The Podcast Asylum

SnapKast version 2.0
Windows XP, XP Tablet PC
http://www.snapkast.com/
MSRP US$79.99

Longer ago than I care to admit, I was asked to evaluate SnapKast, a product by Lecture123.com designed to “create PowerPoint podcasts in a snap.”

The interface is very simple: you just drag your PowerPoint file onto the “Record” button in SnapKast, rather the way you use the Levelator. Nevertheless it actually took several snaps before I could produce a video, due to two problems. The first is that I’m constitutionally incapable of producing a podcast without audio and video clips in it, and SnapKast can’t process those, so it spat out an error message at me the first time and hung up.

SnapKast processed the second file I tried successfully, and I was able to record myself narrating the slideshow, even if I couldn’t play any of the included recordings. This part of the process reminded me of nothing so much as using the Co-op World interface for the Online Podcasting Expo back in April, though I can’t remember whether their system produced the same pixelated effect when processing transparent images.

Once you’ve recorded your presentation, you choose the format you want. The options are .mp4 video and .mp3 audio, with some advanced options for choosing the size of the video and the frame rate. The recommended 320 x 240 size for video podcasts is painfully small for viewing PowerPoint slides, even those like mine which include mostly pictures and very few words. The largest size, 1024 x 768, is fine for playback on a computer, but not too useful for playback on a portable device. That problem, however, is really due to PowerPoint as a medium and not to SnapKast.

After the conversion phase comes the playback phase. I noticed two problems: the audio tends to skip every so often, and the video switches to the next slide before I’m finished narrating the first one. The latter problem might be solved by adjusting frame rates, which is something I’ve had to do to get audio and video synced properly with Camtasia.

At this point, you can e-mail your presentation or copy it to the clipboard, but I, of course, was interested in the podcasting function—and this is where I ran into my second problem. I have a 1440 x 900 widescreen laptop, and I had set it to use large fonts so that I wouldn’t have to squint to see things. This messed up the way SnapKast displayed and meant that I was unable to enter a URL into the required field for generating the RSS feed. When I re-set my display, it worked just fine, and I was able to get to the “Publish” window, which is the last stage of the SnapKast process.

I was a bit puzzled at first, since it said “Drag and drop to publish,” but not until I opened the help section did it explain where to drag it. (You have to open your FTP client, connect to your site, and then drag the podcast folder over.) I’m not sure that I’d exactly call this “publishing,” given that if you hit the “Publish” button in, say, Microsoft Expression Web, it actually connects you to your web server and puts the file there.

For actual podcasting purposes, in order to include a click-to-play option and show notes, I’d be better off just uploading the file into my media directory and using PodPress to include it in my feed existing feed—which is what I’m doing here in order to let you see the video. The only viable option on the SnapKast feed page seemed to be iTunes, which did work correctly. Otherwise I could see the RSS feed, but not a link to the file. And there’s no autodiscovery on the feed index page, either.

Apart from that, the quality of the video produced is quite good for the file size, and the audio (between skips) is fine. If someone only wants to create videos of PowerPoint presentations, and doesn’t mind adapting the presentations to accomodate SnapKast, it’s a decent tool. But I don’t expect it to be a big hit with podcasters, and I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone whose budget extends to purchasing Techsmith’s much more sophisticated Camtasia.

The support team was very responsive, though.

SRG

Note: click the “Play in Popup” button to see the video.

 

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