ActivePresenter 9 makes it quick and easy to add voice-over to your screencast and eLearning course. Apart from recording your voice, using the integrated Text to Speech (TTS) feature is a convenient way to generate audio from text or convert closed captions to speech.
Today’s article covers:
Before moving forward, don’t forget to download and install the latest version of ActivePresenter here:
Generate Audio from Text
This is the first way to convert text to speech in ActivePresenter 9. The app allows you to generate audio from the text for both audio objects and other objects with attached audio.
- For audio objects, access the Insert tab > Audio > Create New > Properties pane > Media tab > Audio section.
- For objects with attached audio, go to the Properties pane > Audio tab.
Then, the Audio tab appears as follows. (The Audio section of the Media tab is similar but it has one more part of playback options.)
To create audio from text, take the following:
Step 1: Enter your text in the Text To Speech text box. If the object (shapes, text captions, etc.) contains text, you’ll see the text available in the text box. However, you can freely change the text as you want.
Step 2: Select a voice from the Voice drop-down list or click More Voices… to access other cloud voices. Besides, you can select the SSML checkbox to enhance your output speech with SSML tags for SSML-supported voices.
Step 3: Click Speak (1) to listen to the voice and click Stop (2) to stop listening. If you are satisfied with the current settings, just click Generate (4) to create TTS audio. If not, go to the next step.
Step 4: Click Settings (3) to adjust the TTS preferences. This opens the Text To Speech dialog where you can specify the voice, speed, and volume for the TTS audio.
Here, you can:
- Specify the voice, change the speed and volume, adjust the text, and click Speak to listen to the voice.
- If the results are not OK, change the parameters and try again. Repeat the performances until you are satisfied.
- If your settings are not good enough, click Reset and start over.
- When you are satisfied, click OK to close the dialog.
Step 5: Click Generate (4) to convert text to speech. ActivePresenter 9 will generate the audio and attach it to the object.
Note: In case the object duration is shorter than the generated audio duration, ActivePresenter will ask whether you want to extend the object duration to match the duration of the generated audio.
- Click Yes or No depending on your needs.
- Select Always do this from now on to remember your preferences. Thereby, your choice will default whenever you convert closed captions to audio without displaying this dialog again. If you want to change to the other choice, just click the ActivePresenter button > Preferences > Miscellaneous > Extend object duration to match the duration of generated audio > choose either Ask, Yes, or No.
Tip: To remove the generated audio from the object, click Remove (7). Besides, ActivePresenter 9 also allows you to attach audio from the current project (5) or from your computer (6) to your objects.
Convert Closed Captions to Audio
The second way to convert text to speech in ActivePresenter 9 is generating audio from closed captions. When converted, all CC nodes in the Timeline produce a single audio object. This audio object works just like other normal audio ones in ActivePresenter, so you can use the built-in audio tools to edit it.
ActivePresenter 9 also allows you to use different voices, speeds, and volumes for each CC node. This is useful when you want to make conversations, for example. Besides, using batch operations will save you time to generate audio from closed captions in some specified slides or in all project’s slides at once.
Convert Closed Captions to Audio on the Timeline pane
You can apply different settings to each CC node in the Timeline pane, and then convert all of them into audio. To do that, select a CC node and perform the following:
Step 1: Click the Properties pane > Sizes & Properties > Caption.
Step 2: In the Text To Speech area, specify the voice, speed, and volume for the CC node.
It is also possible to click the More Voices… button to see other external voices. However, you have to do some further settings. This will be discussed more specifically later.
Step 3 (Optional): You can enhance your selected voice with SSML (Speech Synthesis Markup Language). SSML tags can add pauses and other speech effects such as emphasis, volume, speaking rate, pitch, and more to that voice. To enable it, select SSML check box, and then enter your plain text with SSML tags in the Preview text box.
Note: You can only use SSML tags for SSML-supported voices.
Step 4: Click Speak (8) to listen to the voice and click Stop (9) to stop listening.
Tip: Click Apply to All (10) to apply the same settings to other existing CC nodes. Or click Set As Default (11) to apply the TTS settings of the current CC node to all newly added ones
Step 5: After adjusting each CC node, go to the Timeline pane > right-click one CC node > select Convert Closed Caption to Audio. Alternatively, access the Insert tab, click the drop-down arrow on the Closed Caption button > Convert Closed Caption to Audio. This converts all CC nodes in a slide into speech.
After that, ActivePresenter 9 will generate the audio and place it right below the CC object in the Timeline as a single audio object.
Note: It’s possible to apply the same settings of either the speed or volume of a CC node to other CC nodes. To do that, right-click a CC node and select Apply Speed For All Caption Nodes or Apply Volume For All Caption Nodes.
Convert Closed Captions to Audio Using Batch Operations
ActivePresenter 9 also provides a batch operation to convert closed captions in some specified slides or in all the project’s slides. Do the following:
Step 1: Click the ActivePresenter button > Project > Batch Operations > Convert Closed Captions To Audio. Then, a dialog appears as follows:
Step 2: Specify the slides (12) where you want to convert closed captions to audio. If you choose Specified Slides, separate the ordering numbers of slides by commas. Otherwise, use hyphens to indicate ranges. For example, the range 2-4 indicates the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th slides.
Step 3: Select Extend caption duration to match the duration of generated audio (13) if needed. This may cause sync problems, so you have to check out the project carefully.
Step 4: Click OK to create audio from closed captions.
That’s all performances to convert text to speech in ActivePresenter 9. Save yourself the expense of finding voice talent with this handy feature. Visit our Tutorials page, and YouTube channel for more useful information.
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