!
We’ve done the same thing, except with video files now.
There is a demo online at http://www.syncrocast.com
The system, when complete, will let you create video chapters, specify the timing and URL for display of banner ads, and also create your own templated pages similiar to the audiomerge projects.
Reporting will also be similiar to the audiomerge.com reports.
It sure would be nice to get some feedback on both of these systems.
Michael