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Using Obi to Record Audiobooks

Last updated: March 26, 2021

Installing Obi

Obi is a Windows only program that requires DirectX 9c.

  1. Check which version of DirectX is installed.
  2. Download DirectX 9c and install it.
  3. Download Obi and install it.

If the Obi online installer is causing problems, please try Obi's offline installer (the Obi 3.7 complete setup.exe).

Recording

The Obi Recording guide takes you through the process step-by-step. Nevertheless, we have a few tips below.

Tips:

  • Create the structure before recording.
  • Use the "Next Page" button when the next phrase is the piece of audio that is the page number (e.g. "Page 10"), and use "Next phrase" for all other audio. When using the "Next Page" button, be sure to read the page number right away without allowing silence.
  • After recording, mark which pages belong to front and rear matter:
    1. Select the phrase designating the first page in the section.
    2. Right-click, Assign role -> Page
    3. For page type, use front for front matter, normal for main content, special for rear matter sections e.g. appendix. Use only regular page numbers, Obi will automatically use lower case roman numerals for front matter.
  • Do phrase detection after all editing is complete.
  • When editing the metadata, please include Creator (author), Publisher, and narrator (your name).

Exporting

After recording and entering metadata, and you're ready to export:

  1. Go to Tools -> Export as DAISY/EPUB.
  2. Uncheck DAISY 3, and check DAISY 2.02
  3. Check Encode Audio files, choose MP3, Bitrate: 64 or higher
  4. Check Append section name to audio file name
  5. Click OK to export.
  6. Depending on the size of the audiobook, this may take a few minutes.