Tag: Voki tips

Voki Tip of the Week: Give your Voki a Human Voice with a Microphone

Voki Tip of the Week: Give your Voki a Human Voice with a Microphone

by Ashley Chaney ♥ 23 Comments

Are you looking to get the most human-like Voki voice possible? Why not try recording your own voice on your Voki? Recording your voice on Voki is fun and adds the dimension of hearing your (or a student’s) actual voice. Whether it will be used to practice public speaking, foreign language pronunciation, or to add a dramatic effect to an assignment, voice recording is an easy-to-use tool that can prove to be very useful for Voki lessons.

In our latest “Interview with Educators“, music teacher Lyndell Allen used a Voki voice recording to help create a fun, interactive environment in her music classes.

We have many lesson plans in the Voki Lesson Plan Database that make use of recorded voices, especially in public speaking, ESL, foreign language and arts classes. The ways of using Voki voice recordings are endless!

In order to get the most out of your voice recording experience, it is important to be prepared with the right tools. There are two ways you can record your voice. One option is to use a computer microphone (either internal or external), and the other is to use a phone. Below, we take you through the steps for using a microphone to record your voice on Voki. Get your microphones ready and your voices warmed up!

Voki Voice Recording with a Microphone

You will need:

1.  A computer

2.  A microphone that works with your computer

Steps:

1.  If your computer does not have a built in microphone, plug in your external microphone to the computer.

2.  Test to make sure the microphone is properly connected to your computer:

a.  Go to My Computer

b.  Click on Control Panel

c.  Choose Sounds, Speech, and Audio Devices

d.  Click Sounds and Audio Devices

e.  Click the Voice tab

f.  Under Voice Recording, click Test Hardware

If you have trouble setting up your microphone, ask your IT administrator.

3.  Once your microphone is properly connected, you are set to use Voki voice recording.

4.  Go to http://www.voki.com and log in or go to the Create section.

5.  Design your Voki as you wish.

6.  Under the Give it a Voice section, click the microphone icon.

7.  Choose “Allow” on the screen that pops up asking for Voki permission to access your microphone.

a. Starting with the first tab: 

i. Make sure the box by “Enable Hardware Acceleration” is checked.

ii. “Allow” vhss-d.oddcast.com to access your camera and microphone.

iii. The local storage tab is set at default and should not be changed.

iv. Slide the record volume to max and check the box next to reduce echo.

8.  Close the pop-up.

9.  Prepare what you want to say and press Record.

10. When you have finished recording, press Stop.

11.  Once you are happy with your recording, press Save and Name your audio file.

You will have 60 seconds to record your voice using Voki and 90 seconds with Voki Classroom. Don’t worry if you or your students don’t get it the first time. You can always try again until you are happy with you recording!

Tip: Your saved recordings are available by clicking the Folder icon under Give it a Voice.

Go ahead and try out Voki using a microphone to record your voice! If you have any great lesson ideas that use the voice recording function, please share it with us below in a comment or email to feedback@voki.com.

Until Next Time,

The Voki Team

Tip of the Week – Viewing Voki in Full Screen

Tip of the Week – Viewing Voki in Full Screen

by Ashley Chaney ♥ 1 Comment

Can you make a Voki scene appear in FULL SCREEN?

Yes, you can!

If you’ve ever wanted to view a Voki in full-screen mode, there is a really neat trick we’d like to share with you. This can be useful for presentations, for those who are visually impaired, and just as a cool trick that you can teach others.

Follow the steps below to make your Voki full screen!

Note: The code may look overwhelming but if you follow these steps, playing your Voki in full screen will be a breeze.

  1. In My Voki, click on the Voki you want to display.
  2. Click the ‘Publish’ button.
  3. Copy the embed code and Paste into any word processing document.
Now, here’s the fun challenge… You need to be a little bit of a sleuth and pick out the right part of the code:
Tip: This is a great student exercise in attention to detail.
  1. A few lines from the bottom of the code, you should see a URL  (http://) in quotes
  2. Copy the URL beginning with: http://vhss-d.oddcast.com/vhss_editors/voki_player.swf?doc= (do not include the quotation marks) and ending with a number before the word “quality”
  3. Paste the URL into your browser and click Go
That’s it! If you copied the URL correctly, your Voki will now load in Full Screen mode.
Here is an example. You want to copy the highlighted part.

Voila!

Now, you’ll have the biggest Voki of them all!

What do you think? Share your comments below and we’ll be sure to respond.

Until next time,

The Voki Team