Mac VOICE mod programs for SL?

Does anybody know what voice modification programs are available for MAC that work with the type microphone input for VOICE in SL. PC users apparently have number to choice from.

What Mac programs are there? Are they any good? How do you configure them?

I wish to remain a mouse. Squeak...

Hello fellow Mac users,

The technical support people of Amoeba software provided me with instructions for setting up real time voice modification. I tested this on the beta grid, and it works very well.

Audio Hijack Pro is commercial software ($32) that captures audio streams from any application or any audio input device. While the principal function is to record the audio, it can also be used to modify the audio stream and feed the modified stream to other applications.

1. Set up Audio Hijack Pro to use your microphone as input. Start the hijack, but it not necessary, or desireable in this situation, to start the recorder -- just leave it off.

2. In the effects tab, set up a chain of effects that you wish to use, for example the Apple AUpitch filter that allows the shift of vocal pitch (this is likely the one you want to use most of the time). You can chain together as many effects as you wish.

3. For the last effect in the chain, place the "Auxillary Device Output". This directs the audio stream to an output driver. In this case, you will select "Soundflower(2ch)".

4. The Soundflower driver will take the output of Audio Hijack Pro and make this audio stream available as a sound input device, just like any other microphone. If an application allows selection of an audio input independently of the system default, you could select Soundflower as that input. However, as near as I can tell, the beta Second Life Viewer, which has voice chat, will only use the system default. Therefore, you need to open the system preferences, and using the sound panel, select Soundflower as the default audio input device. You are now all ready to go. Notice that while Soundflower is the default, and thus is used by Second Life or iChat or anything else that uses the default, Audio Hijack Pro itself is using your microphone, as selected in step (1).

Note: each filter in the effects chain has a "bypass" button. This allows you to quickly turn the effect on or off, in real time.

If you are installing Audio Hijack Pro, be sure to use the "Install Extras..." menu item to install Soundflower!

Enjoy!

-- Scire Gaea

Hello everyone,

Doing a little more investigation, I find that you can download a version of Soundflower for free from this URL: http://www.cycling74.com/products/soundflower

The Soundflower driver may be used to couple the audio output from any application to the audio input of any other application. As noted in my previous entry on this thread, you can set up Audio Hijack Pro to accept the audio stream from a microphone, modify the audio with a filter chain, and then send the audio to Soundflower. Soundflower is then used as the sound input for Second Life, setting this up in the System Preferences. (Hopefully, the final Second Life Viewer will allow application-specific selection of the sound input -- apparently the beta version does not, which is why I use the System Preferences.)

However, you are not limited to using Audio Hijack Pro. Any audio application which is able to pass thru audio, e.g. Garageband, may be used. Thus if you have a favorite audio modification application, you should experiment. The only requirements are (1) the given audio application must be able to select an audio input (your microphone) independently of the system default (System Preferences), (2) it can apply filters in real time, (3) and pass the resulting output to a selectable output drive, in this case Soundflower.

Please let the community know of your results and level of satisfaction.

-- Scire Gaea

I've used Soundflower to pass sound to GarageBand, and then back out, following instructions here: http://secondlife.funwithstuff.com/2007/03/whatever-you-want-to-sound-like-on-mac.html

The instructions are a bit terse, but will get you started. I haven't tried it on the beta grid yet, but just playing offline with the Soundflower/GarageBand combo, I was shocked at how well it changed my voice. I was kinda weird to hear myself as a female!

Very kind of you. I will use Sound Flower. Then I will be Sound Flower Yifu...squeak!

Thanks guys, it all works. I got Audio Hijack Pro working. I did have trouble getting Soundflower working, or understanding it for that matter. It just didn't seem to work.\

Still, Audio Hijack worked, and I used the Apple UA PITCH fliter to modify my voice to mousness.
Squeak.

Anyone used any other plugins, which give more realistic female to male and via versa conversions. This one kinda sounded a bit lame.

just for everyones info, I've helped test Soundflower along with Garageband, and its seems it is possible to modify voices fine, and it doesn't cost a thing, no real need to buy audio hijack pro

Good Information about using a Microphone's sound input and changing it they out put to SL. Was wondering if you could use Mac's own voices (example Vicki) as a sound input and forward it to SL.
I bought a commerical Voice called Cepstral - Diane and David and they sound great. Is it possible to use the Mac's own voices for SL?
Thanks,

To check out Cepstral's Diane and David voices
http://www.cepstral.com/demos/

using Soundflower, you can take audio output from a program (that allows you to specify your output) and use it as the default system input, so anything coming out of that program, other programs will pick it up like its on a normal microphone input.

If you have an app that can use that voice, that allows you to manually choose its output, then it should work.

Yes but how does running these programs affect the CPU? What is the delay time between speech and conversion, if one is using not the latest hardware?

SL should not have voice, having to do this crap is a joke!

Aww come on, Gistya. It's all for fun! You don't HAVE to do any of this. You don't even have to turn on voice. But if I put on my big mech avatar, maybe I wanna have a booming robotic voice. These different tools let me do that. Hrm... mech with booming robotic voice... sounds like a LOT of fun in a role-playing combat sim. Heck, I'd like to play the role of "unarmed civilian villager" just to see that big hulking mech attack. AAAAIIIIEEEEE!!!!!

Then again, I'm one of those cRaZaY resies who likes the idea of voice in SL.

I'm using a year-and-a-half old iMac, and using Soundflower+Garageband doesn't bog my CPU at all. There does seem to be a teeny lag as Garageband processes the audio, but nothing major. I doubt it would be even detectable to others -- I only notice it because I can hear my processed voice looped back.

Are there any good settings for this? When I use the effects tab to change the pitch it seems to just change the pitch of the output of everything but my voice. I set up soundflower as the aux output to (2ch). The AUpitch is what I'm having trouble with I think.

make sure that you have Garageband set as outputting to Soundflower 2ch, and input from your Mic. Then make your systems default Input be Soundflower 2ch. Also make sure you have the "monitor" turned on in Garageband, and you can run Soundflowerbed, to be able to listen in to Soundflower 2ch and hear what the finally sound is like.

If you make your default output for your system also to Soundflower 2ch, then all your computers sounds will go back through the input. I havent found this very useful unless you want to like play a song for someone from iTunes over voice chat.... it could also work for Text to Speech things, as all your sound is being sent as input for SL... even sounds SL is making.

I meant in audio hijack pro not in garageband.

"I bought a commerical Voice called Cepstral - Diane and David and they sound great. Is it possible to use the Mac's own voices for SL?"

I'm not a Mac user, but here are two observations that may help:

1. The Cepstral voices are indeed very good. They're intended for text-to-speech applications, not voice changing.

2. There is a text-to-speech application for SL. Here's the link: http://slexchange.com/modules.php?name=Marketplace&file=item&ItemID=196663

It's only for Windows so far, but they say they're working on a Mac/Linux version.

I was glad to see Audio Hijack Pro mentioned here, because of all the sound tools in my Mac, I suspected that was the one that would probably let me alter my voice, in real time, and feed it back to SL. Had you not explained about the Sound preferences panel, I might not have figured out how to do it. Thanks!