NVDA add-on
Experimental Addon: eSpeakVoiceDesigner_0.2.43
20:19
Manolo
Hi everyone,
I would like to share a new experimental NVDA add-on:
eSpeak Voice Designer 0.2.43
The purpose of this add-on is to make the creation and editing of eSpeak voice variants much more interactive.
Instead of repeatedly editing a text file, reloading the voice and testing it again, eSpeak Voice Designer lets you change voice parameters while NVDA is running and immediately hear the result.
You can start in several ways:
from the standard eSpeak voice;
from one of the factory eSpeak variants;
from one of your previously saved personal variants.
So loading an existing variant is only one possibility. You can also start from the standard voice and gradually build a completely new variant.
The designer exposes many parameters used by eSpeak variants, including formants, pitch-related parameters, voicing, consonants, echo, breath and breath weighting, together with a number of Klatt-related parameters for experimentation.
Changes are applied live, so while designing a voice you can continue navigating with NVDA and immediately hear how the voice changes.
Personal variants can be saved as work in progress and reopened later, so it is possible to design a voice over several sessions rather than completing everything at once.
Some useful shortcuts are:
Alt+S:
Move to the Sections control.
Alt+V:
Move between the Factory variants and Personal variants controls.
Alt+L:
Move to the parameter list.
Ctrl+S:
Save the current voice as a personal variant.
F2:
Rename a personal variant.
Delete:
Delete a personal variant.
Ctrl+Shift+S:
Install the current variant into NVDA's eSpeak variant directory.
The last command is intended for when you are satisfied with the voice and want to use it as a normal eSpeak variant in NVDA.
Because the eSpeak data directory is normally protected by Windows, administrator permission may be requested during this operation.
NVDA does not immediately refresh the list of installed eSpeak variants. After installing a new variant with Ctrl+Shift+S, NVDA therefore needs to be restarted before the new variant becomes available in the normal eSpeak voice settings.
The general workflow can therefore be something like:
standard voice -> edit parameters -> save personal variant -> continue working on it later -> install it into NVDA -> restart NVDA -> select it as a normal eSpeak variant.
Existing eSpeak variants can also be used as starting points.
One important goal of the current version has been preserving the original behaviour of loaded eSpeak variants. Parameters which have not been changed by the user should remain untouched rather than being unnecessarily reconstructed by the designer.
This was particularly important for parameters such as breath, breathw and formants, where small changes in interpretation can noticeably alter the character of a voice.
The add-on interface is currently available in English, Italian, Spanish and French.
This is still an experimental project, so feedback is very welcome, especially from people who already create or modify eSpeak variants manually.
I am particularly interested in hearing about variants which contain unusual combinations of formant, breath, voicing or Klatt parameters.
drive.google.com/uc?id=1kJIHy4…
Best regards,
Lo-lo
#nvda #espeak
Casey Reeves (it/its)
in reply to Casey Reeves (it/its) • • •What it does today, on F3 firmware 2.20:
- Speaks the highlighted menu item as you scroll, and the menu name when you enter or leave one
- Says "selected" on the current value (sample rate, file format, language…)
- Reads popups: SD Card Full!, Low Battery!, No SD Card!…
- Reads Execute/Cancel dialogs: format, delete, exit USB audio, factory reset…
- Talks you through Set Date/Time, even after a flat battery
Recording and monitoring are untouched.
Casey Reeves (it/its)
in reply to Casey Reeves (it/its) • • •How it works: a small add-on patched into the F3's own firmware file, installed with Zoom's normal SD card updater. No opening the recorder, no special hardware.
If anything goes wrong, hold Play/Pause while powering on and reinstall Zoom's stock firmware.
The plan is a simple patcher: you give it Zoom's official 2.20 file and it adds the voice. Not affiliated with Zoom.
Casey Reeves (it/its)
in reply to Casey Reeves (it/its) • • •Planned next:
- Voice volume following the volume buttons
- More screens: file list, file info, SD card tests, timecode
- All the F3's languages in one firmware (French, German, Italian, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese), thanks to a voice bank about 10 times smaller
- The patcher, plus an accessible step-by-step guide
Boosts welcome, especially toward blind F3 owners!
Casey Reeves (it/its)
in reply to Casey Reeves (it/its) • • •Casey Reeves (it/its)
in reply to Casey Reeves (it/its) • • •Allright, so.
I’ve been very busy these past few hours, building and testing and testing and building some more but I finally have something that is more than good enough for a demo. I hopefully haven't made the tts too fast for anyone here–I figured targeting a slower speed was best. But there you have it, an actual demo of what my firmware can now do after being modded.
The patcher works beautifully too, and is entirely offline work. There might be bugs around the places, but nothing should ever compromise your f3 and render it a useless paperweight. I've done so many tests and rebuilds that I’m 100% sure of that fact.
Milestone reached include: tts voice following headphone volume, reading of the versions screen that remained silent in previous builds, reading of the finder/playback/info screens, all 7 supported languages–can only be sure for french and english over here so if anyone's got an f3 and wants to test, let me know. (1/2)
Casey Reeves (it/its)
in reply to Casey Reeves (it/its) • • •Spacedog
in reply to Casey Reeves (it/its) • • •Casey Reeves (it/its)
in reply to Spacedog • • •Spacedog
in reply to Casey Reeves (it/its) • • •ozo 🐻🍉
in reply to Casey Reeves (it/its) • • •Casey Reeves (it/its)
in reply to ozo 🐻🍉 • • •Of course, I can only evaluate english and french myself, so I cannot be 100% certain that other languages are handled correctly. Still, they are now hopefully usable, and not just random words strung together!
Andre Louis
in reply to Casey Reeves (it/its) • • •