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Using Dragon Naturally Speaking with Cafe Trans
Thread poster: Berni Armstrong
Berni Armstrong
Berni Armstrong  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 12:06
Member
English
+ ...
Nov 3, 2015

I have stumbled on CafeTran and, after downloading it, I am assessing it at home.

So far I have been impressed, but the thing that is holding me back from total enthusiasm is that I use Dragon Naturally Speaking (v.10) and Dragon doesn't recognise the working area as a "standard" box into which to type. This means I have noticed not only a drop in the efficiency of Dragon's recognition engine, but also there have been problems with over capitalization. You pause for a second and th... See more
I have stumbled on CafeTran and, after downloading it, I am assessing it at home.

So far I have been impressed, but the thing that is holding me back from total enthusiasm is that I use Dragon Naturally Speaking (v.10) and Dragon doesn't recognise the working area as a "standard" box into which to type. This means I have noticed not only a drop in the efficiency of Dragon's recognition engine, but also there have been problems with over capitalization. You pause for a second and the next word is capitalised. Or the opposite happens, the first letter after a full stop is not capitalised.

Has anyone any suggestions as to what I could do (if anything) to improve this rocky relationship. Anyone had similar problems?

[Edited at 2015-11-03 09:11 GMT] ▲ Collapse
 
2nl (X)
2nl (X)  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 12:06
A lot of information available Nov 3, 2015

There is a lot of information in the Speech Recognition forum:

http://www.proz.com/forum/speech_recognition/293983-knowbrainer_+_dragon_naturally_speaking_spanish.html

Michael uses Dragon with CafeTran (no -s) on Windows too:


Dragon NaturallySpeaking (speech recognition) + Vocola/Unimacro (speech commands) + AutoHotkey = 14 Oct

I think I'll stick with Windows.

I'm sure someone here will say that the same thing can be achieved with OS X’s new Dictation app, but there are a few pieces of software that make leaving Windows impossible for me. Or in the very least, extremely unlikely.

The sheer power of Dragon on Windows combined with Vocola/Unimacro/Dragonfly/AHK, etc., combined with the vibrant and interesting user community around these apps, are excellent reasons to reconsider switching to a Mac.

Please have a look at all this amazing stuff going on:

• http://vocola.net/ (open source version of KnowBrainer 2015)
• http://qh.antenna.nl/unimacro/
• http://ahkscript.org/ (the holy grail of macros/scripts)
• http://ahkscript.org/boards/index.php
• http://explosionduck.com/wp/introduction-to-voice-programming-part-one-dns-natlink/ (‘INTRODUCTION TO VOICE PROGRAMMING, PART ONE: DNS + NATLINK’)
• http://explosionduck.com/wp/introduction-to-voice-programming-part-two-open-source-speech-tools/ (‘INTRODUCTION TO VOICE PROGRAMMING, PART TWO*: OPEN SOURCE SPEECH TOOLS’)



Source: http://www.proz.com/forum/apple_mac_operating_systems/293191-translating_on_a_mac-page2.html

Mac users can start with the built in Dictation of every Mac. According to Tom (a native speaker of English) the recognition is superb. Integration in CafeTran is good:

http://cafetran.wikidot.com/dictation

And quoting Tom:


PS the Dictation software that comes with the Mac is fantastic. I used it just this morning to dictate the translation of an unconvertible PDF directly into a Word file. Very fast - and no typos! All that techie stuff posted by Michael is completely unnecessary on a Mac. Think how much simpler your life will be when you don't even have to think about stuff like that


[Edited at 2015-11-03 09:34 GMT]
 
Michael Beijer
Michael Beijer  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 11:06
Member (2009)
Dutch to English
+ ...
some answers Nov 3, 2015

Berni Armstrong wrote:

I have stumbled on CafeTran and, after downloading it, I am assessing it at home.

So far I have been impressed, but the thing that is holding me back from total enthusiasm is that I use Dragon Naturally Speaking (v.10) and Dragon doesn't recognise the working area as a "standard" box into which to type. This means I have noticed not only (1) a drop in the efficiency of Dragon's recognition engine, but also there have been problems with (2) over capitalization. You pause for a second and the next word is capitalised. Or the opposite happens, the first letter after a full stop is not capitalised.

Has anyone any suggestions as to what I could do (if anything) to improve this rocky relationship. Anyone had similar problems?

[Edited at 2015-11-03 09:11 GMT]


Sadly, 90% of all Windows programs will not be recognised as a standard text area (offering so-called ‘Full Text Control’) by Dragon. I have asked Igor (the developer of CafeTran) to see if you can do something about this. However, the more people ask him, the more likely he will want to invest time in it, so please send an email to CafeTran support ([email protected]) asking about this! Currently, pretty much only memoQ and DVX offer Dragon Full Text Control.

(1) As far as I know, lack of Full Text Control in a text field would not result in a drop in efficiency of Dragon's recognition engine. For example, I am getting near perfect recognition in CafeTran, with Dragon Professional Individual 14 (i.e., the latest version on Windows). I wonder if something else might be causing this? I noticed that you are running an extremely old version. I do know that recognition has increased considerably between version 10 and 14.

(2) Over-capitalisation might be remedied by deselecting: Tools > Auto-formatting options > (×) Automatically add commas and periods. If Dragon is erroneously adding periods, this might result in incorrect capitalisation of what it thinks is the next sentence.

Michael
 
Berni Armstrong
Berni Armstrong  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 12:06
Member
English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Thanks Michael Nov 3, 2015

Thanks for your comment Michael. I will do as you suggest. Especially now that I have actually purchased Cafetran (having rapidly reached the limit for the trial version today).

I agree that it is about time I upgraded to a new version of Dragon. I had tried to do so on one of Nuance's periodic special offers, but something went wrong with the process (don't remember what) and I gave up. Besides, Dragon 10 was working acceptably well - indeed it still is within Word and with Metatex... See more
Thanks for your comment Michael. I will do as you suggest. Especially now that I have actually purchased Cafetran (having rapidly reached the limit for the trial version today).

I agree that it is about time I upgraded to a new version of Dragon. I had tried to do so on one of Nuance's periodic special offers, but something went wrong with the process (don't remember what) and I gave up. Besides, Dragon 10 was working acceptably well - indeed it still is within Word and with Metatexis. However, I have been very impressed tonight with Cafetran and hope that an improvement in its collaboration with Dragon will soon be on the cards.

Cafetran is not the only non standard window that causes a drop in efficiency in Dragon 10 - most non-standard windows do. Which is why I generally stick to Word and cut and paste into non-standard windows when I use Dragon.

Thanks again for your advice and support.

Cheers,

Berni


Michael Beijer wrote:

Sadly, 90% of all Windows programs will not be recognised as a standard text area (offering so-called ‘Full Text Control’) by Dragon. I have asked Igor (the developer of CafeTran) to see if you can do something about this. However, the more people ask him, the more likely he will want to invest time in it, so please send an email to CafeTran support ([email protected]) asking about this! Currently, pretty much only memoQ and DVX offer Dragon Full Text Control.

(1) As far as I know, lack of Full Text Control in a text field would not result in a drop in efficiency of Dragon's recognition engine. For example, I am getting near perfect recognition in CafeTran, with Dragon Professional Individual 14 (i.e., the latest version on Windows). I wonder if something else might be causing this? I noticed that you are running an extremely old version. I do know that recognition has increased considerably between version 10 and 14.

(2) Over-capitalisation might be remedied by deselecting: Tools > Auto-formatting options > (×) Automatically add commas and periods. If Dragon is erroneously adding periods, this might result in incorrect capitalisation of what it thinks is the next sentence.

Michael
▲ Collapse
 
J. Phillips
J. Phillips
United States
Local time: 05:06
Portuguese to English
+ ...
Confirm the Mac dictate works with Cafe Trans Nov 15, 2015

I too am trying out Cafe Trans as the only tool so far compatible with Yosemite OS (which is itself incompatible with Nuance Dragon). I am pleased and plan to buy the program. It does insert capitals, etc, but the tradeoffs are still positive. I still use Windows and DNS into English, but the Mac lets me finally work into Portuguese. As Microsoft seems determined to commit suicide, I am pleased to have gone "bilingual" in both Win and Mac OS.
 


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Using Dragon Naturally Speaking with Cafe Trans






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