Bencredible

This is Rev B of the Spacevidcast theme.  As you listen to this, consider the format for the updated show:

• Start with 3 coming up items.  This would be during the slower, repeating element of the music in the beginning
• Jump to a camera shot of C and I with a quick quote “… on this January 16th edition of Spacevidcast”
• As soon as we end our on-camera shot (which would probably only be 3 seconds) the main open hits which is the main beat of the music
• As soon as the main open stops, we come back to the camera shot with C and I

Now, think about that rundown and take a listen to this:

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Of course there is debate here.  Cariann thinks that we should end the “… on this January 16th edition of Spacevidcast” at the point where you hear the countdown start at ‘3-2-1-0′ and I think it should be right before the ‘0′ of that same countdown and the open should start right on that beat.  We will play with it and create a faux show open to see which one flows better.

But all that aside, what does the community think of the updated song?

It is time to really make Spacevidcast something great.  We are already the first and only (that we know of) live streaming space show, but I want to make it the best show on the Internet in any category!  I want to build a brand that a lot of people will recognize when they see or hear it.   This is the first revision of the proposed Spacevidcast theme which is being written by audio uberchild Antonio Colangelo of Prophis Music.

Keep in mind that this is the first revision.  To put this in perspective the updated Spacevidcast site design went through a little over 100 revisions before we locked it down.  I don’t expect this to be even close to that difficult, but I’m sure there will be more.

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What do you think?  Leave your constructive comments below.  I won’t taint you with what I think, if I like it, dislike it or if I want anything changed.  Let me know what YOU think then I’ll write up a new post later with my thoughts.  Enjoy!

Cariann and I have been looking for a place to put SpaceVidcast.  We’re starting to get scary popular and I want to take the videocast to the next level.  That means I need a studio and C-Band satellite.

Originally I was looking in Minneapolis, but that’s scary expensive.  Then last Thursday at Best Buy headquarters I ran in to CAFN8ED who some of you may remember from back in the TE days.  He mentioned that his coffee shop, Crow River Coffee Company, had a very large and very creepy basement as well as a concrete slab that we could put a C-Band dish on.

Later that day Cariann and I popped over to Watertown to take a peek at what he had.  Saying it needs a ton of work would be an understatement.  Check it out (and note the creepy handprints on the wall):

There are basically two rooms that will become one.  There is a huge wooden wall that will come down, and all the stuff you see in the rooms will be pulled out and recycled/thrown away.  From there the ceilings are about 9 feet tall… which is a wee bit strange.  My concerns are that there is no HVAC in the room so it can get bitterly cold in there, we will need to carpet the whole place and make it acoustically sound, and I’ll want to put up some sort of light grid to get the lights of the way but I’m not sure there is enough height for that.  Oh yeah, and one of the main support beams has a LOT of rust on it.

Being that is the a LOT less money than moving SVC to downtown Minneapolis, I’m game to try and make it work.  Worst case scenario I’m just out some time and work that would go in to cleaning the place up.  I’m excited because this is exactly what is needed to make SpaceVidcast grow even faster.

When it is all said and done we’ll have a studio that can be used for a ton of things including SpaceVidcast. Oh yeah, and we’ll have the resources to bring in a live audience and feed them! How cool is THAT?

I am working on a new personal project which right now is known as NASASpaceCast.com (no domain there yet so no actual link). This will be a weekly live video podcast on all things space flight as well as live coverage of NASA space missions including the upcoming STS-123 flight to the International Space Station.

So far I have many pieces of the puzzle in place. I already own all the audio gear myself (I have some pretty kick butt gear), I have the computer but what was missing was the video side and the show image. The video portion of the show is near completion with a new revision of CamTwist from Steve Green (it is going to be uber cool). The show image (branding) is being worked on by BlueFox AKA Sean Blake (one of my favorite designers) and below is the first draft of what you’re going to start to see.

This of course is just the logo and will be the basis for what all of the show graphic, advertising banners and templates look like. I also need to make a final decision on domain name. The options I have are: NASASpaceCast.com, SpaceVideocast.com, SpaceVidcast.com and SpaceFlightCast.com. If you have a preference please leave it in the comments below. Personally I go between NASASpaceCast.com and SpaceVidcast.com. What I really want is Spacecast.com but that’s not going to happen as it is already taken by a TV network (curses!)

The final steps will be to create a theme song, which I’ll start working on soon and finish up the show outline. I’m really close to release, about 80% there. Then again I was 75% of the way there about 2 months ago. I’m in the stages where one element can hold up the whole thing. Unlike other live videocasts and podcasts I want to ensure that I have fantastic production values and make a show that is fun and interesting to watch week after week. Content is king but it needs to be fun too!

Keep watching Bencredible.com for more interesting announcements and behind-the-scenes info on NASASpaceFlight, the Compass Networks (more on that soon), and the resurrection of the old TechnologyEvangelist.com podcasts under a new brand. Very exciting stuff is headed your way soon! I’ll keep updating everyone on the progress of these projects here.