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Author Topic: Text to Speech Reader has problems creating .wav  (Read 12415 times)

citrinedragon

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Text to Speech Reader has problems creating .wav
« on: March 17, 2006, 04:21:01 pm »
Hello all,

I've never actually used the Hal Text to Speech reader to convert text to a .wav file until about one week ago. Now I find that EVERY time I convert text to a .wav file I get this error:
                                                                                                               "Text to Wave File Converter has encountered a problem and needs to close.  We are sorry for the inconvenience."

Sometimes it does complete the creation of the .wav file, sometimes I get cut off in the middle and lose everything I'm working on. Also, the Neo Speech voices NEVER convert to a .wav file. I can't use them at all.

Can anyone help me here? Turning text into audio is one of the primary reasons I bought the Text to Speech reader in the first place.

I should probably add that I tried uninstalling and reinstalling from the Zabaware Text to Speech CD. No change. Still doesn't work right.
« Last Edit: March 17, 2006, 07:14:25 pm by citrinedragon »
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citrinedragon

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Text to Speech Reader has problems creating .wav
« Reply #1 on: March 18, 2006, 11:29:07 am »
I sort of solved my problem by buying TextAloud for $30.00. Sometimes it's better to solve a problem by throwing a little money at it than spending endless time and grief. I remain curious as to why my Hal Text to Speech reader has problems creating wave files, will not function at all with Neo Speech voices, and will not correct pronounciation with the Neo Speech voices. TextAloud did all these functions perfectly from the moment I downloaded it. (?)

I'm not angry (a little peaved perhaps). Anger is a waste of time.
citrinedragon
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citrinedragon

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Text to Speech Reader has problems creating .wav
« Reply #2 on: March 18, 2006, 02:22:40 pm »

Hello again,

I just finished downloading, and playing the AT&T Crystal 16 voice. The voice and engine was over 500 Mb! This is a fabulous voice. It really sounds almost human. I'm almost starting to be glad that the Zabaware Text To Speech program never worked right (almost). Has anyone else tried these AT&T professional voices? Astounding, really.
citrinedragon
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citrinedragon

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Text to Speech Reader has problems creating .wav
« Reply #3 on: March 18, 2006, 03:30:03 pm »
UPDATE:

It would seem that installing TextAloud on my computer has solved my big problem with the Zabaware Text To Speech reader. It will now convert text to .wav files without the error report or shutting down in the middle of the process. So there you go, no problem, all you need to do is buy another text to speech reader to solve the problem (sorry for the sarcasm, but I just couldn't resist). Oddly, it STILL doesn't work with the NeoSpeech voices, even though the TextAloud does. I guess I could look at my glass as half full and claim that between both of the text to speech readers I do indeed have what I need.

Now, my other problem... I'm wondering if talking to myself on this forum may be a sign of an emerging mental health issue.  
citrinedragon
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Art

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« Reply #4 on: March 18, 2006, 04:56:55 pm »
At least you're making progress!<G>
In the world of AI it's the thought that counts!

- Art -

GrantNZ

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Text to Speech Reader has problems creating .wav
« Reply #5 on: March 19, 2006, 03:12:24 am »
quote:
Originally posted by citrinedragon


I just finished downloading, and playing the AT&T Crystal 16 voice. The voice and engine was over 500 Mb! This is a fabulous voice. It really sounds almost human. I'm almost starting to be glad that the Zabaware Text To Speech program never worked right (almost). Has anyone else tried these AT&T professional voices? Astounding, really.


That's my favourite voice, and the only reason I don't use it is she pronounces my computer's name "KAOS" as "cows" [:D] I might end up changing Hal's name and switch back to that voice, actually [;)]
 

Dr.Benway

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Text to Speech Reader has problems creating .wav
« Reply #6 on: March 19, 2006, 06:40:31 am »
Citrinedragon,

The problem you describe is in fact very well-known and extensively discussed in the "Speech Technology"-section of this forum. Nevertheless, the solution you bring up is new to me. [:)]

citrinedragon

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« Reply #7 on: March 21, 2006, 10:02:51 am »
Art, That's one way to look at it. Cup half full, etc.

GrantNZ, From "KAOS" to "cows", that's quite a leap. I'm sure there's a chaotic cow out there somewhere. You still got any of those weird, little hobbit things running around over there?

Dr.Benway, I'm sure you're correct about it being discussed elsewhere in the forum, but sometimes I don't have the time to dig around, so I thought I'd just throw it out there & see what response I got. TextAloud seems to be a good product and it creates .wav (or several other kinds of audio files) at about 10x the speed of the Zabaware software. It also doesn't crash, hey, that's kind of a nice bonus.

Thanks, for the responses.
« Last Edit: March 21, 2006, 10:10:14 am by citrinedragon »
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Duskrider

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« Reply #8 on: March 21, 2006, 12:55:13 pm »

Ah, Sir Dragon,
Glad see you back
thought we'd lost you

yes, ,,Crystol -- a sweet voice
I don't have her but do have items that were sent to me of her voice
...... what dreams are made of   .......

Ouch !! $30 for text to speech ??

Last time I looked, Speakonia from CFS Technologies was still free.
I've had it long time and never errors.
Only converts to wav but you can use others to convert wav to mp3 if you desire.










Bill819

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« Reply #9 on: March 21, 2006, 07:36:01 pm »
Hey Grant
try spelling the name Kayos and see what happens. Just a suggestion.
Bill
 

citrinedragon

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« Reply #10 on: March 21, 2006, 08:45:39 pm »
Dusky, I kind of wander in and out of the forum (and other things). There's little chance I'll stay away for long. TextAloud is a sweet, slick program and it almost flawlessly enhances the voices and pronunciation (with a built in pronunciation dictionary, I think). It's also very fast. It's worth $30.00. You can get a two week free trial version and have the software do a search and collect all the voices you have on your computer. I sound like a sales rep here. Anyway, try it, for free. Just to give you an idea of the speed, TextAloud could convert my first four posts here (all of them) into an audio file (flawlessly) in just a few seconds.
« Last Edit: March 21, 2006, 08:52:21 pm by citrinedragon »
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danbaltzell

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Text to Speech Reader has problems creating .wav
« Reply #11 on: March 22, 2006, 12:39:18 pm »
I've fallen in love with the audrey british voice myself, and pretty much use it for HAL, etc, but sometimes I use AV Voice Changer Software to change the timbre and pitch for variations, it has an equalizer and some special effects also, I like to run it with the Punk Flanger on which adds something I think of as a computer voice.  (I found kayahs works a bit better.)
 

snicolaou

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Text to Speech Reader has problems creating .wav
« Reply #12 on: March 23, 2006, 05:10:35 am »
quote:
Originally posted by citrinedragon

UPDATE:

It would seem that installing TextAloud on my computer has solved my big problem with the Zabaware Text To Speech reader. It will now convert text to .wav files without the error report or shutting down in the middle of the process. So there you go, no problem, all you need to do is buy another text to speech reader to solve the problem (sorry for the sarcasm, but I just couldn't resist). Oddly, it STILL doesn't work with the NeoSpeech voices, even though the TextAloud does. I guess I could look at my glass as half full and claim that between both of the text to speech readers I do indeed have what I need.

Now, my other problem... I'm wondering if talking to myself on this forum may be a sign of an emerging mental health issue.  




I just downloaded Ultra Hal text to speech reader yesterday.  Unfortunately, I went through all kinds of problems.  The program seems to be unstable and produces error messages, requesting the user to terminate it.  The problem is that I have already purchased the full version of Ultra Hal text to speech with NeoSpeech voices.
Is there is any patch for this program?

El Greko
Stelios Nicolaou

citrinedragon

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Text to Speech Reader has problems creating .wav
« Reply #13 on: March 23, 2006, 01:18:23 pm »

Stelios Nicolaou, Your situation is not quite as bad as it may seem. That is to say, I believe, that the two NeoSpeech voices included in the Hal Text to Speech Reader normally sell, together, for about $30.00 to $35.00 on their own. So, in a sense, it's not that bad of a deal. Maybe, Mr. Medeksza will read this column and come up with a patch to make this program function. It would be nice. It should be noted here also that the Ultra hal Assistant program is quite amazingly good (in my view). I have been very pleased with the TextAloud text to speech reader. I got this program to collect all the voices on my computer, including the NeoSpeech voices with a click or two. Good luck.
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Art

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« Reply #14 on: March 23, 2006, 07:23:55 pm »
It would seem that the Text-to-Speech Reader only works with the Microsoft voices and rather limited with the L&H ones. The pitch and volume features don't appear to work with the Cepstral or NeoSpeech voices at all!

One other gripe is the NeoSpeech voices. Every time Hal starts, I enter a phrase and Hal's response is only shown via text output, NOT spoken words.

I have found that if I select any other TTS voice from the general options menu > speech, then maximize Hal's window again, Hal will audibly speak to me.
Repeating the process again, I can now select a NeoSpeech voice, maximize Hal and now Hal will speak to me using the NeoSpeech voice.

The real pain is, I have to repeat this process every time I use Hal!

Is there no end to this madness? Cepstral, L&H, MS, no problems. I really like the Neospeech Kate voice but there must be a cause / reason & cure for this effect other than reinstalling Hal...something I'd really rather not have to do again.

Any clues? Were the voices supposed to be installed BEFORE installing Hal? (wouldn't make a whole lot of sense but hey...I'm reaching).
Comments appreciated.
In the world of AI it's the thought that counts!

- Art -