[bookport] Re: New Book Port Transfer Beta with Audio Speed Up
- From: Robert Carter <r-carter@xxxxxxx>
- To: bookport@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 10 Jul 2004 12:58:21 -0500
Hi All,
I have been playing with the new beta's compression capabilities. With the
exception of one audio file, I am finding that it really works great. I had
one file that just didn't sound that good when compressed. In all fairness,
I tried speeding up the file on the Plextalk and it sounded just as bad. At
any rate, this beta looks really good. It will be much more exciting when
compression for audible files is supported.
Good work Book Port staff!
Robert Carter
At 01:34 PM 7/9/2004, you wrote:
>There is a new beta available. If you already downloaded a beta, you will =
>get notified when you start Book Port Transfer. If you have not been beta =
>testing and you wish to try this out, you must have the beta firmware, =
>too. The beta firmware is at www.aph.org/beta/bpfw_beta.exe and the new =
>software is at www.aph.org/beta/bp_beta.exe.
>
>
>Here are the details about this new revision of the software:
>
>If the Send Audio Files as Music option is not checked, the Options dialog =
>offers some advanced functionality that let you alter the speed of the =
>audio file's playback. These functions are accessed with the Audio =
>Options button.
>
>Audio Options
>
>Experienced audio listeners will quickly desire a means of speeding up the =
>playback of spoken word audio content. Since there is not a way to =
>perform this speedup with commands on the Book Port device, the transfer =
>software offers a method of using your PC to perform the speedup then =
>sends that reduced file to the device. There are two settings you can use =
>to both reduce the size of an audio file and make the listening experience =
>less time-consuming.
>
>The audio compression settings currently work with all audio files except =
>those from audible.com.
>
>Time Compression
>The Compress Time checkbox determines whether or not Book Port Transfer =
>attempts to alter your file to make listening faster. If this control is =
>checked, the Advanced Audio Options dialog contains a Time Compression =
>Speed edit box where you may enter a number between 1 and 3 to specify how =
>fast the playback speed should occur. The values you enter in this =
>control dictate the aggressiveness of the software's time compression =
>routines. Using a value of 1.5, for example, makes the resulting file =
>flay at a 50% increase in the rate of speech. The number 2 specifies =
>double the rate, and 3 specifies a rate three times normal.
>
>Compress Pauses
>
>The pause compression features of the transfer software provide a =
>convenient means of reducing the amount of space between sentences, =
>sections, and other divisions in the audio. If the Compress Pauses =
>checkbox is checked, the software eliminates a percentage of any pause it =
>finds that is longer than a minimum pause length that you specify.
>
>The Compress By edit box lets you type a percentage value the software =
>uses to reduce pause lengths. If you entered 50 in this box, the software =
>reduces the length of each pause it finds by 50 percent.
>
>The Ignore Pauses Less Than control lets you enter a value in milliseconds =
>the software uses as a minimum pause length. If any pause the program =
>finds is less than this length, the software ignores that pause.
>
>Previewing the Effects of Compression
>
>Once you have set advanced audio options, you may wish to preview the file =
>before sending it to the device. The Preview window plays the file with =
>the new time compression settings. Unfortunately, the preview window does =
>not currently offer a means of testing the pause compression setting.=20
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