ENCODING SERMONS FROM TAPE OR DIRECT-TO-PC
Adobe Audition is a professional-grade audio editor. Excellent! |
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Free Sound Recorder is a great free MP3 sound recording tool. |
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Cool Record Edit is an attractive and inexpensive audio editor! |
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Another very capable, powerful audio editor.. FREE of charge! |
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This section gives a detailed look at how to encode your audio sermons from cassettes or
if you simply wish to record directly into the computer from an existing sound system (mandatory if you are live webcasting).
Recording directly into the computer requires the most effort in setup and a computer must be available at the recording location but this eliminates all intermediate steps and provides the fastest way to create the MP3 files for SermonAudio.
If your church is simply wishing to get a "quick-and-easy" solution for getting your sermons on SermonAudio, you may wish to investigate our
OTHER (recommended) solution for encoding sermons.. namely using a digital voice recorder or take a look
at more encoding solutions by clicking here...
This "direct-to-PC" encoding method is ideal for the following scenarios:
- Your church already has a sound system in place and a PC can conveniently be hooked up to record the services directly.
- Your church has many sermons on tape that need encoding.
- Your church is wishing to eventually Live Webcast.
You will need to connect your audio source to either the computer's LINE-IN or MIC port with the proper cables.
The PolderbitS site provides an excellent step-by-step tutorial on how to do this.
Summary of steps:
- Connect your audio source to your computer.
- Use either Audition, Cool Record Edit, etc to record the audio.
- Directly save the recorded audio as an MP3 file.
- All MP3 files are encoded at 16kbps bitrate (HIFI: 32kbps) but
you can upload them at any bitrate and we'll auto-convert!
- Use the Submit Sermon form to submit the sermon details and then upload the MP3!
TIP: For an example of a well-encoded MP3 sermon, please listen to the audio for this sermon.
Note the volume level and the audio quality. If you can get your encoded audio to sound like this when you're done then you're on the right track.
The following screen shots will take you step-by-step through the
process of recording your audio and saving it an MP3 file (using the Adobe Audition tool).
RECORD THE ACTUAL AUDIO
The first step is to actually record the audio into the computer from the cassette or live service.
Your audio source needs to be hooked up to the computer's sound card via an audio cable.
Be sure to use the LINE IN port or MIC IN on the sound card.
You may need to adjust your sound card's volume setting by following the following screen shots.
USING THE RECORDING TOOL: ADOBE AUDITION
The next screen shots are using the Adobe Audition tool.
Altenatively, you can use any other sound recorder of your choice (including the highly-recommended PolderbitS tool).
SAVE THE AUDIO TO THE MP3 FORMAT
Now we need to save the audio to a file. There are a couple of ways you can
proceed with this step but I'll outline the easiest and most straightforward. If you are using a sound
editor that can SAVE AS an MP3 file directly (such as Adobe Audition), then next few screenshots are for you.
ADJUST SOME MP3 SETTINGS
At this point, you must select the "*.mp3" file type selection and be sure to click on
the Option button to set your MP3 compression setting properly. Observe the screenshot below.
Important: If you press the Option button on the (above) screen you can make sure that your MP3
settings are correct. The file MUST be encoded at 16Kbps BITRATE (for HIFI broadcasters, 32kbps).
Please note: For 16kbps bitrate MP3s, a frequency setting of 11khz has been known to produce excellent results. Other frequency settings that some broadcasters use are: 16khz and 22khz.
For HIFI (32kbps) MP3s, a frequency setting of 22khz has been known to sound good. Whatever sounds best for your particular recordings...
However, be sure to set your channels setting to MONO.
FINAL STEP TO SAVE THE MP3
Save File. Press OK. Specify any filename. Then press the SAVE button. you'll begin saving your audio into the correct format!
This step is a bit time-consuming for the computer because it has to compress the file as it saves it. Please be patient.
Observe the screenshot below.
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HIFI OPTION: Broadcasters that have the HIFI option enabled can upload media at higher bitrates. You must have this option enabled for your account in order to use the HIFI bitrates. To learn more, click here..
AUTO-CONVERT: You can actually upload your audio in ANY MP3 format and we will automatically convert it to the correct MP3 bitrate with the ideal settings for optimum sound quality! To learn more, click here..
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YOU ARE DONE! CONGRATULATIONS!
At this point you have created the MP3 file suitable for SermonAudio. The next step is
to actually upload the file to the site and get your sermon online! Click here to see how to
SUBMIT and UPLOAD your sermon.
