I'm looking for recommendations on good (free/cheap) text to speech software with a couple of different voice options and the abilitly to save as audio files such as .MP3 or .WAV that I can import to Articulate Storyline.
Most of the free voices around sound robotic. After many searches all I can say is that if you want something decent you'll have to pay for it (assuming you're looking for voices for commercial use). If it's for personal use, use Ivona voices (www.ivona.com).
Thanks for the info. Can you use Google translate voices for redistribution, commercial purposes?
Kennethg,
Computer generated decent voices will cost you around 1.500 euros/5 hours, 2.500 euros/10 hours, or 3.500 euros/20 hours, but it depends on the type of project and amount of words you need. You may want to contact the companies directly. If you opt for voice-overs, you may want to post an ad on www.voices.com or www.freelancer.com. As far as I know, a good price would start at 0.08 dollar/word, as opposed to an average of 0.05 dollar/word for computer-generated non-robotic voices.
I just discovered that PowerPoint 2010 has a built-in TTS female voice. It is under, Options - More Commands - All Commands - Speak. Tried a fairly difficult paragraph and it sounded better than the two expensive TTS programs I compared it to. Hmmm.....
Hi Paul: could you share details about how you used Audacity to record and save the audio? I tried doing this and found the resulting audio to have a lot of echoing in it. I set my microphone up to the computer speaker. Is there a better approach?
There is a setting in Windows to record an internal channel. You shouldn't need to use your microphone. Wrote up some instructions for setting this up a few weeks ago. Hope it's helpful.
Thank you everyone for your responses. Unfortunately I don't have the "stereo mix" option on my Windows 7 machine after I selected the "show disabled devices' option.
Thank you everyone for your responses. Unfortunately I don't have the "stereo mix" option on my Windows 7 machine after I selected the "show disabled devices' option.
I'm also on windows 7 and found that the option was listed as Rec. Playback . I also discovered that my sound card driver was outdated so it would not let me select it when using apps like Replay. Now that I've updated my audio drivers, it works like a charm.
As an alternative, you can actually use google translate to create MP3 files from text for free.
1) Type or paste the text into the translation window. (Note: you don't need to actually translate the text to another language.)
2) Click the listen button in the window where the "to be translated" text sits.
3) Look in your browser window cookies folder for the mp3 file google just created to play back your text.
4) Move and rename the file so you can find it later.
This works for me as long as I am outside of my company's firewall (which blocks the audio cookie).
The downside is, you can't select your voice. The upside is it is quick, easy, and free.
I'm trying to start a read in a pdf file from somewhere other than the beginning of the file using NaturalReader but I can't find this feature. Does anyone else know how to do this?
I wanted to mention, as someone else did, that Google does have some powerful text-to-speech engine. Also, if you have an Android device you can use their Google Text-to-Speech engine for turning text into speech. It's very high quality, especially the newer HQ voices. You can also use apps like Type Your Ringtone (full disclosure, I developed the app) to create and save different phrases. I wonder if a dedicated app for this type of thing would be useful.
60 Replies
Most of the free voices around sound robotic. After many searches all I can say is that if you want something decent you'll have to pay for it (assuming you're looking for voices for commercial use). If it's for personal use, use Ivona voices (www.ivona.com).
The best voices I've found so far are:
Ivona (www.ivona.com)
iSpeech (www.ispeech.org)
Acapela Virtual Speaker (www.acapela-group.com/virtual-speaker-6-speech-solutions.html)
Thank you Manuel! That's really helpful.
All the best,
Elena
Hi Manuel, when using this companies. what are the prices for commercial use?4
thn
Kenneth
Believe it or not, you can use google translate to generate audio files from text for free.
1) Type or paste the text into the translation window. (Note: you don't need to actually translate the text to another language.)
2) Click the listen button in the window where the "to be translated" text sits.
3) Look in your browser window cookies folder for the mp3 file google just created to play back your text.
4) Move and rename the file so you can find it later.
This works for me as long as I am outside of my company's firewall (which blocks the audio cookie).
The dowside is, you can't select your voice. The upside is it is quick, easy, and free.
If you need more info, I have a screenr I recorded some time ago: https://player.vimeo.com/video/204928666
Owen,
Thanks for the info. Can you use Google translate voices for redistribution, commercial purposes?
Kennethg,
Computer generated decent voices will cost you around 1.500 euros/5 hours, 2.500 euros/10 hours, or 3.500 euros/20 hours, but it depends on the type of project and amount of words you need. You may want to contact the companies directly. If you opt for voice-overs, you may want to post an ad on www.voices.com or www.freelancer.com. As far as I know, a good price would start at 0.08 dollar/word, as opposed to an average of 0.05 dollar/word for computer-generated non-robotic voices.
Owen, I'd never thought to use Google Translate by saving the MP3 "tested" translation. It's a great option to have bookmarked when I need it.
I just discovered that PowerPoint 2010 has a built-in TTS female voice. It is under, Options - More Commands - All Commands - Speak. Tried a fairly difficult paragraph and it sounded better than the two expensive TTS programs I compared it to. Hmmm.....
Thanks for sharing Paul
That may come in handy for someone.
I've used the MS Speak functionality before but could not find an easy way to save the audio file.
@Paul S, did you find a way to save the audio?
Owen,
I use Audacity to record and save the audio.
Thanks for the reference Manuel!
iSpeech recently launched word packages for eLearning and presentations and I thought you may find it useful: https://www.ispeech.org/static
If anyone has any questions I can help. Feel free to email me at anna@ispeech.org
Best regards,
Anna
Thanks everyone for popping in to help Elena out here
Hi Diane! I'm not sure if Paul is subscribed to this thread, so you may need to send him a PM.
I wanted to welcome you to E-Learning Heroes though
There is a setting in Windows to record an internal channel. You shouldn't need to use your microphone. Wrote up some instructions for setting this up a few weeks ago. Hope it's helpful.
http://community.articulate.com/forums/p/37657/203219.aspx#203219
Steve
Cool, thanks Steve
Diane,
Steve is right on the money as usual. The quality of the TTS is as good as many of the pricey services out there. Good Luck.
Thank you everyone for your responses. Unfortunately I don't have the "stereo mix" option on my Windows 7 machine after I selected the "show disabled devices' option.
I'm also on windows 7 and found that the option was listed as Rec. Playback . I also discovered that my sound card driver was outdated so it would not let me select it when using apps like Replay. Now that I've updated my audio drivers, it works like a charm.
As an alternative, you can actually use google translate to create MP3 files from text for free.
1) Type or paste the text into the translation window. (Note: you don't need to actually translate the text to another language.)
2) Click the listen button in the window where the "to be translated" text sits.
3) Look in your browser window cookies folder for the mp3 file google just created to play back your text.
4) Move and rename the file so you can find it later.
This works for me as long as I am outside of my company's firewall (which blocks the audio cookie).
The downside is, you can't select your voice. The upside is it is quick, easy, and free.
If you need more info, I have a screenr I recorded some time ago: https://player.vimeo.com/video/204928666
Thanks Owen for pointing Diane in the right direction regarding Windows 7 and sharing that helpful screenr here! Who doesn't love a free option?
I just explored this http://ctrlq.org/listen/, its free
Thanks for sharing that here Babita and welcome to the Heroes community!
I'm trying to start a read in a pdf file from somewhere other than the beginning of the file using NaturalReader but I can't find this feature. Does anyone else know how to do this?
Welcome to our committee mr lan bell
Thanks for sharing to this Link. It's very useful for me.
Hi guys, I'm new to the group.
I wanted to mention, as someone else did, that Google does have some powerful text-to-speech engine. Also, if you have an Android device you can use their Google Text-to-Speech engine for turning text into speech. It's very high quality, especially the newer HQ voices. You can also use apps like Type Your Ringtone (full disclosure, I developed the app) to create and save different phrases. I wonder if a dedicated app for this type of thing would be useful.