MACD 5 (Alt)/MACD 5.bin/workbench/tools/czesc_4/softtalk/docs/softalk.doc

Text File | 1996-08-25 | 15.3 KB | 285 lines

                             DISTRIBUTION

  This version of the SofTalk speech synthesizer is released by the author
as "shareware" and may be distributed via any media under the provision
that no charge be made for SofTalk beyond the costs associated with
copying and distribution.  SofTalk is copyrighted by the author;
modification of the code or documentation are prohibited.  Inclusion of
SofTalk within commercially marketed products requires license.

  If you find that after installation you regularly use SofTalk on your
system, please send $7.50 to Parth Galen Software for a registered version
of the program.  New versions are introduced as modifications are made.

  SofTalk is intended for home computer users who wish to work with aspects
of computer synthesized speech.  If you are interested in this field,
please call or write Parth Galen to obtain specifications for the various
programs that utilize the SofTalk synthesizer.

                  Parth Galen Software
                  24475  158th  Avenue
                 Cold Spring, Minnesota
                 U.S.A.           56320

                Telephone: [phone]
                e-mail   : [e-mail]



                             DESCRIPTION

  Files that accompany this document provide elements of SofTalk, a
software voice synthesizer for the Amiga computer.  In addition to this
document, SofTalk includes:

  1.  SofTalkInstall - a program to back up pre-existing
      Amiga speech synthesizer files and then install the
      SofTalk modules on your system,

  2.  SofTalkRestore - a program to remove SofTalk modules
      from your system and restore original speech synthesizer
      files, if they existed,

  3.  Narrator.device - an Amiga device driver that
      performs the speech synthesis,

  4.  Translator.library - an Amiga library of routines to
      translate ASCII script into the form required by the
      narrator.device, and

  5.  Narrator and translator files with binary data
      required to process basic English speech.

  6.  SofTalker - A simple demonstration program to show features of the
      SofTalk synthesizer.

  SofTalk duplicates the capabilities of the speech synthesizer included
with the Amiga operating system for software versions 1.0 thru 2.0
(1985 to February of 1993).  Programs that accessed the original speech
devices and libraries, and followed the rules documented by the Amiga
ROM Kernel Manual, should work with SofTalk.  The quality of the resultant
voice synthesis will be quite different.

  When SofTalk is installed on Amiga Version 2.1-3.x systems (which were
shipped without any speech software), those programs that require voice
synthesis, and were written to work with the original Amiga synthesizer,
will have that capability.

  SofTalk provides a number of features not available in the original
synthesizer software.  Most significantly, both the Translator and Narrator
can accomodate different languages.  The translator.library can convert
non-English ASCII text to phonemic codons by following rules different from
those of English grammer, and the narrator.device can reproduce phonemes
that are not usually found in spoken English.  This same capability allows
the SofTalk synthesizer to generate unique vocal characteristics, such as
a child's voice, or a melodic voice.  In addition, SofTalk provides up to
four simultaneous independent voice outputs, and a large set of vocal
modifications which can be superimposed on the basic phonemes that
constitute any one voice.

  New SofTalk features will not be evident in programs that used the
originalAmiga voice synthesis software, and the default files accompanying
this archive only provide for a basic English translation with limited
"character".  If you are interested in language translation, please contact
Parth Galen and inquire about the TransMaker language definition program.
TransMaker allows you to define both the rules for parsing a language
(code) and tables for the pronunciation of text in that language (data).
If you have an interest in speech synthesis, inquire about the PhonMaker
program.  PhonMaker allows you to create unique vocal phoneme sets, thus
opening speech synthesis to personal computer users in the same way that
font design programs have opened the heart of the printing process to
desktop publishers.  Both TransMaker and PhonMaker were developed in
compliance with standard Amiga programming practice, as defined in the
Amiga User Interface Style Guide, and fully utilize the Amiga Intuition
operating system to provide a user-friendly interface to the task of
artificial speech production.

  If you would like to write application programs that use SofTalk to its
full capability, please contact Parth Galen and ask about the SofTalk
Programmer's Package.


                             INSTALLATION

  The most straight-forward way to install SofTalk is to unarchive the
SofTalk.lha file (preserving the archive directory structure) to a
dedicated diskette having the volume name "SofTalk:".  If you wish to
unarchive SofTalk.lha to a hard drive directory, that directory will
have to be ASSIGNed the logical volume name "SofTalk:" at the time you
run the SofTalkInstall (or SofTalkRestore) programs.  Boot your Amiga
computer, insert a back-up copy of your "SofTalk:" diskette in any drive,
double-click on the diskette icon, and then double-click on the
SofTalkInstall icon, which will be displayed in the diskette window.
SofTalkInstall will perform all necessary file saving and replacement
operations, prompting you for any actions that cannot be taken care of
automatically.  Basically, SofTalkInstall does the following:

  1. Checks that room is available on your system disk to install the
     new files.  SofTalk requires slightly more disk space than the
     Amiga version 2.0 synthesizer software.

  2. Makes copies of original "translator.library" and "narrator.device"
     files (if your system has them) onto the SofTalk: diskette, so you
     can recover these files if you should want to use them in the future.
     This back-up operation is performed only at first-time use of
     SofTalkInstall, and future installations will not over-write the
     backups once they are in place.  Therefore, it is important that all
     future recovery and installation operations use the same copy of the
     SofTalk: diskette.  You should make a new back-up copy of this
     diskette after performing the installation, so that you maintain
     two backup sets of your orginal speech synthesis software.

  3. Copies the new SofTalk "translator.library" into the LIBS: directory
     of your system, and the new "narrator.device" into the DEVS: directory
     of your system, thus replacing any existing files of these names which
     may have been present.

  4. Creates a Translator sub-directory in your system LIBS: directory, and
     a Narrator sub-directory in your system DEVS: directory.  Copies the
     English language translation and phoneme data files into these sub-
     directories.

  5. On first-time use, tests the newly-installed speech synthesizer.

  Messages are provided as the installation progresses.  If some error
condition is encountered during installation, SofTalkInstall will restore
your original translator library and narrator device to your system.


                             RESTORATION

  SofTalk should be a transparent change to your operating system.
Programs that used the original Amiga translator library and/or narrator
device should work with SofTalk.  It always is possible that some programs
accessed the original library or device using un-documented or non-standard
methods.  Such programs may not work with SofTalk.  And in all programs
you will note that the voice synthesized by SofTalk is quite different from
that of the original Amiga synthesizer.

  If for any reason you wish to restore the original speech system to your
Amiga, insert your SofTalk: diskette in any drive and double-click on the
SofTalkRestore icon.  Your original translator and narrator files will be
copied back to your system (if they were present before installing SofTalk).

  Note that SofTalkRestore does not delete SofTalk files from your
system, but only exchanges the "narrator.device" and "translator.library"
for their original versions.  The various data files used by the device
and the library, any SofTalk application programs, and any project files
from application programs, are left in your system.  On systems with
marginal disk storage space, it may not be possible for SofTalkRestore to
make the exchange unless you provide room by deleting these (or some other)
files.  Such a condition is not likely to occur unless your system operates
entirely from floppy drive diskettes.

  Neither SofTalkInstall nor SofTalkRestore ever delete files in the course
of their operation.  The actions of these programs are limited to backing
up existing files, adding new files, and thereafter exchanging files.

  You can switch the SofTalk speech system back into use by running the
SofTalkInstall program after a SofTalkRestore. Switching operations do not
take as long as initial installation.  If you find yourself switching
between speech systems quite often, and your system has a hard drive,
consider making a SofTalk drawer on your system disk.  Copy the entire
contents of the SofTalk: diskette into that drawer, assign the volume
name "SofTalk:" to that drawer, and thereafter perform the switches from
that hard drive drawer.


                             HOW SOFTALK WORKS

  SofTalk voice synthesis involves two steps.

  First, a text string is converted into symbols, called codons, each of
which represents one basic sound, or phoneme, of a spoken language.  This
procedure is accomplished by routines in the translator.library, which in
turn use a language file found in the  LIBS:Translator/  directory
(or drawer) of your system.  Unlike the original Amiga translator, SofTalk
can load language files specified by an application program, and thus can
accomodate any text that can be entered from a computer keyboard, including
non-standard keyboard characters.  Language files can be created and
modified by the Parth Galen TransMaker program.  A basic English language
translation file, stored under the name "default", is provided with SofTalk.
If an application does not specify a particular language when it accesses
the translator library, the default file will be used.  Thus, older
programs (which were written for a translator library that did not have
this capability) always will use the default language file.  Note that the
default file does not necessarily have to handle English; it could
translate any language.  A "LIBS:Translator/default" file must exist when
SofTalk is load by your system.  Some older application programs (such as
word processors and spread sheets) load the translator.library, even though
you may not use their speech capabilities; such programs will fail unless
SofTalk can find the default language file.

  Once a text string has been converted to codons, each codon must be
associated with a set of audio data, and then the entire sequence of audio
data must be "sounded" by the computer.  This is the task of the
narrator.device, which acquires its data from a file in the DEVS:Narrator/
directory of your system.  Because these data are file based, a program can
instruct the SofTalk narrator device to use sets of sounds that are
designed to have specific vocal characteristics, such as a child's voice,
or sounds that are designed for specific languages (French consonants,
for example, can "sound" quite different from their English counterparts).
Basic sounds in any language are called "phonemes", and the Parth Galen
PhonMaker program can be used to create or modify the sound data for
a SofTalk narrator device file.  As in the case of the translator.library,
a default file must be present to accomodate older programs that accessed
the narrator without specifying any particular set of phonemes.  A basic
English masculine adult voice is provided in the "DEVS:Narrator/default"
file that accompanies SofTalk.

  The DEVS/Narrator directory of this SofTalk distribution disk contains
three phoneme sets.  The "default" set will be copied to your system
during installation, and represents a male adult voice.  You may wish to
try the pg_female_adult or pg_male_adult phonemes.  These voices can be
used by copying the desired file into your DEVS:Narrator/ directory in
place of the "default" file with a Shell (CLI) command such as:

   Copy SofTalk:Devs/Narrator/pg_female_adult to DEVS:Narrator/default
OR
   Copy SofTalk:Devs/Narrator/pg_male_adult   to DEVS:Narrator/default

The speech rate of the pg_female_adult voice cannot be changed, and that
of the pg_male_adult voice can only be changed slightly.  These two
phoneme sets are based on sampled sounds, rather than algorithms.  They
represent the kinds of variations that can be constructed with the
Parth Galen PhonMaker program.

  In fact, it is not necessary to translate a text string into codons to
produce spoken sounds.  Codons really are just keyboard entries in a
phonetic alphabet, and a string of codons can be directly entered into the
narrator device.  Many programs that generate fixed voice messages simply
store the string of codons.  Programs that cannot know ahead of time what
strings are to be spoken must first translate the text into codons, and
then pass the codon string to the narrator.

  The SofTalker program allows you to perform simple translations and
speech output using the default language and phonemes.  You can run
SofTalker from any directory (drawer) by clicking on its icon twice
(or by a Run SofTalker command from the CLI or Shell).  Simply enter
English text in the upper gadget; the lower gadget will display the
translated codons, and the narrator.device will sound the result.  If
you wish, you can enter codons directly into the lower string gadget.
You may be able to "figure out" the relationship of codons-to-sounds
without formal study.  SofTalk uses the same notation system employed by
the original Amiga synthesizer, which was based on a  phonetic alphabet
suitable for standard keyboards called the ARPABET.

  You can change various characteristics of the voice by changing values
in the four columns of gadgets provided in the SofTalker window.  These
vocal effects represent only a sample of the features supported by the
SofTalk speech system.  Programmers who wish to incorporate synthesized
voice into their products should ask about Parth Galen's Programmers
Package, which fully documents all the capabilities of SofTalk.

  Both the translator.library and the narrator.device are only as "good"
as the instructions and data stored in their files.  The default files
provided with SofTalk are intended for basic English voice synthesis, but
many shortcomings will be noticed.  A major problem lies in the translation
of English, a language in which it is notoriously difficult to relate
spelling with spoken sounds.  Equally challenging is the reproduction of
intelligible words by joining basic speech elements together.  These two
aspects of speech synthesis are, fundamentally, the subjects of grammar
and phonetics.  If you think you can do better (and you probably could,
if you tried) you should consider creating your own language files with
Parth Galen's TransMaker or PhonMaker programs.