Automatic Delivery of work-in-progress to Clients: Part 3 - Subscribing the Client.

Once the movie is encoded and uploaded and the RSS feed done, all that's left is to get the client subscribed.

You can email the client the URL of the feed, which will look something like this:

http://digitalproductionbuzz.com/archives.xml

This is the feed for Creative Planet's Digital Production BuZZ: talk radio for Digital Production, Post Production and Distribution. We'll use it for the example.

• The client:
• Opens iTunes on OS X or Windows.
  • iTunes is a free download from Apple. iTunes 4.9 or later is required.
• Copy the feed from the email.
• From the Advanced menu in iTunes, select "Subscribe to Podcast". A dialog will open where the URL can be pasted.
• Paste the URL and click OK.

That's it. The feed is added to the Podcast area of the client's iTunes. Every time an iPod is connected or iTunes is run, the feed will be checked to see if there is new material available. The newest file will be downloaded automatically if it's not already available.

Video content will also appear in the Video area of iTunes where they can be browsed visually.

Tip: Differentiate the file name with a versioning suffix otherwise it will be difficult to determine which is the most recent in the Videos area.

The example has been for iTunes, the most common podcast client, but any podcast client can be used. For some instructions on specific clients, other than iTunes, check out the Podcast page at Creative Planet's Digital Production BuZZ.