Hello! First of all, I wanted to say that I love your Accidental Warlord Podfics! Theyâve become my go to when Iâm driving home from work or out running errands or avoiding doing my homework lol. I was curious though, how did you get into Podficcing? What equipment do you use? If someone were interested in podficcing, where should they start? And would you recommend any other good podficced works? Anyways I really like your work and Iâm looking forward to the next installment! Good luck!
Wow, thank you! Iâm honored that youâre enjoying my work so much. As for everything elseâŠOkay, Iâm basically incapable of giving short answers, but Iâve tried to at least organize this so you can skip to topics you care about, and if you donât want to read any of it, here are a couple of excellent beginnerâs guides to podficcing:
Azdaemaâs A Newbie's Guide to Podficcing covers a ton of the relevant topics in a very accessible way
@fishandchipsandvinegarâ's podficcing tutorial covers a lot of basics in slightly more depth, including the specifics of recording and editing in Audacity
HOW I GOT INTO PODFICCING
My path to podficcing spans quite a few years and a lot of my own mental roadblocks. Originally Iâd written out a bunch of it, and Iâm still happy to share that if anyoneâs interested, but I donât think thatâs quite what youâre asking for, so hereâs a much abbreviated version:
About 7 or 8 years ago, I finally started listening to podfic and quickly came to love it and want to listen to it anytime I could, so I started looking for more and more things to listen to instead of limiting myself to my current fandom/ship at the time. In this search, I lucked upon Auralphonic, a podcast about podfic, and started learning more about the actual process and the people behind this medium that I appreciated so much. From there I searched out some podficcing communities and started reading advice and tutorials and meta, got a microphone, recorded something, andâŠwell, roadblocks. Five years later I got through a few of those mental barriers and was inspired and started recording again, and over a year after that, all of the planets miraculously aligned and I managed to not only complete With a Conquering Air, but also delurk and post it!
Since then, Iâve finally made some social media accounts (like this one!) and actually started to interact with fandom, including other podficcers, at least a little. So obviously, everyoneâs journey is different. I know of someone who discovered fanfic and started recording podfic that same week! And probably most didnât stay quite so shut off from the rest of fandom as I did in many ways, especially since the podfic community is a really amazing, supportive, friendly network of people. If youâd like to be more involved in the community, I have a bunch of places you can find us down in the resources section towards the bottom of this post.
MY EQUIPMENT (AND ALTERNATIVES)
Mics: My mic is an AudioTechnica AT2005, which was chosen based on a recommendation someone posted in 2013. Iâm fairly happy with it, but it records very softly, so I boost the volume after recording. I think the most popular podfic mics are the Blue Yeti or Blue Snowball, but there are a lot of good options at a wide range of price points, plus there are plenty of folks who just record on their phones. The one thing Iâd steer away from is using a built-in laptop mic, but I know that there are some whoâve done it very successfully, so your mileage may vary.
Pop filters: These are little screens in front of your mic that help reduce the loud popping sounds you can get with âpâs and other plosives (very tedious to edit out after the fact). I use an Avantone Pro PS1 Pro Shield, but again, you can buy all kinds, or you can jerry-rig one super-cheap by pulling tights or pantyhose over an embroidery hoop or a wire hanger that you bend into shape.
Sound Proofing: TBH, I donât use it. One of the reasons this works for me might be that my mic records so softly, so it doesnât pick up as much background noise, because goodness knows my recording space isnât naturally conducive to sound muffling. Regardless, it is recommended, and many podficcers make blanket or pillow forts, some line boxes with padding/foam/egg-crating and put their mics in the box, some record in their closets, and a few lucky and devoted people have created full-on mostly soundproofed recording rooms. In addition, everyone obviously tries to minimize the likelihood of other sounds, so I turn off my AC or heater, donât record when the neighbors are mowing their lawn, pause when big trucks drive by, etc. Some people go so far as to turn off their refrigerators. But life happens, and Iâm occasionally delighted to hear things like someoneâs pet in the background and be reminded that a real person spent their free time to record this just because they loved it so much that they wanted to share it with our community.
Other Equipment: I have a boom arm (a Heil PL-2T), which just helps me position my mic where I want it to be in the space that I have (a stand would make for more awkward positioning for me). I also have V-Moda crossfade headphones that I use for my final editing pass. Iâm sure itâs overkill, but it ensures that I can pick up differences in ambient noise, background sounds, mouth clicks, and anything else I prefer to try to edit out. Obviously, few listeners will actually be listening that closely.
Software: I use Audacity, which is free to download, and Iâve found it relatively easy and intuitive. If you have a Mac, my understanding is that Garageband comes free. There are also a wide variety of paid applications with various pros and cons. I havenât used any others, so I canât speak to them, but one thing I donât have with Audacity that Iâd like is non-destructive editing (among other things, if I apply a filter to a section, Iâd like to be able to remove or adjust the filter later without having to undo everything back to that point).
HOW TO GET STARTED PODFICCING
Again, I highly recommend both of the beginnerâs guides I linked at the top. I took a more hodgepodge approach of soaking up lots of information from lots of sources over a number of years, and then searching for specific topics as they became relevant to me. I couldnât possibly remember all of them, much less find them again, but a lot of really good ones are listed below. Outside of that, here are some suggestions from my own experience:
Pick stories you love, because youâll be spending a lot of time with them.
Consider if anything about the story itself will be difficult for you to narrate, and if youâre willing to deal with them anyway. Does it have lines in languages you donât know? Names youâll have to look up pronunciation for? Singing? Does it contain images, text messages, crossed out words, telepathic communication, or other elements that are visually clear, but which youâll have to find a way to communicate with sound? How comfortable are you narrating sex scenes?
Consider your comfort with asking author permission. My various personal brain weasels mean that I basically canât ask permission until Iâve already nearly completed a podfic, so if the author hasnât given blanket permission, I have to accept that even after I put in all the time and effort to make it, I may not be able to share it if the author turns me down. (So far I have one person who never responded to my request, though there are multiple others in older fandoms who I havenât asked yet and have serious concerns about.)
Consider starting with something short. I didnât, so yâknow. Do what you gotta do. But for all of the obvious reasons, it can be less intimidating to start small while youâre learning the ropes.
Always test your mic to make sure that youâre plugged in, recording, sounding the way you expect, etc. On my very first podfic which will probably never see the light of day, there was one chapter that I didnât have the right mic selected, and I didnât realize it until I finished the whole chapter, and it was really noticeably worse, so I re-recorded the whole thingâŠonly to find that I still had the wrong mic. Now, I typically record all of the opening metadata, then check.
Figure out what works for you. Itâs different for everyone. For example, with editing, one of my big roadblocks was that if I record straight through and edit afterwards, I find editing so tedious that I just put it off forever (I flub a lot). So switching to doing the majority of my editing as I record was game-changing, whereas for others, the stop/start of editing as you record breaks their flow. It really depends on the person.
The most active currently that Iâm aware of is the podfichat Discord server, and Iâd be happy to DM you an invite if youâre interested! Itâs chock full of helpful information and amazing people.
Amplificathon was the biggest podfic comm for a long time, though it's not very active now.
The Podfic-Tips comm hasnât posted anything new for quite a while, but itâs still full of valuable stuff.
Also, several years ago there was a conscious effort for podficcers to connect on Twitter, and a huge number of podficcers are there. So far, I canât quite bring myself to make a Twitter account, but my understanding is that itâs still a thriving and super-supportive community if thatâs your jam.
There are a lot of cool posts about podficcing on AO3 that you might find though the Podfic Meta tag or the Podfic Fandom fandom among other ways
@godoflaundrybaskets has written some great stuff; try their #podfic meta and #podfic
@greedydancer has also made some helpful tutorials and meta on her LJ, with a masterlist here
@reena-jenkins is a podficcing wonder, and in addition to over 1500 podfics in the last decade, she has a ton of podfic-related posts and reblogs; try her #podfic resources tag
Auralphonic has been off the air for a few years now, but still lots of great stuff
Behind the Pod is the current podfic podcast that Iâm aware of
Finding Creators/Works with Podfic Permission:
Fanloreâs Blanket Permission Statements page
Fanwork Permission Statements site (FPS)
@brickgrassâs awesome Blanket Permission Highlighter script, which changes authorâs names to green on AO3 if they have a blanket permission statement listed on FPS
AO3 works tagged Podfic Welcome
This obviously depends a lot on what fandoms, ships, content, etc., that you like! Iâm an OTP kinda gal and Iâve been been in and out of over 60 fandoms and counting over the years, plus listened to podfic in dozens more, so I could spend days putting together recs that might not match your interests. For now Iâve stuck with The Witcher since I think I can safely assume youâre into that, and Geralt/Jaskier because theyâre my OTP in this fandom, but feel free to ask about other specifics you might be interested in and Iâll be happy to share any of my faves that align. I wonât rec my own stuff here since you obviously know where to find it, but of course, I wouldnât have recorded those stories if I didnât love them.
The Ballad of Pots and Pans by 6th_magnitude, podficced by barbex, Chantress, Kess, and Luninarie. Really touching, and with beautiful singing. https://archiveofourown.org/works/24346726
Rumor Has It by CardamomDaydream, podficced by Azdaema, Chantress, @captaingondolin, and olive2read. Geralt/Jaskier/Yennefer, fun modern outsider POV. https://archiveofourown.org/works/23349433
to render it transparent by theundiagnosable, podficced by @greedydancer; explicit, time travel, beautiful, and I wonât spoil things, but read greedydancerâs notes at the top and then possibly at the bottom to decide if this oneâs for you https://archiveofourown.org/works/26124577
Keeping Crows by Castillon02, podficced by @greedydancer. Adorable and I love the sound effects. https://archiveofourown.org/works/2480459
home is nowhere, therefore you by Ark, podficced by hsu. Very NSFW. I think all of hsu's stuff is archive-locked, but I really love their work, and particularly their Jaskier voice https://archiveofourown.org/works/23872717
and how we come to be here by pes, also podficced by hsu, and also NSFW. https://archiveofourown.org/works/24035746
The Witcher Wolf by Im_fairly_witty podficced by @annapods, whoâs always delightful. In which Geralt is turned into a wolf. https://archiveofourown.org/works/24426019
Iâm delighted that youâre interested in podfic, and I hope all of this helps some, but feel free to hit me up if you have more questions!
