v1.2.3

saga-soft/novelWriterv1.2.3Nov 18, 2025by denizsafak

AI Summary

This release introduces advanced audio generation capabilities for subtitles and M4B files, alongside fixes for Windows compatibility and CUDA support.

Key Highlights

  • Voice subtitle generation with silent gap options and speed adjustment methods
  • Added support for embedding cover images in M4B files
  • Fixed Windows DLL initialization error
  • Potential fix for CUDA GPU availability issue

New Features

  • Voice subtitle generation (.srt, .ass, .vtt)
  • M4B cover image embedding from EPUB and PDF
  • Use silent gaps between subtitles option
  • Subtitle speed adjustment method option

Full Release Notes

- **You can now voice your subtitle files!** Simply add `.srt`, `.ass` or `.vtt` files to generate timed audio. Alternatively, add a text file with timestamps in `HH:MM:SS` or `HH:MM:SS,ms` format to generate audio that matches the timestamps. See [here](https://github.com/denizsafak/abogen?tab=readme-ov-file#about-timestamp-based-text-files) for detailed instructions.
    - New option: **"Use silent gaps between subtitles"**: Prevents unnecessary audio speed-up by letting speech continue into the silent gaps between subtitles.
    - New option: **"Subtitle speed adjustment method"**: Choose how to speed up audio when needed:
        - **TTS Regeneration (better quality):** Re-generates the audio at a faster speed for more natural sound.
        - **FFmpeg Time-stretch (better speed):** Quickly speeds up the generated audio.
- Added support for embedding cover images in M4B files. Abogen now automatically extracts cover images from EPUB and PDF files. You can also manually specify a cover image using the `<<METADATA_COVER_PATH:path>>` tag in your text file. (To prevent MPV from showing the cover image, you can add `audio-display=no` to your MPV config file.)
- Fixed `[WinError 1114] A dynamic link library (DLL) initialization routine failed` error on Windows, pre-loading PyTorch DLLs before initializing PyQt6 to avoid DLL initialization errors, mentioned in #98 by @ephr0n.
- Potential fix for `CUDA GPU is not available` issue, by ensuring PyTorch is installed correctly with CUDA support on Windows using the installer script.
- Improvements in code and documentation.