Apple’s new wireless video device, aptly named the AppleTV, is now shipping. Already the hackers are having fun with the device, adding XviD support via Perian and upgrading the device’s internal hard drive.

All this excitement over the AppleTV is great for new media videographers, who have yet another platform to distribute on. Just the same though, this blessing is a curse - one more platform means one more render pass. One more platform to optimize your video for.

Fortunately, Zadi Diaz and the fine folks over at the JetSet Show (a Rocketboom enterprise) have already encountered this problem, and have provided their rendering settings for public consumption. I haven’t tested them out (I don’t own an AppleTV) however they seem fairly concrete from a quick inspection. Any AppleTV owning-videographer types want to verify?

On a slightly related note, if you have any render settings, filters, plugins, or anything else that you want shared with the world, feel free to jot off a quick email to YouMakeMedia - our email address is editor (at( youmakemedia )dot) com. You can also direct message me at Twitter for a speedy response.

Via Twitter / Zadi

In what is now the first episode of the YouMakeMedia podcast (this episode is shared with GizBuzz.co.uk), we interview Nicholas Reville, a co-founder of the Participatory Culture Foundation. The Participatory Culture Foundation is responsible for Democracy Player, VideoBomb, and a full suite of video publishing and promotion tools.

Discussed in the interview:

• The Participatory Culture Foundation and its goals
• Old media + new media = ?
• Long tail’s role in the foundation’s work
• Running an open source project as a staffed, funded effort
• The Participatory Politics Foundation, where does media fit into the political spectrum?

Feel free to listen to the interview over at Odeo.

VLC is not your average media player.

In addition to supporting every single format known to humans, it has more features than you ever thought you’d need. VLC (which stands for VideoLAN client) just released a new version, 0.8.6.

I’ve always been a loyal user of the application, but in celebration of the release, I decided to learn more about VLC and figure out why it’s unchallenged in its field. Here’s a rundown of three features offered by VLC that bump it up from “average media player” to “uber media player”.

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I was alerted to Twango by its co-founder, Randy Kerr. Kerr described his site as a “new media sharing service”. Twango though, seperates itself from other media sharing sites like YouTube or Odeo. It doesn’t just handle one type of media — it handles them all.

The site is organized similarly to other “Web 2.0″ video sharing sites, like YouTube or Revver. There are tabs along the top where you can select your type of media (they only show audio, video, and photos, however the site also has other types permitted such as Word documents or Flash video). Click into a tab, and you’re given a page of thumbnails - now you can choose a bit of media and enjoy it.

The similarities stop there though. When Twango says it’s for sharing, they really mean it.

Read how, after the infamous jump…

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A few months back, Apple got into a bit of a hissy-fit and began to throw cease and desist orders at folks who used the term “podcast”. Apparently, they felt that it was their term (that they didn’t invent) so they had the right to defend it.

Fast forward to now, and Apple has done a 180′. Evidently, the bad publicity made them change their view, and they no longer will complain if people use the term to legitimately describe podcasting services.

Unfortunately, the letter that revealed this, written to podcaster Dave Gray at The Global Geek Podcast website, is very vague as to whether Apple will seek further litigation. Apple notes that they don’t license the term, and I’ve taken this to mean that they don’t license the term as in licensing of a song to a filmmaker - they do not charge people for use of it, however its vague as to whether this is only for uses that they consider proper (”accurately refer to podcasting services”).

Regardless of the details, the news is fantastic for podcasters. You can now describe your product correctly without fear of a shut-down order from Apple. As to others… well, why would you use the term in the first place?

In our last installment, we covered how to record audio easily, using a cheap microphone and a copy of the free program Audacity. Now we get to have some fun and hack it up into something that is usable.

Editing

Editing is a relatively laborious process (but don’t let it scare you). You’ll have to go through your audio, bit by bit, and remove each section of audio that is irrelevant or unnecessary. It’s slow, but worth it - I’ve chopped off as many as fifteen minutes doing this.

In PodDev (an Oratos podcast), we often jump off topic or simply pause while we speak. While fine in conversational speech, podcasts are different because we want them to be relatively fast-paced and easy to follow. As such, we edit this audio out. I use Sony’s Vegas Movie Studio for this (it’s an interface I’m more familiar with) but Audacity is free and therefore this tutorial is geared for it.

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Everyone has a podcast. There are podcasts about movies, computers, fashion, art, and everything you can dream of. They’re a way that you can communicate with your users in a more personal way - through voice rather than text.

We’re going to help you create your first [solo] podcast in this new three part series. We’ll show you the software to download, the hardware to buy, and the accessories to make. It’s easy, I promise. Here at Oratos Media, we do a few podcasts ourselves using these methods. Pretty soon, you’ll be on your way to “podcast pleasure” as well.

Be warned though - this is a technical guide. I can’t give you an idea or write your script. I can show you tools that help, but ultimately, you need to imagine up an idea.

Get the details after the jump.

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Disney has sold over a half-million motion pictures (television and feature-length) on iTunes.

The company and its subsidiaries, ABC and Pixar, all sell content on iTunes. No surprise, as Steve Jobs is a crucial part of both corporations.

Not surprisingly the largest selling content is the oldest content. High School Musical, the Disney Channel’s breakthrough made-for-TV movie, is one of the biggest selling Disney items. It has an advantage though - it’s been selling longer than iTunes has been selling traditional movies. In fact, the sale of High School Musical brought substantial rumour-mongering geared at the launch of the iTunes Movie Store.

Another notable point worth mentioning is that Disney plans on sharing the wealth. Not surprisingly, television channels are feeling a bit left out in this rush to the net, and want their share. Disney is nearing a licensing deal (within the next few deals) that will share this new stream of revenue with the (decidedly few) cable operators who show Disney films.

Via AOL Money

Amanda Congdon has been a busy person lately. Since she’s left Rocketboom (which she still claims 49% ownership in), she’s founded Oxmour Entertainment, completed a videoblog (AmandaAcrossAmerica), and planned two more.

Now, plans have leaked that Amanda will be developing a comedy for HBO. She’ll be writing and starring in the series, and there are plans to make this show span across TV and the net.

Details are sparse, but it’s great to see Amanda flourishing after the Rocketboom disaster.

Via Backstage