How to quickly create a narration for a video for YouTube etc. with a text-to-speech software. Tips and keys
Jan. 17, 2021

Hello, welcome to Ondoku website.
One of the major uses of Ondoku is for making narration for videos on YouTube.
It isn't surprising since for those who don't want to use their own voice, text-to-speech software is very convenient.
This video also uses the voice of Ondoku for narration.
We think it's a little tricky to make a narration for a video using Ondoku.
Today, we will introduce how to make a video narration with Ondoku.
The steps to make a narration by Ondoku are:
- Make a script.
- Separate into each line.
- Convert to speech line by line using Ondoku.
- Download the audio files if the result is satisfactory.
- Revise and reconvert if you are not satisfied.
- Load the audio files to video editing software.
- Edit the pauses.
- You are done!
For each step, we will explain the tips and keys in detail.
1. Make a script.
First, we need a script.
Ondoku uses Google Docs.
Of course, any tool that can write text, such as Word, Excel, or Notepad, is fine.
The script made in this step can be used as a YouTube subtitle, too.
This Ondoku video is a video with a narration that keeps talking by itself.
In such cases, 2000 letters will make a movie of about 5 minutes.
You may feel that the narrator keeps talking all at once. If you adjust the pauses a little longer, it will become a video of about 7 minutes, too.
Also, if you are narrating with images, you can freely adjust the time.
- What is the theme of the video?
- How long will the video be?
- Does the flow of the story sound natural?
With these in mind, you will be able to make a script smoothly.
2. Separate each line.
An important tip in creating a script is to separate each line.
By doing this, it will be much easier for generating audio files with Ondoku later.
3. Convert to speech line by line using Ondoku
Once the script is complete, the next step is to make audio files for narration through Ondoku.
Please copy one line from the script, paste it in the text box of Ondoku to read it aloud.
The key is to make audio files by line, although it is time consuming.
By reading line by line,
- It will be easier to correct the audio file.
- It will be easier to adjust the pauses when editing videos.
- You can minimize the character count of Ondoku by avoiding converting at once.
These are the advantages of reading line by line.
4. Download the audio files if the result is satisfactory
If the generated audio sounds good, download it.
If you assign a number "1. 2. 3. 4." to each line when saving the files, it will be easier to edit the video later.
With the numbers assigned, you can prevent the order of narration from being switched.
5. Revise and reconvert if you are not satisfied
If you feel something is wrong with the generated voice, please revise the script.
You can easily correct the pause by using punctuations.
Adjusting intonation can be a bit tricky. Please try the followings:
- Add punctuations.
- Use a bracket.
- Change the wiring from/to Kanji, Katakana, or Hiragana.
- Replace the Kanji to homonymous
Intonation may slightly change with these actions.
In Ondoku, the intonation changes a little when we use the notation "text-to-speech sofuto (Katakana)" and "text-to-speech sofuto (Hiragana)".
So, when we make a narration, we use Hiragana "text-to-speech sofuto".
Please note that unfortunately, spaces, exclamation mark and question mark do not affect intonation.
It can be adjusted with SSML (Speech Synthesis Markup Language), too, but we'll keep how to do that at another time.
6. Load the audio files to video editing software
Now you can load the audio files saved into the video editing software.
If you assign numbers to the file names in saving, it will be easy to insert narration in order.
7. Edit the pauses
When inserting narration, video often requires a certain amount of interval time between narration.
Without appropriate pauses, it may be difficult for the audience to understand.
In such case, put pauses between each line.
The interval changes and the video becomes easier to watch.
8. You are done!
Through these steps explained above, the video narration is now complete.
Having done with the narration, you can further proceed with video editing as you like.
A little tips lead to wonderful narration.
This time, we introduced the method that we use when making videos. If you know any other good or even better ones, please share with us in the comments section.
Since the number of users has increased recently, the day we hear the voice of Ondoku in our life might be close!
The voice quality of text-to-speech software is much more advanced than it used to be.
The speech is so wonderful that you may even not notice that the voice is generated through software.
Please give it a try!
I'm looking forward to seeing you at Ondoku website.
Email: ondoku3.com@gmail.com
"Ondoku" is a Text-to-Speech service that anyone can use for free without installation. If you sign up for free, you can convert up to 5,000 characters per month for free from text to speech. Register now for free