Case study

Breathing Life into Legends: Respeecher's AI Revives Július Satinský's Voice for Slovenská sporiteľňa's ATL Campaign

 

 

Introduction

Slovenská sporiteľňa does more than offer financial services for the nation of Slovakia. The bank is pursuing the goal to raise optimism of Slovaks in these times of crises. The bank inspires people to believe in future of Slovakia and its prosperity. To do so, Slovenská sporiteľňa needed the voice of an iconic personality to breathe life into their marketing initiatives.

Imagine the surprise of hearing the voice of a beloved icon long after their last words were spoken. This seemingly impossible feat became a reality when Respeecher joined forces with Slovenská sporiteľňa. Together, we utilized AI-driven voice synthesis technology to revive the voice of Július Satinský, a legendary Slovak comedian, actor, and writer.

The biggest challenge, however, was that Július Satinský passed away in the early '00s and could not personally lend his iconic voice to the short movie.

 

 

The Magic Behind the Voice and Overcoming Obstacles

Reviving renowned voices of the past, such as Luke Skywalker in Mandalorian, Vince Lombardi for Super Bowl LV, or even Richard Nixon for the Moon Landing Disaster speech, is what Respeecher excels at.

However, when the Zaraguza agency approached us, they expressed some skepticism. Initially, the production team was unsure if there were any high-quality AI models of the Slovak language available, and they were also concerned about the poor quality of the original recordings of Satinský’s voice.

It quickly became evident that our Emmy Award-winning crew had a new challenge in this groundbreaking project of resurrecting Satinský's distinctive voice. Several obstacles stood in our way, including training the AI model in the Slovak language and then working with the analog recordings from the 1990s.

First, we obtained permission from Satinský's family and the voice rights holders. Then, we carefully selected 40 minutes of clear audio content from hours of old voice recordings to train the AI model. The samples' quality was less than ideal since they predated modern digital recording technology.

After two weeks of intensive training, the model mastered the phonetics and unique Slovak sounds of Satinský's voice. Then, Respeecher applied the AI-generated voice of Satinský to the recording of the popular contemporary Slovakian voice actor Michal Hudak. Following a few rounds of feedback-driven edits, the final version was sent for approval.

 

A Triumph in Voice Synthesis

The project was a resounding success, as Satinský's relatives confirmed that the AI-generated voice closely resembled his. This achievement showcased the potential of AI-driven voice synthesis to preserve iconic voices of the past so that people today can experience the charisma and charm of these legendary personalities.

"To be honest, I was worried up until the last minute and didn't believe that my father's voice could be used in a project like this. When they sent me the record and I played it for the first time, I had goosebumps running down my spine — it was my father's voice, just as if he was with us today. It wasn't just a similar voice — it was his voice!" said Lucia Molnár Satinska, Satinský's daughter and proprietor of his voice.

The Results

The successful recreation of Július Satinský's voice is a testament to the power of AI-driven voice synthesis. When used ethically and with proper consent, this innovative technology delivers immense value in preserving history and enhancing creative content, bringing legends back to life for generations to come.

The short movie was published on YouTube in October 2022, and within half a year, it enjoyed almost 3 million views and was highly acclaimed by Slovakian viewers. Thanks to the Július Satinský's voice the advert has become the most known banking ad in five years. You can watch it for yourself here:

 

Reviews

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Halsey Burgund

Co-Director In Event of Moon Disaster

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Bear Gryllz

TV presenter and adventurer

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Ryan Steelberg

President and co-founder of Veritone

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David Romberg

Media, Communication & Film Studies, Muhlenberg College

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Abigail Savage

Sound Designer and Supervisor, Actress

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Tim Jones

Emmy Award Winning Animation Producer

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Michael York

Actor, Producer

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Joseph López Osorio

Marketing Technology Director, DDB Latina

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Edgardo Rivera

President & CEO, DDB Puerto Rico

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Joshua Madoff

Composer, Actor

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James Tumminia

Producer & President at Italus Films

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Sophie Robinson

Director, 141 Productions

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Steve Isaacs

EVP, Legion Creative

We worked with Respeecher on a film called ‘In Event of Moon Disaster’ first shown at the Amsterdam Documentary Film Festival 2019. They helped us create a synthetic voice of Richard Nixon to bring to life a never-read contingency speech in case the Apollo 11 mission went badly. We created a highly realistic film, in a large part due to their work. ‘In Event of Moon Disaster’ shows the creative possibility of voice replacement technology as well as highlighting just how realistic deepfake technologies can be, acting as a civic engagement project for the public along with contextual and educational resources.
We worked with Respeecher to recreate my voice in Ukrainian to as part of our education initiative ‘BecomingX Ukraine’. The technology is phenomenal and the result is astounding – I never thought I’d hear myself speaking fluent Ukrainian! Well done and thank to all the team for all your incredible work you are doing. We’re forever grateful and proud to partner with you.
For Veritone, the most important thing is ensuring our clients get access to technology without compromising on the ability to protect, the delivery speed and quality, and in this case, of the generated content. Respeecher's technology meets both requirements and has a proven track record of working with tier one projects.
When I approached the team at Respeecher with a very sensitive and personal documentary project, I didn't know what to expect. I’m happy to say that it has been an amazing experience. They are extremely professional, ethically minded and are genuinely passionate about bringing their innovative technology to the world. Their approach to the voice cloning process is highly personal and transparent. As a documentarian, it was important to me that the approach was ethical and human focused. The Team at Respeecher delivered on their promises and I could not be happier with the results.
Respeecher is a remarkable tool for Sound Editors. It delivers very high-fidelity recreations of a target voice, with transparent performance-matching of its source. It blows text-to-speech out of the water! The effect is uncanny and incredibly effective and I can imagine a whole slew of uses going forward. I am very excited to have discovered Respeecher, and it will be my go-to for voice recreation in the future, without question.
Respeecher's source/target conversion of Mr. York's speaking voice demonstrably opens doors for the entertainment, education, and healthcare fields. Suffice it to say, it was an absolute honor to collaborate with them. Their brilliant accomplishment and timely delivery have allowed our humble project to be a success, exceeding our expectations for what's even possible.
I am very grateful to Respeecher for giving my words and work a whole new lease on life. The technique involved is as ingenious as it is amazing, and promises a great future for all those involved in voice work. With Respeecher, the quality of the re-worked passages is indistinguishable from the original. History comes almost miraculously alive again. I heartily endorse this product.
Discovering Respeecher was the highlight of our project. They agreed to work with the task even when our training data was not of the best quality. The result was fantastic, and the level of detail was just outstanding.
Working with Reespecher was a unique experience. Their attentiveness to detail and dedication to this project allowed us to reconnect with one of our lost narration idols in Puerto Rico "Manuel Rivera Morales" on a new level. It gave his family and PR a glimpse of what could have been if he was still alive and narrating all sorts of Olympic sports games. It was truly magical to see this project come alive.
Working with Respeecher has been incredible. Their team was meticulous and patient, walking us through the process of developing an accurate model... and the final result was nothing short of miraculous. It really sounds like we’re hearing our (deceased) subject speaking again. Something I never would have thought was possible.
From the introduction to Respeecher’s innovative and state-of-the-art products to the thorough and quick technical support, I immediately felt that I found the perfect partner and technology for my projects’ needs. During our discussions, the team offered other creative options that assured me we were on the same page and had my project’s success as a top priority. The Respeecher team members are consummate professionals.
Making a film which was so sensitive we needed a company who understood the sensibilities and ethical issues we were dealing with. From the first meeting with them, Respeecher acted with respect and professionalism, delivered what we wanted brilliantly, efficiently and to spec.
When Legion Creative took on the challenge of bringing MTV’s Kurt Loder back to his mid ’90s glory for the Showtime original Yellowjackets, we needed a resource to bring his voice in line with his de-aged visual appearance. Respeecher worked quickly, with clear communication and helped us achieve the time-warping magic we were looking for.
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