Voice Settings

Pronunciation

The Pronunciation tool allows users to alter the pronunciation of any word in the project. This can be utilized when a specific voice cannot accurately pronounce a word.

There are 2 ways to alter the pronunciation of a word:

Alternative spelling :

• This method deals with breaking down the word and spelling out the syllables for more accurate pronunciation.
•  E.g., The word "Present" can be pronounced as "present" or "pre-zent" both having different meanings and pronunciations.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet):

• In phonology and linguistics, a phoneme is a unit of sound that can distinguish one word from another in a particular language. 
• We suggest using third-party websites like Tophonetics, Dictionary, Wiktionary, Easypronunciation, and other websites on Google to acquire the right IPA for the pronunciations.
•  Eg: How: haʊ | Help: hˈɛlp | Recoil: riˈkɔɪl | Specific: spəsˈɪfɪk

The Pronunciation feature can be accessed by double clicking on the word that requires correction in pronunciation.

Pronunciation menu

Smart suggestions

Smart suggestions present a range of IPAs and alternative spellings for the word. To hear a preview of these smart suggestions, click the play button.

Add custom pronunciation

The studio accepts custom IPA and alternative spellings. They can be added to the list of suggested pronunciations under the "custom (personal)" tab by clicking on the Add Pronunciation button and can be accessed anytime in the future.

Important points:

• • After entering the pronunciation, it can be previewed by clicking on the preview button. 
  • For IPA to be applied in the project, click on Save. 
    • Failed to generate: This would occur if the system does not recognize the IPA entered. In such cases, try an alternative IPA.
    • If the error persists, reach out to the support team via email (support@murf.ai) or live chat, and we will assist you with the appropriate solution.
  • After saving IPA, the sentences containing the word will need to be re-rendered.

Apply and Apply to Project

• • The Apply button applies the new pronunciation to the word present in that particular sub-block only.
  • The "Apply to Project" button applies the pronunciation to the same word present throughout the project.

Manage Pronunciations

• Once a custom pronunciation has been saved, it can be accessed by selecting Manage Pronunciation at the bottom of the menu.
• Custom pronunciations can also be shared with your teams from this tab. 
• Previously saved custom pronunciations are sorted by language. 
• Previously saved custom pronunciation can be found using the search bar.

• The updated word will be highlighted in pink once the pronunciation has been updated.

Use-cases

• Abbreviations
• Pronouns
• Hetronyms
• Accents

Pause

The pause feature is an essential tool for syncing voice-over videos and presentations. Adding pauses also aids in achieving a more realistic output. 

There are a total of 3 ways to add a pause in the script:

1. Pre-defined pauses
2. Punctuation
3. Increased block size

Pre-defined Pauses

• Extra Weak (250ms), Weak (0.5s), Medium (0.75s), Strong (1s), Extra Strong (1.25s), 
• Or enter a custom pause time between 0.1 to 5.0 seconds.
• Custom pauses can also be added to your script by typing the syntax [pause Xs]
• Where "X' is the pause duration value between 0.1 to 5.0.

Since Murf voices are trained on professional voice actors, the default pause present when adding punctuation or at the end of blocks and sub-blocks is fixed and will vary across each voice. However, if the default pause does not meet your requirements, it can be altered by entering a custom pause.
Example: 
If the pause is too long at the end of a sub-block, block, or sentence, simply enter a custom pause: [pause 0.1s]
And if the pause is too short, then enter a longer custom pause of 0.3 to 0.5 seconds.

Punctuation marks:

Certain punctuation marks, such as full stops (.) and commas (,) add a natural pause to the script. 

The pause duration for punctuations varies from voice to voice. 

Increasing voice block size:

Longer pauses can be added at the end of each voice block by selecting the block from the bottom timeline and increasing the size by dragging the slider present. 

Once the pauses are updated, click on the generate button (play button) to generate audio and listen to the updated AI voice.

Inserting a pause to start the voice over from a particular timestamp: 
1. Create an empty block at the beginning of the project and start your script from the second block. 
2. Then select the first block from the timeline stretch it to the timestamp from which you wish the voiceover to start. 
3. Use the play button to build and preview the project.

Use-cases:

• Including pauses in the script improves the delivery and produces a more natural voiceover.
• It facilitates the synchronization of images and videos with the narration.
• It enables the voice over to begin from a specific timestamp.

Pitch

Speed

• Select the text block.
• Drag the node and move from left to right to increase and decrease the speed. Move the scale below -50% for a slower pace. Similarly, for a faster pace, move the scale above +50%.
• Click on the Generate audio button to update the changes made.
• Once updated, click the generate button (play button) to generate audio and listen to the updated AI voice.
• Click on Reset to default to reset the speed setting back to normal.

Emphasis

The Emphasis feature assists users in adding stress to the given word, changing the intonation of the sentence, and emphasizing a particular word or set of words.

Example: "Hey, how can I help you?"  

Using the emphasis feature, we can make this sentence sound more like a question than a statement. This is done b adding emphasis nodes towards the end of the sentence.

Emphasis menu

Click on the message icon with a star in the text block to open the Emphasis window.

Adding nodes in the Emphasis graph

• The Emphasis graph shows the emphasis values on the Y-axis and the sentence on the X-axis. 
• Nodes can be placed by clicking anywhere in the window. 
• Upto 5 nodes can be added within the graph. 
• Depending on the Y-axis value the node is placed at, the output would vary accordingly. 
• Placing nodes right after the word to be emphasized gives the best results. 
• Adding a weak pause or comma before the word to be emphasized also improves the final output. 
• We recommend not placing the node too high or too low, as this would cause the voiceover to sound poor or distorted.

Preview

Clicking on the Preview button would generate a preview of the voice with emphasized words.

Remove node

The node can be removed by selecting it and clicking the Remove Node button.

Reset

Click the Reset button to remove all the nodes in the emphasis graph.

Apply

Click the Apply button to save the changes made to your project from the emphasis menu.

The emphasis button is now golden.

The Emphasis icon will now be golden to indicate that the text in the text block has been emphasized.

Legacy Emphasis

• We have recently updated the logic by which the emphasis feature works.
• The legacy emphasis refers to the older logic.
• To switch to an earlier version of the Emphasis feature, enable "Legacy Emphasis." 
• The previous emphasis logic altered the volume and energy of the voice to emphasize the words, whereas the current emphasis graph alters the pitch.