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@@ -13,6 +13,12 @@ The converter sends text extracted from your books to a locally running TTS serv
- Automatic metadata (title/artist/album tags, chapter track numbers) and a generated cover
- Supports text-to-speech, voice cloning, voice design, and per-model controls like emotion/speed
+| Backend | Description |
+| -------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------ |
+| [audio.cpp](https://github.com/0xShug0/audio.cpp) | Newer C++ TTS backend that supports many recent models |
+| [Qwen-TTS](https://pypi.org/project/qwen-tts/) | Qwen demo server (qwen-tts-demo) |
+| [Faster-Qwen-TTS](https://github.com/andimarafioti/faster-qwen3-tts) | Qwen server with 2-8x faster inference for NVidia GPUs |
+
## Prerequisites
- Python 3.12+
@@ -20,50 +26,32 @@ The converter sends text extracted from your books to a locally running TTS serv
## Quick Start
-Download the project
+1. Download the project
```bash
git clone https://git.historia.vg/git/tts-audiobook-generator
cd tts-audiobook-generator
```
-- `./input` - Put your book files here
+2. Put your files in the directories
+
+- `./input` - Text files to be processed (`epub`, etc.)
- `./output` - Audio files will output here
-- `./voices` - Put .wav files of voices to clone here (10-20 seconds)
+- `./voices` - `.wav` files of voices to clone (10-20 seconds)
-Run `audiobook.py`. It will create a venv `./app/envs/tts` and install all requirements.
+3. Run `audiobook.py`. It will create a venv `./app/envs/tts` and automatically install all requirements.
```
python audiobook.py
```
+4. When the TUI comes up, go to `Configure Backends > Install Backend`. Install `audio.cpp`, which supports numerous TTS models. It will automatically be cloned and built in the venv (this will take a while).
-## Quick start (TUI)
-
-Run the generator with no arguments in a terminal:
-
-```bash
-python audiobook.py
-```
-
-A full-screen TUI opens and shows each backend's status in a table — **unavailable** (red, name dimmed: not installed and no server running), **installed** (orange), or **running** (green) with the source(s) in brackets: `[local]` for a server this tool started, `[remote]` for an externally-run server found by probing the backend's remote URL, or `[local, remote]` when both are up. From the menu you can:
-
-- **Convert books…** — set everything on one screen. The first field picks the **Backend**: each backend appears as a managed entry (e.g. `audio.cpp`) when it's installed and configured here, plus a `[remote]` entry (e.g. `audio.cpp [remote]`) when a running server was found at its remote URL. The rest of the options change to what that backend supports: model, voice and instructions for audio.cpp; speaker or clone .wav for qwen; voice for faster — plus output format, speed, whether to combine all chapters into one file, and debug mode. A managed entry reads its local `server.json` / `voices.json`; a `[remote]` entry queries the server itself instead (audio.cpp lists its models and voices over HTTP, faster asks you to type a voice name). Focus starts on **Generate!**, so Enter accepts the defaults. The "combine chapters" option is hidden for `m4b`, which is always one file.
-- After **Generate!**, a full-screen run view takes over instead of dumping you into console output. The top shows the server status — *starting* (a managed server that needed booting is spawned and waited on until it actually answers HTTP, not just accepts TCP connections), *ready*, *processing*, or *error* — and the bottom shows the conversion with a progress bar for the current book's chunks (`Chunk 45/120`) and elapsed time. Esc or `q` first asks whether to cancel processing, then (when this run started the server) whether to shut it down, then returns to the menu. An error — the server exits while booting, stops mid-conversion, or a chunk fails and the book aborts — switches the corresponding state to *error* and waits for a key before returning to the menu, so the failure is never scrolled away (full detail stays in `app/logs/audiobook_<date>.log`), or
-- **Configure backends…** — one menu for installing, configuring, and removing backends. Its options are populated from what's currently detected: **Install Backend** (when any backend isn't installed yet), **Configure audio.cpp / qwen-tts / faster-qwen3-tts** (one per installed backend — rerunning its setup wizard acts as a "modify": an existing `server.json` / `voices.json` is loaded and its values pre-filled instead of being overwritten, and audio.cpp offers to delete already-downloaded models you uncheck), **Download Missing Models (audio.cpp)** (runs `model_manager_v2.py` for every model in `server.json` that isn't downloaded yet), and **Uninstall Backend** (removes a backend's files from the managed venv), or
-- **Server…** — manually start or stop a configured backend's server (the hub spawns it in the managed venv and polls until it answers).
+5.
-**Server…** only appears once at least one backend is installed — a merely-running external server unlocks **Convert books…**, but starting/stopping its server needs it on this machine. **Configure backends…** is always available (there is always something to install or remove).
+## CLI Options
-Everything the TUI does can also be scripted with flags: `python audiobook.py --backend audiocpp --model higgs --voice narrator`, or `python app/backends/audiocpp.py --families higgs_audio_tts --clone --build-backend cuda`.
-
-You need one of the following backends (the TUI sets them up for you; manual steps below):
-
-| Backend | Description |
-| -------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------ |
-| [audio.cpp](https://github.com/0xShug0/audio.cpp) | Newer C++ TTS backend that supports many recent models |
-| [Qwen-TTS](https://pypi.org/project/qwen-tts/) | Qwen demo server (qwen-tts-demo) |
-| [Faster-Qwen-TTS](https://github.com/andimarafioti/faster-qwen3-tts) | Qwen server with 2-8x faster inference for NVidia GPUs |
+Everything the TUI does can also be scripted with flags: `python audiobook.py --backend audiocpp --model higgs --voice narrator`.
## Options
@@ -104,16 +92,6 @@ Transcription affects the output a lot. Whisper does not always give perfect tra
Even tiny amounts of pause between phrases in the sample audio can have a big impact. Try increasing or decreasing them or find a sample with different cadence.
-### audio.cpp `model contract spec not found for family '...'`
-
-The audio.cpp server discovers `model_specs/<family>.json` relative to its **process working directory**, so it must be started from the audio.cpp checkout. The hub starts it that way automatically, and the launch hint it prints is prefixed with `cd <checkout> &&`. If you start `audiocpp_server` by hand, run it from the checkout root:
-
-```bash
-cd app/audio.cpp && ./build/<platform>-<backend>-release/bin/audiocpp_server --config server.json
-```
-
-If the error instead mentions a model path that does not exist, the model package was never downloaded — the hub's status table shows `installed (models missing)` for that case. Install it from the checkout (the exact command is in the convert-menu warning), e.g. `python tools/model_manager_v2.py install qwen3_tts_0_6b_base_q8_0`.
-
## License
MIT