Q: Creating SMIL files for read aloud for Pages
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May 24, 2012 7:53 AMby ralphiedee,SMIL
Short for Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language, a new markup language being developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) that would enable Web developers to divide multimedia content into separate filesand streams (audio, video, text, and images), send them to a user's computerindividually, and then have them displayed together as if they were a singlemultimedia stream. The ability to separate out the static text and images should make the multimedia content much smaller so that it doesn't take as long to travel over the Internet.
SMIL is based on the eXtensible Markup Language (XML). Rather than defining the actual formats used to represent multimedia data, it defines the commands that specify whether the various multimedia components should be played together or in sequence.
IBooks and IBooks Author allows you to add this to your final ibooks epub files
it is used for read aloud narration and is a combination of html, xml, rich text audio files and labels
SMIL
and Tute meaning Tutorial, sorry bout that
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May 30, 2012 9:26 AMby Jake_Russel,The only way you can add read aloud to an ibook is by using easy epub code editor. (Go to itunes and look it up). This app works on the ipad and is the ONLY app that can generate smil/xml code for read aloud. The only thing is that you cannot use it on anything but a raw epub file. You cannot use it with ibooks author or with any other file. Hope this helps.
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May 31, 2012 4:15 AMby Jake_Russel,I got some info I would like to share with those out their who want to desparatly add read aloud. It seems no one on here but me actually has something to say about this subject.
There is a "tut" on doing the SMIL by hand if you want to. Here are some links on how to do it.
MAKING A FIXED LAYOUT BOOK:
http://authoradventures.blogspot.com/2012/01/how-to-create-fixed-layout-ibooks-p art.html
HOW TO PUT READ ALOUD INTO A FIXED LAYOUT BOOK:
http://www.elizabethcastro.com/epub/
http://www.amazon.com/Read-Aloud-iBooks-Elizabeth-Castro/dp/1611500176
She is the only person right now who actually tells you step by step how to do it. I bought her book from Barns and Noble (but you have to order it because its a print on demand book). Its great and the only book I could find on the subject.
You will need an epub compatable text editor, get a little XML coding (not too much, its just a little you will need), an audio editor and microphone to record your narration, and patience.
Also, if you don't want to touch code at all, this site called Kitepress will do it for you. They even send it to itunes for you and put it on Amazon for you too and do a little promotion by putting your book under their publishing name so all books link to ones made using Kitepress. (Don't know if this is good or not but something to think about) But they take a percentage out of any of your profit when you sell it.
http://www.franklinjr.net/kitepress/kitepress-how-it-works/
Liz Castro is the girl to talk to about read aloud so check her out first.
