How to Send Your Recording
(Please ask in the forum with questions and/or make changes right into the page)
VIDEO Here is a video explaining How To Upload A Recording to LibriVox that was done August 2013 and uses the LibriVox uploader.
How to Send Your Recording
- Read instructions in the top post for your project (usually 8. "Transfer of files")
- Upload your file to the server (see "Recommended uploader" below)
- Post a link to your file on the project thread (the BC or MC takes it from there); if you don't know the link, post to the project thread and explain what you've done, and you'll get help figuring it out.
Recommended uploader
Unless your project specifies a different method (check the top post in your project), please use the LibriVox Uploader. This uploader uses the same server used for cataloguing and speeds the process. This uploader is for LibriVox projects only.
| LibriVox Uploader http://dev.librivox.org/login/uploader
|
- The uploader displays a long-term link when the upload is complete
Please use this uploader rather than yousendit or any other file service that doesn't give very-long-term links. The LibriVox uploader is preferred even to your own server; if you do use another server, be certain your files can remain there for several months (till the project is catalogued).
We urge all BCs or solo readers who keep project files on their own hard drive to consider keeping them also on the LibriVox Uploader as a back-up. It is SO SAD when a computer crashes and destroys all the files of a whole project.
Overview of the process
If you look in the project threads, you'll see folks making posts like:
"Here's chapter 3: http://www.server.com/file.mp3"
The Book Coordinator (BC) will link to that file in the "Magic Window" in the top post; prooflisteners will use that link to download and listen to the file, and so on. When all the project files are collected and corrected, the Meta-Coordinator (MC) will upload the files into the cataloguing thingy, which places them in a massive server called archive.org, which serves up all the LibriVox catalogued works. All the previous, individual files can then be erased. Here it is again, in slightly finer detail:
- You claim your chapter and follow top post instructions, you record it and make the mp3 file - and there it is, sitting on your computer. Let's call it recording.mp3.
- You put your mp3 file on a server - ideally the LibriVox Uploader (unless the project's top post specifies otherwise) - and you receive a link. Now you return to the project thread and post that link so others can download your recording.
- The BC spots your post in the project thread and puts your link into the "Magic Window" in the project's top post.
- Each project file is "prooflistened" - a listener volunteer uses the link to download and listen to your recording. If corrections are needed, they should be made before the project goes into the catalogue.
- When the project is complete and correct, the MC uploads all the project files into the catalog server (archive.org), where they're stored forever; when folks download an LV audiobook, they're downloading it from archive.org.
Alternative methods
Check the top post of your project to see what server the BC has chosen. If none is specified, please use one of the "The recommended uploader" (see above).
The Uploader (see top of this page) is the preferred solution.
When the LV Uploader cannot be used for some reason (rarely), an alternative route is handy.
Other Uploaders
One free service for sending large files is pretty handy for LibriVox projects:
mediafire.com/ - unlimited file size, no time limit - no registration required.
ge.tt/ - unlimited file size, no time limit - no registration required.
The other services don't keep files long enough for our project purposes, and we hope folks will stop using these since we have a great uploader available (see top of page).
gigasize.com - (please don't use) files up to 10GB, link expires after 90 days - no registration required.
mailbigfile.com - (please don't use) files up to 4GB, link expires after 5 days - no registration required.
hightail.com - (please don't use) files up to 50MB, link expires after 7 days - registration required.
Back-up advice
When convenient for you, make a high-quality back-up your file by exporting/saving it as a .flac or .wav file on your computer; for convenience, keep only your .mp3 and your .flac/.wav file, and free up computer space by deleting the hefty editing files (for Audacity that's the folder of files that goes with your .aup file).
That way, you reclaim computer space, but if your file is lost on the Internet, you've got the .mp3 file handy for re-uploading. If you need to edit a bit more, you've got a high-quality source file (the .flac or .wav) to edit from. Editing an .mp3 file and resaving as an .mp3 file is like Xeroxing a Xerox -- you lose quality (although 2 or 3 resaves will be okay, so don't fret much). See this forum thread for more discussion on the "Xerox effect"!
Want to help VoxForge?
Please consider helping out our friends at VoxForge (open source speech recognition): send them your .wav or .aiff along with text. Find out how to upload for VoxForge.
