Been testing the new table read functionality across a multi-episode project. A few things that could really improve the experience:
Voice-to-character matching feels pretty random. Getting a mix of male/female voices for clearly gendered characters. Would be great if the system could make more sensible default assignments.
No way to carry voice settings across episodes. Right now I have to manually assign voices for each character in every episode, even within the same project. Ideally, there should be a way to export/import voice setups—or better yet, assign voices at the project level so they stay consistent across scripts.
Limited accent/voice variety outside of English. I think there’s only one German male, one Italian male voice. Would love to see more non-English options and multiple voice options per accent. Right now the selection is very skewed toward English. Currently writing a project—though in English—where all the characters are Dutch. The Dutch have a fairly distinct English accent, and having a few Dutch voices would really improve the “eyes closed” experience.
Otherwise a solid start—just needs more control and depth to be truly useful at scale.
I would also like to see a wider range of voices. I needed an English accent - male, but most of the choices seem better suited to documentaries, theatre, or video games. None of them were truly conversational enough to fit very well with my characters. Wish there was more choice.
It would be very useful if a user could carry voice settings across as suggested, but also, save their favourite voices in a favourites list because it can be quite time-consuming, assigning voices for each script, but if the favourites are on a shortlist it would reduce the amount of time this takes. This is functionality that I enjoy with the app Speechify, however that app does not do so well with screenplays, arc studio is superior for screenplay table reads.
The tone of voices are inconsistent - some are loud, some are soft, some sound like they’re in a bathroom. Make them all the same volume. Could also use a group voice for scenes where many people are responding in unison, singing Happy Birthday, etc.
Also, it would be helpful if you could assign the next voice without having to go back to the character panel, scroll down, pick the next character manually, assign a voice, repeat, repeat, repeat…