TTSAutomate—as it currently exists—is in a state of limbo. It's been many years since I made an update to the tool, and there are changes in the background TTS providers that have degraded functionality. Unfortunately, I don't have the build environment setup to make an update to the tool, so I'm taking a different path.

I'm currently building a platform independent web app version of TTSAutomate, that includes many more voices (over 800 in total across all languages, including over 120 in English)

If you have used TTSAutomate in the past, and are reasonably confident in using very early alpha software, I'd like to invite you to a closed alpha test group, so that I can get feedback and you can help shape the future of the tool.

If you are interested, please respond here, or message me, with some brief information about how you use TTSAutomate or other test-to-speech tools currently.

It's very early in the development, however I'd like to get input early, so that the tool can be shaped to be as useful as possible.

Hi All,

There's been a bit of stagnation in TTSAutomate development lately. The tool is stable and functionally complete so there hasn't been a driver to create a new version for a while.

Some recent events have brought about some questions on the future of the tool;

• Google has changed their mechanism that I used to do the TTS. I could update the tool again but it's really chasing a moving target. At this stage Google TTS voices don't work with TTSAutomate, and will not again unless I make a change to the tool.
• The hosting that I use for the TTSAutomate website got discontinued, and the cost to continue hosting at the new owners was around 3x the contributions I've received in the lifetime of TTSAutomate, so it was going to cost more than it was worth to continue with that setup, let alone the TTS engine usage charges.

As a result, I've taken on hosting ttsautomate.com myself, and I'm considering my options regarding updating / reworking the tool.

If you have an interest in the future of TTSAutomate, could you please give me your feedback using the facility on https://ttsautomate.com/feedback/

You're the majority of customers I have for the tool, so I'd like to make sure that any change I make is heading in the right direction.

Thanks all!

As the 12 month free tier for Amazon Polly will be expiring in a couple of days, I've created a website to host TTSAutomate updates from now on.

TTSAutomate is still free to download and use, however I've added an no obligation option to purchase 'support' through PayPal in case anyone would like to contribute to the costs of running it.

I'm still working on the website. I hope to have a lot more content there shortly about how to use TTSAutomate, with plenty of example PSV files, plus links to OpenTX, er9x and any other projects that may benefit from the voices that TTSAutomate can produce.

The website is live at TTSAutomate.com

Feedback like this really helps me maintain enthusiasm for providing this tool, free of charge.

https://github.com/CaffeineAU/TTSAut...es/tag/3.1.0.1

OpenTX CSV files can be imported by selecting the menu item under 'Open Phrase File' called 'Import CSV File'

Please let me know if you experience any issues.

TTSAutomate 3.0.0.0 is released.

I had hoped to include full voice editing functionality in the 3.0.0.0 release, however Ivona forced my hand by turning off their TTS service. Hence I have done an initial integration of Amazon Polly.

I'll monitor the usage of Polly and if it exceeds the free tier, I may disable it.

Get the new version here:

https://github.com/CaffeineAU/TTSAut...es/tag/3.0.0.0

Ivona has ceased to allow voices to be generated using their system, now that it has been deprecated in favour of Amazon Polly.

I'm working on the integration of Amazon Polly now. On the plus side, it's very easy to implement in comparison to Ivona (about 5% of the code)

On the down side, it's a pay service after we exceed the free tier (Ivona disabled the voices after we exceeded the quota, Polly will charge my credit card )

I'll have to tread carefully and keep an eye on the usage. Additionally, after 12 months, the free tier expires and very use after that will cost real money. Based on the usage of the Ivona voices, it could cost around $600 to $800 a year, so I'm not sure if I want to expose myself to that potential cost.

Please be aware that the Ivona voices are currently disabled as we have used up our monthly quota of voices.

The Ivona voices will be available again on April 1st.

In the longer term, Ivona will be deprecated and we will be forced to change to Amazon Polly, which has similar features, but will only allow free use in the same scale as Ivona for 12 months. After that, the service will be pay-to-play

Hi All,

Thanks for using TTSAutomate. It's been surprisingly successful!

In the 6.5 months since I launched the tool, it has been downloaded over 1300 times, and more than 220000 voice files have been created using Ivona alone!

There are people using the tool in Australia, US, Great Britain, France, Germany, Portugal, Slovakia and the Czech Republic (plus probably more that I haven't heard from yet)

At the moment I'm very busy with my day job so I don't have much time to spend on TTSAutomate, but rest assured, there is progress being made.

I'm currently working on a wav file editor that will allow you to crop and trim silence from your wav files. There are also a number of bug fixes in the works for filename handling and general usability issues.

• Update French translation
  
• Fix Ivona handling of accented characters
  
• Restored installed version
  
• Other secret stuff that doesn't do much yet ;-)

https://github.com/CaffeineAU/TTSAut...es/tag/2.8.2.1

• Add functionality to open a recent phrase file
• Add functionality to open the output directory in Windows Explorer

https://github.com/CaffeineAU/TTSAut...es/tag/2.8.2.0

TTSAutomate is a tool that allows you to generate MP3 (and optionally, WAV) files with spoken voices based on phrases you enter.

Download the latest version of TTSAutomate here

You will need Microsoft .Net 4.5.2 or later to run this tool

The tool allows you to specify a folder to which to output the voice files, and each voice may optionally be in a subfolder of that output folder.

Transmitter firmware such as OpenTX and ERSKY9X support playing these voice files in response to various stimuli.

Getting Started
On the main window of TTSAutomate, there are a number of items that need to be specified or selected, in order to begin generating voice files. These are:

1. The output directory, in which to store the voice files,
2. A filename to name the voice file
3. A phrase to speak

Once you have selected an output directory (using the 'Select Output Directory...' button or Ctrl P), and have specified a filename and a phrase to speak, you may note that the 'Preview' button for that row becomes available.

Generating Voice Files
When the 'Preview' button is pressed, the tool will generate the voice file, using the entered phrase, and the selected voice.

Additionally, once one or more rows are ready to generate, the 'Go' button (Ctrl G) becomes enabled. Clicking 'Go' will generate any voice files that have not been created yet.

The tool will save the voice file in the output directory specified, in an 'MP3' subfolder, and then in any subfolder specified in the '...Continue Reading