1 About this Manual
1.1 Legal and Copyright Information
1.2 Information about navigating the manual
1.3 Sample exercises
2 Software Features and Limitations
2.1 Features of the Plextalk Recording Software (PRS)
2.2 Limitations of the PRS Software
3 Introduction to DAISY
3.1 What is DAISY?
3.2 Main features of DAISY
3.3 Types of DAISY book
3.4 Navigating a DAISY book
3.5 Main elements of a DAISY book
3.6 Main processes involved in producing an audio DAISY book
4 Getting Started
4.1 Terminology used in the software
4.2 Recommended system requirements
4.3 Installation and uninstallation of PRS
4.4 Launching and Exiting PRS
5 Accessing the PRS software
5.1 Description of the main screen interface
5.2 Operation from the keyboard
5.3 Information about using speech with PRS
6 Configuring PRS
6.1 Customising the Voice Guidance feature
6.2 Customising the display settings
6.3 Setting the default folder for recordings
6.4 Selecting the default CD writer
6.5 Exercises for configuring PRS
7 Opening and Creating New Projects
7.1 Opening an existing projects
7.2 Creating a new project
7.3 Opening an existing book from CD
7.4 Exercises for opening projects and existing books
8 Navigating and playing projects
8.1 Navigating sections and phrases
8.2 Playing sections or phrases
8.3 Continuous play
8.4 Adjusting playback speed
8.5 Adjusting playback volume
8.6 Getting section and phrase information
8.7 Searching for heading text
8.8 Jumping to Pages
8.9 Jumping to Groups
8.10 Jumping to Marks
8.11 Jumping to Events
8.12 Exercises in playing and moving around a project
9 Recording
9.1 Checking the Volume Control options for the computer
9.2 Selecting the required input device
9.3 Confirmation of the storage information
9.4 Setting up the recording functions
9.5 Selecting the recording mode
9.6 Adjusting the recording volume
9.7 Exercises for practicing recording techniques
10 Editing
10.1 Selecting multiple sections or phrases
10.2 Standard editing commands for phrases and sections
10.3 Editing a section
10.4 Editing phrases
10.5 Undoing editing
10.6 Editing the section properties
10.7 Setting and removing page information
10.8 Setting and removing group information
10.9 Marks
10.10 Setting page, group or mark codes whilst recording
10.11 Comments
10.12 Exercises in editing a project
11 Creating and Editing the Table of Contents
11.1 ToC (Table of Contents)
11.2 CSV (Comma Separated Variables)
11.3 TXT (Text)
11.4 Running the "ToC Import" process
11.5 Exercises in working with Tables of Contents (ToC)
12 Building the book
12.1 How to run the "Build Book" process
12.2 Outline of the alterations involved in the "Build Book" process
13 Creating the CD
13.1 Configuring PRS for your CD writer
13.2 Writing the CD
13.3 Explanation of the CD writing dialogue box
14 Additional Features of PRS
14.1 DAISY import
14.2 Audio Import
14.3 Audio Export
14.4 Text Import
14.5 Detecting the pause time
14.6 Exercises for the additional features of PRS
APPENDICES
Appendix A - Sample Exercises
Appendix B - Menu Details
Appendix C - Short-cut Details
Appendix D - Technical Details
SHINANOKENSHI reserves the right to make improvements in the products described in this manual at any time without prior notice.
SHINANOKENSHI makes no representation or warranties with respect to the contents hereof and specifically disclaims any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for any particular purpose. Further, SHINANOKENSHI Corp. reserves the right to revise this manual and to make changes in its content without obligation to notify any person or organization of such revision or change.
This manual is copyrighted, all rights reserved. It may not be copied, photocopied, translated, or reduced to any electronic medium or machine-readable form without SHINANOKENSHI's prior permission.
Manual copyright SHINANOKENSHI Corp. edition July 2004.
MPEG Layer-3 audio compression technology licensed by Fraunhofer IIS and THOMSON multimedia.
http://www.iis.fhg.de/
Licenses and Trademarks - All licenses and trademarks are property of their respective owners.
This manual has been written in a logical sequence which should allow new users and advanced users to easily find the information they are looking for. New users should be able to build up their knowledge gradually by working methodically through the chapters whilst advanced users may wish to skip some chapters or sections and go directly to information about the more complex features.
The manual has been written in HTML format to allow you to view it in your web browser. You can navigate through the text from start to finish or you can use the links and headings to find particular items of interest.
The main heading and all chapter headings are at level 1, sections are at level 2 and sub sections are at level 3. All items in the Contents list are linked to the related part of the manual with hyperlinks. At the end of every chapter, there is a link back to the Contents list.
Throughout the manual, reference is made to sample exercises available in Appendix A. A copy of these exercises and some sample projects are available on the "PTR1/PTR2 User's Guide" CD(\PRS\Sample Projects), provided with your software. The sample projects should be used in conjunction with the exercises.
This chapter details some of the main features of the PRS software and some of the physical limitations which apply when used with different operating systems.
The PRS software is a DAISY2.02 production tool which can import DAISY2.0 content for editing or upgrading. Please note that PRS can only produce DAISY books that are structured audio and it does not have the capability of producing full text DAISY books.
The main features of this version of the software are as follows:
Depending on which operating system you are using, the PRS software is limited as follows:
Note 1: Although you can specify up to 999,999 pages, you cannot specify Page
0 (zero)
Note 2: The character length referred to here is the text in the section property
and book information dialogue boxes.
Note 3: When using Windows ME/98 SE, there is a practical limitation of 2000
sections/phrases because of the time taken to refresh the list view. If editing
an extremely large book, it is highly recommended that you use Windows 2000
or Windows XP.
This chapter gives an overview of the DAISY format and some of the terminology used. It also gives information about the structure of a DAISY project and the processes involved in producing a DAISY book. If you are a new DAISY user, you should read this chapter thoroughly. If you are an experienced DAISY user, you may wish to skim read the chapter or bypass it altogether.
DAISY is an acronym which stands for Digital Accessible Information SYstem. It is the information format which is being developed as the international standard for digital talking books. DAISY books can be played on a dedicated hardware player or on a computer equipped with the appropriate software.
The main features of the DAISY format are as follows:
Compression of information - with high levels of compression available, it is possible to store up to 90 hours of digital audio on a single CD. Imagine storing a similar amount of audio on cassette tapes!
Speed of Navigation - the DAISY format includes a range of features which enable the reader to quickly access parts of the book. These features include 6 levels of navigation, coding of pages and groups and the ability to move backwards or forwards a phrase at a time. These items will be discussed in more detail later in this chapter.
Multi-media capability - in addition to digital audio, the DAISY format is able to incorporate text, graphics and even video to provide the reader with a fully synchronized reading experience.
The DAISY format allows for 6 types of DAISY book which range from audio books with no navigation structure to books with text and no audio. A brief description of each type is given below:
Note: As the PRS package is designed to produce structured audio only talking books, it has no facilities for including text, graphics or video. For this reason, this manual only deals with the production of Type 2 DAISY books (structured audio).
A DAISY book can have up to 6 levels of navigation. The number of levels in a book will depend on the structure of the original book. The levels are hierarchical with Level 1 the highest level of navigation and Level 6 the lowest.
There are no fixed rules about how the DAISY navigation levels should be used and people's views on how this should be done will vary. For simple books which only have chapters, it is likely that only one level (Level 1 equating to chapters) will be used. For more complex books, which may have chapters, sections and sub sections, there might be 3 levels used (Level 1 for chapters, Level 2 for sections and Level 3 for sub sections). Once the book has been created, the levels of navigation are fixed and cannot be altered by the reader.
When trying to find a specific part of a book, the reader would tend to use a higher level (perhaps Level 1 or Level 2) to find the main area of interest, and would then change to a lower level of navigation to home in more on the information they are looking for. This allows them to bypass large portions of the book that they have no interest in at that time.
DAISY books can allow the reader can go directly to specific pages. To make this possible, the producer of the book must include the page codes at the correct locations when they create the book. Pages cannot be coded by the reader.
Two other DAISY navigation features, namely "Groups" and "Phrases" are available to the producer of the DAISY project. Both of these features give the reader extra navigation options and are explained in the chapter called "Getting Started" later in this manual.
Once the book is complete, the reader can add bookmarks at relevant places to enable them to find the marked locations at a later stage. The number of permitted bookmarks will depend on the player used but generally there will be more capacity than the reader requires. Bookmarks are the only item that the reader can insert and remove.
A DAISY book consists of a number of items. A brief summary of these is given below:
When producing an audio DAISY book, there are a number of tasks to complete. In outline, these are as follows:
By now, you should have a reasonable overview about the way a DAISY book is structured and produced. This chapter focuses on how you get started with using the PRS software.
In order to avoid any confusion with terminology, the most commonly used terms used in the PRS software are explained below. It is stressed that the way these terms are defined relates to their use in the PRS software and may not be used in the same context in other publications.
A project is a DAISY book before it is finished. The final process of building the book is the point at which the project is complete. At this stage it would be called a DAISY book.
A "book" is a finished project. At this stage it is ready for distribution. If further editing of the book were required subsequently, the book would have to be imported into the PRS software as a new project.
Throughout this manual the term "title" refers to the title of a book.
A "section" in the PRS software refers to the segment of audio between one heading and the next. A section is generally made up of a number of phrases but can have as few as one phrase. Each section will have a heading and a heading level associated with it. Do not get confused between sections in the PRS software and sections of this manual!
A "heading" is the text associated with a section. The default text for all section headings is the word "Heading". A more descriptive heading can be entered by the producer of the project. The heading text forms the basis of the Table of Contents and is used in the NCC file.
The "level" of a section refers to its DAISY navigation level. As mentioned earlier in the manual, the producer of the DAISY book can choose from 6 levels of navigation. These are known as Level 1, Level 2, Level 3 and so on. Level 1 is the highest level of navigation and Level 6 the lowest. Every section in a DAISY project/book has an associated level of navigation. The default level for all sections is Level 1. The level can be altered by the producer of the project but cannot be altered by the reader.
When the book is being recorded, the audio files are automatically divided into segments called "phrases". The recording software will decide on where a phrase starts and ends based on the amount of silence between one piece of audio and the next. The length of silence permitted before a new phrase is created is called the "pause time" and can be adjusted by the person making the DAISY recording. In order to break the audio up into phrases that are not too long or short, a fast reader might require a short pause time and a slower reader a longer pause time. When the recording is finished, the reader can use the phrases as an additional navigation feature.
A "Page" refers to a code placed into the DAISY project. The page code is attached to a phrase and can be inserted or removed by the project producer before it is completed. It should be noted that page coding in the final DAISY book may not match the pages in the original printed text book depending on the needs of the project. For example, page numbering in the DAISY book may start at the point where the printed book content starts, ignoring the page numbering of items such as the preface, dedication and extraneous information.
The "group" coding is a flexible navigation feature and can be used by the project producer to relate to elements in the book that they wish to reference separately from the other navigation features. For example, the producer may choose to use the group code to identify each paragraph, though this would be very labour intensive. It might also be used to reference other items such as points of note, warnings, diagrams or tables. As with most DAISY elements, the group coding is decided upon by the producer and cannot be altered by the reader.
A mark is a way in which the producer of the project can identify particular phrases in the project that may need further attention. Marks do not affect the playback of the finished book but would normally be removed by the producer before finalising the project.
An event includes all of the following: the first phrase in every section; phrases coded with the "Page" code and phrases coded with the "Group" code. Phrases marked with the "Mark" code are not considered to be "events".
SHINANOKENSHI recommends the following system environment for running the PRS software. SHINANOKENSHI does not guarantee proper operation of the software on systems which do not meet this specification.
Recommended Specification:
This section of the manual explains how to install and uninstall the PRS software.
Note: The file name for set-up or the version number appearing on the screen will be different from the one written on the manual after the upgrade has been done.
To install the PRS software do the following:
To uninstall the PRS software do the following:
This section of the manual explains how to launch and exit the PRS software.
In order to launch the PRS software, do the following:
To exit the PRS software, do the following:
This chapter gives details about the software interface, how to access it from the keyboard and the voice guidance feature.
The main screen in the PRS software is laid out like a typical Windows application. There is a Title Bar at the top, under which there is a Menu Bar and a Tool Bar. The remaining screen is divided into 3 areas: the Section List, the Phrase List and the Monitoring Display area.
The Section List is immediately under the main toolbar and stretches across the entire width of the application window. The Phrase List and the Monitoring Display areas are both below the Section list, with the Phrase List on the left and the Monitoring Display on the right. Each of the main items on the screen is described in more detail below.
This has 7 items. From left to right, these are: File, Edit, Move, Control, Tool, Option and Help. Keyboard navigation of the Menu Bar and the associated drop-down menus conforms to normal Windows standards. A full list of the items on each drop down menu is given at Appendix B. A list of the available short cut keystrokes is given at Appendix C.
This toolbar contains icons for features that affect the project as a whole and also the Windows editing features that you would expect to find in most Windows applications. It consists of 13 icons immediately under the Menu Bar. From left to right, these are: New project, Open project, Cut, Copy, Paste, Undo, Recording settings, Build book, CD writing, Find heading, Book information, Storage information and HTML Help. If a mouse pointer is positioned over any of these icons, a text tool tip is displayed to tell you what feature the icon represents. All of these features can be accessed through the menus or by keyboard short cuts as well as from the Toolbar.
The Section List is split into 7 columns with the following headings: Section, Level, Heading, Phrase, Length, Page, and Comment. When the project contains recorded material, this area will list all the sections in the project. Relevant details for each section will be displayed in the columns to the right of the section number.
Between the Section List and the Phrase List, there is a toolbar which has 8 buttons. Most of the features are for editing the properties of sections or phrases. From left to right, they are: Level up, Level down, Section creation, Group, Page, Mark, Recording mode toggle and Play speed. All features can be accessed using keyboard alternatives.
The phrase List is split into 8 columns with the following headings: Phrase, Length, Pause, Group, Page, Mark, Audio file name and Comment. When the project contains recorded material, this area will list all the phrases in the section which is highlighted in the Section List. Relevant details for each phrase will be displayed in the columns to the right of the phrase number.
Under the Phrase List, there is a third toolbar with 7 icons. This toolbar can be used to control the playing and recording of the project. From left to right, the icons are: First phrase, Previous phrase, Play, Next phrase, Last phrase, Stop and Record.
Level with the phrase List, at the bottom right corner of the screen, is another box. This lists, vertically, 7 items related to the monitoring of recording and playing levels and the status of the project. From top to bottom, these are: Recording level slider, Playback volume slider, Section information window, Phrase information window, Status window, Recording format and Recorded format.
All features of the PRS software can be accessed either by keyboard commands or by using the mouse. Most of the keyboard commands follow the standard Windows pattern, for example, Cut, Copy and Paste use the keystrokes "Control+X", "Control+C" and "Control+V" respectively. This section details some of the most useful keyboard commands. A comprehensive list of keyboard commands is provided at Appendix B & Appendix C.
On the main screen, this key will switch the focus from the Section List to the Phrase List and vice versa. If the voice guidance is on, you will hear "Section" or "Phrase" to tell you which list the focus has moved to. Within dialogue boxes, "Tab" or "Shift+Tab" will move you forward or backwards around the dialogue box.
Within the Section List or the Phrase List, the Arrow keys will move you up or down on the list of sections or phrases. In lists that are in dialogue boxes, they will allow you to change a selection.
These 2 keys have identical meanings in the PRS software and which one you use is a matter of personal preference. The usage of the keys depends on the situation as follows:
Pressing this key combination when the focus is on the Section List or Phrase List will cause the voice guidance to speak the following items: Input volume (from microphone or other input device), Wave out volume, Section selected, Total number of sections, Phrase selected, Total number of phrases, the Recording format and the Recorded format.
This has the standard Windows usage and, when pressed, will take the PC focus to the Menu Bar. If pressed whilst you are on the Menu Bar or in a drop down menu, it will close all drop down menus and return the focus to the Section List or Phrase List.
This can be used to mute the voice guidance at any time.
The PRS is supplied with a built-in Voice Guidance facility. The text to speech engine used conforms to Microsoft's speech API 4.0. With the speech enabled, it is possible for a totally blind user to use the PRS software independently.
As the built-in speech is likely to clash with other screen reading packages, it is recommended that you turn off other screen readers when launching the PRS software. SHINANOKENSHI is unable to guarantee the proper function of PRS or the built-in voice guidance if you use other screen reading software.
This chapter describes how to configure some of the features of the PRS software basic operation. This includes altering the speech and display settings. There is also information on setting up the default folder for recordings and the default CDR/CDRW drive.
After installation of the PRS software, the Voice Guidance will be active with default settings. You may wish to turn off the voice altogether or customise it to your own preferences. This section describes how to make these alterations.
The Voice Guidance can be on or off when editing your project. You can also select to have voice guidance turned off during recording so that it is not picked up in the audio. If, however, you turn the voice guidance off during editing, this will also automatically disable it during recording as well. To turn the Voice Guidance on or off, do the following:
Note: The settings that you select will become the default settings for the future.
In order to select a different voice or to adjust the settings such as speed, pitch or volume, do the following:
Note 1: The list of TTS engines
available to you in this dialogue will depend on other software you have
installed on your computer as well as PRS.
Note
2: If you make a mistake with your modifications to the pitch, speed
or volume, you can use the "Default" button
to reset these values to their original setting for that TTS engine.
Note 3: The settings you select
in this dialogue box will become the default settings when you start PRS
in the future.
This section describes how to modify the font size in lists and message boxes.
The list font size affects the size of text in the Section and Phrase Lists on the main screen. To modify the list font, do the following:
The message font will affect the size of text you see in dialogue boxes. To modify the message font, do the following:
Note: In both situations above, Largest is 2.5, Larger is 2.0, Smaller is 1.5 and Smallest is 1.0 times the standard Windows icon font size.
Before working with the software it is worth taking a few moments to decide where you want your PRS projects to be located. PRS allows you to specify a default folder which can be an existing folder or a new one. This section explains how to set the default folder for your system.
To set an existing folder to be your default folder, do the following:
To create a new folder and set it as the default folder, do the following:
Although you may not require to use the CD writing facility for some time, it is a good idea to configure the software for this at an early stage to avoid unnecessary errors later on. This section details how to set up the software to work with your selected CD writer.
To configure the software to work with your desired CD writer, do the following:
Note: After confirming your selection, this will become the default selection in the future. You can also change the selected drive or the temporary image setting at any time.
You have now covered the basic methods of configuring the PRS software. Before continuing, you may wish to practice some of these skills. Exercise 1 in Appendix A gives you some ideas of things to try.
This chapter details how to open existing projects from the hard disk and how to create new projects. It also describes how to open existing completed DAISY books from CD to prepare them for further editing.
This section of the manual describes how to open an existing PRS project from the hard disk. This can be done when the software is launched or from within the programme after it is loaded. The dialogue box, which appears in both cases, is identical.
The 2 methods of opening an existing project are detailed below. Following this the dialogue box itself is described.
Both methods above will cause the "Open" dialogue box to appear. It has 6 elements and can be navigated by pressing the "Tab" key to move forwards or "Shift+Tab" to move backwards. The 6 elements are as follows:
This section of the manual describes how to create a new PRS project. This can be done when the software is launched or from within the programme after it is loaded. The series of dialogue boxes, which appear in both cases, are identical.
The 2 methods of creating a new project are detailed below. Following this the 3 dialogue boxes themselves are described in the order that they appear.
Having chosen to create a new project, you will be offered a series of 3 dialogue boxes. The first is for setting the recording format for the project. The next gives you an opportunity to specify a name and folder for your new project. The third is for entering the book information if you wish. The 3 dialogue boxes are described in more detail below:
The first dialogue box to appear is the "Recording Format" dialogue. This is used to specify the recording format you wish to use in the new project. It has 3 elements and can be navigated by pressing the "Tab" key to move forwards or "Shift+Tab" to move backwards. The 3 elements are as follows:
Note: Once you select a recording format, you will not be able to change it when the project is being edited. You will, however, be able to change the format by using the "Audio Export" feature of the PRS software which is described later, in this manual.
The second of the 3 dialogue boxes is the "Folder Name" dialogue. It is used to specify the name and location of the new project folder. It has 6 elements and can be navigated by pressing the "Tab" key to move forwards or "Shift+Tab" to move backwards. The 6 elements are as follows:
The last of the 3 dialogue boxes is the "Book Information" dialogue and is used to enter a range of important information about the original printed book and about the people who have created the DAISY version. This information can be completed at any time during the editing of the project up to the point where the book is built. The dialogue has 11 main elements (apart from the "OK" and "Cancel" buttons) and can be navigated by pressing the "Tab" key to move forwards or "Shift+Tab" to move backwards. The 11 elements are nearly all simple edit boxes for entering textual information.
A brief description of these elements follows:
Note: When this dialogue appears, if you do not wish to enter the data at the time, simply press the "Enter" key and the dialogue will vanish.
This section describes how to open a finished DAISY book in order to do further editing. The procedure is useful if you wish to use the PRS to edit a recording that you have created on the Plextalk PTR1/PTR2 portable recorder. The "DAISY Import" feature is similar to the procedure described in this section but it is more versatile. The "DAISY Import" feature is described in detail in Section 14.1 of this manual.
In outline, opening an existing DAISY book involves: locating the required NCC file, setting the correct audio format for the new project (if necessary), selecting the folder where you wish to save the new project and running the import process.
To carry out this process, do the following:
Note 1: When saving the new project, the file name can include up to 63 alphanumeric
characters. Do not use spaces.
Note 2: If you are importing a large project, this process may take some time
so be patient.
You should now have a good idea of how to open existing projects and books. If you would like to practice these procedures, Exercise 2 in Appendix A sets you some simple tasks.
This chapter explains how to navigate around your project and how to play sections and phrases. It also explains how to use some of the additional navigation features of the PRS software.
To navigate around the Section or Phrase Lists, do the following:
To play or stop a section or phrase, do the following:
To play continuously, do the following:
To adjust the playback speed, do the following:
Note: The speed selected will become the default speed.
To adjust the playback volume (Wave out volume), do the following:
Note: The new volume setting will become the default volume.
This section describes how to obtain section and phrase information.
To acquire section or phrase information, do the following:
A section heading is the text associated with the section. The heading information can be used to search for a section in the project.
To search for heading text, do the following:
To jump forwards or backwards to the next page, do the following:
To jump forwards or backwards to the next group, do the following:
To jump forwards or backwards to the next mark, do the following:
To jump forwards or backwards to the next event, do the following:
You should now have a good knowledge of how to move around a project and play sections and phrases. Exercise 3 in Appendix A gives you an opportunity to try out these skills in a real project.
This chapter details how to set up your computer and software to make a recording.
Before trying to record a project, it is worth checking the Volume Control settings within your operating system. You will need to ensure that the devices that you intend to use for recording, such as the microphone or line in sockets on your sound card, have been activated in the Windows Volume Controls. If this has not been done, you will not be able to record in the PRS software. For further information on how to make these checks, refer to your Windows Help system.
Having ensured that your Windows system is properly configured, you now need to set up the PRS to accept audio input from the correct source. You can choose to record from the microphone socket or from the line in socket on your sound card. If you want to make a live recording you would probably want to use your microphone. If you wished to record from another device such as a cassette player or CD player, you would use the Line in option.
To set up the PRS software for either of these input sources, do the following:
Either before or after recording, you may wish to check the recording capacity of your system. This section details how to acquire information such as the recording format, the recorded time, the disk space used, the available recording time and the available disk capacity.
To acquire the storage information, do the following:
Several recording features can be customised by the producer of the DAISY project. These include the phrase pause time, noise level, section pause time, whether to create a new audio file or not, time to stop recording and the recording speed. This section outlines the purposes of each of these settings and how to make changes.
To access the "Recording Function" dialogue box, do the following:
The phrase pause time is the amount of silence that the PRS software will accept before automatically creating a new phrase. Pause times can be set in increments of 0.1 seconds, in the range 0.1 seconds to 1.0 seconds. The default setting on installation is 0.4 seconds.
The noise level is the level of background noise. If this is high, PRS will find it difficult to split phrases and the recording will be one long phrase. If there is no background noise, you may end up with too many phrases. PRS offers you 10 noise levels, from -20dB to -40dB. The default setting is normal. If the background noise is high, set this option to "High" and if there is no background noise, set the option to "Low". Low noise levels are typically around -40 dB, normal noise level is around -28 dB and High noise level is around -20 dB.
The section pause time is the amount of silence that PRS will allow before automatically creating a new section and continuing to record. This is particularly useful when recording from tape cassettes and other media as it can greatly reduce the editing time required. The Section Pause time can be set in increments of 1 second in the range of 1 second up to 5 seconds. This setting can be ignored if set to "Nothing". The default setting is "Nothing".
Note: The Section Pause time is only valid in "Overwrite" recording mode.
This setting allows you to specify if PRS should take a new audio file when a new section is created. The default setting is "Yes". If you are recording in a location where the recording level is low such as in a conference or lecture room, set this setting to "No" and you should be able to record the low levels.
This setting would generally be used when recording from cassette or other device. The setting can be used to specify an amount of silence after which the recording will stop automatically. The available settings are 10 seconds, 20 seconds, 30 seconds, 1 minute, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 4 minutes and 5 minutes. This setting can be ignored if set to "Nothing". The default setting is "Nothing".
This can be set to "Normal" (1x) or "Double" (2x) speed and is useful if you have a cassette player or other device which can play at double speed. This will half the time to record from that device. For normal use, set this to "Normal" and set it to "Double" if using a device capable of playing at double speed.
This option may help to reduce static noise from DC power sources. Noise of this kind can cause problems with phrase detection and it is recommended that, if you have tried changing the "Noise Level" options without success, you should try this option. There are 2 settings, "On" and "Off". The default setting is "Off".
This option makes recording volume larger as selected decibel. Please enable this option when input volume of the sound device can not achieve the level you want. However, if sound contains certain noise, please turn off sound boost because sound boost amplifies the noise as well.
By using these 2 elements, you can specify a default folder for all project recordings. These were described in more detail earlier in the manual.
Within the PRS software, there are 2 recording modes that can be used. These are "Overwrite" and "Punch-in" modes. This section explains the meaning of these modes and describes how to select the desired mode for recording.
To change from "Overwrite" to "Punch-in" mode or vice versa, do the following:
Note: Whichever setting you last select during a session, will become the default setting.
"Overwrite" mode allows the producer to overwrite the whole of a specified section, from the selected phrase onwards, regardless of how long the original section was or how long the new recording is. The new recording will overwrite all phrases in the current section from the selected phrase onwards. It will not overwrite audio in the following sections!
To record in "Overwrite" mode, do the following:
Note 1: If you do not wish
to use the test recording mode, press "Shift+F8" and
recording will start immediately.
Note 2: When you start to record, the system will stay on pause until an audio
input is detected by the software. Once the audio is detected, recording will
start automatically.
Note
3: To create a new section whilst recording, press the "Insert" key
- ensure that the number lock is "Off" - this does not work in "Punch
in" mode.
"Punch-in" mode enables the producer to insert audio at the selected location, without overwriting any audio. It can also be used to overwrite specified phrases in the selected section.
To record in "Punch-in" mode, do the following:
Note 1: When selecting
phrases to be deleted, you can press "F5" to
hear a phrase you have selected or press "Shift+F5" to hear all the
phrases that have been selected.
Note 2: When you start to record, the system will stay on pause until an audio
input is detected by the software. Once the audio is detected, recording will
start automatically.
Note
3: You cannot insert
sections when recording in "Punch in" mode.
Note
4: PRS will only allow you to record into a single section at a time, whether
in "Overwrite" or "Punch-in" mode.
When making a recording it is important that the recording volume is neither too high nor too low. If it is too high, the recording will be "clipped" and the recording may well be distorted to listen to. If the recording volume is too low, it may be difficult to hear. In both these cases, the phrase detection may not work properly.
You should be aiming to record in a middle range to avoid both situations. This section describes how to adjust the recording volume.
To adjust the recording volume, do the following:
Note 1: "Low" indicates a peak level lower than -12 dB, "Good" indicates
a peak level between -12 dB and -3 dB and "High" indicates a peak
level which is -3 dB or higher.
Note 2: If setting the recording volume visually, you should set the level
to be around -10 dB.
You should now have a good understanding of the main issues involved in making a recording with the PRS software. If you would like to try some practical exercises in recording, see Exercise 4 in Appendix A.
This chapter focuses on how you can edit your project including manipulating the recorded information and structuring in the DAISY features such as pages and groups. At the end of this part of the manual you should be able to record and edit using most of the facilities in the PRS software.
Selecting multiple phrases or sections in a PRS project, is very similar to selecting multiple items in other Windows list boxes. The process is as follows:
Note: You can only select multiple phrases or sections that are contiguous.
Now that you know how to select single and multiple phrases and sections, it is simple to action a number of the basic editing features of the PRS software. Many of the commands will be familiar from other Windows based programmes. Below is listed some of the most useful commands:
This part of the manual deals with some of the basic editing commands for working with sections.
To join 2 or more sections together, do the following:
On occasions it will be necessary to split a section into smaller parts. The procedure to do this is explained below:
To delete a section, do the following:
If you wish to delete all the sections in a project, do the following:
If you wish to insert a new empty section, do the following:
This section deals with some of the basic commands used for editing phrases.
Note 1: Phrases to be joined must be contiguous.
Note
2: If the error message "Unable to join these phrases" appears,
you should carry out one of the following actions. If the audio format of your
project is "PCM", run the "Build Book" process from the "Tool" menu.
If the audio format of your project is "MP3" run the "Audio
Export" process from the "Tool" menu.
On occasion you may wish to split a phrase to break down a long phrase into smaller pieces. This can be done as follows:
Note 1: When you start
the splitting process, the splitting position will always start at the beginning
of the phrase to be split, so
pressing the "Left
Arrow" key at the start, will have no effect.
Note 2: You will be unable to split a phrase if you are positioned at the
beginning or end of the phrase.
Note
3: During the splitting process, pressing the "F5" key
will cause the Voice Guidance to speak from the split position. Pressing
it again
during the audio playback will stop the audio output.
Note
4: If you wish to cancel the splitting process at any time whilst
selecting the split position,
press the "Escape" key
to return to the main screen.
Note 5: If you click on the phrase wave form with the right mouse button,
the whole wave form will be displayed. Clicking a second time with the right
mouse button will return the screen to normal.
To delete a phrase, do the following:
If you need to, you can delete all the phrases in a selected section. This can be done as follows:
Similar to a word processor, PRS allows you to undo previous edits. You can undo the previous 10 edits in reverse order. In the event that you wish to undo editing, do the following:
Note 1: The "Undo" command
is valid for the following editing commands: Join, Split, Delete, All Delete,
Insert, Cut, Paste, Page
setting, Group setting,
Mark setting, Level setting, Section property and Phrase property.
Note
2: The "Undo" command
will not work for undoing recording, DAISY import, Audio Import, Audio Export,
Text Import, Build Book
and CD Writing.
For every section in the project, there are 2 pieces of information that will always be present. These are the section heading and the section level. Assuming that you have not previously made alterations to a section's properties, the default text for every heading will be "Heading" and the default level will be Level 1. Although you can leave these unaltered, the information in the section properties is much more meaningful if it is customised to suit the particular project. It also makes it possible to search for particular sections by use of the heading text.
The information can be modified either manually, one section at a time, or by using the "ToC Import" feature of the PRS software. This feature will be discussed in the next chapter of this manual.
The section properties contains the information that makes up the Table of Contents for the DAISY project. This section describes how to edit the section properties manually. Manual editing is likely to be used when there are only a small number of sections in the project or when there is only a small amount of editing required.
To edit a section's heading, do the following:
Every section in a PRS project can be assigned a level from 1 to 6. Level 1 is the highest level of navigation and Level 6 is the lowest. The default setting for a new section is Level 1. You may wish to alter the assigned level for a section, in order to make the navigation of your project more specific. This section details how to raise or lower the section levels.
To raise the level for a section, do the following:
To lower the level of a section, do the following:
Note 1: If you wish to adjust the level of multiple sections, select the desired
sections and use the same process as above to raise or lower the level as appropriate.
Note
2: The level information is also available on the section properties dialogue
box. Open the section
properties and make alterations
to the level
element by using the "Up" or "Down" Arrow keys. Press "Enter" to
confirm the changes.
The PRS software allows you to specify phrases in the project that are to be marked as "pages". The page marker adds extra navigation functionality to the DAISY project. This can be particularly useful where the original text does not have many other natural break points, such as novels, which may only have chapters and paragraphs. It is also very useful in reference works as a means to find information quickly.
The PRS software allows you to use 4 types of page coding as follows: Auto page, Manual page, Front page and Special page.
This section explains each of the page codings and how to use them.
The auto page numbering feature allows you to place page codes on phrases in your project. Having inserted these page codes, they will automatically number themselves according to their position relative to the other page codes. The first code will become Page 1, the second will be Page 2 and so on. There is no need to enter specific page numbers.
To enter an automatic page code, do the following:
Note 1: As you enter automatic
page codes into the project, a small cross will be added under the "Page" column. Pressing the "F12" or "F9" key
will cause the Voice Guidance to announce the phrase number followed by "Attributes
Page Automatic" along with the other phrase information.
Note
2: If you wish to determine the currently assigned page number for
that phrase, you need to
refresh the information on the screen.
Do this by selecting "Refresh" from
the "Edit" menu or by pressing either "Control+L" or "F10" directly
from the main screen. The small cross will change to the relevant page number.
After refreshing the information, pressing "F12" or "F9" will
cause the Voice Guidance to say "Attribute Page Automatic Number XX" (where
XX is the calculated page number at that time), along with the other phrase
information.
Note
3: Any time you add or remove automatic page codes from the project, you must
use the "Refresh" function
to determine the new page number in the project.
You can choose to enter a specified page number rather than using the automatic page numbering. You might want to do this in various situations, for example, if you are creating a DAISY version of only part of the original text and want the page numbers to still match the original.
To enter a manual page number, do the following:
Note 1: Manual page numbers
must be specified in sequence. If they are not, an error message will be
displayed when you execute the "Refresh" command
(F10).
Note 2: Manual page numbering can be used in combination with automatic page
numbering. For example, if a phrase has a manual page set to be Page 10 and
phrases later in the project are coded as automatic pages, the first page after
the manually set page will become Page 11 and the next one will become Page
12 and so on.
Note
3: When a manual page has been specified, the page number will appear in parentheses "(" and ")" on the phrase list under the "Page" column.
Pressing the "F12" or "F9" keys will cause the Voice Guidance
to say "Attribute Page Manual Number XX" (where XX is the specified
page number), along with the other phrase information.
In printed books, the pages before the main content of the book are often numbered with Roman style numbering such as "i", "ii", "iii", "iv" and so on. You can use the "Front Page" option in the PRS software to enter this type of page numbering in your DAISY project, in order to match the original text.
To enter a "Front" page code, do the following:
Note: When you specify a front page code, the page number specified will appear in square brackets "[" and "]", under the "Page" column of the phrase properties. Pressing the "F12" or "F9" keys will cause the Voice Guidance to say "Attribute Page Front XX" (where XX is the specified front page number), along with the other phrase information.
The special page option can be used to specify non-standard page numbering such as "1-34" or "1-iv", where the hyphen "-" is used to separate numbers which can be standard numbers or Roman numerals.
To set a "Special" page code, do the following:
Note: After entering a special page number on a phrase, the specified number will appear in angle brackets "<" and ">" under the "Page" column on the phrase properties. Pressing the "F12" or "F9" keys will cause the Voice Guidance to say "Attribute Page Special XX" (where XX is the specified number), along with the other phrase information.
If you wish to remove the page coding from a phrase, do the following:
Note: This method will remove page codes from the selected phrase regardless of the type of page code.
If you wish to delete all the page codes from the project, do the following:
A group code can be specified for any phrase in a project apart from the first phrase in any section. You may wish to use this code for marking the first phrase in a paragraph, a note, a warning or safety related item or for other items such as tables or pictures. Essentially this code can be used by the project producer as a 'wild card' type of coding.
To set the group code on a phrase, do the following:
Note: Having set the group code on a phrase, pressing the "F12" or "F9" keys will cause the Voice Guidance to say "Attribute Group" along with the other phrase information.
To remove the group coding from a phrase, do the following:
Note: You can achieve the same result by setting the "Group" item to "Off" in the phrase properties dialogue box.
Marks are a method by which the producer of the project can easily find a particular phrase in the project. Essentially it is a way of tagging the phrase for future attention.
To set a mark on a phrase, do the following:
Note: Having set the mark code on a phrase, pressing the "F12" or "F9" keys will cause the Voice Guidance to say "Attribute Mark" along with the other phrase information.
To remove the mark coding from a phrase, do the following:
Note: You can achieve the same result by setting the "Mark" item to "Off" in the phrase properties dialogue box.
If you wish to delete all the marks from the project in one operation, do the following:
If you wish to insert the page, group or mark codes whilst you are recording, simply press "P", "G" or "M" respectively at the appropriate place in the recording.
Note: This method is recommended for advanced users only.
In order that the producer of the DAISY project can make notes for a section or phrase, this software provides the "Comment" element in the section or phrase properties dialogue box. This may be used to store information about a section or phrase that will be referred to later or further guide the editing of it. The comment text can also be used as an additional way of navigating the project before it is finished. Comment information does not affect the final DAISY book in any way.
To add or edit a comment for a section, do the following:
To delete a comment from a section properties, do the following:
If you wish to delete all comments from the entire project, do the following:
This chapter has covered most of the basic editing commands of the PRS software. If you would like to practice some of these skills, Exercise 5 in Appendix A gives you this opportunity.
The Table of Contents is a collation of the information held in the "Section Properties" dialogue boxes. This information can be created or edited before or after making the recording. The method selected will depend on the way the recording is made. For example, if you are creating a DAISY version of a printed book, you may choose to set up the Table of Contents first and then record the audio directly into your project. If you wish to make a recording on location somewhere and then create a DAISY book with this audio, you would tend to make the recording first, import the audio into your new project and then edit the structure and the Table of Contents.
In the previous chapter you learned how to edit the heading, level and comment information in the "Section Properties" dialogue box. This chapter describes how to create the appropriate files for use with the "ToC Import" feature. It also details how to run the import when the file has been created.
The "ToC Import" feature of the PRS software allows for the import of 3 file formats. The information that can be imported will depend on the file format chosen. Each format is discussed in detail below.
The format for a ToC file to be used in the import process is HTML. Relevant files will have a ".HTML" or ".HTM" file extension. Within the file there will be a list of the headings, each of which has been marked up for the appropriate heading level. For example, the HTML code for a simple Table of Contents might look like the following:
<html>
<head></head>
<body>
<h1>Chapter 1</h1>
<h2>Section 1.1</h2>
<h2>Section 1.2</h2>
<h3>Sub Section 1.2.1</h3>
<h3>Sub Section 1.2.2</h3>
<h1>End of Book</h1>
</body>
</html>If viewed in a web browser, this would simply look like a list of headings of the correct level. In order to create this file, you can use an HTML editing software, manually code the information into a text editor or you can type the text in a word processor and save the file in HTML format. Either way the file should be saved with a "HTML" or "HTM" file extension.
In addition, if you specify an existing "NCC.HTML" or "NCC.HTM" file as the source file for the import, any book information which is stored in the meta data of the file, will be imported along with the heading and level information.
Note: If you use a word processor, ensure that each heading is on a separate line and that the appropriate style is selected. For example, If a heading is to be Level 1 in the DAISY project, you should use the style "Heading 1" and so on.
The CSV format allows you to import level, heading and comment information directly into the section properties. You do not have to specify a comment for each section - if no comment is appropriate, simply leave this entry blank. The level and heading information, however, must be included.
One way to create the source file in CSV format would be to use a spread sheet package and then "Save as" "CSV" format. To ensure the correct result after the ToC Import, please note that the first column used should contain the level information and the second column should have the heading text. Once saved in CSV format, the equivalent file for the example above would look like:
1, Chapter 1, Appropriate comment if required
2, Section 1.1, Appropriate comment if required
2, Section 1.2, Appropriate comment if required
3, Sub Section 1.2.1, Appropriate comment if required
3, Sub Section 1.2.2, Appropriate comment if required
1, End of Book, Appropriate comment if requiredYou could also create the appropriate file for CSV import using a text editor and type the information as above with the information for each section on a new line. Once typed, save the file as a text file ensuring that you give the file a ".CSV" file extension.
This format is the least flexible import format and will only allow the heading information to be imported. Level information cannot be imported using this format.
In order to prepare a text file for use with the "ToC Import" feature, type your heading information on separate lines in a text editor and save the file with an appropriate name and with a ".TXT" file extension. The text file for the example project above would look like:
Chapter 1
Section 1.1
Section 1.2
Sub Section 1.2.1
Sub Section 1.2.2
End of Book
Having prepared the necessary file, you can import the information, either before or after making the recording, as follows:
In order to run the "ToC Import" feature before recording, do the following:
This procedure is exactly the same as in the previous section except that more care has to be taken. When the recording already exists, you should ensure the following before importing a Table of Contents:
Once you are happy that these points are OK, run the import process as before. It is always worth thoroughly checking the project after the import process as an extra precaution.
Exercise 6 in Appendix A gives you a chance to try working with a variety of ToC formats and the "ToC Import" feature.
Having completed all the recording and editing of the project, there is one final process which must be carried out before CD writing. This is called "Building the Book". This chapter details how to run the "Build Book" process and the changes that this makes to the PRS project.
"Build Book" process has two purposes, one is make project as DAISY2.02 compliant book, and the other one is clean up audio files. Clean up process deleting unnecessary part of audio files, and justifying one audio file corresponding to one smile file.
To run the "Build Book" process, do the following:
Once this process has been finished, the book is ready to write to CD.
Note 1: Pressing the "F12" or "F9" keys during the "Build
Book" process will cause the Voice Guidance to announce the percentage
complete.
Note 2:
Before running the Build Book process, you should ensure that the "Book
Information" has been completed.
During the "Build Book" process, the PRS software makes a number of alterations to the files that you will find in the project folder. The main alterations are as follows:
Note 1:
Only PCM format audio files will be cleaned up during the "Build Book" process.
To clean
up MP3 audio files it requires the "Audio Export" function.
Note
2: The "Build Book" process
can also be used when the project needs to be cleaned up during the editing
stage.
The process of creating the new DAISY book is complete but the information must now be saved to CD. You can either choose to save the book as a "Master" copy or as a "Distribution" copy. The master CD will contain all the files which have been used in creating the project whereas the distribution CD will only have the finished audio files, the relevant ".HTML" files and the ".SMIL" files.
This Chapter explains how to create the final CD and how the CD writing options affect the way in which the CD can be used afterwards.
In order to run the CD writing process, there are 2 stages as follows:
If you have not already done so when you first set up PRS , you need to configure the software to know which CD writer you wish to use.
To configure the software to work with your desired CD writer, do the following:
Note 1: After confirming your selection, this will become the default selection
in the future. You can also change the selected drive or the temporary image
setting at any time.
Note
2: If you do not specify an appropriate CDR or CDRW drive, when you try to
write a CD, the error "Incorrect drive setting" will
appear.
Note 3: It is highly
recommended you use the CD-R/RW drive manufactured by
Plextor corp.
To start the CD writing process, do the following:
Note1:
During CD writing the Voice Guidance will regularly say "Running" to
confirm that work is still being done. Press the "F12" or "F9" keys
to cause the Voice Guidance to speak the percentage complete.
Note2: Do not use another CD writing application to write
to a CD written by PRS. In some cases, the PRS material will become unreadable.
The four main elements in the CD writing dialogue box are detailed below with their functions:
The range of options offered in this box will depend on the selected CD writer. Use the "Up" and "Down" Arrow keys to make your selection.
This can be set to "Master Project" or "Distribution Copy". For the master copy, all the project files, including the intermediate files, will be saved onto the CD. The distribution copy CD will only contain the basic set of files required to play the DAISY book. A master project CD will be able to be opened directly by the PRS software. In order to edit a distribution copy CD book, the DAISY Import function would need to be used.
This option allows you to select between "Valid" or "Invalid". The "Last session" referred to is the previous CD writing session or sessions on the CD you intend to write to. If this option is set to "Valid" you will be able to view all previous sessions and the current session when viewed on a computer. You will also be able to access all previously written sessions on the Plextalk PTR1/PTR2 and on other DAISY players. If you select "Invalid" you will only be able to see the most recent session on a computer or any other player. Essentially, by setting this option to "Valid" you will be able to create multiple book CDs whereas the "Invalid" option will leave only the current book 'visible' on the CD. The "Discinfo.html" file will be adjusted by the software to suit your selection.
Note: When you select "Valid" to create a multiple book CD, the books will be automatically listed alphabetically.
This can be set to "On" or "Off". If set to "On", the book will be able to be edited after running the preparation for editing process on the Plextalk PTR1/PTR2. If set to "Off", no further editing will be possible on the Plextalk PTR1/PTR2.
Exercises in finishing the project and writing a CD.
Before looking at any of the more advanced features, you may wish to try completing the process of creating your own DAISY book CD. Exercise 7 in Appendix A sets this challenge.
The PRS software contains a number of additional functions which enhance the way in which you can work with DAISY projects. This chapter details the features that have not been covered earlier in this manual.
On occasion you may wish to work on a DAISY book that you prepared earlier or that has been supplied to you by someone else. You may want to edit the content, modify the structure or update the DAISY content from DAISY2.0 to DAISY2.02 format. You may also wish to combine a number of DAISY books into a single book. The first part of the process, for any of these situations, is to know how to import the original book. The "DAISY Import" feature allows you to do this in a simple way.
To import an existing DAISY book into an existing or new PRS project, do the following:
Note 1: The "DAISY Import" process
will retain all section and level information from the imported book(s).
When importing multiple
books, only
the book information from the first imported book will be retained.
Note
2: You can only import NCC files which have a ".HTML" or ".HTM" file
extension.
Note 3:
During the import process, pressing "F12" or "F9" will
cause the Voice Guidance to speak the percentage complete.
Note 4: Regardless of where you were in the project when you action the import
function, the imported book will be placed at the end of all existing sections.
Note 5: PRS can import books that are in the DAISY2.0 or DAISY2.02 format.
A full list of the audio formats which can be imported is given at Appendix
D, Table D3.
The PRS software enables you to easily import audio files for use in a DAISY project. As the files are imported, the pause detection process is applied in order to split the audio automatically into phrases. Once imported, the audio can then be edited in the normal way.
In order to import an existing audio file into a PRS project, do the following:
Note 1: It is possible to specify multiple files to import in the same import.
Just use the file list box to highlight the required files before running the
import. Files must be contiguous.
Note
2: Pressing the "F12" or "F9" key
during the import, will cause the Voice Guidance to speak the percentage
complete.
The "Audio Export" feature allows you to convert the audio format of an existing DAISY project to an audio format you specify. This is done by creating a new DAISY project which has your chosen audio format, whilst the existing project remains unaffected.
"Audio Export" function deleting unnecessary part of audio files including MP3 format.
To run the "Audio Export" process, do the following:
Note: During the export process, the Voice Guidance will regularly say "Running". If you wish to check the percentage progress, press "F12" or "F9".
This feature enables you to create a DAISY project from a source text file. The "Text Import" process converts the text into synthesized speech which becomes the audio files for the project.
To run the "Text Import" process, do the following:
Note 1: Experimenting with the settings for pause detection and the speed
of the selected synthesizer, can result in the automatic phrase splitting being
very consistent throughout your new audio. For example, you should be able
to get the phrases to be created each time a new sentence or paragraph is detected.
This can save a lot of editing time.
Note 2: It is possible to specify multiple files to import in the same import.
Just use the file list box to highlight the required files before running the
import. Files must be contiguous.
Note
3: During the import process, the Voice Guidance will regularly say "Running".
If you wish to check the percentage progress, press "F12" or "F9".
Note
4: In the dialogue box where you specify the synthesizer properties, you can
use the "Default" button
to reset the settings back to the default settings for the selected voice.
This is a simple feature of the PRS software. It enables you to check what the pause time is for phrases in your project. Sometimes this is not displayed, for example, after a "DAISY Import" no pause time will be displayed in the phrase properties. Running the "Detecting the Pause Time" feature will display the information.
To run the "Detecting the Pause Time" process, do the following:
Note: During the process, the Voice Guidance will regularly say "Running". If you wish to check the percentage progress, press "F12" or "F9".
This chapter has covered a number of the more advanced features of the PRS software. If you wish to practice some of these, see Exercise 8 in Appendix A for some ideas.
This appendix gives you a series of exercises to try out as you progress through the PRS manual. Detailed instructions for each task are not given here but, at times, some useful hints are given. If you feel you need more detailed information, you can return to the chapter which relates to the exercise and read the relevant sections again.
Copies of the exercises are also available on the "PTR1/PTR2 User's Guide" CD in the folder called "PRS\Sample Projects\Documents".
It is hoped that you will find the exercises to be a useful addition to the manual and that they help you to reinforce your understanding and enjoyment of the product as you learn.
This exercise will give you practice at configuring the PRS software including the Voice Guidance, the display settings, Default folder for recording and selecting a CDR or CDRW drive.
a. First of all you need to launch your PRS software. Go ahead and do this now. Remember that you can either use the "Plextalk Recording Software" icon on the Desktop or by selecting it from the Windows Start Menu
When you get to the first dialogue box, select "New" from the list and then press "Enter" to accept the suggested recording format. At the next dialogue, just enter a simple folder name and press "Enter". Press "enter" again to accept the creation of the temporary folder. One final press of the "Enter" key will allow you to bypass the book information for now, leaving you in a new empty project.
b. Once in the software, try turning off and on the Voice Guidance feature. (Hint: "Voice Guidance" on the "Option" menu). Double check that you have succeeded by trying to navigate the menu system or main screen. If you have turned off the Voice Guidance, also note that the "F12" and "F9" keys have no effect.
c. Before trying the next task, you will have to make sure that you have turned on the Voice Guidance following the previous one. Set the voice to be "Mary" with a pitch of 200, speed of 150 and volume of 100. (Hint: try selecting the "Selection of the TTS engine" option on the "Option" menu). Once you have successfully managed to alter these settings, reset the voice back to its original settings by using the "Default" button.
Finally, go back to the same dialogue box and select a voice that you wish to keep as your default voice. Set the pitch, speed and volume to suit your preferences and save the settings.
d. Now try adjusting the list and message fonts. Have a go at changing both of these settings. (Hint: Try the "Option" menu and look for "List font size" and "Message font size"). Try setting these to the largest and smallest option offered and see how this affects the on screen information.
e. The next task is to set up a default folder for all your PRS projects. By using the "Select folder" button in the "Recording Function" dialogue box, now go ahead and try to set up a completely new folder in your "My Documents" folder which is called "PRSProjects". (Hint: You can access the "Recording Function" dialogue box from the "Recording" option on the "Option" menu. Remember to select the parent folder and then press the "Add New Folder" button before typing in the new folder name).
f. The last task in Exercise 1 is to select a valid CDR or CDRW drive for writing to later on. Go ahead now and try to set up your preferred drive as the default drive for the PRS software. (Hint: Try selecting the "CDR Drive" option from the "Option" menu).
If you had difficulty with any of the tasks, try reading Chapter 6 again.
This exercise aims to give you practice in opening existing projects or books and creating new blank projects. Before starting this exercise, place the "PTR1/PTR2 User's Guide" CD in your CD drive.
On the CD there is a folder called "PRS\Sample Projects\Samples" which contains 5 versions of the same project in different stages of production. The folders are called "AfterBuild", "BeforeBuild", "DistributionCD", "MasterCD" and "Synthesized". Before starting this exercise, you may find it useful to browse this folder and familiarise yourself with the files in the various locations. You will probably note that many of the folders have similar files but there are important differences. These will be highlighted during this exercise.
a. Opening an existing project. Try to open the project in the "Samples\BeforeBuild" folder. You can either do this as you launch the PRS software by choosing "Open" from the initial dialogue box or by using "Open" from the "File" menu. (Hint: You are looking for a file called "NCC.IMDN" because you are looking for a project file not a finished book file).
You can confirm that you have successfully opened the project by pressing the "Left Arrow" key. You should hear the words "Bogmoor Amateur Athletics Club" spoken.
b. Creating a new project. Having successfully opened the existing project, you now decide to create a new project altogether. Without exiting from the PRS software, try to create a new project and call it "TestProject1". Remember that, if you have created a default folder earlier, your new project will be saved into this folder unless you specify a different location. (Hint: Select "New" from the "File" menu or press "Control+N").
Set the audio format to be "MP3 64 kbps Mono" and complete the "Book Information" with fictional information of your choice. Leave the "Identifier" element empty for now.
Now exit the PRS software and re-launch it. At the opening dialogue box, select to open a project and select the project that you just created. You should see that this project has been selected automatically. PRS always assumes that you want to continue working on the last used project.
c. Opening a finished book from CD. If you feel happy opening existing projects, try opening a finished DAISY book from CD. This is very similar to opening an existing project except that you have to locate a file called "NCC.HTML" or "NCC.HTM". You will also be required to specify a new project name because the only way to edit an existing DAISY book is to copy the information onto the hard drive and create a new project. Information on a finalised CDR cannot be modified.
Try to open the finished book which is located in the "PRS\Sample Projects\Samples\DistributionCD\AfterBuild" folder on your sample CD. When prompted to give this a new project name, give it the name "TestProject2". Remember to set the "Files of Type" setting in the "Open" dialogue box to the correct type of file).
If you had difficulty with any of the tasks, try reading Chapter 7 again.
This exercise is all about navigating around a PRS project. First of all, open the project called "TestProject2" which you created in the previous exercise. This should be located in your default folder. Once you have opened this project, try the following tasks:
a. Try switching from the Section List to the Phrase List. Examine how the Phrase List changes according to which section is highlighted. (Hint: Try using the "Tab" key).
b. Use your arrow keys to navigate up and down on the Section List and the Phrase List, listening to what is spoken as you move. Try to locate the section that begins with the words "4.1 Competitions". Count how many phrases are in this section of the project (the answer should be 8).
c. Try moving to the start of the project and start listening to the project in continuous play mode. Periodically stop the playback and then re-start it. (Hint: "F5" to start and "Spacebar" to stop).
d. Adjust the playback speed and volume using the relevant function keys. (Hint: "F3" for volume and "F6" for speed. Remember that "Shift" with these keys reduces the volume or speed).
e. Use the heading search facility to find the heading containing the word "Competent". This should take you to the "Any Other Competent Business" section. Remember to press "Escape" to exit from the search facility after finding the section.
f. This project has been coded with page, group and mark codes. Use the relevant navigation keys to move around the document to find these codes. Try to find out how many pages are in this project. The group code has been used to indicate the items on the Treasurer's summary of the income and expenditure. Use the group codes to find how much money is still due in membership fees. How many marks has the producer of the project left in this title? (Hint: If you can't remember the keyboard commands for these navigation items, look on the "Move" drop down menu).
You should find 3 page codes and the outstanding membership fees come to 150 pounds. There are 4 marks coded into this project.
Also note that the phrase which mentioned the outstanding membership fees is coded with both the page and group codes.
g. Try using the event jump command to navigate backwards and forwards through the project. Remember that an event can be any of the following: the first phrase in a section, a phrase marked with a page code and a page marked with a group code. Phrases coded with the mark code do not count as events.
If you had difficulty with any of the tasks, try reading Chapter 8 again.
In this exercise you will try out some of the basic recording features to create your own first project. However, before you start recording, there are a few checks to carry out.
a. Ensure that you have connected a microphone to the correct socket on your sound card. Also check that the Windows Volume Controls are set correctly for accepting audio input from the microphone. If you are not sure of how to do this, you should seek help from the Windows Help system.
b. Open the project you created earlier called "TestProject1". This should still be an empty project with no recorded audio.
c. Now set PRS to accept input from the microphone. (Hint: Try the "Selection of the Recording Volume Control" option on the "Control" menu). This should be set to "Microphone".
d. Before recording it is usually sensible to check out the available resources. Check what available resources you currently have on your system. (Hint: Use the "Storage Information" option on the "Tool" menu). Remember to OK the dialogue box when you have reviewed the data.
e. Now set up the "Recording Function" dialogue box with the following settings: Phrase pause time=0.3 seconds, Noise level=Normal, Section pause time=Nothing, Create a new audio file=Yes, Time to stop recording=Nothing, Record speed=Normal speed and Remove DC Offset=Off . (Hint: Use the "Recording" option on the "Option" drop down menu).
f. Set your PRS software to be in "Overwrite" mode. (Hint: Try using the "F7" key).
g. Ensure that your microphone is turned on and set the software into "Test Recording" mode. Check that your recording level is in an acceptable range and then start recording. (Hint: Use "F8" to start the process and "F4" key to adjust the recording volume). Try to record about 3 or 4 minutes of audio. You may wish to read from a document or book. As you record new audio, you should see the phrase splitting working. This will be clear from the lower section of the main screen as the Phrase List starts to grow. When you have recorded a reasonable section of audio, stop recording (Hint: Use "Spacebar").
h. Check through your new project and observe how the phrase detection process has worked. If the phrases are very short, you probably need to increase the phrase pause time. If the phrases are very long, you may need to reduce it.
i. Make any adjustments that you think might be necessary to the pause time in the "Recording Function" dialogue box. Move your highlight to a phrase somewhere in the middle of your recording. Choose a new piece of text to record and select "Punch in" recording mode. Press "F8" to bring up the Punch in dialogue box. Leave this set to "Nothing" and press "Enter". You should now be in "Test Recording" mode - adjust the recording level to suit. Press "F8" again to start recording and read some of your new piece of text. Again the phrases in the new recording should start to appear on the Phrase List. Stop recording after a minute or two.
j. Try navigating through your project. You should observe that the new audio has been entered into the middle of the original recording.
If you had difficulty with any of the tasks, try reading Chapter 9 again.
This exercise is to get you used to manipulating sections and phrases in a PRS project. Remember that much of the editing is very similar to word processing in terms of selecting and some of the basic commands like cut, copy, paste and undo. Initially we will use the project that you created in Exercise 4 so do not worry about making mistakes, as the project is not important and was created to be used for experimentation.
a. First, spend some time moving around the project and observe how the phrase detection has worked. It is always useful to get an idea of how well this has worked in a project because, particularly for short documents, it is sometimes easier to re-record the project rather than spend a relatively long time editing it. For the purposes of this exercise, we will assume that it has worked reasonably well.
b. Try to select individual phrases and use the cut, copy and paste commands to move phrases around the project or delete them entirely. Try repeating these commands for multiple phrases. (Hint: Select multiple phrases by holding down "Shift" whilst pressing "Up" or "Down" Arrow keys).
c. Work your way through the Phrase List and create new sections at parts of the recording where you think it might be appropriate to have a new section start. This might be the start of a new paragraph or heading in the original document. If you do not think that there are any obvious splitting positions, just choose some phrases and create a new section at that location. (Hint: Use the "Control+Q" command and remember that you cannot create a new section if you are on the first phrase in the current section). Try to create around 5 sections in your project.
d. Now use the cut, copy and paste commands on the newly created sections. Observe how similar this process is to working with phrases.
e. Having made a few edits, try undoing some of these. (Hint: Use "Control+Z" and remember you can undo the last 10 edits).
f. Select a number of phrases or sections and try to join them together. (Hint: Use "Control+J" in both cases). Check that the sections or phrases have joined correctly by playing them.
g. Try to find a phrase which appears to be longer than you would like. Split this phrase into 2 phrases at a sensible location. (Hint: Use "Control+P" followed by your "Left" and "Right" Arrow keys). Try to observe how the position in the phrase can be moved backwards or forwards through the phrase and how the phrase will play from that point onwards. Remember to press "Enter" when you think you have selected the correct location for the split.
h. Insert a new blank section into the Section List at a position of your choice. (Hint: Use "Shift+Insert"). Record some new audio into this section using "Overwrite" mode.
i. For the next part of this exercise, re-load the "TestProject2" project that you saved earlier. On the Section List, select the section called "3. Reports from the Committee". Press "Enter" to view the section properties dialogue box. Tab around this box to see what the level and heading text is for this section. In this case, you should see that the level is Level 2 and the heading text is "Reports from the Committee". Move to the next section by pressing "Alt+Right Arrow" and observe the same information for this section. This time the level is Level 3 and the heading text is "President's Report". Move to other sections and check the properties. Remember that you can press "F12" or "F9" to hear the section properties spoken by the Voice Guidance system.
j. Use the page or group jump command to move to he phrase "Memberships still due 150 pounds". Examine the phrase properties of this phrase. You should observe that both the "Page" and "Group" options are selected. Try unchecking these 2 check boxes and press "Enter". Move to the top of the recording and try to navigate back to this phrase using the page or group jump commands. Neither of these should now work because the codings have been removed.
k. To reset these 2 codes, navigate to the "Treasurer's Report" on the Section List and then switch to the Phrase List. Move down the list until you find the phrase called "Memberships still due 150 pounds". Re-apply the page and group codes by pressing "P" and "G" respectively. You should now be able to use the page and group jump commands once again. Also try pressing "F12" or "F9" to hear the Voice Guidance read the properties for the phrase.
l. In order to demonstrate the simplicity of removing all page and group codes from the entire project, go ahead and do this now. (Hint: Use the "Delete all pages" and "Delete all groups" options from the "Edit" menu). Verify that this has worked after carrying out both commands.
m. If you are happy that this worked properly, undo both of these commands to return the page and group codes to the project.
n. Add comments to 3 sections of your choice. Do not worry about the relevance of the comment text as long as it is recognisable. (Hint: Do this in the section properties dialogue box for each section). Check that you have added the text correctly by reviewing the section properties after entering the text.
o. Remove all the comment text from the project using a single command. (Hint: Use the "Delete all comments" option from the "Edit" drop down menu.
If you had difficulty with any of the tasks, try reading Chapter 10 again.
This exercise is to give you the chance to see the advantages of importing a Table of Contents into a PRS project rather than editing the section properties manually. A number of sample Tables of Contents have been supplied in the folder called "PRS\Sample Projects\TablesOfContents" on the "PTR1/PTR2 User's Guide" CD. The 3 files are all called "CommitteeMinutes" but have different file name extensions according to the formats of the files.
a. Load the project called "BeforeBuild" from the "PTR1/PTR2 User's Guide" CD. Observe that this project has only the default section properties for all sections. All sections are set to Level 1 and the heading text for all sections is "Heading". This is not particularly useful information. Editing a larger project manually would take some time.
b. Move to the top of the project and highlight the first section. Now use the "ToC Import" feature to import the "CSV" format file from the "PRS\Sample Projects\TablesOfContents" folder on the "PTR1/PTR2 User's Guide" CD. (Hint: Use the "ToC Import" option on the "Tool" menu). Observe the change in the section property information and how quickly the import process worked.
c. Use Windows Explorer to browse to the "TablesOfContents" folder and examine the contents of the 3 different files. You should observe that they all have the heading text information but the ".HTML" and ".CSV" format files are able to store other information as well.
d. Create a brand new project and call it "TestProject3". Do not enter any book information when the dialogue box appears, simply press the "Enter" key to bypass it at this time. Before any audio is included in the project, try using the "ToC Import" feature to import the ".HTML" version of the Table of Contents. You should observe that this process automatically creates empty sections ready to record the audio into. In addition to creating the required number of sections, the level and heading text information is also created. At this stage you would then have to record and edit the audio and modify the book information. Remember that, if the ".HTML" file is an "NCC.HTML" file, some or all of the book information will have been imported at the same time. Observe the book information that now exists and you will see that the project title and most of the other book information items have been entered automatically.
These short exercises will have shown you the benefits of using the "ToC Import" feature of the software. As mentioned in the manual, which method used will depend on the circumstances of the project.
If you had difficulty with any of the tasks, try reading Chapter 11 again.
This exercise will briefly look at the finishing of the book and writing the project to CD. If you wish to do all these exercises, you will require to have some blank CDR or CDRW disks available.
a. Use Windows Explorer to examine the files in the project folder for the "TestProject2". You should observe that there is no "NCC.HTML" file and probably no smile (.SMIL) files.
b. Load the "TestProject2" project, and run the "Build Book" routine from the "Tool" menu. Re-examine the project folder and several extra files will have appeared. Essentially this means that the folder now contains files that are required for the finished project and the files that were necessary during the creation process.
c. Place a blank disk in the drive you selected as your default drive in Exercise 1. You need to do this before continuing with the CD writing process. If a CD is not found in the designated drive, an "Unknown error" error message will appear. Select the "CD Write" option from the "Tool" drop down menu. Use the dialogue box which appears to set the following: Writing speed=4 times, Project purpose=Master project, Last session=Valid and Post editing by PLEXTALK Portable Recorder=Off.
d. Having set the correct values, press the "OK" button to accept the CD writing options. When the writing process is complete, observe the files that are on the disk. You should note 1 file and one folder. The folder should contain all your normal project files, including both the temporary files and the final book files. This is because the CD was set to be a Master Project CD. This will allow future editing of the project by the PRS software. The second item will be a file called "DISCINFO.HTML". This file is used to give information to DAISY players about the structure of the books in the folder. When there is more than one book, this file stores information on all the books thus acting as a kind of catalogue file.
e. Before writing another copy of the same project to the CD, use the Book Information dialogue to change the title of the project. Perhaps call it "Second attempt" or something similar, but certainly different than the existing title. e. Run the "Build Book" process again.
f. Now call up the CD Write dialogue again and set the options as follows: Writing speed=4 times, Project purpose= Distribution CD, Last session=Valid and Post editing by PLEXTALK Portable Recorder=Off. Go ahead and run the CD writing routine. By choosing to create a Distribution CD, the intention is that end users do not have access to all the files that would be required to immediately edit the file with the PRS software. It could still be edited but would have to be imported using the "DAISY Import" feature before this could happen. When the CD writing is complete, again examine the contents of the newly created folder and the "DISCINFO.HTML" file. This time the project folder should have no intermediate files as there were in the Master project folder. The "DISCINFO.HTML" file should now show a listing for the project with the old name and the new name. The 2 books will be listed alphabetically so do not be too concerned if the second book is listed before the first one.
This exercise should have given you a chance to experiment with some of the processes required to create your final CD.
If you had difficulty with any of the tasks, try reading Chapter 12 and Chapter 13 again.
For the more advanced features of the PRS software, detailed exercises have not been supplied. However, some ideas of things to try are given below:
a. DAISY Import - Try importing several copies of the finished books into a single new project. Call this project "TestProject4". Use the "DAISY Import" feature to achieve this. Use either the "PRS\Sample Projects\Samples\DistributionCD" folder or the "PRS\Sample Projects\Samples\MasterCD" folder for your source books.
When setting up the project initially, set the recording format to be MP3 32 kbps Mono. When running the import, set the audio conversion to be "On".
b. Audio Import - Try importing a small quantity of audio files using the "Audio Import" feature. Create a new project called "TestProject5" for this purpose. You could also try importing more than one file at a time by selecting multiple files prior to running the import.
c. Audio Export - Run the "Audio Export" process to change the recorded format to a different one. You will be asked to specify a new folder name during this process. Call the new project "TestProject6".
d. Text Import - In the "PRS\Sample Projects\Documents" folder on the "PTR1/PTR2 User's Guide" CD there are a number of documents in ".TXT" format. Try using one of these files to run the "Text Import" function of the software. You may need to experiment with the settings for the "Pause time" and the speed of the chosen TTS engine to try to get the phrase detection working well. Because a synthesizer is very regimented in the way it speaks, the results can be excellent. When prompted to do so, name the new project "TestProject7".
On the "PTR1/PTR2 User's Guide" CD, in the folder called "PRS\Sample Projects\Samples\Synthesized", there is an example of a project which was created using the "Text Import" feature. Very little editing was required to this project so compare your results with this one.
If you had difficulty with any of the tasks, try reading Chapter 14 again.
This appendix details all the items which appear on the PRS main menu and sub menus. The information is displayed in a table with 3 columns. Column 1 lists the main menu item with its highlighted letter in parentheses. Column 2 lists the sub menu items and their highlighted letters in parentheses. Column 3 details the short cut keys (if one exists) for the associated sub menu item.
Main Menu |
Sub Menu | Short Cut Keys |
File (F) |
New (N) | Control + N |
File (F) | Open (O) | Control + O |
File (F) | Exit (X) | Alt + F4 |
Edit (E) | Undo (U) | Control + Z |
Edit (E) | Cut (T) | Control + X |
Edit (E) | Copy (C) | Control + C |
Edit (E) | Paste (P) | Control + V |
Edit (E) | Delete (D) | Delete |
Edit (E) | All delete (E) | None |
Edit (E) | All select (L) | Control + A |
Edit (E) | Join (J) | Control + M |
Edit (E) | Split section (O) | Control + Q |
Edit (E) | Split phrase (H) | Control + P |
Edit (E) | Insert section (I) | Shift + Insert |
Edit (E) | Level up (V) | F11 |
Edit (E) | Level down (W) | Shift + F11 |
Edit (E) | Group (G) | G |
Edit (E) | Page (A) | P |
Edit (E) | Mark (M) | M |
Edit (E) | Delete all pages (S) | None |
Edit (E) | Delete all marks (K) | None |
Edit (E) | Delete all comments (N) | None |
Edit (E) | Property (R) | Enter |
Move (M) | Move top (T) | Home |
Move (M) | Move bottom (B) | End |
Move (M) | Previous group (V) | Shift + Left Arrow |
Move (M) | Next group (X) | Shift + Right Arrow |
Move (M) | Previous page (P) | Control + Up Arrow |
Move (M) | Next page (N) | Control + Down Arrow |
Move (M) | Previous mark (R) | Control + Left Arrow |
Move (M) | Next mark (E) | Control + Right Arrow |
Move (M) | Previous event (I) | Shift + F |
Move (M) | Next event (T) | Shift + J |
Move (M) | Find heading (F) | Control + F |
Control (C) | Play continuously (P) | F5 |
Control (C) | Stop (S) | Spacebar |
Control (C) | Record (R) | F8 |
Control (C) | Record mode (M) | F7 |
Control (C) | Selection of the recording
volume control (V) |
None |
Control (C) | Line (L), Microphone (M) | None |
Control (C) | Play volume mute of selected rec. control (T) | None |
Control (C) | Off (F), On (O) | None |
Control (C) | Speed up (E) | F6 |
Control (C) | Speed down (O) | Shift + F6 |
Control (C) | Input volume up (U) | F4 |
Control (C) | Input volume down (D) | Shift + F4 |
Control (C) | Wave out volume up (W) | F3 |
Control (C) | Wave out volume down (A) | Shift + F3 |
Control (C) | Refresh (F) | F10 or Control + L |
Tool (T) | Build book (B) | Control + B |
Tool (T) | DAISY import (D) | None |
Tool (T) | Audio import (A) | None |
Tool (T) | Text import (T) | None |
Tool (T) | ToC import (O) | None |
Tool (T) | Audio export (E) | None |
Tool (T) | Detecting the pause time (P) | None |
Tool (T) | CD write (W) | Control + W |
Tool (T) | Storage information (S) | Control + S |
Option (O) | Book information (B) | Control + I |
Option (O) | Recording (R) | Control + R |
Option (O) | CD-R drive (D) | Control + D |
Option (O) | Voice guidance (G) | None |
Option (O) | Selection of the TTS engine (S) | None |
Option (O) | List font size (F) | None |
Option (O) | Largest (G), Larger (L), Smaller (S), Smallest (A) | None |
Option (O) | Message font size (M) | None |
Option (O) | Largest (G), Larger (L), Smaller
(S), Smallest (A) |
None |
Help (H) | About (A) | F1 |
This appendix details the short cut keys available in the PRS software. These are grouped in 4 tables. The tables relate to different processes as follows:
All of the tables has 2 columns. Column 1 details the function and Column 2 details the short cut keys.
Function |
Shortcut Key |
Select top position | Home |
Select last position | End |
Select previous | Up Arrow |
Select next | Down Arrow |
Page up the list | Page UP |
Page down the list | Page Down |
Select first phrase | Shift + B |
Select last phrase | Shift + N |
Select first section | Shift + T |
Select last section | Shift + Y |
Select previous phrase | B |
Select next phrase | N |
Select previous section | T |
Select next section | Y |
Select previous page | Ctrl + Up Arrow |
Select next page | Ctrl + Down Arrow |
Select previous group | Shift + Left Arrow or Shift + G |
Select next group | Shift + Right Arrow or Shift + H |
Select previous mark | Ctrl + Left Arrow |
Select next mark | Ctrl + Right Arrow |
Select previous event | Shift + F |
Select next event | Shift + J |
Select all list | Ctrl + A |
Select multi lists | Shift + Up Arrow or Shift + Down Arrow |
Change list | Tab |
Function | Shortcut Key |
Play continuously | F5 |
Play selected phrase (focus phrase list ) | Left Arrow or Right Arrow |
Play first phrase of selected section (focus section list) | Left Arrow or Right Arrow |
Recording start | F8 |
Recording start (skip test recording) | Shift + F8 |
Stop Recording/Playback | Spacebar |
Increase playback speed | F6 |
Decrease playback speed | Shift + F6 |
Change recording mode | F7 |
Increase input volume level | F4 |
Decrease input volume level | Shift + F4 |
Increase wave-out volume level | F3 |
Decrease wave-out volume level | Shift + F3 |
Create Section during recording | Insert |
Set/cancel group during recording | G |
Set/cancel auto page during recording | P |
Set/cancel mark during recording | M |
Function | Shortcut Key |
Section/Phrase property window | Enter |
Hierarchical level up | F11 or L |
Hierarchical level down | Shift + F11 or O |
Set/cancel group | G |
Set/cancel page | P |
Set/cancel mark | M |
Cut section/phrase | Ctrl + X |
Copy section/phrase | Ctrl + C |
Paste section/phrase | Ctrl + V |
Undo | Ctrl + Z |
Insert the section | Shift + Insert |
Delete the sections and phrases | Delete |
Delete phrase | \ (back slash) |
Delete section | ' (grave accent) |
Join sections/phrases | Ctrl + M or C |
Split section | Ctrl + Q or S |
Split phrase | Ctrl + P or H |
Create new project | Ctrl + N |
Open project |
Ctrl + O |
Function | Shortcut Key |
Recording setting | Ctrl + R or [ (open bracket) |
Find heading | Ctrl + F or Ctrl + E |
Refresh | Ctrl + L or F10 |
Build book | Ctrl + B |
Setting of the CD-R drive | Ctrl + D |
CD writing | Ctrl + W |
Storage information | Ctrl + S |
Book information | Ctrl + I |
About version information | F1 |
Voice guidance for volume levels, position of section/phrase, sound format | Shift + F1 |
Voice guidance for current status | F12 or F9 |
Mute voice guidance | Ctrl |
Whilst there are many CDR and CDRW drives which will work with the PRS , SHINANOKENSHI recommends the following drives:\
PLEXTALK
Portable Recorder (PTR1 or PTR2) |
PX-W1210TA |
PX-W1610TA |
PX-W2410TA |
PX-W4012TA |
PX-W4824TA |
PX-5224TA |
PX-5232TA |
PX-320A |
PX-504A (*) |
PX-S88TU |
PX-208U |
PX-W2410TU |
PX-W4012TU |
PX-708A/UF (*) |
PX-712A (*) |
PX-716A
(*) |
*Note 1: You cannot write to DVD media on this drive, only to CDR or CDRW media.
Note 2: This list is correct as at July 2004.
SOUND FORMAT |
74 MINUTE MEDIA | 80 MINUTE MEDIA |
PCM 44.1 kHz Stereo | 60 minutes | 65 minutes |
PCM 44.1 kHz Mono | 120 minutes | 130 minutes |
PCM 22.05 kHz Mono | 240 minutes | 260 minutes |
MP3 256 kbps Stereo, Sampling frequency: 44.1 kHz | 5 hours | 6 hours |
MP3 128 kbps Stereo, Sampling frequency: 44.1 kHz | 10 hours | 11 hours |
MP3 64 kbps Mono, Sampling frequency: 44.1 kHz | 20 hours | 22 hours |
MP3 48 kbps Mono, Sampling frequency: 22.05 kHz | 30 hours | 32 hours |
MP3 32 kbps Mono, Sampling frequency: 22.05 kHz | 40 hours | 45 hours |
MP3 24 kbps Mono, Sampling frequency: 16 kHz | 60 hours | 64 hours |
MP3 16 kbps Mono, Sampling
frequency: 16 kHz |
80 hours | 90 hours |
AUDIO FORMAT | EXTENSION NAME | DETAILS |
MPEG1 Layer II | mp2, mpg | Bitrate: 32 kbps to 384 kbps Channel: Mono/Stereo/Joint Stereo |
MPEG1 Layer III | mp3, wav | Bitrate: 32 kbps to 320 kbps Channel: Mono/Stereo/Joint Stereo |
MPEG2 Layer II | mp2, mpg | Bitrate: 8 kbps to 160 kbps Channel: Mono/Stereo/Joint Stereo |
MPEG2 Layer III | mp3, wav | Bitrate: 8 kbps to 160 kbps Channel: Mono/Stereo/Joint Stereo |
DAISY ADPCM2 | wav | Quantifying bit number: 4 bits Channel: Mono |
PCM | wav | Quantifying bit number: 8 bits/16
bits Channel: Mono/Stereo |
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