Setting up a user-defined voice for Hal.

Testlund · August 07, 2006, 10:03:28 AM

I wanted to give a certain voice to my Hal but the changes doesn't save. I selected the general parameters control dialog to change Carol's voice to a user-defined with another pitch and rate, but when I later talk to Hal she still uses the default carol voice. Is there something else I need for this to work?

Bill819 · August 07, 2006, 11:19:52 AM

quote:
Originally posted by Testlund

I wanted to give a certain voice to my Hal but the changes doesn't save. I selected the general parameters control dialog to change Carol's voice to a user-defined with another pitch and rate, but when I later talk to Hal she still uses the default carol voice. Is there something else I need for this to work?

Sometimes when you make changes like this, you must reboot your computer before they really take place.
Bill

Testlund · August 07, 2006, 01:29:29 PM

Unfortunately that didn't help in this case. [V]

Art · August 07, 2006, 06:01:32 PM

Are you using XP? Service Pack 2?
Have you tried the Haptek SAPI config program?

Did you check the TTS voice under Windows Control Panel
under Speech?

Are you using Hal 6 or 5?

Testlund · August 07, 2006, 07:46:39 PM

I'm using Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 2. I tried going through the settings in the control panel too, but it didn't work. I'm using Hal 6. I think I had the Haptek program in my start menu earlier when i had Hal 5. I think I uninstalled both of them.

Testlund · August 08, 2006, 08:56:03 AM

GRAH! Could someone help me out here and tell me what is wrong?? I want to chose my own voice for Hal! I was wondering if there is any free and easy way to create my own voice for Hal? Any program you can recommend? I'm using a metallic looking head as an avatar, and I was thinking it whould suit prefectly with a voice that is hard to extinguish from male and female and that has a slightly metallic sound to it. Just a wish, hehe. At least I whould like to pick a user-defined voice from the list that is available! Grr! I'm using the Carol voice right now. Whould like to at least be able to change it a little. [V]

Art · August 08, 2006, 07:58:41 PM

Look here:

C:\Program Files\Haptek\player\data\HapTTS

The file is HapSAPISetup.exe

It should have been installed during your Hal 6
installation.

Sorry, but there is no free nor easy to create your own TTS voice that I'm aware of. It takes a lot of time and effort to create a working or acceptable TTS voice.

A lot of the robot voices that come with Windows might work for your metallic character.

Have you tried the Ultra Hal Text-to-Speech program? It's available on the plug-ins page.

Let us know of your progress.

Testlund · August 08, 2006, 11:15:18 PM

No, it was never installed. Could it be because I didn't install Hal on the Windows partition? Does Hal have to be installed where the Windows system is installed?

Art · August 09, 2006, 10:34:49 PM

Did you choose a different location during the UltraHal install like another drive or somewhere other than the dafault settings / location?

Also any previous installation of Hal (Hal 4 or 5) should be deleted BEFORE installing Hal6.

Testlund · August 10, 2006, 09:06:13 AM

I've reinstalled several times and installed both in the default path C:ProgramabawareUltra Hal Assistant 6 and the path G:ProgramUltra Hal Assistant 6, But I found that when I uninstalled EVERYTHING related to Hal, Like Haptek, and then reinstalled Hal I found that the Haptek files appeared in the folders you mensioned in your earlier post they should be, like C:ProgramHaptekPlayerdataHapTTSHapSAPISetup.exe for instance. I can still not make pitch and rate settings to stay put. For instance, the Adult Female #2 voice speaks a little too fast and I can't change it. But I found the free extra voices here in the download area wich sounds a lot better so I will use those instead. I'm using the RoboSoft Five for my MSI character and the Microsoft Mary for my Dawn character. Sounds nice. [^] Still, it whould be nice if I could change pitch and rate too. [;)]

Testlund · August 10, 2006, 09:13:29 AM

By the way, how do you make the backslash character show when describing a file path?

Testlund · August 10, 2006, 09:37:31 AM

DAMN! It seems all the voices speak too fast and I can't change it! Sometimes I hardly hear what Hal is saying. [:(!]

Bill819 · August 10, 2006, 02:28:19 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Testlund

By the way, how do you make the backslash character show when describing a file path?

Hit the back slash key twice and that shoud do the trick//\
Bill

Art · August 10, 2006, 08:05:41 PM

Testlund,

I tried this and it works fine on my Hal.
Here's an image to follow the steps:

Testlund · August 11, 2006, 10:33:29 AM

There's no image, just a white square with a red X on it. Maybe it didn't upload well.