David,
This sounds wonderful! I'm just learning app development and your
project gives me a glimpse as to the possibilities. I haven't used
much in the way of exception dictionaries sicne I find them rather
cumbersom and I get easily confused as to what goes where etc. I'll
be watching this list for updates.
Thank you for your efforts!
Dave Helkenn, San Diego
At 06:01 AM 3/15/2012, you wrote:
Allright, I know I am doing something out of the normal, in dropping
this message right now. But I find that I have some thrilling news for you all.
Lately, we have had a discussion on the lists, as to the lacks of
the exception dictionaries of WE. GW has stated, that they might
look into things - sometime down the road. But for many of us, the
lacks are rather bothersome, and some of them might not even fully
have been addressed in the passed.
Based on this, I have taken on me, to write a small app, that will
take care of some of the requests I have seen on the lists. The app
is just about ready for Beta-testing, and I hope to have the Beta
out in the end of this month. Hopefully, it won't be long
thereafter, before I can make the final release of the app. But just
to wet your apetite, here is some words about the features that the
app presents at this very moment.
VOICE-SPECIFIC DICTIONARIES:
Are you among those of us, who do work with more than one voice?
Well, then you will be pleased to know, that the new app will leave
you the chance of saving a seperate exception dictionary for each of
the voices you are using. This will ensure, that you can optimize
the speech for each synth and voice. Not only will you be given the
chance of saving one dictionary for each manufacturer - like DecTalk
or Eloquence - but even down to the very voice. So Eloquence Shelly,
and Eloquence Reed - well they will have each their dictionary.
ORIGINAL-TEXT CAN BE A PHRASE:
One of the requests for an upgraded dictionary feature, was to be
able to enter more than just single words in the original part of
the dictionary. The app already features the chance of doing so. So,
if you are tired of hearing your synth saying things like
"Nothing is selected"
, or the like - here is your chance of replacing the phrase
altogether with a self-made word or phrase. Or, you could simply
leave the replacement part empty, and the whole phrase would be
silenced. (Save your ears!)
REPLACING WITH SOUND CLIPS:
You can enter a given word or phrase, and in the replacement field,
enter a filename. The filename should refer to a sound-clip on your
disk. Whenever the synthesizer is about to speak the given word or
phrase, you will be presented with the sound clip instead. This
feature is rather basic at the moment, but hopefully will grow more
advanced as time goes by.
PROGRAM-SPECIFIC DICTIONARIES:
Not only does the app give you the chance of saving seperate
dictionaries for each voice, but it even features a chance for you
to make program specific dictionaries. Why would I ever include such a feature?
Well, let's take an example. When you are working in your text
editor - like MSWord - you of course want all text written, to be
spoken. So you don't want much for an exception dictionary. But now,
if you switch to your AntiVirus program, you might want to have a
given phrase adjusted. M Maybe you want phrase that pops up all the
time saying something like:
"Now performing a full scan of your system"
, to be replaced with the single word "Scanning". You then can save
a program specific dictionary for your AntiVirus program, and the
replacement will only take place, whenever you are in the AntiVirus
program. In your Sound editor, or your Email client, or the Chatting
software you are using, you might want other program specific
exceptions. It's all up to you, to make up as many dictionaries as
you want and need. Soon as you switch to an open window on your
computer screen, the app will look out for a program specific
dictionary - and if found, load it into memory, and put it in effect.
Program specific dictionaries, will be saved under each voice. That
means, you will be able to have one specific dictionary for Outlook
Express when Eloquence Reed is talking, and a totally seperate
dictionary for the same software, when DecTalk is in for a chat.
This should leave you the optimal chance of tayloring your speech
experience to the full.
EASILY EDIT YOUR DICTIONARIES:
Do you often find it somehow troublesome to navigate the menus and
screens of the built-in dictionary in WE? Well, then I have a bit of
news for you. With the new app, you will be given two hotkeys. One
will load the general (or Basic) dictionary for the current voice,
the other will load the program specific dictionary for the
currently focused window - right into Notepad. Here you can easily
edit all your exceptions. Once finished, you save and close the
Notepad window; and woopsy, there the newly saved dictionary will be
loaded into memory, and your exceptions put into efect.
The app - which has been named
Extended dictionary
- has been running on my system for a few weeks now. I am
continuously working on improving it, but the above is how far
things have got up till now. As I said in my introductory, I hope to
have the beta out in the end of the month. For those of you who are
interested, I ask you to contact me off-list at:
<mailto:[email protected]>[email protected]
. When the app is all ready and uploaded for general use, I will of
course let you all know. And, if anyone of you have ideas for
features that could come in handy, I am open ears. Not promising
that it will make it into the app - at least at this moment - but
surely would appriciate any ideas. It is my hope, that this app will
be out in its final release soon, and that it will prove helpful for
many. Even for the multi-lingual community, this might be of real
help to you, since you now will be able to save separate
dictionaries for your English voice, and your French, German, Danish
or Italian voices.
