To create an Autonarration you must first create a Text object on a page in your publication and then attach a sound file to the object. This is described in detail below.
Note:
You can use the text in Button objects to create an Autonarration as well.
Add a Text object to a page as described in Adding Objects to a Page.
Type your text in the box that matches the narration in the sound file you are going to use with this text box.
Note:
No other text should be typed in the Text object and the less formatting of the text the better.
Select the Text object on the page and select Add Autonarrate from the Text menu at the top of the Opus Editor – this will open the Create AutoNarration dialog.
Use the Automatically narrate text with this sound file option in the Create Autonarration dialog to add the sound file containing the narration of the text. Click on the Browse… button to open the Open dialog and locate the sound file on your system.
Note:
You can add any of the following sound formats: WAV, MP3 and OGG sound files.
Use the Number of words highlighted each time option in the Create Autonarration to set the number of words highlighted for each portion of the sound file. Use the spin buttons beside the box to increase or decrease the number of words highlighted. By default, 1 word is highlighted each time.
Click on the OK button to save your changes.
Opus will then try to automatically divide the sound file up into the appropriate number of sections to make the words on the screen match the sound file.
Note:
Opus will be more successful in matching the words to the sound file if the narration is read at an even pace.
If this automatic procedure does not produce exactly what you need, you can edit the sound file and text yourself – see Editing an Autonarration for more information.
The style of text used to highlight text during an AutoNarrate is set by the Text Effect styles on the Text tab of the object’s Properties dialog. Styles can be selected from those available by clicking on the drop-down list provided – see Text Effect Styles for more information.
The default style is set for you but you can either edit this default or create a new style by clicking the Customise button.
AutoNarrate works most successfully when you use a bold text for both plain and highlighted text but then change the colour to indicate the highlight progression. Using a normal font for the plain text and a bold font for the highlight will cause the text to be larger and may result in an undesirable concertina or overlap effect. There is an option to double the space between words to help avoid this.
By default, an Autonarration will start as soon as the Text object is displayed on the page – see Editing an Autonarration for more information.
You can stop and play an Autonarration using the Play Autonarrate and Stop Autonarrate actions.
Note:
If you want a more sophisticated highlighting of text, you can achieve this using multiple objects. Create the text in the individual sections you want highlighted and then use a Timeline object to show a highlighted version in time with the narration. Obviously this is more time-consuming than the AutoNarrate feature and is therefore probably only suitable for short pieces of text.