SmartBuilder > Help Documentation > Objects > Text to Speech

Convert text to speech

Speed up course development by converting text to speech right in SmartBuilder. For example, use the text-to-speech feature to quickly narrate a course or to localize narration in different languages. You can even customize the voice and language, and add cue points, pauses and emphasis to make sure that the speech sounds just right.

Convert text to speech

  1. Add a Text-to-Speech object to the page.
    text to speech object
  2. Double-click the gray text-to-speech placeholder to edit it.
  3. You must be online to generate text-to-speech audio. Login to the SmartBuilder portal, if you have not already done so.
    portal login screen
  4. Type or paste the text you want to convert into the field, then select a language and voice.

    Tip Use the controls in the Text-to-Speech editor to customize the audio.


    text to speech editor
  5. Click the play button to preview the audio, or the OK button to generate the audio.

Generate text-to-speech captions

By default, text-to-speech captions are visible on the page. You can change how these appear using the Caption Mode property as follows:

Property Description

All

The entire block of text will remain visible as the audio plays

Paragraph

Paragraphs will appear one at a time in sync with the audio

Sentence

Sentences will appear one at a time in sync with the audio

Line

One line of text will appear at a time in sync with the audio

None

No caption text will be shown

Tip You can highlight the caption text as it is being spoken using the Highlight property.


text to speech properties

Use a player bar to control text-to-speech audio

The text-to-speech object has a built-in Player property which you can use to pause, play and scrub the audio. However, for greater control of the placement and look-and-feel of the player, add the text-to-speech object to the timeline and use a separate Player Bar object to control the timeline and text-to-speech audio.

  1. Right-click on the Text-to-Speech object.
  2. Select Add to Timeline.
  3. Add a Player Bar object to your page.
    player bar object
  4. Adjust the Player Bar’s Properties to customize its look-and-feel.