If executing a little Perl script doesn't scare you off, if you have your own web server running and if you're interested to turn your MP3 recordings into a podcast, then read on.

Photo credit: by Bianca De Blok

Kenward Bradley, a Chicago-based programmer with a passion for creating music, is offering his cross-platform podcasting tool Podcastamatic to the public for free.

Podcastamatic is in fact a Perl script combined with a configuration file and a stylesheet. The script creates an HTML output file together with an RSS feed (XML).

Successful Podcastamatic implementations have been reported on Windows, Linux and Mac platforms. The most recent version of Bradley's Perl script is dated February 22nd, 2005. It seems Bradley takes pride in constantly fine-tuning Podcastamatic.

The Podcastamatic download is only a tiny 10 Kb and consists of four text files:

• The actual Podcastamatic Perl script


• A configuration file to specify the file locations of your recordings


• Podcastamatic documentation


• A CSS style sheet which determines the layout of the items in your final podcast

To use Podcastamatic successfully, you first need to install Perl. For the Windows platform Bradley recommends ActivePerl, a Perl distribution which is generally considered the industry standard for this programming language. ActivePerl is freely available for download after registration.

After installing Perl the next step is to install the MP3::Info module. Assuming you are running the Windows-based web server and have ActivePerl installed, modules can be easily downloaded from the Internet using the Programmer's Package Manager, which is included in the ActivePerl distribution.
Kenward Bradley has put in a lot of effort to describe this step and a few other preparatory requirements in the Podcastamatic Readme file.

If your system setup meets the Podcastamatic requirements you can run the script. The resulting HTML and XML files should be copied to your web server, together with the MP3 files and the CSS template.

Nothing explains the usefulness of Podcastamatic better than the two podcasts Bradley and his family put together: Shakespeare Souffle and Homeschool Habitat.

Recommended.

[ Read more ]

Related Articles



October 13, 2004
What Is Podcasting: Chris Pirillo Finds Out
Chris Pirillo has put together a great introduction to what podcasting is. If you have an audio enabled personal computer and are interested in the newest online trend you may really want to listen to this excellent 45-minute intro to podcasting. Podcasting is all the rage... read more



November 1, 2004
Portable Podcasting: Edirol R1 Records WAVs And MP3s On The Go
Podcasting is the emerging smarter on-demand broadcasting paradigm emerging from the blogosphere. How do you do it? You simply make an audio recording of an interview, a new track you are working on, a radio show you want to broadcast on the Internet and then you... read more



October 9, 2004
RSS Feeds By Audio - An Emerging Delivery Channel
As an existing or budding NewsMaster, creating your own unique RSS newsfeeds from your personally evaluated and selected sources, the ultimate destination of your content is almost certainly going to be your subscribers' newsreaders or aggregators. Your subscribers have plenty to choose from. Some are web-based,... read more



September 24, 2004
Audio Video Blogging Is Here: Userplane A/V Blog
A/V Blog by Userplane No words are needed. Just turn on your speakers, and click the play button on the above window. (If you are on a dial-up connection this may take quite a while). Impressed. It does work like expected and it is as easy as 1-2-3. Can I have... read more



May 12, 2004
Voice Publishing Comes Of Age: Audioblog.com
This is my first audio recording with Audioblog posted directly to my MovableType content management system (blog). I am impressed and pleased with the extreme ease of use, accessibility and immediacy. Last but not least the price is just right. USD $ 4.95/month it's a hard... read more



December 15, 2004
Online Audio Conversations: The Channel With A Heart

What is so great about radio and audio communications, versus the written ones, is that you can actually hear the "true" voice of the people involved. While it may take longer to listen to a radio interview or to a so-called podcast (Internet on-demand commcasting) rather... read more