Index

SayIt! is a simple, yet effective, tool for adding voice annotation to any OLE-compatible document (Windows Write, Word for Windows, Microsoft Excel, AMI Pro, etc.). Unlike other voice annotation programs that require complicated menu commands, SayIt! uses a much more convenient method to embed sound files into your document: you simply activate SayIt! by pressing a "hot key", speak into your microphone, then click on the Accept button. The sound file is automatically embedded into your document at the current cursor position!

The following Help topics are available:

Screen Areas and Controls

Menu Commands

Procedures


Screen Areas and Controls

Scroll Bar

Transport

Maximum

Current

Status

Accept

Cancel


Menu Commands

Edit

Copy

Paste

Setup

Auto Record

Hot Key

Maximum Length

Always On Top

Record Settings

Help

Help

About SayIt!...


Procedures

Loading SayIt!

Activating SayIt!

Recording a Note

Re-recording a Note

Listening to an Embedded Note

Editing a Note With WinDAT

Configuring SayIt!'s Hot Key


Transport

The SayIt! transport is designed for quick and easy operation. Rewinding is done automatically, each time you press the Stop button, and you can easily move to any portion of the recording with the Scroll Bar .

Stop: Stops playback and rewinds to the beginning of the recording.

Play: Plays back the current recording.

Record: Initiates recording.

Pause: Stops recording or playback at the current position. To continue playing or recording from that same position, press the Pause button again.


Scroll Bar

During recording, the Scroll Bar displays the amount of time that has elapsed relative to the maximum length.

During playback, the Scroll Bar displays the current position relative to the length of the  recording.

The Scroll Bar can also be used select a specific point in the recording from which to play.


Maximum

Displays the maximum allowable recording length. This can be adjusted by choosing Maximum Lengthfrom the Setup menu.


Current

Displays the current record/playback position in the format: [minutes:seconds].


Status

Displays the current status of SayIt!: Ready (stopped), Playing, Recording, or Paused.


Accept

After recording a note, pressing the Accept button will cause the note to be embedded as an OLE object into your document at the current insertion point.

If the application you're currently working in is not an OLE client, pressing the Accept button will have no real effect, other than to minimize SayIt!.


Cancel

The Cancel button aborts the recording and minimizes SayIt!.


Copy

Copies the current recording into SayIt!'s Clipboard. This is useful for transferring recordings into WinDAT for editing.

The Copy command can also be used to manually embed recordings into a document. Use SayIt!'s Copy command to copy the recording to the Clipboard, and then use the OLE client's Paste command to embed the recording into the document.


Paste

Pastes the contents of SayIt!'s Clipboard into SayIt! itself. This feature allows you to transfer recordings from WinDAT into SayIt!.


Auto Record

When Auto Record is enabled, SayIt! automatically begins recording as soon as it is activated.


Hot Key

You activate SayIt! by pressing a pre-determined QWERTY key combination called a "Hot Key". Although the default Hot Key is [CTRL-R] this can be changed by choosing Hot Key from the Setup menu.


Maximum Length

The Maximum Length dialog box allows you to set the maximum allowable recording length in the format [minutes:seconds]. Because digital audio files can get rather large, it is important to set a reasonable maximum recording length to limit the file size of your recordings. You can set the Maximum Length to any value between one second and two minutes.


Always on Top

When the Always on Top option is enabled, SayIt! will always appear on top of any other applications that are running. This prevents the SayIt! window from getting "lost" when your Windows desktop is tiled with a number of applications.


Help

Activates SayIt!'s on-line Help system.


About...
About SayIt!...

Displays a dialog box with copyright information and the revision number.


Recording a Note

To record a note with SayIt!, you must have your sound card properly installed and a microphone hooked up to it. You also must configure your sound card's Windows mixer so that you can record from its microphone input at a reasonable level. Refer to your sound card's documentation for further information.

To record a voice note with SayIt!:

1. If SayIt! was not loaded automatically as part of your Startup group, load it by double-clicking on its icon.

2. Run the OLE client application you'll be using, then load or create the desired document. If you simply want to experiment with SayIt!, try running Windows Write and loading a document.

3. From within your document, click on the location where you want to embed the recording.

4. Activate SayIt! by pressing the Hot Key sequence (the default is[CTRL]-R).

If Auto Record is enabled, SayIt! will begin recording immediately.

If Auto Record is not enabled, click on the Record button twice to begin recording.

5. Speak into the microphone. When you're done recording, press the Stop button. This will cause SayIt! to stop recording and rewind to the beginning of the note.

6. If you want, click on the Play button to check or verify what you've just recorded.

7. If the recording is acceptable, click on the Accept button to embed it into your document. The note will automatically be embedded at the location you specified in step 3.


Re-recording a Note

If you don't like what you recorded, you can re-record it by simply pressing the Record button twice. SayIt! will not embed your message until you press the Accept button.


Setting Up Your Own Hotkey
Configuring SayIt!'s Hot Key

SayIt! can be activated by pressing a hot key combination. The default is [CTRL-R] however this can be easily changed to a different key combination.

1. Select Hot Key from the Setup menu.

2. The [CTRL] key will always be a part of the key combination, however you can select any letter or number and the [ALT] or [Shift] keys to be a part of your new Hot Key combination.

3. Press OK to accept the new Hot key combination.


Activating SayIt!

Once SayIt! has been loaded, you can use one of several different methods to activate it:

Method 1

Press the Hot Key sequence from your QWERTY keyboard. The default is [CTRL]-R; however, you can customize SayIt!'s Hot Key by choosing Hot Key from the Setup.

Method 2

Double-click on the SayIt! icon, just as you would to activate any other Windows program.

Method 3

Select "Record Note" from the System menu of the OLE client application you are using (Windows Write, Microsoft Word, Excel, etc.).

Method 4

Press [ALT]-[TAB] repeatedly until the SayIt! name and icon appears in the Windows Program Selector box.


Loading SayIt!

There are two different ways to load SayIt!:

Method 1

In most cases, the installation program will add SayIt! to your Startup group. Using this method, SayIt! is automatically started every time you run Windows. It reduces itself to an icon and is ready to be activated as soon as you press the Hot Key.

Method 2

You can also load SayIt! by double-clicking on its icon, just as you would with any other Windows program.


Editing a Note with WinDAT

SayIt!'s recordings can be pasted into Voyetra's WinDAT program for convenient editing.

1. Launch the WinDAT program by double clicking on the WinDAT icon.

2. Choose Copy from the SayIt!'s Edit menu to copy the recording into the Windows clipboard.

3. Without minimizing SayIt!, choose Paste from the Edit menu in WinDAT. This will paste your recording into WinDAT and allow you to edit it.

4. Once you have completed your editing, choose Select All from the Edit menu in WinDAT then choose Copy. This will copy the edited recording into the Windows clipboard.

5. Without closing or minimizing WinDAT choose Paste from the SayIt! Edit menu to paste the file back into SayIt!.

6. Finally, press Accept to update the document with the edited recording.

Alternatively, you can bypass steps 4-6 by simply dragging WinDAT's drag-and-drop icon to the desired location in your document.


To Listen to an Embedded Message
To Listen to an Embedded Note

To hear a note embedded in your document:

Method 1

Double-click on the embedded SayIt! or WinDAT icon in the document.

Method 2

Click on the embedded icon and choose SayIt! Object, Play from the OLE client's Edit menu.


Record Settings

Stereo Button: When activated SayIt! will record in stereo. However, mono mode is recomended for voice recording because stereo recording takes up twice as much disk space.

Sample Rate: Determines the sample rate of recording. Higher sample rates provide better recordings but require more disk space.

Data Format: Determines the format of the recorded data. 8 bit is recommended for voice. 16 bit offers better sound quality but uses twice as much disk space.