Forum Discussion
Pronunciation in AI Audio (TTS)
Hello JohnDwyer-f5da1,
I'm glad to see that you're exploring the use of SSML Tags in your Storyline course! I can confirm that AI Assistant offers limited SSML support because its voices are built to interpret word context and adjust delivery naturally. That will contribute to the issue you are experiencing.
- What voice are you currently using? You'll want to confirm that SSML tags are supported for the selected voice.
I suggest using the other available Text-To-Speech option in Storyline, located under Insert> Audio> Text to Speech, so you have more control over pronunciation.
To test this on my end, I simply moved the <speak> </speak> tags to the beginning and end of the sample text you provided instead of with the <phoneme> tags.
Here's a quick visual of my experience in Storyline as well as the modified tags in your sample text.
<speak>Repair of this injury can be addressed laparoscopically in stable patients. The first priority is adequate exposure. Additional ports should be placed as needed to isolate the injury and improve visualization. If the bowel is friable it can be handled indirectly using <phoneme alphabet="ipa" ph="æ.tɹ.ə.mˈæɾɪk">atraumatic</phoneme>graspers on the mesentery, and the edges of an enterotomy can be approximated to limit contamination if the injury is small.</speak>
I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any additional questions!
I have not done much with SSML, we have been using the TTS voices so far, but the AI voices are generally so much better!
With the normal voices, I have my tricks how to get them to pronounce our company name and brand names correctly (or close enough), but that does not work for the AI voices. The main issue is that a short text snippet (for testing the voice) may be pronounced correctly, if I paste the entire text, it doesn't. Or, as mentioned above, pronunciation varies through the text and the whole project. Not acceptable I think.
This being an AI voice, I wonder if there is (or could be implemented) a way to use a kind of "master prompt" or rules of pronunciation for certain words in certain languages, similar to a glossary for translations. That way, you could have a file with the settings for a specific client, language, whatever, similar to a colour or font theme, which you just read into storyline (or of late even Rise, albeit still in labs I think) and you are good to go.
I work for the same company all the time, but especially for those who have several clients, this could be a massive time-saver.