Youtube narration: Not just text to speech anymore

[Brad Johnson]

I've become accustomed to some Youtube videos narrated by some form of text-to-speech. I guess some people don't mind but I can recognize it instantly and it drives me nuts.

Today I ran across a pre-vid add that wasn't only text to speech, it was a computer-generated person on screen. Well, the mouth, at least. The narration was obviously TtS, but there was a person on the screen so I was thrown for a second. Then I realized it was probably an establishing plate shot using a real actor, maybe even someone speaking the actual words as the body, head, and eye movements seem legit, but with mouth movement digitally generated to match the words. Pretty darn convincing, too. Maybe something with the original audio or the actor had a vocal quality they didn't like?

Look for an add hawking solar power upgrades where there is a single-story stucco home with solar panels in the background, a female actor with light hair and a blue shirt in the foreground. The company is Home Solar Pros.

Brad

[Devonai]

Rachael:   Do you mind if I smoke?
Deckard:   It won't affect the test. All right, I'm going to ask you a series of questions. Just relax and answer them as simply as you can. -- It's your birthday. Someone gives you a calfskin wallet.
Rachael:   I wouldn't accept it. Also, I'd report the person who gave it to me to the police.
Deckard:   You've got a little boy. He shows you his butterfly collection plus the killing jar.
Rachael:   I'd take him to the doctor.
Deckard:   You're watching television. Suddenly you realize there's a wasp crawling on your arm.
Rachael:   I'd kill it.
Deckard:   You're reading a magazine. You come across a fullpage nude photo of a girl.
Rachael:   Is this testing whether I'm a replicant or a lesbian, Mr. Deckard?
Deckard:   Just answer the questions, please -- You show it to your husband. He likes it so much he hangs it on your bedroom wall.
Rachael:   I wouldn't let him.
Deckard:   Why not?
Rachael:   I should be enough for him.