Is it possible to convert an audiobook into an ebook? - Page 2

anamardoll · 03-07-2012, 11:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

That's interesting - thanks for the feedback.

No problem!

And a lot of people do not expect the "no punctuation" thing. I mean, it's obvious in retrospect, but going into a transcription service thinking that you're going to get immediately-readable notes on the other end, it just doesn't work.

You CAN *say* things to indicate punctuation within the results, but an audiobook won't include those commands, of course.

elemenoP · 03-07-2012, 11:46 AM

Plus Anamardoll was trying to get text from her OWN voice (is that right, Anamardoll?) I imagine you can't go through the training process at all when using recordings of someone ELSE's voice.

eP

anamardoll · 03-07-2012, 11:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by elemenoP

Plus Anamardoll was trying to get text from her OWN voice (is that right, Anamardoll?) I imagine you can't go through the training process at all when using recordings of someone ELSE's voice.

eP

Yes, that is correct of what I was doing. But Harry did mention that wouldn't be possible with an audiobook.

Another major problem, that I can see, is that a lot of audiobooks have "fade in" music at the beginning and repeated lines between tracks to place the user.

So, yeah, you're looking at a lot of post-processing. It's not a quick solution.

HarryT · 03-07-2012, 11:51 AM

A friend of mine has the software and tells me that it works pretty well for him. I wonder if it perhaps works a little better for British speakers than for American? I've noticed that some American accents, for example, make the words "merry", "marry", and "Mary" essentially sound the same, whereas in British English they have three distinct and different vowel sounds. Having well-defined vowel sounds could well improve the accuracy of recognition.

HarryT · 03-07-2012, 11:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by anamardoll

Another major problem, that I can see, is that a lot of audiobooks have "fade in" music at the beginning and repeated lines between tracks to place the user.

So, yeah, you're looking at a lot of post-processing. It's not a quick solution.

Yes, I think the whole idea is a complete non-starter. Sending the paper book to "1dollarscan" is probably the cheapest and best solution.

ApK · 03-07-2012, 11:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by joehunt

LOL! My friend has a specific need for digital text. I told him to buy the book and scan it and he is now moaning that the book is 740 pages long and scanning each page will take him *forever*.

He was hoping to just have the audiobook "read" into a word document and magically have the text appear

Any ideas?

There are specialized bound-book scanners. There are service bureaus that will scan and OCR it for him for a cost. I cannot see the speech-to-text being practical with current technology.

Unless you're content to end up with text the quality of a Google Voice transcription: http://gvtranscripts.tumblr.com/

ApK

anamardoll · 03-07-2012, 11:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

A friend of mine has the software and tells me that it works pretty well for him. I wonder if it perhaps works a little better for British speakers than for American? I've noticed that some American accents, for example, make the words "merry", "marry", and "Mary" essentially sound the same, whereas in British English they have three distinct and different vowel sounds. Having well-defined vowel sounds could well improve the accuracy of recognition.

Interesting! I hadn't thought of that, but it makes a great deal of sense. (Some) British English does tend to have more distinct sounds. My merry/marry/Mary do sound pretty similar.

'Course, here in America, we do enunciate our Hs.

There's a difference between "Ana" and "Hannah".

HarryT · 03-07-2012, 11:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by anamardoll

'Course, here in America, we do enunciate our Hs.

There's a difference between "Ana" and "Hannah".

But we correctly say "herbs" with an "h", whereas you say " 'erbs"

.

ApK · 03-07-2012, 12:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

But we correctly say "herbs" with an "h", whereas you say " 'erbs"

.

...which is funny, because some of you lot would call you " 'arry T.", ain't that right, gov?

HarryT · 03-07-2012, 12:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ApK

...which is funny, because some of you lot would call you " 'arry T.", ain't that right, gov?

Only vulgar Cockneys. I was brung up to talk proper, I was.

anamardoll · 03-07-2012, 12:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

But we correctly say "herbs" with an "h", whereas you say " 'erbs"

.

Heh. That does vary by location, of course, but yes, quite a few of us do call them Erbs.

QuantumIguana · 03-07-2012, 01:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

A friend of mine has the software and tells me that it works pretty well for him. I wonder if it perhaps works a little better for British speakers than for American? I've noticed that some American accents, for example, make the words "merry", "marry", and "Mary" essentially sound the same, whereas in British English they have three distinct and different vowel sounds. Having well-defined vowel sounds could well improve the accuracy of recognition.

I didn't know there was a difference in pronunciation. I've watched my share of British TV, and I've never picked up the difference. I'm not saying that it isn't there, it just may be subtle enough so that I didn't notice the difference even when I heard it. In the standard accent you hear on American TV, there doesn't seem to be a difference.

JoHunt · 03-07-2012, 04:12 PM

Thanks everyone for helping me find a good solution. I bought a used copy of the book on Amazon for $2.47

and am having it shipped directly to 1dollarscan.

The whole process will cost around $30 (in addition to paying $7 extra for the direct shipping, I upgraded the scanning somewhat), which is quite reasonable considering the alternatives.

HarryT · 03-07-2012, 04:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by QuantumIguana

I didn't know there was a difference in pronunciation.

You didn't know there was a different in pronunciation between British and American English, or between "merry" and "marry"? A short "e" and a short "a" are distinctly different vowel sounds in British English; I've noticed that the short "e" seems to have almost disappeared in many forms of American English.

ApK · 03-07-2012, 04:45 PM

There you go. It's nice that some problems go away when you throw money at them. Let us know how it turns out.

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03-07-2012, 11:46 AM	#17
elemenoP Wizard Posts: 1,717 Karma: 3790058 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: NYC Device: Kindle Paperwhite, Sony 650	Plus Anamardoll was trying to get text from her OWN voice (is that right, Anamardoll?) I imagine you can't go through the training process at all when using recordings of someone ELSE's voice. eP

03-07-2012, 11:51 AM	#19
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383099 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	A friend of mine has the software and tells me that it works pretty well for him. I wonder if it perhaps works a little better for British speakers than for American? I've noticed that some American accents, for example, make the words "merry", "marry", and "Mary" essentially sound the same, whereas in British English they have three distinct and different vowel sounds. Having well-defined vowel sounds could well improve the accuracy of recognition.

03-07-2012, 04:12 PM	#28
JoHunt I am what I am Posts: 6,625 Karma: 62235665 Join Date: Sep 2011 Device: iPad3, Voyage	Thanks everyone for helping me find a good solution. I bought a used copy of the book on Amazon for $2.47 and am having it shipped directly to 1dollarscan. The whole process will cost around $30 (in addition to paying $7 extra for the direct shipping, I upgraded the scanning somewhat), which is quite reasonable considering the alternatives.

03-07-2012, 04:45 PM	#30
ApK Award-Winning Participant Posts: 7,384 Karma: 68329346 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: NJ, USA Device: Kindle	There you go. It's nice that some problems go away when you throw money at them. Let us know how it turns out.