Any decent text to voice synthesizers ?

[Metlar]

Are there any decent text to voice synthesizers like Acapela groups one http://www.acapela-group.com/ that are free and that i can use in my custom followers without any legal issues? Or if there was any post or talk already about this,can you point me there ,please ?

[Anikma]

Honestly, for me a jerky computer-generated voice would be worse than no voice acting at all. Why don't you try to contact an actual voice actor on the nexus to do the voice for your follower?

[Dhegonus]

there's loooads of voice actors in the voice actors thread, far better to get a voice actor than a dodgy piece of software to emulate a voice

[JobVanDam]

I think the voice synthesizer would be awesome. Imagine the follower sounding like this:

I'd be popping and locking like crazy YO!

Edited May 15, 2014 by JobVanDam

[Serithi]

Yeah, you're much better off just asking actual voice actors to voice the lines. We volunteer our services here for a reason :P.

[Metlar]

I know there are lots of voice actors out there,but i am only trying out for first time to make something with computer ever.I have no experience in making anything on computer,i just wanted to try and see if i could make some of my ideas into life.I wanted to make simple male altmer warrior follower (since i am in the middle of mage altmer playthrough and wanted to have some altmer fighters as followers,but most of mods here are mage or half mage warrior types) and i made his appearance ( old altmer sword,shield mercenary) and even put him in game,but there is no follower voice for male altmers,and its annoying as hell to listen to him yell as he is a bloody nord,so for starters i just wanted to add (replace,better said) some simple sentences,and later on maybe add some more dialogues,but i am not even sure if i am capable of making anything complex now,since my native language is not english (more like engrish ... :tongue:),so chasing real life voice actors for just a couple of simple lines would be waste of their time mostly,especially since i dont even know what i would like them to say ... So it would be much easier for me now to use text to voice programs,because this is just a practice for me and to see will i even have strength to finish this to the end since i am one of those 'quit in the middle of work" guys ... And some of this programs are not that bad,try to listen on that Acapela site WillBadGuy(emotive voice),it does sound like some beat up old mercenary altmer (maybe even dark elf better),and it would be enough for me for now,but since my pockets are getting lighter and lighter every day thanks to really successful 'transition period' in my country that is lasting for last 30 plus years ... (Greetings from Serbia...) i am not going to use that synthesizer for now.Thats why i asked if there are any free,decent synthesizers out there.

And,JobVanDam,i think there is is something like that on nexus already ! http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/50955/? Sorina - Custom Voiced Cyborg by Raynel

[Serithi]

It's hardly a waste of our time to track us down for a couple lines, that is kind of what we're here for.

[behughes]

I have looked into this myself, and also for software that can emulate vocal timbres, but I haven't found anything out there. Honestly, I know there are companies that do great work with this, particularly for people who lose the ability to speak (like Steven Hawking or the late Roger Ebert), but most of these fall pretty short and they sure as hell aren't free to download.

I've been developing a technique for voicing NPCs that involves using existing dialogue recorded by Bethesda, chopping it up and carefully editing it phrase-by-phrase, word-by-word, in Ableton Live, then tweaking the pitch, duration, and inflection of each syllable with a program called Melodyne. In order to know if a phrase, or partial phrase, or even just a single word already exists as recorded dialogue for a given VoiceType, I export the dialogue via the CK into a text file, copy/paste it into an Excel file, then use the search features and filters in Excel to find what I need. This is pretty time consuming, but it's quite effective. If you choose to go this route and would like more specific instructions on how to do anything I've described, feel free to send me a PM. I might even consider posting a tutorial.

 

Another thing you could consider is using a different VoiceType for your Altmer warrior and seeing if you can't create a basic follower that way. The VoiceType used by most Altmer males doesn't have any dialogue for follower NPCs, but the VoiceType used for Bosmer like Faendal does. You could set your character's VoiceType to whatever Faendal uses (can't recall off the top of my head), then create any custom dialogue you need using the technique I mentioned above.

 

Or, as many have suggested, you could find one of the many talented voice actors on the Nexus and see if they'll voice your character. I don't know much about creating and fleshing out custom VoiceTypes though, but I'm sure there's a tutorial around somewhere for that.

[Metlar]

Yeah, you're much better off just asking actual voice actors to voice the lines. We volunteer our services here for a reason :tongue:.

Eh,i will try to contact you when i get rid of pneumonia that i got during this floods that hit Balkan's,and continue my practice on my poor altmer,i again dont have the mental strenght to work on anything,just sat my fat ass in front of computer and playing that bloody MWO ...

[Metlar]

I have looked into this myself, and also for software that can emulate vocal timbres, but I haven't found anything out there. Honestly, I know there are companies that do great work with this, particularly for people who lose the ability to speak (like Steven Hawking or the late Roger Ebert), but most of these fall pretty short and they sure as hell aren't free to download.

 

I've been developing a technique for voicing NPCs that involves using existing dialogue recorded by Bethesda, chopping it up and carefully editing it phrase-by-phrase, word-by-word, in Ableton Live, then tweaking the pitch, duration, and inflection of each syllable with a program called Melodyne. In order to know if a phrase, or partial phrase, or even just a single word already exists as recorded dialogue for a given VoiceType, I export the dialogue via the CK into a text file, copy/paste it into an Excel file, then use the search features and filters in Excel to find what I need. This is pretty time consuming, but it's quite effective. If you choose to go this route and would like more specific instructions on how to do anything I've described, feel free to send me a PM. I might even consider posting a tutorial.

 

Another thing you could consider is using a different VoiceType for your Altmer warrior and seeing if you can't create a basic follower that way. The VoiceType used by most Altmer males doesn't have any dialogue for follower NPCs, but the VoiceType used for Bosmer like Faendal does. You could set your character's VoiceType to whatever Faendal uses (can't recall off the top of my head), then create any custom dialogue you need using the technique I mentioned above.

 

Or, as many have suggested, you could find one of the many talented voice actors on the Nexus and see if they'll voice your character. I don't know much about creating and fleshing out custom VoiceTypes though, but I'm sure there's a tutorial around somewhere for that.

The fact that i forgot about Bosmer voice types just shows how much i know about anything ... That idea of yours about modifying existing voices doesnt look bad,but from what you described seems complicated for someone like me,definitely dont consider making a tutorial,just make it,it could help people with more knowledge and skills than me,and who knows,maybe i even get better and use it myself ... fat chance ... Oh and ,just an idea,you could (or anyone else) make a program where all of that would be possible to be done on one place,cutting sentences and putting them together," tweaking the pitch, duration, and inflection of each syllable".Just an idea,dont throw me in Chaurus pit for it :tongue:...please dont...i am really scared of those things :unsure: ... Hm,maybe there is something like that already,but either way,just wanted to put it out there ...the idea of a program not the Chaurus pit ....dear god ,no ...