ElevenLabs has unveiled an AI-driven tool that transforms text into sound effects. Sound Effects aims to aid creators in podcasts, films, and gaming. It lets users input prompts to craft up to 22 seconds of audio, providing at least four downloadable variations per request.
Traditional sound effect libraries can be expensive and often fail to meet specific needs. ElevenLabs' new tool offers a faster, more affordable, and scalable alternative. Other entrants in text-to-sound technology include Stability AI with Stable Audio and Meta's AudioCraft, which can generate both music and natural sounds.
Partnership with Shutterstock
The Sound Effects tool is capable of creating up to 22 seconds of audio from text prompts, which can be integrated with the company's existing voice and music platforms for a complete audio solution.
While the tool is free for general use, commercial applications require a paid subscription. Free users must credit ElevenLabs by including “elevenlabs.io” in the title of their projects. There is also a prompt character limit; free users are allowed 10,000 characters per month, with 40 characters deducted for each second of sound generated, or 200 characters for the default duration.
ElevenLabs Sound Effects was developed with Shutterstock, which supplied its vast audio library to train the AI model. Shutterstock has a record of collaborating with major AI entities, providing a solid foundation for the tool's development. Their collaboration history includes partnerships with other major AI enterprises like OpenAI, Meta, and Google. Aimee Egan, Chief Enterprise Officer at Shutterstock, had this to say about the collaboration:
“We're excited to be partnering with ElevenLabs to fuel yet another significant innovation in AI, Text to Sound Effects, with our ethically-sourced data. The combined power of our rich and immersive library of tracks and this cutting-edge audio technology has enabled the creation of a true market first. We're thrilled by the positive feedback from the early access community and look forward to seeing the wide array of projects they will create.”
