Welcome to the I.R.T.I. Talking Document Library where you can download and enjoy audio books using our revolutionary audio book unpack and build software - eClipseWater.
Here’s how it works:
First, simply download your free version of eClipseWater.
Next, you simply download a special file, called a DTB-DNA file, to your computer. The file contains all the elements needed to build the audio book.
Using "Water" as we like to call it, the push of a few buttons will unpack the DTB-DNA file and turn it into an audio book that will play on your PC using a software applications such as Windows Media Player®, a CD player, or other portable audio device (provided that it supports WAV and /or WMA audio files). The audio books can also be enjoyed on DAISY Digital Talking Book software and hardware players.
BEST OF ALL You don’t need high speed internet service to download these books – the DTB-DNA files are so small and compact that standard dial-up connections work just fine.
Are you ready to begin?
STEP 1: Download and install your free version of eClipseWater!
SELECT THE FOLLOWING LINK TO BEGIN THE DOWNLOAD (ONCE THE DOWNLOAD IS COMPLETE, AN ECLIPSEWATER ICON WILL BE PLACED ON YOUR DESKTOP AND YOU WILL BE RETURNED TO THIS PAGE AND SHOULD FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS IN STEP 2 BELOW TO DOWNLOAD YOUR FIRST BOOK!):
PLEASE NOTE: ALL OF THE SOFTWARE REFERENCED IN THESE INSTRUCTIONS ARE WINDOWS 98, ME, 2000 AND XP COMPATIBLE.
STEP 2: Download your first audio book (DTB-DNA) file
SELECT THE LIBRARY TAB AND CURSOR TO A BOOK CATEGORY YOU WISH TO BROWSE AND SELECT IT. ONCE INSIDE THE CATEGORY, CHOOSE A TITLE YOU WOULD LIKE TO ENJOY. SELECT THE FILE BY CURSORING TO IT AND HITTING THE ENTER KEY OR USE YOUR MOUSE TO DOUBLE CLICK IT.
A DIALOGUE BOX WILL APPEAR ASKING YOU IF YOU WANT TO OPEN OR SAVE THE FILE. SELECT SAVE AND SAVE THE FILE TO A LOCATION ON YOUR COMPUTER THAT YOU CAN EASILY REMEMBER.
Special Note for Windows 98 Users Only
Changes in the Windows operating system which have occurred between Windows 98 and more recent versions make it necessary for you to first download a small Microsoft database update before eClipseWater can properly transfer DTB-DNA files to your computer.
Therefore, if you are running Windows 98 on your computer please select the link which follows this paragraph. This link will direct you to the file you need to download. Once you select the link you will be asked to open or save the file. You should select “open” and this will both run the file and install it in your system automatically. Here is the link:
Get the Microsoft Windows 98 DB update
STEP 3: CHOOSING THE VOICE OF YOUR BOOK
ECLIPSEWATER EMPLOYS THE LATEST SYNTHETIC TEXT TO SPEECH TECHNOLOGY (SOMETHING CALLED "SAPI 5") TO TURN ALL OF THE TEXT IN THE BOOK INTO AUDIO THAT YOU CAN ENJOY. IN ORDER TO BUILD AND HEAR YOUR AUDIO BOOK YOU WILL NEED TO VERIFY THAT YOUR COMPUTER HAS THIS TECHNOLOGY INSTALLED. MOST MICROSOFT WINDOWS XP USERS PROBABLY DO – UNLESS THIS WAS INTENTIONALLY OMITTED FROM THE ORIGINAL INSTALLATION. TO VERIFY THIS GO TO THE CONTROL PANEL AREA OF YOUR COMPUTER AND OPEN THE FOLDER ENTITLED "SPEECH" AND SELECT THE "TEXT TO SPEECH" TAB. INSIDE THIS DIALOG BOX YOU SHOULD HAVE THE MICROSOFT VOICES MIKE, SAM AND MARY. HERE YOU CAN ALSO DETERMINE WHICH ONE OF THEM HAS BEEN SELECTED AS THE DEFAULT VOICE FOR YOUR COMPUTER. ECLIPSEWATER WILL USE WHATEVER SAPI 5 VOICE YOU HAVE SELECTED AS THE DEFAULT – SO PLEASE CHOOSE THE ONE YOU WOULD LIKE TO USE FOR YOUR BOOK.
NOTES ABOUT TEXT TO SPEECH:
1. IF YOU DON'T HAVE A SPEECH FOLDER, YOU WILL NEED TO DOWNLOAD AND RUN THE (FREE) MICROSOFT SAPI 5 INSTALLATION FILE (USE THE LINK BELOW TO DO THIS)
2. IF YOU HAVE A SPEECH FOLDER, BUT DO NOT HAVE A "TEXT TO SPEECH" TAB (INSIDE THE FOLDER), YOU WILL ALSO NEED TO DOWNLOAD AND RUN THE (FREE) MICROSOFT SAPI 5 INSTALLATION FILE (USE THE LINK BELOW TO DO THIS)
3. IF YOU ARE UNSURE ABOUT WHAT YOU HAVE, YOU MAY ALSO DOWNLOAD AND RUN THE (FREE) MICROSOFT SAPI 5 INSTALLATION FILE (USE THE LINK BELOW TO DO THIS). THIS SHOULD NOT CAUSE ANY CONFLICTS IN YOUR SYSTEM.
NOT ALL SYNTHETIC VOICES ARE CREATED EQUAL: IF ALL YOU HAVE ARE THE MICROSOFT SUPPLIED VOICES YOU MIGHT WANT TO CONSIDER A VERY AFFORDABLE UPGRADE TO A STATE OF THE ART PACKAGE. I.R.T.I. SUPPLIES A FANTASTIC SYNTHETIC VOICE APPLICATION FROM NEOSPEECH (USED IN OUR ECLIPSEREADER AND ECLIPSEWRITER PRODUCTS) WHICH RETAILS FOR ABOUT $35. THE PACKAGE CONTAINS A MALE VOICE (PAUL) AND A FEMALE VOICE (KATE). BOTH VOICES ARE INCREDIBLY LIFE LIKE, REPRESENT SOME OF THE FINEST TECHNOLOGY AVAILABLE TODAY, AND WILL GREATLY ENHANCE YOUR LISTENING EXPERIENCE. PLEASE CONTACT OUR OFFICE IF YOU ARE INTERESTED.
STEP 4: BUILD THE AUDIO BOOK TO YOUR HARD DRIVE
NOW THAT YOU HAVE ECLIPSEWATER AND A DTB-DNA FILE ON YOUR COMPUTER YOU’RE READY TO BUILD YOUR AUDIO BOOK.
START THE ECLIPSEWATER APPLICATION BY EITHER CURSORING TO ITS ICON AND HITTING THE ENTER KEY OR DOUBLE CLICKING IT.
NEXT CURSOR TO THE "LOAD – BUILD" BUTTON AND HIT ENTER
"ECLIPSEWATER" NOW DISPLAYS A FILE PICKER MENU BOX ENABLING YOU TO LOCATE AND SELECT A DTB-DNA FILE TO BUILD. ONLY FILES WITH THE FILE EXTENSION ".DNA "WILL WORK WITH ECLIPSEWATER. YOU PROBABLY ONLY HAVE THE ONE FILE THAT YOU JUST DOWNLOADED RIGHT NOW, BUT LATER YOU COULD HAVE MANY, SO IT PAYS TO BE CONSISTENT IN WHERE YOU CHOOSE TO STORE YOUR BOOKS, OVER TIME.
CURSOR TO THE DNA FILE YOU WISH TO BUILD AND HIT THE ENTER KEY.
A BOOK INFORMATION FORM APPEARS ON THE SCREEN. MOST OF THE DATA FIELDS CANNOT BE ALTERED SO HIT THE TAB KEY UNTIL YOU ARRIVE AT THE "DAISY TYPE" LIST BOX. CURSOR TO THE "4. FULL AUDIO AND FULL TEXT" TO BE SURE THAT IT IS SELECTED.
NEXT HIT THE TAB KEY UNTIL YOU ARRIVE AT THE "SAVE IN" BUTTON AND HIT ENTER. NOW HIT THE TAB KEY UNTIL YOU ARRIVE AT THE "HOME" BUTTON.
PRESS THE ENTER KEY AND ECLIPSEWATER WILL CREATE A FOLDER CALLED MY DAISY BOOKS – A CONVENIENT PLACE FOR YOU TO STORE THIS AND ALL OF THE FUTURE BOOKS THAT YOU BUILD. THIS FOLDER WILL BE LOCATED IN YOUR "MY DOCUMENTS" FOLDER.
AFTER THE FOLDER HAS BEEN CREATED TAB TO AND SELECT THE OK BUTTON. THIS WILL RETURN YOU TO THE BOOK INFORMATION SCREEN.
TAB TO AND SELECT THE OK BUTTON ONCE AGAIN. ECLIPSEWATER NOW INFORMS YOU OF HOW MUCH AVAILABLE SPACE YOUR HARD DRIVE CONTAINS AND ASKS YOU TO SELECT YES OR NO IN ORDER TO CONTINUE. CURSOR TO AND SELECT "YES".
YOU ARE NOW AT THE "AUDIO FORMAT PICKER" MENU – WHEREIN YOU HAVE 2 CHOICES; WAV (COMPRESSED) OR WMA. USE THE CURSOR UP AND DOWN KEYS TO HIGHLIGHT THE AUDIO FORMAT YOU WANT AND THEN TAB TO THE OK BUTTON AND HIT ENTER. FOR YOUR FIRST BOOK IT’S PROBABLY A GOOD IDEA TO USE THE WAV (COMPRESSED) SETTING.
ECLIPSEWATER ALSO CONTAINS A BUILT IN CD BURNER, AND WILL NEXT ASK YOU IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEND THE BOOK TO A CD. SELECT YOUR PREFERENCE AND HIT ENTER. MAKE SURE YOU HAVE PUT A BLANK RECORDABLE CD IN YOUR CD DRIVE FIRST, IF YOU INTEND TO BURN A CD.
NOW YOUR AUDIO BOOK WILL BE CREATED AND PLACED IN THE FOLDER CALLED "MY DAISY BOOKS" ON YOUR HARD DRIVE. YOU WILL HERE AN AUDIBLE MESSAGE "BUILD PROCESS IS COMPLETE" WHEN THE BOOK IS FINISHED BUILDING.
STEP 5: LISTENING TO YOUR AUDIO BOOK
HOW YOU CHOOSE TO LISTEN TO YOUR BOOK DEPENDS ON WHAT TYPE OF MEDIA PLAYER(S) YOU HAVE ON YOUR COMPUTER, AND/OR IF YOU CHOSE TO BURN IT TO A CD.
IF YOU ALREADY HAVE A DAISY BOOK READING APPLICATION ON YOUR COMPUTER SUCH AS ECLIPSREADER FROM I.R.T.I., YOU SHOULD LAUNCH THAT APPLICATION, SELECT THE BOOK TITLE, AND BEGIN READING AS YOU NORMALLY DO. IF YOU WOULD LIKE MORE INFORMATION ON DAISY SOFTWARE AND HARDWARE PLAYERS JUST CONTACT OUR OFFICE AND WE’LL BE GLAD TO HELP.
IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A DAISY SOFTWARE PLAYER, YOU CAN STILL LISTEN TO THE BOOK USING MEDIA APPLICATIONS SUCH AS WINDOWS MEDIA PLAYER® OR OTHER SIMILAR APPLICATIONS.
TO DO THIS, LOCATE THE BOOK FOLDER WHICH IS INSIDE THE "MY DAISY BOOKS" FOLDER ON YOUR HARD DRIVE. SELECT THE FILE WITH THE ".M3U" FILE EXTENSION. WINDOWS MEDIA PLAYER® WILL NOW PLAY THE BOOK USING THIS FILE AND YOU WILL BE ABLE TO NAVIGATE FORWARD AND BACKWARD IN THE AUDIO BOOK ON A "TRACK BY TRACK" BASIS, USING THE MEDIA PLAYER'S CONTROLS.
IF YOU CHOSE TO BURN THE BOOK TO CD IN WAV FORMAT YOU MAY PLACE THE CD IN YOUR CD PLAYER AND PLAY IT JUST LIKE ANY NORMAL AUDIO CD. IF YOU HAVE A DAISY CD PLAYER YOU WILL ALSO BE ABLE TO PLAY THE CD AND TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE DAISY NAVIGATION COMPATIBILITIES OF YOUR UNIT – AS THE AUDIO BOOK YOU BUILT IS A COMPLETELY VALID DAISY 2.02 FORMATTED DIGITAL TALKING BOOK.
NOTES ABOUT USING WMA: IF YOU CHOOSE WMA AS YOUR AUDIO FILE FORMAT THERE ARE SOME CONSIDERATIONS TO BEAR IN MIND. FIRST, THE WMA FORMAT PROVIDES TREMENDOUS STORAGE CAPABILITIES AND GREAT SOUND QUALITY THAT WILL ALLOW YOU TO STORE MANY, MANY HOURS OF AUDIO ON A SINGLE AUDIO CD. HOWEVER, WMA IS NOT SUPPORTED BY THE DAISY SPECIFICATION AND THEREFORE WMA AUDIO CD’S WILL NOT PLAY ON DAISY CD PLAYERS. ADDITIONALLY, IN ORDER TO PLAY A WMA CD ON A STANDARD CONSUMER CD PLAYER – YOU MUST ALSO ENSURE THAT YOUR PLAYER SUPPORTS THIS FORMAT. PLAYERS OLDER THAN 3 OR 4 YEARS MAY OR MAY NOT SUPPORT WMA, AND EVEN IF YOUR PLAYER IS BRAND NEW THERE IS A CHANCE THAT IT MAY NOT. THEREFORE IT IS BEST TO VERIFY THIS BEFORE YOU BEGIN MAKING CD’S.
IF YOU HAVE A SOLID STATE BASED AUDIO PLAYER YOU CAN COPY THE AUDIO FILES FROM THE BOOK FOLDER ON YOUR COMPUTER TO THE DEVICE; AND THEN PLAY AND NAVIGATE THEM TRACK BY TRACK JUST AS YOU WOULD WITH A CD PLAYER. THE SAME RULES ABOUT WMA FILES APPLY WITH THESE TYPES OF PLAYERS AS WELL, SO BE SURE TO VERIFY WHAT DIFFERENT TYPES OF AUDIO FILE FORMATS YOUR PLAYER SUPPORTS BEFORE BUILDING BOOKS.
**PLEASE NOTE: AN UPDATED VERSION OF ECLIPSEWATER IS SLATED FOR RELEASE IN ABOUT TWO MONTHS AND WILL PROVIDE OTHER AUDIO FILE FORMAT CHOICES TO ACCOMMODATE THE BROADEST POSSIBLE RANGE OF PLAYBACK DEVICES, SO STAY TUNED……………