[Freeswitch-users] Fwd: FreeSWITCH TTS Voice Prompt Generator

Cal Leeming [Simplicity Media Ltd] cal.leeming at simplicitymedialtd.co.uk
Fri Mar 29 00:43:22 MSK 2013


How the heck did I never see that file before lol, that's exactly what I
needed, thanks!

So I guess that's our word list, and the languages would be German,
Spanish, French, Dutch and Russian.

I'll convert that file into a transcript sheet for the voice talent, get
some samples, a final quote based on exact word count, and then go from
there.

Cal

On Thu, Mar 28, 2013 at 8:54 PM, Michael Collins <msc at freeswitch.org> wrote:

> By "typical phrases" what do you mean? Stuff that each language would
> have, beyond what's in phrase_en.xml?
>
> -MC
>
>
> On Wed, Mar 27, 2013 at 11:06 AM, Cal Leeming [Simplicity Media Ltd] <
> cal.leeming at simplicitymedialtd.co.uk> wrote:
>
>> Here are the quote's I have so far;
>>
>> French (Male, Native, French accent) - $125
>> German (Male, Fluent, German accent) - $500
>> Dutch (Male, Native, Dutch accent) - $190
>> English (Female, Native, American accent) - $85
>> English (Female, Native, British accent) - $120
>>
>> Each one includes;
>>
>> * 3500 words
>> * Full copyright/ownership/rights over the audio files
>> * High quality, raw recordings with a professional mic
>> * Translation from English script (where applicable)
>> * Small sample provided before hand
>>
>> Therefore, I think the next steps would be to determine;
>>
>> * Which languages should be included, so we can determine what the cost
>> would be
>> * List of phrases/sentences that we want recorded (are we going to use
>> phrase fragments to construct a sentence, or full paragraphs?)
>>
>> I've looked around for a list of typical phrases, but didn't have much
>> luck.
>>
>> Any thoughts?
>>
>> Cal
>>
>> On Tue, Mar 26, 2013 at 7:36 PM, Michael Collins <msc at freeswitch.org>wrote:
>>
>>> Awesome!
>>>
>>>
>>> On Tue, Mar 26, 2013 at 11:29 AM, Cal Leeming [Simplicity Media Ltd] <
>>> cal.leeming at simplicitymedialtd.co.uk> wrote:
>>>
>>>> It looks like there was some previous discussion/bounty on this as well;
>>>>
>>>> http://wiki.freeswitch.org/wiki/Bounty#Record_Sound_Prompts_In_Other_Languages
>>>>
>>>> The original estimate was $1200 for a single language, but I think we
>>>> can get MUCH lower than that, maybe 100$ per language for the voice talent.
>>>>
>>>> I'll generate a list of the prompts, get some quotes from fiverr, and
>>>> see what the cost would be.
>>>>
>>>> If there is enough interest in this, and we can get some donations
>>>> towards the cost of the voice talent, then I would be happy to donate some
>>>> of my own time to assist with editing, slicing, organizing etc.
>>>>
>>>> Cal
>>>>
>>>> On Tue, Mar 26, 2013 at 5:42 PM, Michael Collins <msc at freeswitch.org>wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> 3000EUR? Meh.
>>>>>
>>>>> I think you're right that something like fiverr is good for getting a
>>>>> basic set of sound prompts recorded or for custom work. That would be
>>>>> especially useful if you find a talent who can continually do updated
>>>>> prompts.
>>>>>
>>>>> -Michael
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On Tue, Mar 26, 2013 at 7:12 AM, Cal Leeming [Simplicity Media Ltd] <
>>>>> cal.leeming at simplicitymedialtd.co.uk> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> Hi guys,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I've just spoken with Ivona who have confirmed their pricing and
>>>>>> licensing conditions.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> A single developer would have to purchase a single license at 3000EUR
>>>>>> (valid for 1 year) to generate the voice prompt files. This license gives
>>>>>> us all the rights to any voice prompts that the Desktop TTS software
>>>>>> generates, so once an audio file is created, we then hold all the rights on
>>>>>> that file.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Now, 3000EUR is a lot of money, and it would be cheaper to get a
>>>>>> bunch of people on fiverr.com to do real high quality voice prompts.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Any thoughts?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Cal
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On Thu, Mar 14, 2013 at 4:17 PM, Cal Leeming [Simplicity Media Ltd] <
>>>>>> cal.leeming at simplicitymedialtd.co.uk> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Yeah I asked them in the email to clarify what the license cost
>>>>>>> would be for unlimited re-distribution of TTS output.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Here's an idea, slightly off-topic from TTS, but well worth
>>>>>>> considering, assuming these files will be static usage only, i.e. you
>>>>>>> generate them once and leave it.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> You could probably hire two German voices from Fiverr.com to do
>>>>>>> every one of those sentences/words for like 50 bucks... we get the majority
>>>>>>> of our voice talent from that site, providing they have a decent quality
>>>>>>> microphone, and you have some simple editing tools, then you could easily
>>>>>>> have a complete set within a day.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> You'd basically provide the voice talent with a sheet to read from,
>>>>>>> and specify what tone, inflection and speed you want them to use..
>>>>>>> repeating every word twice with a 1 second gap in between. Before you
>>>>>>> split, you'd throw the big file into an editing package, such as Ableton,
>>>>>>> and tinker around with normalization, dehiss, declick, mono, voice
>>>>>>> enhancement etc, until you hit the sweet spot. You can then automate the
>>>>>>> slicing using a simple Python script that splits the file on every 500ms of
>>>>>>> silence. Assuming the voice talent didn't skip a word, you can then take
>>>>>>> your word sheet, map this to your split files, and automatically rename
>>>>>>> them accordingly.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Using this approach saves you a lot of time/money avoiding
>>>>>>> unnecessary studio work.. using a static sheet allows you to not only have
>>>>>>> automation of the workflow, but also means the voice talent can give an
>>>>>>> accurate cost (because they usually base their costs on a per word basis)..
>>>>>>> i.e. 5 bucks for 200 words.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> You could probably have an entire voice set of words/sentences of
>>>>>>> that size completed within a day, if you use this automation approach.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Cal
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> On Thu, Mar 14, 2013 at 3:43 PM, Julian Pawlowski <
>>>>>>> julian at pawlowski.me> wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>  On Thu, Mar 14, 2013 at 2:56 PM, Cal Leeming [Simplicity Media
>>>>>>>> Ltd] <cal.leeming at simplicitymedialtd.co.uk> wrote:
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> I agree their pricing is confusing for non studio related usage,
>>>>>>>>> I've just sent them an email asking to clarify.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Getting back to this, after registering for the Ivona development
>>>>>>>> program I got access to their SaaS terms of use (
>>>>>>>> https://secure.ivona.com/static/pdf/saas_en.pdf).
>>>>>>>> It says:
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> "III. SCOPE AND TYPES OF “IVONA Speech Cloud” SERVICES
>>>>>>>> ...
>>>>>>>> 3. “IVONA Speech Cloud” Service is dedicated solely to
>>>>>>>> entrepreneurs. Subject to the
>>>>>>>> provisions of these Regulations, the Service Receiver is entitled
>>>>>>>> to use of “IVONA
>>>>>>>> Speech Cloud” Service for the purposes of the business activity run
>>>>>>>> by Service
>>>>>>>> Receiver, except for business activity in the areas of Telephony
>>>>>>>> System, in particular
>>>>>>>> interactive voice response (IVR) systems, Private Automatic Branch
>>>>>>>> Exchange (PBX, IP
>>>>>>>> PABX or other) or any other telecommunication solution.
>>>>>>>> ...
>>>>>>>> IV. FREE “IVONA Speech Cloud” SERVICE
>>>>>>>> ...
>>>>>>>> 3. The Text converted into the Speech generated under Free “IVONA
>>>>>>>> Speech Cloud”
>>>>>>>> Service, will be preceded by advertising material of Ivona and/or
>>>>>>>> other advertising
>>>>>>>> material in the form of sound, to what the Service Receiver agrees
>>>>>>>> ordering Unpaid
>>>>>>>> “IVONA Speech Cloud” Service.
>>>>>>>> 4. The Service Receiver shall not modify, in any way, Speech
>>>>>>>> generated as part of Free
>>>>>>>> “IVONA Speech Cloud” Service.
>>>>>>>> 5. The Service Receiver acknowledges that the objective of
>>>>>>>> provision of Free “IVONA
>>>>>>>> Speech Cloud” Service by Ivona is primarily to enable the Service
>>>>>>>> Receiver to
>>>>>>>> familiarize with the functionality, characteristics, uses and
>>>>>>>> suitability of “IVONA Speech
>>>>>>>> Cloud” Service for the Service Receiver. Therefore, the Service
>>>>>>>> Receiver agrees to use
>>>>>>>> Speech made available to it under Free “IVONA Speech Cloud” Service
>>>>>>>> for the above
>>>>>>>> purposes only. It is prohibited to use Speech generated as part of
>>>>>>>> Free “IVONA Speech
>>>>>>>> Cloud” Service for commercial purposes, i.e. to achieve profits or
>>>>>>>> other material benefit
>>>>>>>> by the Service Receiver and/ or a third party. In particular, it is
>>>>>>>> prohibited to make
>>>>>>>> Speech available to any third parties against payment, in any
>>>>>>>> manner, as well as
>>>>>>>> reproduce, distribute, broadcast, publish Speech and on the
>>>>>>>> Internet, radio, television or
>>>>>>>> through any other media.
>>>>>>>> "
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> That makes it impossible to use Ivona for our purposes as every
>>>>>>>> user/company would needs to have a valid subscription and to generate it's
>>>>>>>> own voice prompt files. Redistribution of pre-compiled voice files is not
>>>>>>>> possible.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> I fear as number III.3 makes it quite clear that usage for PBX
>>>>>>>> purposes is critical Ivona is not an option to be used anymore for default
>>>>>>>> voice prompt packages.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Br,
>>>>>>>> Julian
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> _________________________________________________________________________
>>>>>>>> Professional FreeSWITCH Consulting Services:
>>>>>>>> consulting at freeswitch.org
>>>>>>>> http://www.freeswitchsolutions.com
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>
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>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> _________________________________________________________________________
>>>>>> Professional FreeSWITCH Consulting Services:
>>>>>> consulting at freeswitch.org
>>>>>> http://www.freeswitchsolutions.com
>>>>>>
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>>
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>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> Michael S Collins
>>>>> Twitter: @mercutioviz
>>>>> http://www.FreeSWITCH.org
>>>>> http://www.ClueCon.com
>>>>> http://www.OSTAG.org
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> _________________________________________________________________________
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>>>>>
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
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>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
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>>>
>>> --
>>> Michael S Collins
>>> Twitter: @mercutioviz
>>> http://www.FreeSWITCH.org
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>>>
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>>
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>
>
> --
> Michael S Collins
> Twitter: @mercutioviz
> http://www.FreeSWITCH.org
> http://www.ClueCon.com
> http://www.OSTAG.org
>
>
> _________________________________________________________________________
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>
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