Saturday, March 30, 2013

Best text to speech part 2 Review of Imtranslator




Best Text to Speech options part 2
I'll be talking about what I feel is the top eight or ten software programs for text to speech.  The first one on our list is Im Translator, and these are not in any particular order.  We'll be talking about what I've learned from using this program and from testing it.





Imtranslator
I'm Translator is an on line text to speech and translator, you can use it to imbed into your web site for non noncommercial use. The reader would be to me a 8 on a 1 to 10 scale. As far as I can tell this is a free product as long as it is not used commercially.

I downloaded this to firefox as an ad on it seems safe and works really good.  Once it's on your browser you can right click on any set of text, and it will do various tasks. If you want to read a section of text that is 1000 characters highlight the text and then right click on the text and click on Imtranslator tools then over to Imtranslator tts.

The reader is really good, he pauses very well at periods and commas.  I did notice he does not seem to recognizance the & sign. I used it also to translate something one of my German friends said, I really liked it, there was about four options to decide which translation I wanted to go with. I can't speak German so I can't say how well it worked, but it did give me the idea of what he was trying to say. 



Here is a sample and another screen shot.  I think this is really a cool bit of software and I give it a rating of 8.  I would give it a ten if it would read more words at a time and if you could ave it to mp3.


I must say I tried to use their embed code and at this time it is not working. But here is the link. http://tts.imtranslator.net/Oje8


Pro's 
You can print, change voices, get a translation. The pop up screen has a dictionary, a spell check. You can email your pop up box. Embed it, change the text size. It has about every language you could ask for. It's really nice when you're too tired to read to be able to just highlight something, right click on something and have a nice sounding voice read something to you. I really like this program.

Con's 
A con I have is that I could not find anywhere to create an account, or to save the work as a mp3 file. I'm not saying that you can't do either, I just did not find these options. Now and then on the main page the pop up window will not expand, but if you are using the downloaded version it opens just fine.  There are a lot of adds and commercials since this program is free. All in all it's a handy little piece of software.

I found several ways to find this program so I'll post the links
Imtranslator Home
Translate & Speak
Compare Translations
Try it for yourself and hear the quality here
Screen shots are from imtranslator.

Rating 8 out of 10

Thanks for reading and come back soon to find out more about the best text to speech out there.
Don't forget to subscribe by email 






Samantha Fury is the author of  the Street Justice Series
She's written many articles on book covers, for Indie Authors.  
She operates several Indie Groups. Editing Services, Cover Artist, 
Helpful Indie Facebook Groups, and a wonderful Forum 
just for Indie Authors.


Images thanks to Bigstock photographers. 
Javier Brosch
Edward Fielding

The Best Text To Speech for Authors part 1




Text to Speech
I love this new age that we live in, and all of the toys that we Authors have at our finger tips. We will be looking in detail at the different options authors have these days. for text to speech.  There are many choices and we will be trying to cover the best options available.


 



Subscribe 
I know this will take more than one blog post to cover all there is to say on this subject so hang into your seats and book mark us so you don't miss one post.  I don't blog a lot so your inbox won't be filled with useless post that say nothing at all. If you want to join this blog with your email account just click on the cute puppy and add us to your list.



Uses for Text To Speech 

Editing 
I use text to speech for two reasons. Editing, and Reviews.  Listening to your own book in audio form is a great way to edit, and to catch those mistakes that you might not otherwise catch. It's also a great way to entertain yourself while you're working.  Listening to a story, your own or another author, is a great way to make washing the dishes just fly by.


Reviews 
It's also a good way to swap reviews, authors don't have a lot of time so we need to use every minute as wisely as possible. Just be sure and don't do anything that needs a lot of attention, we don't want you running into the ditch or burning supper because you're so lost in an audio that you forget where you are.




 
Choices 
The choices are many and I'm sure that I have not collected information on every text to speech out there but I hope to hit the top eight, and tell you what I have learned about all of them. We as Indies all have our own reasons why we want a product so your choice may vary from mine, to which one of these is really the top text to speech readers.

Prices
As usual prices will range from free to way too much. How much you want to spend will depend on how often, how picky, and what you plan on using this product for.  Also some are pc only and some you can save as a mp3 files so you can carry your little creation every where you go.



I hope to have our first look at the top eight text to speech soon. Be watching for it. :)

Thanks for reading Samantha

Part two can be found here


Samantha Fury is the author of  the Street Justice Series
She's written many articles on book covers, for Indie Authors.  
She operates several Indie Groups. Editing Services, Cover Artist, 
Helpful Indie Facebook Groups, and a wonderful Forum 
just for Indie Authors.


Images thanks to Bigstock photographers. 
Javier Brosch
Annette Shaff
Edward Fielding

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Irsh Gold Hop an Interview with Angel Morganson



Irish Gold Blog Hop   Join in on the fun and check out the link at the bottom of the page. There are free gifts here and there sprinkled along the blog hop path.  Don't miss out on all of the fun.







At the end of the rainbow
 Did you ever really wonder what was at the end of the rainbow.  Well that's the question today.  I won't tell you what I think, but I will let Angel Morganson tell you about his pot of gold that he hopes to get his hands on one day.





Angelo Morganson
Angelo walks in sits his coffee down on the desk and situates his long legs under his desk and leans back.  He looked at me with this what did you need look and I smile and say.   "So we finally meet, face to face.  Do you mind if I call you Angelo.  I think it suits you to a T."

"I don't mind." He says reaching out to take a sip of his coffee.  "But as you know I'm always busy fighting crime and waiting for the next case, so lets make this quick."

"Sure. I'd like to know what do you consider is your pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, and I am taking notes."

Angel leaned back in his chair and smiled. "Being alive at the end of the day is a good place to start."

"I'm sure it is, and for an undercover officer I'm sure that's on your mind a lot, but lets take things to another level.  Tell me, going past that, to something deep within your soul what you see as the true pot of gold."

"Souls, you're not going to start preaching are you. I get a fair amount of that from Charlie and Nyssa."

"No," I laughed. "I'm not preaching today.

"Good, and for my thoughts on rainboys and what might be at the end of them, I think it can vary, and that there are many rainbows that we come to in our lives.  I like to think of every day as a little pot of gold.  I love waking up to see another sunrise, and I love a day when it's nothing but me and the bike on some two lane backroad."

"I think Charlie is having more of an effect on you than you'd like to admit."

Angel laughed that deep throaty laugh that I love so much, he reached up pushed his fingers through his dark hair and gave me that smile that made us all fall in love with him.

"Maybe." He drew out a breath and leaned forward, "But, you didn't hear it from me."   He once again looked at his watch and I knew that it was my que to leave.

"So your final words is that every day is a blessing, and that you hope to have many rainbows in your future."

"Yeah, that's my take on the matter, but I'm a guy what do I know about rainbows and gold.  Now, if you want to talk about guts, guns and glory, that will be something I know more about."

I rose to my feet and looked at Angelo. "I think I'll save that for another day."  He smiled and gave me a slow nod.  "Any final words," I asked?

Angel rubbed his chin, and gave it a little thought. "I suppose in a way it's how you view life in general.  Some people might think a pot of Gold was winning the lottery, to others, a trip to a foreign land, and to some it could be nothing more than a four leaf clover at the end of a hard day's work."

"Thanks Angelo, I'll come back another day and we'll talk about guts, guns and glory."

"Promises, promises." 

I hated to turn my back on him but it was time to go, "Be  careful out there." I called over my shoulder, and in that cocky tone that I'd learned to expect I heard him call out.

"I don't have to be careful I've got a gun." 





I'll be giving away five free E-copies of Book 1 Street Justice Charlie's Angel via smash-words.  If you are one of the first five to comment add me as a friend on face book and PM me with your email. :)  If you already have book one I'll get you a coupon for book two.   If things go really well I may give away a few more of both!!

Thanks for dropping by check out my great friend Dave King he might have a gift up his sleeve too.
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Friday, March 8, 2013

Interview With NaNoWriMo Executive Director Grant Faulkner

This Monday we are going to Interview NaNoWriMo Executive Director. If you are a NaNo fan, please join us. 

The show will air this Monday Live at 9 pm eastern time 



Welcome to my blog

Welcome to my blog. Mom just got home from getting 5 new stichtes. Here I am going to bed at 6 a.m. Not a good thing. I hope to soon get som...