Software for Online Collaborative Podcasting

ElfWord

Hey everyone. Myself and another regular in oDaM, Talonrazor, are working on a tabletop gaming blog that we'd like to add a regular podcast to. The problem is that he's in Alaska, and I'm in Massachusetts. So we need software that will:
a) Let us hear each other talking via mics.
b) Record us and save as a MP3 or OGG file.
c) Preferably let others join in, so that more than just the two of us can contribute to the podcast.

Ventrilo won't work because it saves to a proprietary format that won't play in anything except Vent. So what software would you all suggest? We're poor, by the way, so freeware or shareware is a must. Thanks for any help you all can provide!

Polago

Skype can take the place of Vent quite easily, and is cheapass.

ElfWord

Unfortunately(as far as I know), Skype doesn't offer recording functionality.

AlphaTwo

ElfWord wrote:

Unfortunately(as far as I know), Skype doesn't offer recording functionality.

Over at Platformers, they're using Skype + Audoicity.

ElfWord

I'm sorry, I don't understand. I looked around the Platformers site and couldn't find an explanation there. I googled for "AudioCity" and didn't find anything relevant, just links to Audacity, which I plan on using to edit the podcast once we've recorded it, but I'm not sure how I could use it to record from both my mike and my speaker.

Any links or explanations that could help me out?

AlphaTwo

ElfWord wrote:

I'm sorry, I don't understand. I looked around the Platformers site and couldn't find an explanation there. I googled for "AudioCity" and didn't find anything relevant, just links to Audacity, which I plan on using to edit the podcast once we've recorded it, but I'm not sure how I could use it to record from both my mike and my speaker.

Any links or explanations that could help me out?

Sorry about the typos, it's Audacity. Here's where it was mentioned:
http://www.platformers.net/forum/index.php?topic=179.0

I was the one that recored 2 of the earlier sessions, one of them (the lost episode 8, due to horrible static and low volumn). As far as I know, I don't think it lets the recorder record and use the mic at the same time. Hence, the recorder/producer is the silent one listening in on the convo.

There's probably a trick that allows you to do it together, but I wouldn't know where to point you to.

bash

Instead of Skype you can use Gizmo which is software in much the same vein as Skype but allows call recording. They even tell you how to use Gizmo to record podcast interviews. Gizmo like Skype works on Mac and Windows as well as Linux and even Nokia internet tablets.

Gizmo records 8KHz wav files which can easily be handled in Audacity. For best results make sure everyone involved has a decent microphone and wears headphones. You can end up with nasty feedback if your mic picks up your own speakers.

Talonrazor

Hey, what's the sound quality on Gizmo. I know Skype sounds really good but has anyone tried out Gizmo? Does it have the same quality as Skype?

Terrorbyte

VoIP + AudioHijack + GarageBand is an excellent solution for Mac users.

PMAvers

Terrorbyte wrote:

VoIP + AudioHijack + GarageBand is an excellent solution for Mac users.

Actually, I don't even think you need Hijack, since some of the latest versions of GarageBand have things for doing podcasting. All you have to do is start the conference via iChat, hit Record, and it should make a seperate track for each participant and start recording what everyone's saying.