Vegas Post 19 Text to speech license?

Dexcon wrote on 8/26/2021, 9:04 AM

To get text to speech, you need have a 365 licence, not a perpetual licence. A 365 licence is a subscription licence where your access to Vegas Pro is limited to the period during which you have an active (and thus paid) licence. A perpetual licence means that you can use Vegas Pro 19 forever even after your access to updates ends, which looks like that is now after one year similar to FXHome products and BorisFX products.

Robvandaag wrote on 8/27/2021, 7:59 AM

Thanks for your reply. I do feel misled by Vegas/Magix though. I really thought the text to speech was included with this purchase.

Marco. wrote on 8/27/2021, 8:17 AM

Why? Newsletter and website list this feature only for the 365 subscription plan. Also there is a demo version to check before buy.

vkmast wrote on 8/27/2021, 8:20 AM

This screenshot is taken from the the current product pages (It is just above the Online Shop options)

RogerS wrote on 8/27/2021, 8:20 AM

Understandable if all you saw were promotion videos, but all the online powered services are listed as not included in the program comparison. "exclusive in subscription" Same with Vegas Content (stock footage).

https://www.vegascreativesoftware.com/us/product-comparison/#productMenu

Former user wrote on 8/27/2021, 8:31 AM

Thanks for your reply. I do feel misled by Vegas/Magix though. I really thought the text to speech was included with this purchase.

I was one of those people, it's bad marketing in my opinion, I thought it was in Vegas Pro, so what I tell people now is go to Google TTS and try it for free, as Vegas don't have a try it for free option with non subscriber options https://cloud.google.com/text-to-speech

Don't click the try it for free button, that is for app developers, scroll down a bit more to the demo section. The bitrate of the TTS is limited in demo but could still be good enough for your use, or give you a demo of what Vegas has to offer (something they should be doing themselves)

RogerS wrote on 8/27/2021, 8:39 AM

For an idea of what Vegas does, try it here: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/services/cognitive-services/text-to-speech/#features

Former user wrote on 8/27/2021, 8:50 AM

That's the actual AI TTS they use. Thanks!

wwaag wrote on 8/27/2021, 11:16 AM

@Former user

Another option is Amazon Polly which I've used for creating demos for Happy Otter Scripts. The cost is quite reasonable https://aws.amazon.com/polly/pricing/ and has the added advantage of supporting SSML. Here's a screen grab.

bitman wrote on 8/27/2021, 11:58 AM

@Robvandaag the text to speech is a really nice feature, I whish it was included in the VP19 permanent license. However there is a workaround that works really well. Not so convenient as 365, but it works. I will try to make a tutorial (if I find the time) on how to do this, but basically it boils down to recording "what you hear" in the speakers using the demo site:

https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/services/cognitive-services/text-to-speech/#features

pick your language, (Dutch Belgian in my case 😀) type what you want, let it play, whilst recording what you hear on your speakers or headphones.

Windows WASAPI is your friend. You could use the free tool Audacity and select audio host: "Windows WASAPI", recording device: "speakers to (Realtec(R)) Audio) (loopback)". Obviously only if you have Realtek audio chip on your computer, and also update your audio drivers to the latest. You need to set the windows sound config recording tab to enable "stereo-mix" and disable any microphone. It is also very important to configure your speaker setup in the playback tab of windows sound config to stereo (I have a 5.1 and that does not work for the speaker sound recording using WASAPI and audacity).

You could even use Vegas 19 own screen recording tool "vegas capture" to record what you hear, disable the video sources (you only need audio).

bitman wrote on 8/27/2021, 12:13 PM

@wwaag I tried your suggestion Amazon Polly, but they only offer Dutch (sounding Dutch from the Netherlands, not Dutch from Belgium (= Flemish). I need Flemish. So Amazon Poly is not for me 🙁.

Howard-Vigorita wrote on 8/27/2021, 2:49 PM

... However there is a workaround that works really well. Not so convenient as 365, but it works. I will try to make a tutorial (if I find the time) on how to do this, but basically it boils down to recording "what you hear" in the speakers using the demo site:

https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/services/cognitive-services/text-to-speech/#features

pick your language, (Dutch Belgian in my case 😀) type what you want, let it play, whilst recording what you hear on your speakers or headphones.

Windows WASAPI is your friend. You could use the free tool Audacity and select audio host: "Windows WASAPI", recording device: "speakers to (Realtec(R)) Audio) (loopback)". Obviously only if you have Realtek audio chip on your computer, and also update your audio drivers to the latest. You need to set the windows sound config recording tab to enable "stereo-mix" and disable any microphone. It is also very important to configure your speaker setup in the playback tab of windows sound config to stereo (I have a 5.1 and that does not work for the speaker sound recording using WASAPI and audacity).

You could even use Vegas 19 own screen recording tool "vegas capture" to record what you hear, disable the video sources (you only need audio).

Haven't tried it myself yet but in theory you should be able to just arm a Vegas audio track for recording and grab the audio directy that way. I do that with Focusrite and RME usb audio interfaces via their asio drivers to record application audio. Just haven't had occasion to try it with a browser as the app. It just won't automatically store the text in the audio clip like Vegas does. But you could always create a muted text event nearby or save it in Project Notes.

Robvandaag wrote on 9/2/2021, 3:51 AM

I now understand that I was not the only one who thought that text to speech was also included in a 'regular' purchase instead of a subscription. On the Dutch website of Magix (that's where I live) it is in any case not properly stated. But hey, I need to read better. I would like it if the text to speech could be purchased as a small subscription. In addition, I will work with the tips of others who come up with alternatives.
Thank you

VEGASDerek wrote on 9/2/2021, 8:14 AM

I have asked the marketing folks to check out the Dutch website to make sure everything is properly stated as far as the Hub/Text2Speech features. We do not want to mislead people on this.

Robvandaag wrote on 9/2/2021, 10:26 AM

Hi VegasDerek,

I responded primarily to the second part of the offers. At the top it says 'exclusive in subscrition' for edit, pro and post' and immediately below that the phrase EVERYTHING in Vegas Pro Plus. I literally took everything in vegas pro that way. I had everything for 1 price, I thought, but not really.

On the upgrade page it's the other way around. There is first what is in Vegas Post (effects, pro19, image, stream, sound forge and Boris FX) and below that again the section what is in a subscription. Confusing

In my case an upgrade because I have been buying an upgrade every year for years.

https://www.vegascreativesoftware.com/nl/upgrades-voor-vegas-pro-en-vegas-movie-studio/

mike-n3006 wrote on 12/28/2022, 4:47 PM

Not to necro an old post, but I am in the same boat, I assumed I was getting a full product when upgrading as I have for years. Admittedly I skipped out on version 19. Apparently, I gave them a bit too much credit. I understand that it was laid out before me, but I am still disappointed as a long time customer.