converting text files to sound files

[Saqib Shaikh]

Hi Cheryl, this is indeed possible.

1.  The most preferable option IMHO would be to use DECTalk software, and
use the provided "say" program to record text files.  I can't remember the
command line options but say --help should do it.  Basically if you type cat
filename | say it'll talk the file, and if you type cat filename | say
--wave wavefile or something similar it'll record it to a wave file.

2.  You can do the same with Festival, using the festival program.  Again
festival --help should give you what you want but it is probably something
like cat filename | festival --wave wavefile

3.  Finally, there is the option of connecting a male-to-male audio cable
from the speech synthesisers headphone jack to the line in of your desktop's
sound card, and recording from line in.  You don't have to listen to the
speech while it is being recorded, but it will still take the same length of
time; so you could go away and do something else.

Saqib


-----Original Message-----
From: speakup-bounces at braille.uwo.ca [mailto:speakup-bounces at braille.uwo.ca]
On Behalf Of Cheryl Homiak
Sent: 25 April 2004 17:51
To: speakup
Subject: converting text files to sound files

I think this has been discussed before and nobody really came up with a
solution, but thought I'd put it out anyway.
I have .txt files which I'd love to turn into ogg files so I could listen to
them with something like zinf when I'm not at the computer; that allows me
to pause and go backward and forward, etc.
I searched google and, while I found some textfile to speech programs in
Microsoft windows, I regret to say i didn't find anything like that in
linux.
I have festival working on my computer; I heard there is a way to make a
.wav file with festival but haven't looked into that yet. also, with my
sblive, I can use loopback recording, have festival read the file and have
it recorded as it is read--time-consuming but still possible. but, besides
this being time-consuming, I don't really find festival's speech yet to be
something I want to record a bunch of files in. However, as the only option,
I could do it.
I can also read the text files with speakup using my doubletalk lt, whose
speech I frankly like better than festival's, maybe because I'm used to it.
However, this would again be time-consuming, having to listen to the whole
file. besides, I'm not sure it's possible. I don't see any way to actually
record my doubletalk lt reading except by putting a microphone in front of
it, which would pick up other noise as well. And there's no way to put it
through my soundcard instead to use loopback recording. finally, I couldn't
get a continuous read because with my doubletalk lt eventually the buffer
gets full (i think that's the explanation) and doubletalk quits reading;
nobody wants a recording done with "more". so probably using my doubletalk
lt is out unless somebody knows something I don't about it--that would be
great!
Has anybody found a good solution for this problem or does anybody know of a
tool for this that I am missing? It would really be nicer to be able to
convert the text file at least to a wav file without having to sit and
listen to the whole thing to do it; I don't mind the subsequent conversion
to ogg as that's easy. If festival is the only way to go with this, has
anybody tried this and is there a shortcut to doing it instead of listening
to the file?
Thanks.


--
Cheryl

"Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."


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