Text to speech cost

The cost 

I started with the soundforge 18 trial version, then bought the program with the thought that I paid for the play toy for ever.

When I posted in a form they asked if I had using the data already

According to them, there is 120,000 characters to speech with purchase?

My window started out with 10,000 max?

The only thing I can think of is 10,000 characters come with the trial version and after I bought it, their system did not come out with my character allowence?

Any how I never got to produce one thing in my goal

Anything you hear on your computer can be recorded says these guys Youtube
Windows has a recorder app, after you get it figured out, start your recording then press record.

There are lots of 'free' text to speech apps that tempt you then charge or say 'free download'

If it won't work with out the internet there is likely a $$$ hook.

I kept reading about Balabolka being free and tried it.

https://www.cross-plus-a.com/balabolka.htm

Saying free then clicked around and found where you could buy it for $100 ?

Hmmm FREE???

There are a lot of other voices you can download to work with it.

As for soundforge if there are tools I can use with out paying them more, I will likely play and experiment.

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Writing something then hearing it later, you will likely keep revising your script.

You might find and use a free textTOspeech program, to perfect the sound track, then pay to have it recorded into a voice you like best.

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So many charters for an x-amount of characters, how much do you need.

Write your text and paste it into Grammarly (free)

There are lots of free books in Gutenberg that can be copied in text, you might try that.

The cost of turning text into speech.

No matter what you can paste into the conversion window, it is converted into plain text.

Write your script, check the word count in Grammarly then multiply it by 3, guessing you will wanna make lots of changes.

If you work with others on a script, use Google Docs, you can share them, be on the same document at the same time and have a conversation.

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In the last decades I have downloaded and kept using free software that actually worked. As time went on they 'improved it' then started charging.. 

If it needs the internet to work, it is IFY how long it will work with out paying

It states Balabolka will work with XP and up.

After having Balabolka installed. I turned off my computer, turned off wifi, then turned the computer back on. It will work with out an interent connection.

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As for paying any business money for them to convert speech into text... Duh, Google and Windows does that for free. I tried it and it worked great.

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After paying $100 for soundforge for text to speech, I might buy one refill $15 for 600,000 characters.. hmmm

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IF your New computers not working with software you bought

I love XP because I can write programs and it has most everything I use. I bought a device that lets me share data. It is also a virus protection safety net.
I bought the power booster, one end plugs into both computers, the other into a usb bank that I have drives and flash memory plugged into.

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Just ranting 

The soundforge guys still have not sent the extra cd I paid for but what the hell, I can't use it with out being on the internet and buying more characters from them 😏

As for help from soundforge.. well can't single them out, it is the state of customer help.. read our faq, go to this page, leading to that page..

Forms are ok for a couple bits of help but they can not keep up.. then they have the AI responders that keep making you to type in information that has nothing to do with your quest.

On a lucky day they connect you to talk to someone from a foreign country and repeat the same process over and over.

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The cost of text to speech

If the text to speech charge is (a) number of Characters for (b) dollar amount, easy example:

(a) 10000 characters for (b) $10

10/10000 = (c) .001 dollars per character

Cost to transcribe a  (d) 50,000 script

= (c) .001 x (d) 50,000 characters.

$50 can this be right ?

Even with any bulk rate deduction would this dollar amount be what you would actually pay for your audio clip?

After writing info, most people will want to revise it again and again, so multiply your cost by that factor.

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If you only use a fraction of your character allowance , the character cost is more. You are only getting a portion of what you paid for.

Of course you could just use it up with fun audio files or be tempted to buy more for another project.

Using text to speech would only be profitable to those who use it to earn money?

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I Downloaded the Gospels  (plain text)

Using grammarly it gave 997817 CHARACTERS in the gospels (4 books)

Not that people wold do this but to show what text to speech conversions would cost.

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If personal computers have the power to generate AI voices.

For those who use this service for their own music or project, a text to speech product that would be useful would be one with a couple voices that would work on their own computers.

For extra charges they could buy other voices

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Having a discussion with Google AI, their response

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Did you mean: The cost of text to speech If the text to speech charge is (a) number of Characters for (b) dollar amount, easy example: (a) 10000 characters for (b) $10 10/10000 = (c) .001 dollars per character Cost to transcribe a (d) 50,000 script = (c) .001 x (d) 50,000 characters. $50 can this be right ? Even with any bulk rate deduction would this dollar amount be what you would actually pay for your audio clip? After writing info, most people will want to revise it again and again, so multiply your cost by that factor. *** If you only use a fraction of your character allowance , the character cost is more. You are only getting a portion of what you paid for. Of course you could just use it up with fun audio files or be tempted to buy more for another project. Using text to speech would only be profitable to those who use it to earn money? *** I Downloaded the Gospels (plain text) Using grammarly it have 997817 CHARACTERS in the gospels (4 books) Not that people would do this but to show what text to speech conversions would cost. *** If personal computers have the power to generate AI voices. For those who use this service for their own music or project, a text to speech product that would be useful would be one with a couple voices that would work on their own computers. For extra charges they could buy other voices

AI Overview

Here's an overview of text-to-speech costs and how they might affect your projects:

Calculating Text-to-Speech Costs

Your calculation of $0.001 per character based on a rate of 10,000 characters for $10 is correct. Using this rate, a 50,000-character script would cost $50. Many services offer tiered pricing or bulk discounts, where the cost per character decreases as the volume increases. 

For example, Google Cloud's standard voices start at $4 per 1 million characters after a free usage limit of up to 4 million characters. Other providers, like OpenAI, offer different rates for their TTS and TTS HD models, with TTS at $15 per 1 million characters and TTS HD at $30 per 1 million characters. 

Revisions and Their Impact

Revisions can definitely affect the overall cost. If you're using a pay-per-character service, each revision means re-processing the text, and therefore, incurring additional charges for the re-synthesized characters. Some services or plans may offer a limited number of revisions or include them in a higher tier. 

Profitability and Usage

Whether using text-to-speech is profitable depends on your specific use case. For professional content creators, businesses generating voiceovers, or developers building voice-enabled applications, the cost can be offset by the value and reach of the generated audio. For individuals with a personal project or hobby, it's a matter of weighing the cost against the benefit and enjoyment they derive from it. 

Local vs. Cloud-Based Text-to-Speech

You raise an interesting point about local processing for personal use. While most commercially available text-to-speech solutions are cloud-based (which means you send text to a remote server for processing), local TTS solutions are available and are becoming increasingly sophisticated. Local TTS runs directly on your computer, which offers benefits such as: 

• Privacy: No data is sent to external servers, making it suitable for sensitive information.
• Offline Functionality: You don't need an internet connection to generate speech.
• Low Latency: Faster processing times since data doesn't travel to a remote server. 

However, local TTS also has limitations, such as:

• Computational Resources: Requires a powerful computer to handle the processing.
• Limited Voice Options: The number of available voices and languages might be restricted compared to cloud-based services.
• Updates and Maintenance: Keeping the software updated and optimized requires more effort. 

The Gospels Example

Your example of the Gospels highlights how quickly the character count can add up, impacting the potential cost, particularly with services that have higher per-character rates. However, it's essential to remember that many services also have free tiers or offer different pricing structures beyond the initial pay-per-character model. 

Conclusion

The cost of text-to-speech varies significantly depending on the provider, voice quality, features, and usage volume. While your basic calculation is a good starting point, remember to explore different providers and pricing models to find the solution that best fits your needs and budget. As you pointed out, the landscape of text-to-speech is evolving, with both cloud and local options offering unique advantages. 

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