VoicePad version 1.0 (revised July 19th 2002)

Description:

VoicePad is a simple Java application for reading whole or selected parts of text files (using a SAPI4 or SAPI5 Text-To-Speech engine) and either sending the audio output to speakers or to a WAV or MPEG file.

It requires installation of a speech engine - several of which can be downloaded for free (see these links) and also CloudGarden's JSAPI libraries (30-day trial versions of which are included in the VoicePad download)



Download

All necessary files are included in the voicepad10.jar or voicepad10.zip files. Download and unpack one of these files to create a new "VoicePad" folder. Note: included in the bundle is Cloudgarden's demo JSAPI implementation version 1.4.0 which expires in 30 days. To purchase and install the non-demo version, read this...

Requirements

  • SAPI5 or SAPI4 text-to-speech and speech recognition engines - some download links are listed here.
  • Sun's Java 1.3 or better
  • Cloudgarden's 1.3.2 (or better) JSAPI implementation (the demo version 1.4.0 is included with this installation) - since this only runs on Windows platforms at present then an additional requirement is:
  • Windows OS 98, NT, XP, ME or 2000.

Usage:

Starting VoicePad

Double-click on the voicepad.bat file. The application should start up and appear presently.

Actions:

  • Open a text file - using the "File->Open text file" option
  • Start speaking - press the "Speak" button
    • if no text is selected it will speak the whole text file, starting from the current cursor position.
    • if some text is selected it will speak only the selected text.
  • Stop speaking - press the "Stop" button.
  • Speak to a WAV or MP3 file
    • Select some text, or position the cursor at the start of the text you wish spoken
    • Use the "File->Speak to WAV file" or "File->Speak to MP3 File" to save the audio output to a file.
  • Change voices - select one of the voices under the "Voice" menu.
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Licensing:

The demo JSAPI implementation (included here in the files cgjsapi.jar and cgjsapi140.dll) are distributed under the terms layed out in the cloudgarden.com JSAPI webpages. They will expire 30 days after use, after which they may be replaced with the non-demo files - read this section.

The VoicePad source code is free software - you can use/modify/distribute it any way you choose.

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Purchasing and Installing the non-demo JSAPI version

If you wish to continue to use VoicePad after the trial period of 30 days expires, you will need to purchase the Personal (for $16 USD) or Professional license for the JSAPI from cloudgarden.com and download and unpack the JSAPI implementation. You then merely need to replace the cgjsapi.jar and cgjsapi140.dll files in the VoicePad folder with the non-trial versions.

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