Technical notes index
If
you want a text document to be converted to an audio file to listen to
on your iPod or whatever, then this Applescript will achieve
this. I have provided a copy of this as an application here: DOWNLOAD.
To use:
1. Run the script, select a plain text file in the dialog.
2. Enter a voice to use, or just click "OK" to use the default voice
selected in System Preferences.
3. Enter a name for the sound file which will be created.
If
the text is a long one it may take some time to complete (wait for the
application to close). Note that the
original must be a plain text file: if you open a file made in a word
processing program it will read all the coded garbage.
The file will be saved in AIFF format to the Desktop. You can convert
it to MP3 if required in iTunes.
If you prefer you can make up the application yourself. Copy the
following into the AppleScript Editor:
____________________________________________
property xyz : ""
property fname : ""
property pth : ""
property vce : ""
property snme : ""
set fname to choose file with prompt "Choose a Plain Text file to read"
set pth to fname as string
set
user_input to display dialog "Choose a voice, or just click OK to use
the default voice" default answer "" buttons {"Cancel", "OK"} default
button "OK" with icon note
if button returned of user_input is "OK" then
set vce to text returned of user_input as string
end if
set
user_input to display dialog "Enter a name for the sound file" default
answer "" buttons {"Cancel", "OK"} default button "OK" with icon note
if button returned of user_input is "OK" then
set snme to text returned of user_input as string
end if
set xyz to read file pth
say xyz using vce saving to ((path to desktop as text) & snme &
".aiff")
_____________________________________________________
Save as an application.
There are some additional voices for sale at http://cepstral.com/ , of which
'David' is probably the most realistic.