Critique my website

Thor said:
I did consider the lavelier, I like it.

I just need to figure out how to do the software, right now I record into OBS or I Record into Camtasia which will work nicely with the Elgato capture card and a DSLR for video and a USB mic., so will need some kind of wireless lav, but then figured might as well stick to the condenser mic above the screen. Out of mind, out of sight.

View attachment 911532

Excuse the crappy photo, had to use the Sonoff to take a pick of myself, lol.
Click to expand...

You use a AT2020, you don't need a better mic to go podcasting with. The Neat King Bee and AT2020 is probably the best buy podcasting/voiceover mics. The King Bee is awesome value, anywhere but here.

You should capture separate audio and video streams, or extract the audio and then sync it appropriately. Bwana gave a good interim solution.
 
Fulcrum29 said:
You should capture separate audio and video streams, or extract the audio and then sync it appropriately. Bwana gave a good interim solution.
Click to expand...
Everytime I try that I fail.


So now I use a happy medium, USB camera, and USB mic so technically separate streams, but they hit at once so in sync <= on FCA and Thors corner

The moment I add a phone and then later in Adobe try to match that video to the audio of the mic, there is always a lag somewhere no matter how fine I try to line the two tracks up, in the case of FCA it's a Zoom Recording, so options are limited in terms of external video.

Hence why I think Elgato is the answer that way the current recording method is the same as the Elgato will register the 4K camera as a webcam.

Referring to this gadget:

www.elgato.com

Cam Link 4K

Cam Link 4K turns your DSLR or mirrorless camera into the ultimate webcam. Meet, stream, and record with stunning quality in any app—from OBS Studio to Zoom.
www.elgato.com www.elgato.com

This might actually be an option to use the cell phone camera as it being elgato it will probably register as a USB device as well and the input lag should be a lot better than the IP Cam apps I tried in the past. Since we both have a Samsung Note 10, the video will be amazing. (Edit: iPhone only, that sucks.)

www.elgato.com

Screen Link

Elgato
www.elgato.com www.elgato.com
 
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Thor said:
Everytime I try that I fail.


So now I use a happy medium, USB camera, and USB mic so technically separate streams, but they hit at once so in sync <= on FCA and Thors corner

The moment I add a phone and then later in Adobe try to match that video to the audio of the mic, there is always a lag somewhere no matter how fine I try to line the two tracks up, in the case of FCA it's a Zoom Recording, so options are limited in terms of external video.

Hence why I think Elgato is the answer that way the current recording method is the same as the Elgato will register the 4K camera as a webcam.

Referring to this gadget:

www.elgato.com

Cam Link 4K

Cam Link 4K turns your DSLR or mirrorless camera into the ultimate webcam. Meet, stream, and record with stunning quality in any app—from OBS Studio to Zoom.
www.elgato.com www.elgato.com
Click to expand...

I love OBS very much, but it isn't an editor,

Capture3.PNG

here are the suites I currently use. Movavi is aimed at beginners, and please note all these additions are handicapped, hence I had to acquire the rest to make it a complete product, and the 2020 upgrade is more a reskin than anything else. I don't use Movavi. You can see which I have installed, and no, you don't need VEGAS PRO unless you plan on making porn movies. I can use Movie Studio 17 like OBS and live snap in and out my audio sources. I can live edit in addition to post.

I am not going into the apps in detail, both companies are stabbing their Steam users in the back with their product positioning due to the rules they have to abide by to publish on Steam and hence have aimed these products at gamers (home users). Just ranting now, but Movie Studio 17 allows me with everything that I can achieve with Adobe. The only reason I got MAGIX Video is because it adds to that they deliberately removed in Vegas Movie Studio. For people who really need these tools in production it is best to acquire the real deal on their website which is cheaper and inclusive.

I also use Sound Forge 14, and Pro Tools, and many other tools in addition to open-source tools. Like I said, I am dabbling too much in VST plugins. Now I want a sound room. ****, this 'hobby' is going to kill me.

People give these packages bad reviews on Steam, but I don't think most people know how to use or leverage these tools. I haven't had any instability issues since using these on Steam.

People who are already Adobe users, stick with it. I still use Adobe, but I like what Movie Studio allows me to do live.
 
Havent read any of the other comments. Not going to mince words, going to be blunt AF! :cool::p
Excuse the ****ed up fonts below, its due to copy/paste from your site.

Hate me or love me, I don't care, but these are my several cents.


1). Email subscription taking up prime real estate on the home page. Honestly - it looks like a search area, not a subscribe.
Put subscribe in an appropriate call to action box and make it more visible.
Or just remove this, and change to a search button.

Think about the users. What are they wanting to do on the site? Not what you want them to do.
Their first thought might be i want to search for ****. Not I want to subscribe.

2) Listen to Podcast. Stick that above the wall o' text. i.e. in top-> bottom
PHOTO
[Listen to Podcast]
Description

Otherwise visually it pisses me off no end.

3) Welcome to Future Cities Africa section.
Give that whole section a different color background so it stands out more.

Blue again in a different shade. Play around a bit. Make it interesting.

4) Fonts. Think about using some nicer ones. You can embed decent woff fonts easily. Choose better headline fonts. Please.

5)
Topics Covered by #FCA
The future for African cities are not set in stone, however through collaboration and sharing of knowledge we can stay informed and build together on a prosperous and exciting future for ourselves and our children.

SPACING. WTF? Double above? Single below?
Is it the same section? It doesn't work as is. Fix.

6) Get the latest podcast ...

Is this the same as the #1 Email subscription? (I like the bottom one more to be honest). Remove the top one.

7) URL's
futurecitiesafrica.com

Contact Future Cities Africa - Shaping the Future of African Cities

The future for African cities are not set in stone, however through collaboration and sharing of knowledge we can stay informed and build together on a prosperous and exciting future for ourselves and our children.
futurecitiesafrica.com futurecitiesafrica.com

Useless. Contact-us - the bane of my ****ing life. Zero SEO goodness.
How about putting something meaningful and seo friendly instead of "contact-us"
eg
Contact Future Cities Africa (FCA) - Shaping the Future of African Cities through digital interaction.php

or

Contact Future Cities Africa (FCA) - Building a knowledge Platform to Shape the future of african cities.php


Do the same for every page on your site.
Think about what people might use to search for your site. Or what you want to be found by.

Some pages are good, others are bloody awful in that regard.

about-us
subscribe
contact-us ...

Have a look at your own advice here - https://erikthiart.com/seo/local-seo-checklist.php
Follow it!

Speaking of SEO...

What the **** is this - og:description
"Digital discussions can be accessed on demand and the content is evergreen! It also has the ability to reach a continental and international audience, helping all stakeholders stay informed"

Meaningless twaddle. Have a think about putting something *ACTUALLY* descriptive, instead of kak.
Hinty hint hint. Google etc will index it (although deprecated to ****), so make it relevant, not.. er kak. Asseblief, baaie dankie.


8) Contact Form - put a captcha on it.
Spambots are going to love your ass otherwise.

Is country really necessary in the contact form?

9) Typo's

Proof read.

eg
We'll send you the lastest podcasts to your inbox.

in the Podcast signup call to action box.

There are more. Not going to tell you where. I know, I'm evil haha.

10) Podcasts -

how about dates on posts?
How about tags so people can find similarly themed podcasts in your site.

eg Tags could be theme, or topic, or name, or tagged content in podcasts.
you have 2 podcasts on covid19. thats a tag.

11) Redundancy.
I appreciate you want people to signup for... podcasts, but on some pages I can see several of the same thing displayed in different ways.

eg

futurecitiesafrica.com

Un-Visioning the Future of Cities - Geci also served as a panellist on the Ministerial Task Team on the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Dr. Geci Karuri-Sebina is a multi-disciplinary scholar-practitioner currently occupied in several capacities working at the intersection between people, place and technological change, focusing on the global south. We discuss her work, stakeholder collaboration, smart cities, inclusive cities...
futurecitiesafrica.com futurecitiesafrica.com

Top right - signup for podcasts in red
Right - signup for podcasts
bottom - signup for podcasts.


Or repeated

The future for African cities are not set in stone, however through collaboration and sharing of knowledge we can stay informed and build together on a prosperous and exciting future for ourselves and our children.


Scale that down a bit. Please.


12 - Where is the collaboration?

It seems rather one sided so far. Listen to podcast.
No comment functionality or discussion forum or similar interactivity - coming later?


---

Thats from a cursory look. Otherwise not bad for a first attempt.
22 podcasts already - well done!

Get a better Mic.

@Thor
 
Last edited:
Fulcrum29 said:
@Thor

When you take this serious to the point you are investing into a sound studio, do add a shotgun mic. When you start to edit your recordings you will quickly understand why. You don't have to add an expensive boom/shotgun mic. I use the Avermedia mic which I connect to my preamp with a VXLR+ and it helps so much with atmosphere and tones. My next addition is a lavalier.

I have seen many podcasts, and most people use mics to punt themselves. Like people using SM7B's and RE20's, these mics are all legend status broadcasting mics with use cases, but many think it changes them into Morgan Freeman, but it does have an elitist attachment to it. I have seen real expensive mics in poor quality made videos, and I won't be surprised that some mics are rentals. I know, many only use the shotgun recording which is easily noticed with how people talk into their mics.

Good luck with the venture.
Click to expand...
Linky to your mic please
 
Fulcrum29 said:
I use Takstar's, TAK55 and PC-K850, they are both very neutral sounding. The SSL helps to add warmth to them, and to be honest I like the result, as both tick every broadcasting need that I require and I like the sound.
Click to expand...
Thanks I am looking for a new mic for voice overs and can connect to my Scarlet 2i2.

I have the Samson CO1 (not USB), but I don't like it and it picks up too much sound around me. Want something a bit more directional.
 
RedViking said:
Thanks I am looking for a new mic for voice overs and can connect to my Scarlet 2i2.

I have the Samson CO1 (not USB), but I don't like it and it picks up too much sound around me. Want something a bit more directional.
Click to expand...
AT2020 or the King Bee (which will be overpriced in SA). I always recommend the AT2020.
 
Gripping Moper said:
Layout feels a little flat.

No POPIA link, no mention of cookies....

Maybe grouping the various presentations into related buckets would surface the content better - scrolling through 10k items is anti-consumer....

Icons in footer missing and mis-aligned - both mobile and desktop
Click to expand...
Positive Potplant said:
Flow on mobile isn't too shabby

Response is pretty good
Click to expand...
 
Thor said:
The problem with this is syncing the audio.
Click to expand...
Depends on your editing setup.

Create an event you can use to align like clapping your hands and then sync the audio & video, render that as a single video file with audio (preferably in an uncompressed format to avoid compressing the audio twice) and then edit that. Tho you can just align the video and audio and in the editor wherever you slice / cut the video, you slice / cut the audio and move those clips together. You're only ever doing one alignment of audio / video at the start and then keeping all subsequent audio & video clips equally trimmed & aligned.

Some editors even apply a cut/trim to all tracks or to multiple tracks so you're always affecting both the video and audio to create equal sized clips.
 
Last edited:
RedViking said:
AT2020 vs Podmic?

I've watched some reviews on both.

Edit:
Wait, I'm derailing this thread. Sorry.
Click to expand...

Check out Podcastage:

AT2020 (old review):


Podmic:


King Bee:


Podmic vs Procaster:


Really, you don't need an expensive mic, the Podmic is an actual upgrade path as Rode has some nice additional hardware to accommodate said equipment.

I am making the best value, XLR, recommendation here. For those using USB mics, there are darn good USB mics out there, and they do have preamps, it is built in, and it requires only 5v.

The general issue with USB is that most people don't know how to change the sound settings, and that the 'cheap' USB mics don't have a gain knob.

I also have a Takstar GX6 and it is good, I love it.

This is the only review on my two XLR mics :ROFL:


plug them into an SSL and I cry how much I love them without any EQ.
 
Fulcrum29 said:
Check out Podcastage:

AT2020 (old review):


Podmic:


King Bee:


Podmic vs Procaster:


Really, you don't need an expensive mic, the Podmic is an actual upgrade path as Rode has some nice additional hardware to accommodate said equipment.

I am making the best value, XLR, recommendation here. For those using USB mics, there are darn good USB mics out there, and they do have preamps, it is built in, and it requires only 5v.

The general issue with USB is that most people don't know how to change the sound settings, and that the 'cheap' USB mics don't have a gain knob.

I also have a Takstar GX6 and it is good, I love it.

This is the only review on my two XLR mics :ROFL:


plug them into an SSL and I cry how much I love them without any EQ.
Click to expand...
Thanks. I've watched all his stuff nonstop, lol, best part are the songs. But having watched 50 reviews now have me confused :ROFL:
 
lsheed_cn said:
Havent read any of the other comments. Not going to mince words, going to be blunt AF! :cool::p
Excuse the ****ed up fonts below, its due to copy/paste from your site.

Hate me or love me, I don't care, but these are my several cents.


1). Email subscription taking up prime real estate on the home page. Honestly - it looks like a search area, not a subscribe.
Put subscribe in an appropriate call to action box and make it more visible.
Or just remove this, and change to a search button.

Think about the users. What are they wanting to do on the site? Not what you want them to do.
Their first thought might be i want to search for ****. Not I want to subscribe.

2) Listen to Podcast. Stick that above the wall o' text. i.e. in top-> bottom
PHOTO
[Listen to Podcast]
Description

Otherwise visually it pisses me off no end.

3) Welcome to Future Cities Africa section.
Give that whole section a different color background so it stands out more.

Blue again in a different shade. Play around a bit. Make it interesting.

4) Fonts. Think about using some nicer ones. You can embed decent woff fonts easily. Choose better headline fonts. Please.

5)
Topics Covered by #FCA
The future for African cities are not set in stone, however through collaboration and sharing of knowledge we can stay informed and build together on a prosperous and exciting future for ourselves and our children.

SPACING. WTF? Double above? Single below?
Is it the same section? It doesn't work as is. Fix.

6) Get the latest podcast ...

Is this the same as the #1 Email subscription? (I like the bottom one more to be honest). Remove the top one.

7) URL's
futurecitiesafrica.com

Contact Future Cities Africa - Shaping the Future of African Cities

The future for African cities are not set in stone, however through collaboration and sharing of knowledge we can stay informed and build together on a prosperous and exciting future for ourselves and our children.
futurecitiesafrica.com futurecitiesafrica.com

Useless. Contact-us - the bane of my ****ing life. Zero SEO goodness.
How about putting something meaningful and seo friendly instead of "contact-us"
eg
Contact Future Cities Africa (FCA) - Shaping the Future of African Cities through digital interaction.php

or

Contact Future Cities Africa (FCA) - Building a knowledge Platform to Shape the future of african cities.php


Do the same for every page on your site.
Think about what people might use to search for your site. Or what you want to be found by.

Some pages are good, others are bloody awful in that regard.

about-us
subscribe
contact-us ...

Have a look at your own advice here - https://erikthiart.com/seo/local-seo-checklist.php
Follow it!

Speaking of SEO...

What the **** is this - og:description
"Digital discussions can be accessed on demand and the content is evergreen! It also has the ability to reach a continental and international audience, helping all stakeholders stay informed"

Meaningless twaddle. Have a think about putting something *ACTUALLY* descriptive, instead of kak.
Hinty hint hint. Google etc will index it (although deprecated to ****), so make it relevant, not.. er kak. Asseblief, baaie dankie.


8) Contact Form - put a captcha on it.
Spambots are going to love your ass otherwise.

Is country really necessary in the contact form?

9) Typo's

Proof read.

eg
We'll send you the lastest podcasts to your inbox.

in the Podcast signup call to action box.

There are more. Not going to tell you where. I know, I'm evil haha.

10) Podcasts -

how about dates on posts?
How about tags so people can find similarly themed podcasts in your site.

eg Tags could be theme, or topic, or name, or tagged content in podcasts.
you have 2 podcasts on covid19. thats a tag.

11) Redundancy.
I appreciate you want people to signup for... podcasts, but on some pages I can see several of the same thing displayed in different ways.

eg

futurecitiesafrica.com

Un-Visioning the Future of Cities - Geci also served as a panellist on the Ministerial Task Team on the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Dr. Geci Karuri-Sebina is a multi-disciplinary scholar-practitioner currently occupied in several capacities working at the intersection between people, place and technological change, focusing on the global south. We discuss her work, stakeholder collaboration, smart cities, inclusive cities...
futurecitiesafrica.com futurecitiesafrica.com

Top right - signup for podcasts in red
Right - signup for podcasts
bottom - signup for podcasts.


Or repeated

The future for African cities are not set in stone, however through collaboration and sharing of knowledge we can stay informed and build together on a prosperous and exciting future for ourselves and our children.


Scale that down a bit. Please.


12 - Where is the collaboration?

It seems rather one sided so far. Listen to podcast.
No comment functionality or discussion forum or similar interactivity - coming later?


---

Thats from a cursory look. Otherwise not bad for a first attempt.
22 podcasts already - well done!

Get a better Mic.

@Thor
Click to expand...
Boom that's some food for thoughts, I agree on most points so will add to the backlog.

As for the last bits,

Tags are built already will launch that next year.
Search is built will launch with tags.
Comment system is built will also launch with that release, reason being employing a moderator then as this can't be left up to the interwebs alone, hehe.

So many of those refinements are on the agenda. Just building up content first, traffic is really good already so I think by launch next year it will be fun.
 
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