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Promoting Blog Posts - Part 2
I soon got tired of not being able to export my blog posts fully using the trial versions
of Crazy Talk 7 and Crazy Talk animator.
So although I still had 13 days of my trial remaining, I decided to make a purchase of
CrazyTalk 7 and convert all my previous posts to animated videos.
The main benefit of having Crazy Talk Pro, as opposed to the standard version, is that
you can split the audio track and then add several clips, giving each one its own style
of animation. Having exported my first blog posts the lack of eye movement was disappointing.
The actor just stared out at you! I then discovered that by adding animation clips to the time
line can easily improve the video and make it seem less stiff.
The only drawback of adding the motion clips is of course time. It takes much longer but
the overall effect is worth it. Having looked back at my test videos using the pro trial,
the eyes just roll all the time which is almost as off-putting as staring at you.
The most surprising thing was the time that it takes to render a full 750 word post. It
took almost 70 minutes.
However you can just carry on working, so it might actually have only taken an hour
as the popup to tell you the rendering has finished does not appear on top of the window
you are using.
I also studied the Ivona voice license to make sure that you can use it publicly, such
as on YouTube. Unfortunately the standard license is personal use only and normally
you would not be permitted to use the voices on YouTube, even if it was not a commercial
video that promoted your links or products.
To me the license restriction is ridiculous and I now see why searching for Text to Speech
software rarely shows Ivona.com.
Fortunately for me I purchased a commercial license way back when it was a lot cheaper
so I have no legal issue sharing my blog posts on public videos.
This means that I can use my Ivona 1 voices but cannot upgrade to the latest Ivona 2 voices
without contacting support for a special payment link.
This means that I can not endorse you purchasing Ivona voices even though they still appear
to be the best.
Technology has moved on several years since my purchase and there are now more companies
offering high quality TTS voices.
Make certain you only get SAPI 5 voices and if you do not want them sounding robotic,
get 22khz voices instead of 16khz.
Due to this, I searched for alternatives and it would appear the current best solution
is provided by CereProc.
They also have a lot of voices in different languages.
I was surprised there was only one male american voice but loads of UK voices in English, Irish,
Scottish and Welsh.
In fact there were northern and southern England accents, including Lancashire, Black Country,
Newcastle and Glaswegian dialects.
Needless to say I spent a long time playing with the demos.
The price is extremely reasonable too I thought, compared with other company's prices CereProc
charge only £25.99 per voice.
Any SAPI voice will work happily with Windows PC and Apple Mac versions of the Reallusion
software, be it Crazy Talk or Crazy Talk Animator.
Of course lots of other software benefits from text to speech, including word processors,
PDF readers, instant messaging and of course web browsers.
I explained in my first post that I was quite technical. So I love software and testing
new methods for use on the internet.
I can easily setup a blogging platform, but writing the content has always been the hardest
part for me.
For the majority of people I meet, doing the technical tasks online is a complete nightmare.
The Empower Network provides a whole range of training both on the technical aspects
as well as good business practices.
Creating blog posts is no trouble at all, as all you need to do is login to your Empower
Network blog, and start blogging.
There is no setup required at all.
Join Empower Network Today!