Article Voice Overs
Select posts on the site now include AI generated voice-overs. I think it adds a useful tool. So, is it a gimmick or actually kind of cool? You decide. Subscribe to comment.
Oct 01, 2023
1 min read
I added TTS (Text to Speech).
Bit of a gimmick, maybe, but here's the idea: people can click play and listen to the words, whilst scrolling down and looking at the pictures.
Let's face it, most people visiting websites just immediately scroll up and down madly - so adding the opportunity to listen to my intended words sounds like a bonus.
I tested about a dozen techniques and all have their pro's and con's.
Ultimately opted for Murf, as the voices felt pretty good (though non of them grasp the Polish place names), and the interface gives me scope for broadening their use moving forward.
In order to achieve this feature I'm currently following this procedure:
- Edit the original script in Text Edit
- Upload the script into Murf, and (rather laboriously) analyse each line for tone, pitch, emphasis and pace.
- Add some background music, just because I can.
- Export the file as an MP3.
- Upload that file into Audio.io purely so I can host it there (not on here) and inject a rather dapper looking audio player into the posts.
These are being rolled out this month, as each one takes around an hour to edit and produce. Aside from the one that just took me four hours. Go figure.