Podfic Clip Length

[paraka]

I'm working on a podfic right now where the working copy is broken into a lot of short parts and it got me wondering. What is people's preferred length for podfic clips? Do people prefer one long file? Do you prefer multiple files for longer fic? How long is too long? How short is too short?

For me, personally, I listen to podfics on computers so as long as the naming convention is one that'll have everything show up in order if I click play all and so long as I don't have to download each individual file I don't really care. But I've heard some people give an opinion on length before, especially if you listen on an mp3 player. I just don't know if there was ever a consensus on what was better.

Comments

[luzula]

I prefer segments that are not too long. That is, at least not longer than 60 minutes, and preferably about 30 minutes. I can't make any sort of bookmark or jump into the middle of a file with my mp3-player, so if I lose my place in the middle of a five hour file, I have to either fast-forward, which gets old quickly, or set a timer or something and let the player run from the beginning without me listening. Or go into Audacity and cut up the file myself.

[paraka]

Yeah, not being able to easily fast forward to the spot would suck. :S But about half an hour is good for you?

Since podbang, I've been starting new files every time there's a pause in the writing, which for my current fic seems to be about every 5-15 minutes. I thought that maybe that was too short (the fic is less than 2 hours but has 26 parts broken up like that). I just wasn't sure if people would like that many parts or if making it all one part would be annoying or if I should keep it in parts, just not 26 parts :)

[luzula]

Yeah, 30 minute parts are great. I think five minute parts might get a little bit annoying. And as you said, it's good to have them named so they show up in order, and also it's good if they're zipped up together in a folder for easy downloading. : )

[paraka]

I think five minute parts might get a little bit annoying
Yeah, when I asked my room mate she said having that many parts would be annoying just because it would clutter up her mp3 player. She doesn't want to have to scroll through 50 parts of the same fic.

also it's good if they're zipped up together in a folder for easy downloading.
Yes, or course. I hate when I have to download a podfic in a parts. There will definitely be zipping involved. :)

Thanks for the feedback!

[majoline]

If you don't mind a cut-in, thirty minutes? I was thinking I could make each section all one album, but for larger pieces have each "section" be it's own part for easy access and finding.

But using the natural breaks in the story, that's anywhere from 5-15 min.

That's really too much?

[paraka]

Can I ask you to elaborate on your answer here? When you say one album, do you mean, like one zipped folder? Or is is this an advanced feature of a specific file type?

[zvi]

I think what majoline may have meant is in the file tagging. One of the MP3 tags you can include is an album tag, and that helps keep all of the files together.

[jesse_the_k]

+1 to everything she said. Thirty minutes seems to be just the right time to a) take a walk; b) make lunch; c) fall asleep. Perhaps it's the Perfect Interval? :,)

[paraka]

Thanks for your input!

[darkemeralds]

Personally, I like longer files because I've got an MP3 player that remembers where it left off (even after a device reboot! It's awesome), and I frequently listen for at least a couple of hours at a time.

By the same token, multiple smaller files present no problem to me as long as their individual filenames and metadata provide easy sequencing.

I listened to a long piece recently that was comprised of many small files numbered 1, 2, 3, etc. (as opposed to 01, 02, 03), and though I did my damnedest to rename them before loading to my device, I missed some. After hours of listening, the story came to an abrupt end, and I realized that I'd heard the ending somewhere around the middle. It was disappointing, but way too much trouble to go back and retry. Simple file numbering/naming/tagging was the only thing wrong with the entire production, and that one failure spoiled it. It was sad.

[laurie-ky.livejournal.com]

Can you explain why it's better to to have the file like this 01_My_Masterpiece, rather than 1_My_Masterpiece?

Laurie

[darkemeralds]

No reason unless there are enough XX_My_Masterpiece files to get to 10, 11, 12.

Then if you don't number them with leading zeroes, a lot of MP3 players will sequence them 1, 10, 11, 12... 2, 20, 21, etc.

And when you're listening while driving--or, in my case, riding a bike--it's impossible to stop and sort them out.

[laurie-ky.livejournal.com]

Thanks. Here's another question, while I've got you on the line.

Number the files before the name, or after it? 01_Story_Name or Story_Name_01?

My Mp3 is not a reliable source of information, since it's kind of fucked up.

If I have files on it that that use the same number, 01_My_Masterpiece and 01_Story_Name, then they line up together before going on to 02_My_Masterpiece.


I have the album name as My_Masterpiece_Slash_Fandom and My_Story_Slash_Fandom.

I would think that would group all the numbers under My_Masterpiece_Slash_Fandom together, but not so much with my player. And I don't know if it's that way with other peoples because mine is wonky.

Laurie

[zvi]

My current MP3 player is better about this sort of thing, but when I was listening on my phone, storyname_00 was infinitely preferable to the 00_storyname titling.

Also, it was better if there wasn't additional punctuation, like underscores or hyphens, because the length of filename visible was limited.

and, last but not least, because I'm not on Windows, capitalization is important, and MyFabulousStory01, MyFabulousStory05, gets sorted before myfabulousstory02, myfabulousstory03, and myfabulousstory04.

[laurie-ky.livejournal.com]

Ah, thank you, that was helpful,

Laurie

[darkemeralds]

Good point. Clearly, story title should come first--I wasn't thinking when I posted my earlier reply.

Maybe your player doesn't access the metadata of your MP3 files very well. I'm not sure on a Mac, but in Windows or Linux you can right click on the file name (on your computer, obviously) and go to "Properties" and one of the tabs there will have the metadata. You can alter it if the original podfic creator didn't set it up right for your player.

I think, though, that the MP3 standard is pretty universal, so check the metadata on your files before you transfer them to the player.

[laurie-ky.livejournal.com]

I'm not really concerned about the podfics I download to listen to, but rather setting up the ones I'm doing so that they aren't a pain in the butt for listeners.

Interesting about changing the metadata. I didn't know you could do that.

Laurie

[sally_maria]

I prefer podfics all in one file, just as I prefer text stories that way. It's just tidier.

But it's not that big a deal - I can always combine the files into a single podbook, which is the format I prefer anyway, because my iPod will restart them from where I left off.

[(Anonymous)]

For me it depends. A lot of the time Cybel on LJ complies podfics into audiobook format which makes me prefer the whole thing in one pile because it allows people to start and stop without having to fast-forward. You could probably find her and ask her to compile it for you if you don't have the software!