Podfic Robot
Synonyms: | |
See also: | Opalsong |
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Podfic robot is a term of endearment for a podficcer so prolific that their volume of output seemingly defies the laws of physics.
Depending on the podficcer's process, making a podfic can require a significantly larger time investment than the total number of finished hours produced: the raw file is often twice as long (or more) as the edited version, and editing after recording can take multiple times as long as the raw file. The average speed of reading aloud is sometimes quoted as 10,000 words per hour, so a novel-length fic (60K words) could translate to 50+ hours of work to create a podfic. However, there are a number of faster editing techniques some podficcers use: edit-as-you-go (pause after mistakes and overwrite the mistake), visual editing (click when you make a mistake and only listen/edit the parts of the file that show a spike in the waveform), and not editing at all (do the whole reading in one take).
Even once you account for increased efficiency, questions remain. Do their voices ever tire out? Do they sleep, eat, have jobs, go to school? No, they must be robots.