3 ms·

I can't speak for video games, but for any work with multiple characters (novels, commercials, etc.), voicing IS acting. Different characters have different voi

I can't speak for video games, but for any work with multiple characters (novels, commercials, etc.), voicing IS acting. Different characters have different voices, at different times depending on their emotional state. On the other hand, you could just have different voices for the different characters, which a book narrator can't do. I thought about doing that for my books, but it'd just be way too expensive.

danielbln 3y ago
Once the voice models allow for annotations (make this sarcastic, give a slow sigh here, make this sound sad and depressed) we'll see a lot of generated audio in audiobooks.
- rcarr 3y ago
  Apple already released some audiobooks using AI generated voice actors. I don’t know if they were annotated, but the AI seemed to adjust tone correctly for the context in the snippets I listened to.
- AlbertCory 3y ago
  I'm not saying it won't happen (after all, so much animation is crap and it's driven out the good stuff), but take a listen to the audio samples on my two books (searching Amazon for "Albert Cory" should find them). It's more than just following an annotation about sarcasm or sighing or sounding depressed. But yeah, that probably IS going to have to suffice for the vast majority of popular works.
  - danielbln 3y ago
    I don't know, even the base model from Elevenlabs is doing a pretty good job at imitating Maxwell Glick. I had it read out your comment, see here: https://sndup.net/q3r5/ https://sndup.net/q3r5/ Elevenlabs announced a new professional audio model with a more involved training process, I'm curious to see how good that one is, and how much control it gives you.
    - AlbertCory 3y ago
      That sounds like him all right. I didn't see an obvious way to use a different text file, but try this one: it's what I used for auditioning: One morning in May 1979, Dan and Janet were going over a problem with the latest build when Grant knocked, “Hi, I can come back later if you're busy with something.” Dan looked at Janet to see if he should leave. “No, come in. Dan was just being a jerk as usual.” Dan tried to look hurt. Grant said, “I'm all settled in now. You should come up.” Dan looked confused, “Wait… I thought you lived up North.” “No, I transferred down here to the Tor project.” “Wow, I thought people only moved from South to North.” “I'm starting a new trend.” “Are you up on the second floor now?” “ Yep. Come up and visit sometime.” “What a thought. Is it like here?” Dan had never been on the second floor or anywhere else in the building. Grant went to the door and made a show of looking in both directions, “Looks very similar. Anyhow, what are you doing for no-driving day tomorrow?” He looked at Janet, who had a quizzical expression. “The company just said we're not supposed to drive alone tomorrow because of the gas rationing. They're going to station guards at the parking lots to check.” Dan already knew about this, but Janet didn't. “Don't know. Maybe Dan can come by and pick me up. Then, we'd be a carpool.” Grant flashed a look of displeasure for an instant but quickly erased it. He was hoping Janet would come to his house, and they could walk to work. “Do you live near Janet?” “Hermosa. Janet's right on the way.” Grant recovered, “I was going to suggest we meet at my house and walk to work. It's only about a half-hour walk.” Dan asked, “Where do you live? Hawthorne?” Grant looked vaguely insulted at the suggestion that he might live in Hawthorne, “Manhattan Beach, near Marine and Aviation.” “We could pick you up, too! You're right on the way.” Grant wasn't expecting this resolution, but there it was. He wrote his address on the whiteboard, which Dan copied down into his notebook. They agreed on a time tomorrow, and Dan and Grant both left.
      - danielbln 3y ago
        There you go: https://sndup.net/bjyc/ https://sndup.net/bjyc/ This is just a single generation pass though, and the voice is a bit unstable and is maybe not perfectly consistent with the direct speech, ideally you would tweak it a bit, maybe break it into chunks, isolate the direct speech and then cut it together, etc. Still, it's pretty good I'd say, and as I mentioned previously, being able to give specific directions is around the corner, along with a "proper"/professional training of the voice model on a specific voice.

danielbln 3y ago

Once the voice models allow for annotations (make this sarcastic, give a slow sigh here, make this sound sad and depressed) we'll see a lot of generated audio in audiobooks.

rcarr 3y ago
Apple already released some audiobooks using AI generated voice actors. I don’t know if they were annotated, but the AI seemed to adjust tone correctly for the context in the snippets I listened to.
AlbertCory 3y ago
I'm not saying it won't happen (after all, so much animation is crap and it's driven out the good stuff), but take a listen to the audio samples on my two books (searching Amazon for "Albert Cory" should find them). It's more than just following an annotation about sarcasm or sighing or sounding depressed. But yeah, that probably IS going to have to suffice for the vast majority of popular works.
- danielbln 3y ago
  I don't know, even the base model from Elevenlabs is doing a pretty good job at imitating Maxwell Glick. I had it read out your comment, see here: https://sndup.net/q3r5/ https://sndup.net/q3r5/ Elevenlabs announced a new professional audio model with a more involved training process, I'm curious to see how good that one is, and how much control it gives you.
  - AlbertCory 3y ago
    That sounds like him all right. I didn't see an obvious way to use a different text file, but try this one: it's what I used for auditioning: One morning in May 1979, Dan and Janet were going over a problem with the latest build when Grant knocked, “Hi, I can come back later if you're busy with something.” Dan looked at Janet to see if he should leave. “No, come in. Dan was just being a jerk as usual.” Dan tried to look hurt. Grant said, “I'm all settled in now. You should come up.” Dan looked confused, “Wait… I thought you lived up North.” “No, I transferred down here to the Tor project.” “Wow, I thought people only moved from South to North.” “I'm starting a new trend.” “Are you up on the second floor now?” “ Yep. Come up and visit sometime.” “What a thought. Is it like here?” Dan had never been on the second floor or anywhere else in the building. Grant went to the door and made a show of looking in both directions, “Looks very similar. Anyhow, what are you doing for no-driving day tomorrow?” He looked at Janet, who had a quizzical expression. “The company just said we're not supposed to drive alone tomorrow because of the gas rationing. They're going to station guards at the parking lots to check.” Dan already knew about this, but Janet didn't. “Don't know. Maybe Dan can come by and pick me up. Then, we'd be a carpool.” Grant flashed a look of displeasure for an instant but quickly erased it. He was hoping Janet would come to his house, and they could walk to work. “Do you live near Janet?” “Hermosa. Janet's right on the way.” Grant recovered, “I was going to suggest we meet at my house and walk to work. It's only about a half-hour walk.” Dan asked, “Where do you live? Hawthorne?” Grant looked vaguely insulted at the suggestion that he might live in Hawthorne, “Manhattan Beach, near Marine and Aviation.” “We could pick you up, too! You're right on the way.” Grant wasn't expecting this resolution, but there it was. He wrote his address on the whiteboard, which Dan copied down into his notebook. They agreed on a time tomorrow, and Dan and Grant both left.
    - danielbln 3y ago
      There you go: https://sndup.net/bjyc/ https://sndup.net/bjyc/ This is just a single generation pass though, and the voice is a bit unstable and is maybe not perfectly consistent with the direct speech, ideally you would tweak it a bit, maybe break it into chunks, isolate the direct speech and then cut it together, etc. Still, it's pretty good I'd say, and as I mentioned previously, being able to give specific directions is around the corner, along with a "proper"/professional training of the voice model on a specific voice.