Cepstral Tts Creating Empty Wav

[BrendanG]

We are currently evaluating VoiceGuide and are impressed so far. I am tasked to build a working system prior to purchasing so we are currently running in evaluation mode. I am relying on TTS significantly in this configuration and am trying to use the Cepstral (version 5.1) Allison-8kHz voice. I have tested the voice in Cepstral's tools and even created a test wav file using swift.exe, so it seems to be working properly. I was unable to download the SAPI SDK as the links seem dead, but did configure the voice in VG.ini. The problem is when VoiceGuide creates the temp WAV files they end up empty/invalid (only 1K in size). The default voice works ok. Is this a limitation of the evaluation mode, or is there something else I could try?

[SupportTeam]

Are you using VoiceGuide v7?

 

Which version of Windows are you using?

 

Please post the trace files which are created by VoiceGuide v7 in the \log\ subdirectory.

 

Best to do this:

 

1. Stop VG.

2. Delete all files in VG's \log\ subdirectory.

3. Start VG and make a test call showing the problem.

3. .ZIP up all the files created in VG's \log\ subdirectory and post them here.

[BrendanG]

I have done as suggested and attached the zip file of the logs.

VGLog_blankWAV.zip

[SupportTeam]

We have updated the SAPI 5.1 SDK download link on our WWW. Please try downloading and installing the SDK and then maybe try re-installing the Cepstral as well afterwards. The SDK has a tool (TTSApp) that you can use to test the various TTS voices. Please confirm if that test app creates the .WAV files properly

 

Also, it looks like you have two TTS voices installed:

 

Cepstral_Allison-8kHz

Cepstral_Allison

 

Have you tried using Cepstral_Allison instead of Cepstral_Allison-8kHz ?

 

Additionally it looks like your prompts are static so maybe you could just generate them in advance using the swift.exe app and just use those pre-generated files? Would that be a suitable workaround?

[BrendanG]

Thanks for the reply. I have now installed the SDK as provided on the download page. The TTSApp test works including the Save to .wav feature.

 

I have also tried the Cepstral Allison voice (which is unlicensed) and get the same results. I had initially tried the normal Allison version and was getting the problem, so I setup the 8kHz version since this is a telephony application and thought the rate might have been the issue.

 

I tried the other Microsoft voices installed with the SDK and they did work. It seems like a problem with the way VoiceGuide calls the Cepstral swift utility.

 

Although the current prompts are static we plan on using the TTS engine for other dynamic aspects. I'm currently using it as a way to rapidly develop the application without having to rerecord ever little change. Once we're satisfied with the setup we will go through and replace with recorded WAV files where appropriate. Once we get the TTS working I can finish my development and get approval for the purchase.

 

By the way, this is a new install of Windows XP Service Pack 3.

[SupportTeam]

We have done a test with "Cepstral Allison-8kHz" (v5.1 unlicensed) on a test system here and it works fine.

 

One suggestion you could to would be to change the Windows' Default System TTS to Cepstral Allison-8kHz as well. Pleas see bottom of this page: http://www.voiceguide.com/vghelp/source/html/config_tts.htm for instructions on how to set the Windows' Default System TTS. You need to stop the VoiceGuide service before opening the Speech Control Panel applet.

 

Is the Speech applet visible in your Windows' Control Panel?

 

VoiceGuide does not use the swift utility. VoiceGuide just uses the standard SAPI interface to select the TTS voice and issue text/commands to it.

[BrendanG]

I have already set the Windows Default System TTS, that did not help. The Speech Applet appeared in the Control Panel once you provided the SAPI SDK.

 

This is a new Windows XP SP3 system built specifically for this. I'd be happy to run some tests with more detailed logging or some other debug method.

 

I only mentioned the swift utility because it was mentioned in an older thread I read.

[SupportTeam]

Did you restart the VoiceGuide service after setting the Windows Default System TTS to Cepstral Allison-8kHz ?

 

So all that is installed on this system is WinXPSP3 + Dialogic + VoiceGuide + Cepstral TTS, correct? Or is something else installed as well?

[BrendanG]

Now that I've been able to get back to this project I have it working. After a few reboots and reinstalling Cepstral and VoiceGuide it appears to be working ok now. Thanks for all the help.

[SupportTeam]

OK, thanks for letting us know its working.