Tweet
I know not everyone likes audiobooks, but for me it doesn't matter if I'm reading the book myself or hearing it... my mind still processes the story the same way. And in some cases audiobooks are better, such as when I'm knitting or driving.
In addition to audiobooks I also have a strong love for (*legally*) downloading books from the internet. Especially when it's cheap - or even free. One of my favorite sites has pretty good prices too - usually 6 bucks a book, unless you get a pre-released ARC which costs more than the hardcover.
But the main part is that the books can be downloaded in RTF format. Which brings us to how I make my own audiobooks.
Granted this isn't an *easy* task... it will take a few hours depending on how much patience you have and how much effort you're willing to put into it. But here's what I do.
1) I can't work with the RTF format (for reason's I'll explain below) so I have to save a copy of the file in TXT format.
2) From experience I know some words will be poorly pronounced - either weirdly pronounced or the computer picks the wrong version of the word ... like with "wind". So I use find/replace to fix those. And ... no idea why but the computer things "paladin" is "pa-lay-din" instead of "pala-din".
3) Separate into chapters. It's easier this way... smaller files etc.
I also, because of my own preference, start each chapter with the title, author, and chapter number as "Chapter 1.0." The periods matter because it tells the computer to pause.
The numbering helps too, because I use it to designate when there's a break in the chapter. So I use 1.1. and 1.2. etc depending on how many breaks there are.
4) Finally it's ready for the meat of the operation... converting to audio.
For several years Macs have had a "say" command that works with Terminal (the mac version of CMD window).
There's a lot of options for it. And you don't even have to use terminal really. I have a keystroke set up that allows me to highlight any text, hit my keystroke, and the mac reads it to me in the default voice. although that won't make any files.
To actually make the file I use this... which is actually one of the commands I ran in Terminal.
say -v Alex -o Gird/Chapter_2-25.aiff -f Gird/Chapter_2-25.txt
This creates the audio-file based on what's in the text file.
(bonus points to anyone who recognizes what series this came from)
Some things to keep in mind while doing it.
a) DO NOT USE RTF. It will "speak" all the formatting code as well as the text. It sounds like shit when spoken. This is why I convert to txt first.
b) Don't use spaces in the titles. The commands will break
c) It creates .aiff files I think you can make MP3 too but I haven't tried yet. I usually just make the files, shove them into itunes, then convert to MP3. I do not know if there's a file size difference. I will check when I convert next.
d) I recommend the "Alex" voice. It sounds the most human and takes breaths while talking.
e) I also recommend having a voice keystroke so you can see what some tricky words sound like before you make the files.
So if you find a trouble word - i.e. the Alex voice cannot pronounce "hoof" ... it sounds like "hffff". So I usually spell it as "whoof". And some made up names will come out wrong too.
And there you go... audiobooks made on the computer.
In addition to audiobooks I also have a strong love for (*legally*) downloading books from the internet. Especially when it's cheap - or even free. One of my favorite sites has pretty good prices too - usually 6 bucks a book, unless you get a pre-released ARC which costs more than the hardcover.
But the main part is that the books can be downloaded in RTF format. Which brings us to how I make my own audiobooks.
Granted this isn't an *easy* task... it will take a few hours depending on how much patience you have and how much effort you're willing to put into it. But here's what I do.
1) I can't work with the RTF format (for reason's I'll explain below) so I have to save a copy of the file in TXT format.
2) From experience I know some words will be poorly pronounced - either weirdly pronounced or the computer picks the wrong version of the word ... like with "wind". So I use find/replace to fix those. And ... no idea why but the computer things "paladin" is "pa-lay-din" instead of "pala-din".
3) Separate into chapters. It's easier this way... smaller files etc.
I also, because of my own preference, start each chapter with the title, author, and chapter number as "Chapter 1.0." The periods matter because it tells the computer to pause.
The numbering helps too, because I use it to designate when there's a break in the chapter. So I use 1.1. and 1.2. etc depending on how many breaks there are.
4) Finally it's ready for the meat of the operation... converting to audio.
For several years Macs have had a "say" command that works with Terminal (the mac version of CMD window).
There's a lot of options for it. And you don't even have to use terminal really. I have a keystroke set up that allows me to highlight any text, hit my keystroke, and the mac reads it to me in the default voice. although that won't make any files.
To actually make the file I use this... which is actually one of the commands I ran in Terminal.
say -v Alex -o Gird/Chapter_2-25.aiff -f Gird/Chapter_2-25.txt
This creates the audio-file based on what's in the text file.
(bonus points to anyone who recognizes what series this came from)
Some things to keep in mind while doing it.
a) DO NOT USE RTF. It will "speak" all the formatting code as well as the text. It sounds like shit when spoken. This is why I convert to txt first.
b) Don't use spaces in the titles. The commands will break
c) It creates .aiff files I think you can make MP3 too but I haven't tried yet. I usually just make the files, shove them into itunes, then convert to MP3. I do not know if there's a file size difference. I will check when I convert next.
d) I recommend the "Alex" voice. It sounds the most human and takes breaths while talking.
e) I also recommend having a voice keystroke so you can see what some tricky words sound like before you make the files.
So if you find a trouble word - i.e. the Alex voice cannot pronounce "hoof" ... it sounds like "hffff". So I usually spell it as "whoof". And some made up names will come out wrong too.
And there you go... audiobooks made on the computer.
Comment