56 minutes into an excellent discussion with a very important guest.
All of the sudden, my browser tab goes black and says “Can not connect”. 😳
NOOOOOOOOO!
⬆️ Here's a photo of me calling Mark, my co-host, to see if they were still on.
But all is not lost. Actually, my camera and microphone were still recording! 🤩
When I downloaded all the tracks from Riverside, there was only one minute of recording missing, which was when I had to re-enter the room to finish the conversation.
Other than trying to figure out where we were in the discussion, and a little bit of syncing in post-production, nothing was lost and we were able to finish the interview.
The misunderstanding we all fall for
You may think Riverside is glitching while you're recording, but that's not the case.
This video explains why we think that way, but it's a misunderstanding about how services like Riverside and Squadcast/Descript work:
Why? Because we are all conditioned to think all recordings services work like Skype (rest in peace) or Zoom. But they don't.
The experience I shared above is extreme. Most of the time cameras freeze or the audio drops out for a short time. But if my camera and microphone kept recording, even without being connected to the conversation via the Riverside browser tab, then certainly the 10 seconds that drop out with your guest is being recorded as well.
DON'T FREAK OUT! Instead, do this…
The internet if fickle, and computers choke from too many tabs and low RAM.
There are some simple and practical things you can do to ensure most problems never happen in the first place:
1. Clear Browser Cache
A browser window is used to facilitate the discussion between the host and guests.
Clearing out the browser's cache, and closing most of the 182 tabs you have open right now, will help performance!
2. Reboot Your Computer
Another best practice that is good for more than just recording with Riverside.
Run any updates the day before or after a recording, but start the day off with a fresh computer.
3. Have 10% of Hard Drive Space Available
Riverside says at least 5GB of hard drive space needs to be available on a computer to help make a smooth recording.
I take it even further and recommend 10% of space be available.
Many other things on your computer require some “room to breathe”, so if you can keep the 25 GB of a 256 GB hard drive open then most of those problems go away.
4. Turn Stuff Off
It's important to keep your computer from doing other tasks while having a conversation on Riverside (and even Zoom for that matter!).
So is having a strong internet connection.
Here's a short list of things to look at when getting ready to hop on an interview with someone:
- Virus Scans
- Automatic Updates
- Google Drive and DropBox syncing
- Hey, are your kids gaming or watching Netflix? Get 'em off
Following these guidelines will help you have a constant, less glitchy recording session… and a much better podcast interview.
Have you tried Riverside? Many of my clients do, and its the service I use when recording the Podcast Editors Mastermind Show. *Click here
*Disclosure: As an affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases through this link