I had overlooked the "Export Block" feature in VOICEPEAK

I have been using VOICEPEAK for over three years, but I recently discovered that a feature I kept thinking "it would be convenient if this existed..." while using it had actually been implemented all along.

That feature is called "Export Block".

In this post, I will talk about what kind of feature "Export Block" is, why I wanted it, and why I overlooked it for three years.

I was exporting the entire project even for a single correction

With synthesized voice narration, it is common to want to correct just a small part after completion.
Sometimes I find my own typos, or sometimes a client asks me to "just change this phrasing" after they have reviewed it.
In such cases, it is ideal to export only the one corrected sentence and replace the corresponding file in the video editing software.

Ever since I started using VOICEPEAK, I had assumed that it was impossible to export files on a paragraph-by-paragraph basis.
Every time I corrected a part of the script, I would re-export the entire project.
If there were 100 dialogue blocks, I would export the whole thing even for a single correction.
While you can replace the file by matching the filename and overwriting it, if the length of the audio changes, you also have to adjust the timeline in the video editing software.

That was my impression of VOICEPEAK.

I learned about "Export Block" through brainstorming with AI

It started when I was organizing the structure with AI to write an article about the differences between VOICEPEAK and VOICEVOX.
When I mentioned that my frustration with VOICEPEAK was that I couldn't export just a part of the audio, the AI pointed out, "Can't you right-click the block you want to export and select 'Export Block'?"

Since I couldn't be sure based on the AI's answer alone, I actually opened VOICEPEAK to check. Sure enough, at the very bottom of the right-click menu for the dialogue block, there was indeed "Export Block".

The feature wasn't missing; I just hadn't been able to find it.

I was using the VOICEVOX menu as my standard

The reason I couldn't notice the "Export Block" feature in VOICEPEAK.
It was the difference in the screen layout compared to VOICEVOX.
In VOICEVOX, the export methods are listed in the File menu.

• Export Audio

• Export Selected Audio

• Export Joined Audio

I had been using this "Export Selected Audio" feature.
I checked the VOICEPEAK File menu with that expectation, but since I couldn't find a similar item, I concluded that "VOICEPEAK does not have partial export."

However, in VOICEPEAK, the entry points for the export function are separated.

• Exporting the entire project is done via the ellipsis at the top of the screen

• Exporting just a single block is done via the right-click menu on the dialogue block

Both are for exporting audio, but they are not located in the same place.
It is an excuse, but because of this, I assumed that VOICEPEAK did not have a partial export function.

The feature was there from the moment I started using it

I was curious about when this right-click menu was added, so I checked the VOICEPEAK update history on the AHS website and found the following entry for version 1.2.1, released in January 2023.

My company purchased VOICEPEAK for me, and I received the license from IT on May 8, 2023.
That was about four months after the release of version 1.2.1.

If the update history is correct, "Export Block" already existed when I started using VOICEPEAK.
It is not that I missed a feature added in a later update.

I had not noticed a feature that should have been available from the moment I received the license for over three years.

During that time, I was convinced that VOICEPEAK was software that made partial corrections cumbersome. In reality, the solution had been available since I started using it.

Assumptions are scary

By re-examining it after bouncing ideas off an AI, I realized not only the feature but also my own assumptions.
From now on, instead of using software based on assumptions, if I think, "Can I do this?", I will actively consult an AI.
(It seems I have no intention of studying it myself...)

Thank you for reading this far.