ATC for FS9?

[Roger Ramjet 72]

Watched some Youtube videos of PF3 and those voices still sound waaaay too robotic for me. I'll stick with the default unless I hear any word of improvement, Its a shame because otherwise it seems like a great program with much needed international accents but if the inflections go up and down with every number or letter it shoots the realism in the foot.

[wombat457 3]

Roger,

I agree that some of the voices are still robotic but others are very good indeed. I use an Australian set of voices (there are 5 of them) and found that only 2 of them were good in terms of their clarity and lack of robotic tones.  I think it is a matter of going through each voice until you find one that works.

[vololiberista 205]

45 minutes ago, Roger Ramjet said:

Watched some Youtube videos of PF3 and those voices still sound waaaay too robotic for me. I'll stick with the default unless I hear any word of improvement, Its a shame because otherwise it seems like a great program with much needed international accents but if the inflections go up and down with every number or letter it shoots the realism in the foot.

Which videos did you watch? I would say that these voices are not remotely robotic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WF1PVEVdQDo

[edetroit 933]

9 minutes ago, vololiberista said:

Which videos did you watch? I would say that these voices are not remotely robotic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WF1PVEVdQDo

Compared to default ATC I would say yes they are.

As much as I would love regional accents def ATC is my choice.

[John Hinson 22]

8 hours ago, edetroit said:

Compared to default ATC I would say yes they are.

I agree. I think the issue is that the massive task of editing the voice clips for such a huge range of voices has not been done with enough care - there are pauses in the speech which interrupt the flow.

I remember with the old PFE there was an Irish accent that was appalling in this respect (I haven't heard it yet in PF3 so I don't know it is the same) and it sounded as if the speaker was pausing for breath almost between every word. I spent much time (sad git that I am) editing the files and removing blank sections and managed to make it all flow quite well.

It can be argued that it would be a massive task to do this for every voice set but the fact is that this add-on is being sold for quite a hefty price (about half the cost of FS itself to me all those years ago) so I think we are entitled to expect that sort of thing to be done properly.

For me, I will live with that as being non-US myself the default ATC accents do irritate me - providing the add-on proves to be more stable and reliable than PFE was. So far I have completed three flights, none of which has gone properly in respect of ATC instructions so I am currently undecided. There is a huge learning curve but I am persevering for now.

If I do decide to give up on it that will be three ATC add-ons I have bought and dumped! Rearrange the following words to make a well known phrase: drain, the, money, down.

John

[ThomasAH 61]

12 hours ago, wombat457 said:

I will "try" the PF3 forum but the only place I seem to get responses is here.

Huh? I have seen responses to your posts there.

[wombat457 3]

Thomas,

Now yes, at the time I said what I said, I had not gotten responses that I was aware of.

It seems to be okay now though.

[vololiberista 205]

9 hours ago, John Hinson said:

I agree. I think the issue is that the massive task of editing the voice clips for such a huge range of voices has not been done with enough care - there are pauses in the speech which interrupt the flow.

I remember with the old PFE there was an Irish accent that was appalling in this respect (I haven't heard it yet in PF3 so I don't know it is the same) and it sounded as if the speaker was pausing for breath almost between every word. I spent much time (sad git that I am) editing the files and removing blank sections and managed to make it all flow quite well.

It can be argued that it would be a massive task to do this for every voice set but the fact is that this add-on is being sold for quite a hefty price (about half the cost of FS itself to me all those years ago) so I think we are entitled to expect that sort of thing to be done properly.

For me, I will live with that as being non-US myself the default ATC accents do irritate me - providing the add-on proves to be more stable and reliable than PFE was. So far I have completed three flights, none of which has gone properly in respect of ATC instructions so I am currently undecided. There is a huge learning curve but I am persevering for now.

If I do decide to give up on it that will be three ATC add-ons I have bought and dumped! Rearrange the following words to make a well known phrase: drain, the, money, down.

John

How many default voices are there? None of them are regional. PF3 has 119 separate regional voices. It's your opinion of course. But think of the alternatives. Firstly default ATC is "SH one T" big time. To say that it is a joke is being kind. So the alternative to that is to create an add-on ATC. Which by definition means that voices have to be somehow created. The choices being, computer generated or real and pieced together. Seeing as every ATIS is a real voice pieced together to make a report I would say PF3 does it better. It certainly does it better than other add-on ATC programmes. At least two of the ATC add-ons appear to be unsupported. One other makes glaring mistakes using alpha numerics instead of the phonetic code and also commonly gives wrong SIDs and STARs.

PF3 is properly supported and one doesn't have to wait a year for a possible update.

[John Hinson 22]

As I intimated in my first post, I expected to come under attack at some point. A great shame.

Nobody has to make excuses as to how difficult it is to programme commercial software to justify its shortcomings, nor need they slag off the alternatives to defend a particular one. This started as open discussion on both the good and bad points of any ATC add-on, such a pity it has gone this way.

John

[wombat457 3]

It is a pity that the "discussion" has degenerated in this way.  I initially asked a simple question (I thought) regarding a good ATC (payware or freeware) for FS9 that worked with FSC and that was it.

Since asking that question I have used RC and PF3 and find both of them better (voice wise at least) than the default FS9 ATC. HOWEVER, BOTH have their good points and both have faults and downfalls.

I do agree with John in this way though.  When you buy a product (payware) you should expect it to be free of problems and not have to continually (in some cases) fight with the company (whoever it is) to get resolutions and get little back other than excuses or finger pointing and there are a lot of companies out there that do JUST THAT and adopt the attitude of "it's always someone or something else's fault, not ours".  

Every product is going to have flaws and the severity of those flaws will depend on the users experience, knowledge and expectations.  One product, who ever makes it, will not please everyone, pure and simple.

So far as I am concerned, it is the individuals decision as to what software/program they use or don't use and make that decision based on their opinion and experience with a given product.  Some people will swear by a product while others will condemn it, period.

Now so far as RC versus PF3 is concerned - of course the Beta Testers are going to support it and tell everyone it is the greatest thing since sliced bread.  Beta Testers for RC will do likewise for their product and that is and should be expected.  That is also why I asked for an "independent review" of PF3, as I do with all products I look at buying.  

So, if this discussion is to continue, lets all agree to disagree on things and respect others opinions as theirs and ones we don't have to agree with if we feel so inclined.

For the record, I am NOT having a shot at anyone - I am simply making a general point when it comes to selling a product and the individuals opinion/s of that product no matter what it is. 

 

[GhiomKL 0]

Installed it yesterday and couldn't connect to FS9. Got a "IPC timed out..." suggesting that FS9 isn't started and therefore FSUIPC can't connect.

no help from the PF3 forum or FAQ.

any idea?

thanks

ghiom

[wombat457 3]

Sorry but I have no idea.  I had those problems with FDC and PFE but both my demo and full versions of PF3 connected without an issue.

I also don't know what the "IPC timed out..." mssage is so can't help you there either sorry.

One thing I was told was to install PF3 under C:\ and NOT under C:\Program Files.  All I can suggest is you try reinstalling PF3 again and see what happens.

Hope you get it figured.

wombat457

[GhiomKL 0]

3 hours ago, wombat457 said:

Sorry but I have no idea.  I had those problems with FDC and PFE but both my demo and full versions of PF3 connected without an issue.

I also don't know what the "IPC timed out..." mssage is so can't help you there either sorry.

One thing I was told was to install PF3 under C:\ and NOT under C:\Program Files.  All I can suggest is you try reinstalling PF3 again and see what happens.

Hope you get it figured.

wombat457

Yes. I installed it on a distinct drive. Not C:, not FS9's. Maybe the reason. Won't work for me then since I have no room on my C: drive (win7)...

If this is indeed the reason, why would you impose that this huge software (all the wavs) reside on C:???

[John Hinson 22]

I am afraid I have no idea either, I don't have enough knowledge of the product. . . but a web search for that error showed that the issue arises on Radar Contact too.

A quick glance at that suggests you may need to run the software "as Administrator" but its probably worth looking deeper at those search results than I have.

Best regards,

John

[wombat457 3]

4 minutes ago, John Hinson said:

A quick glance at that suggests you may need to run the software "as Administrator"

As John said, I think it has been recommended to run PF3 as an Administrator. 

32 minutes ago, GhiomKL said:

If this is indeed the reason, why would you impose that this huge software (all the wavs) reside on C:???

All I can tell you is that mine is installed in this folder:

C:\FS Addons\PF3

From what I can gather though, it shouldn't matter where it is installed be it in the C: directory or on a completely different drive altogether.  But I am only guessing here.

All the best,

wombat457