Create Audio files from PDF on MacOSX

Just for the heck of it, I thought it would be cool to create audio files from the pdf files to listen to while driving. Since I am on the MacOSX Leopard, I wanted to have a solution there. Here is what I have gathered so far –

• Convert the PDF file to text, using tools at hand. I have not tested this out on MacOSX yet, but there are hint son internet about being able to do this through Automator scripts. ( You may want to look at - http://www.mactricksandtips.com/2008/12/extracting-text-from-pdf-files.html ). This is also helpful since while trying to read in Preview, it only reads out the current page or selection.

• Use the new Alex voice on Leopard to readout the file and write it in aiff format. The syntax is something like –

say –v Alex –f input_txt_file –o output_audio_file.aiff
From my understanding specifying the –v Alex option is not required as it is taken by default.
Once the output file is written, it can be directly listened through the iTunes.

• Alternatively it could be converted to mp3 using the “lame” utility (available through macports on Leopard). [I need to test this out yet].There are speech commands to control the amount of pauses etc. the details for these are available at – http://developer.apple.com/documentation/mac/Sound/Sound-200.html

The source positing on which most of this information is based can be found at : http://www.leopardtricks.com/leopard/alex-speech-tricks