UPDATE: We've got a sample from a voice actor, reading the same passage. She charges a lot. Have a listen and tell us if you think she's woth $200 an hour.
https://www.patreon.com/posts/39111304
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I'm doing a test of an audio file creator over at our Patreon account. Anyone can view it at https://www.patreon.com/posts/hired-girl-audio-39092807
This is just a sample and test of the first few paragraphs of my story, "Hired Girl". Would anyone be interested in something like this?
Any other comments? The voice is AI btw, but quite good.
Hugs,
Erin
Comments
The AI gen voice
That is an interesting sound, the female voice is quite good. I think it is not quite there yet and for myself I would find listening to a novel or chapter this way irritating. I do listen to a fair number of audio books, so maybe my ear is too attuned to hearing a real human reading the words. It may work for others.
At times the next sentence started too quickly. As if there was no gap between the full stop of the last sentence and the start of the next. I wonder if adding extra spaces between sentences when this occurs. If that would solve the problem?
However I think the way things are going in computing that it will not be too long before it will work.
Sophie
Tuning
It's possible to tune the voice more than I did, with more pauses, more changes in pitch and volume and speed, even breaths. But the idea is to do something that would take LESS time than recording my own voice. :)
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
Seriously?
No one is interested in the improved version of this with a very expensive live reader who happens to be me?
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
Audio books
That could definitely be an interesting idea, maybe not for me though, I'm sure that some people look at some of the names and language snippets from cultures that I create and are very glad they don't have to pronounce them aloud. I'd probably break the poor AI. That said the AI does sound artificial and perhaps a bit creepy, though, depending on the program, you may be able to create default template for all stories once you got it to sound more natural.
I was like 'Wait, that's Erin?' When I listened to the 'voice actor'. I suddenly realized that I had never actually heard you speak before and wasn't really expecting it, It took a bit trying to get my brain to connect the voice to you lol
*big hugs*
Amethyst
Don't take me too seriously. I'm just kitten around. :3
Well, I'd Certainly...
...find that easier to listen to and understand than the AI was. But I'm not sure it's worth the money (g).
Best, Eric
For us vision impaired ...
both are way better than not getting the story.
They differ in a noisy environment, e.g. cats reminding me that it is meal time, fans blowing air across me and my computer, traffic sounds through the open window, etc. Ambient noise does a real number on the professional human reader's information transfer efficiency. The AI fares better, even if some emotion is lost. But that emotion is not in the original story... it is an interpretation. Interpretation is good if it aligns with the author's intent, but it is not vital to the author's story!
That said, that AI is way better than what I use, so ... what is it? Is it expensive?
Sara
Sara
Between the wrinkles, the orthopedic shoes, and nine decades of gravity, it is really hard to be alluring. My icon, you ask? It is the last picture I allowed to escape the camera ... back before most BC authors were born.
Speechelo
It's Speechelo. Low end cost is $37.
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.