VO-BB - A VO Family

[Bruce]

The answer is Yes for producers who don't care about the quality of the read and are satisfied with low or no cost results. Here's a short clip of the opening chapter of a book I recorded several years ago. I did it with no direction. I just interpreted how to do it from the language before me. I've also engaged two low cost AI narration websites to read the same copy with no help. Let's see if you can hear a difference. From Dirty Parts of the Bible:

Dirty Parts opening by Bruce

Dirty Parts opening by LOVO

Dirty Parts opening by MURF

Now there are some sites that will let you "direct", changing speed and mood, but then the author or producer needs to spend valuable time going through the entire book telling the AI what to do, while a competent narrator will just do that all for you.

B
_________________
VO-BB Member #31 Enlisted June, 2005

I'm not a Zoo, but over the years I've played one on radio/TV. .

[todd ellis]

I have to say the MURF version is not horrible. I wouldn't listen to it for more than a few minutes before it drove me out of my mind.

It's definitely getting better.
_________________
"i know philip banks": todd ellis
who's/on/1st?

[Mandy Nelson]

Todd is delusional( giggle). NOTHING replaces your warmth, your style, blah blah, etc...
I've had the pleasure of working with several developers over 25 years who are striving to make "it" sound right but they know...THEY KNOW AND ALL SAY...it is dependant on the voice actor.
I'm sticking with those developers. We have nothing to fear.
_________________
006 member of the Sisterhood of the Traveling Mic. Bonded by sound.

Manfillappsoc: The Mandy and Philip mutual appreciation Society. Who's in your network?

Have you seen my mic closet? ~ me to my future husband

[Mike Harrison]

LOVO: Repulsive. No life. Truly icky.

MURF: Not quite as repulsive but, oddly, it has a "boxy" sound. While it does seem to place emphasis correctly, it's still rather sterile, sounding like a local radio station commercial, in which everything's read with the rubber-stamped "upbeat" style.

Bruce's take, of course, was just what the doctor ordered.

Concerned about this very topic, I recently asked my healthcare agency client of 14 years whether his clients had ever expressed an interest in trying AI (while simultaneously offering my opinion of it). He said they hadn't, but also said he would absolutely recommend against it (for the very reasons I'd stated), saying he prefers the believable, human sound.

Hope persists.
_________________
Mike
Male Voice Over Talent
I have taken leave of my sensors.

[todd ellis]

I would never describe Bruce as "Not horrible ..." Obviously, his version is BY FAR superior. I'm just saying the robots are getting closer.
_________________
"i know philip banks": todd ellis
who's/on/1st?

[George]

The rope bridge over the uncanny valley is almost complete. Once that's done, it's steel girders and suspension cables.

Veritone is using an example when pitching to actors their engine that is unnervingly close to undetectable. Close. Not there yet. But enough to sell to clients.

Side note: Veritone is now charging actors $23,000 to record the voice print and make their voices available to be licensed to clients. We are -also- getting close to the point where there is a cost of admission and it is -steep-.

[todd ellis]

I'm hoping to be dead by then.
_________________
"i know philip banks": todd ellis
who's/on/1st?

[Moe Egan]

LOVO: '...made a siller blush...'
MURF: typical AI choppy up-down, up-down, up-down cadence. Couldn't listen to a whole audiobook narrated by this one-dimensional sing song dreck.
Bruce: Ahhhhh. Warm and rich, like hot cocoa and my favorite blanket on the couch. THAT is how you narrate an audiobook.
_________________
Moe Egan
i want to be the voice in your head.
~~~~~

[GunslingerWriting]

What people don't get is the relentless, proven ability of AI to mimic a vast range of human capabilities...and that copying emotional nuances with virtual perfection is no longer unimaginable to those in leading-edge AI organizations.

AI's competitiveness in VO is inevitable and to dismiss that inevitability is dangerous in this--and any other--artistic profession.,

[todd ellis]

[Lizden]

As Monty Python proclaimed: We're not dead yet!
_________________
Liz de Nesnera O.A.V. ~ Livin' The VO Dream!
English/French Bilingual VO w/ ISDN
HireLiz.com / liz@hireliz.com