Other Cryptonloid voicebank updates, collabs, & concert news (crypton_wat Twitter translations)

[uncreepy]

Miku Chinese has an issue with her "uo" vowel becoming wonked up when a consonant is in front of it (she pronounced it as "o"). I assume her accent is equal to how she has a Japanese accent with her English voicebanks.

I still have an incredibly hard time believing that Miku Chinese users would get new Piapro for free. I suppose if I stretch my imagination, I could believe they might only get the Piapro part of it (as in how the buttons like DYN and VEL have been renamed to full words), but NOT the fancy Cherry Pie/Vocal Drive/9-ish other effectors. If they got it for free, I would actually be mad. Because if they have Miku V4 Chinese, why can't other people with something like Miku V4X or another Cryptonloid also get it for free? I will also be annoyed if Miku V4 Chinese users get new Piapro interface and everyone else has to wait around watching jealously and not receive the same update for months on end (seriously, the glue tool has been broken since like 2016ish). I honestly can't figure out a good reason why only Miku V4 Chinese users are able to use the standalone version with the newer features, you'd think they could have given everyone an automatic update or provided a download link or something to be on the same page. Guess ease of tuning for everyone isn't high on Crypton's priority list.

Long story short, I just hope this is a phoneme issue update. Sorry if it's selfish, but Miku V4 Chinese is like $100, Miku V4 English is like $140, Miku V4X Japanese is like $160, and Miku V4X Bundle is like $200. I personally got Rin/Len for like $200, but because it's not Miku Chinese it might not count? Most people bought versions that are way more expensive than the Miku Chinese voicebank, and if they get EVERY part of new Piapro for free... Just writing about this is making me angry, so I will stop.

 

[peaches2217]

That's not selfish at all. I have around $1,000 worth of Crypton's VBs, but if I didn't get Piapro for free and someone with a single $100 VB did, I'd be pissed as hell. I'm a Cryptonloid junkie so I'm gonna get their new products either way, but giving an entire DAW for free exclusively to users of just her Chinese VB would be really, really poor planning.

 

[mobius017]

I'm guessing Miku Chinese might have been a testing ground for the initial stage of the new Piapro standalone. That might have made sense, since I'd assume the Miku Chinese user base is pretty small, as I've not seen a glut of Miku Chinese usage on YouTube. (Granted, I guess she could be HUGE on Billibilli and I wouldn't know.) So they could safely put something new/riskier with her. Or maybe the standalone was just ready at a time when only Miku Chinese was the new thing to distribute it with?

I'm sure Miku Chinese users will have to pay for the real new one at the same time/price as everyone else.

 

[peaches2217]

To the best of my knowledge, she's not hugely popular on Bilibili either. She's used there more than on YouTube or Nico, but her popularity pales in comparison to the VSingers and, to a certain extent, Quadimension's VBs. So Crypton using Miku Chinese as a testing ground actually seems a very feasible possibility.

 

[Scarlet Illusion]

Tbh, I agree completely with Uncreepy, especially considering I own Rin/Len V4 Japanese and the Miku V4x bundle. Not to mention there isn't even a functioning glue tool. (In the manual it says the glue tool will be added in a future update or something along those lines, but... when did old Piapro originally come out? Two years ago? Seems like an stupidly long time to keep people waiting fora glue tool; seriously, it's irritating when I split a note but don't like the way it sounds and the only way to put it back together is to re-enter the note.)

I know, Crypton has made questionable choices in the past (I.e. rushing Rin/Len Act 1's thinking they'll be an immediate success like Miku), but I can't really see them dropping the ball this badly, esp. considering Miku Chinese isn't even that popular from my understanding. (Still irritates me the Piapro standalone is exclusive to Miku Chinese and that you can't even import the other Cryptonloids into it. Seems useless if you can only use one bank.)

(Sorry if that came across rant-y at all.)

 

[Prism]

Can Miku Chinese work in vocaloid? They may be using it with new technology. I usually don't use piapro and just stick to vocaloid because I don't care for working in my daw so I don't know that much about it. I don't think Miku Chinese is the new piapro version I think it was just a project that they want to complete before they usher in the new engine

 

[peaches2217]

Yeah, Miku Chinese is compatible with Vocaloid. Still, it’s entirely possible the version of Piapro she came with was a beta of New Piapro. It would be a good way of testing the waters without outright admitting that that’s what they’re doing.

 

[Leon]

Tbh I've heard bad things about her accent, so I'm guessing (hoping, for fairness's sake) that it's just a pronunciation update in general, and not a free Piapro update as well. To be fair I can't complain, since the only Crypton's I own are both Kaitos and Miku/Luka V2 secondhand, but if I'd been more of a Crypton junkie instead of an Engloid hoarder, I'd be real mad if Miku CHN users got it for free and I didn't. Although to be fair if I were a Crypton junkie I'd probably own Miku CHN, since I know and enjoy more Chinese than Japanese, but that's a whole 'nother story...

 

[Scarlet Illusion]

I've heard people say Miku Chinese sounds like she's singing with her mouth stuffed full of cotton balls. I don't mind accented voicebanks in the slightest as long as it doesn't interfere too much with the way I tune, but that's just me. Don't know how bad her Chinese is or isn't because I've never used it and hardly listened to it.

 

[mobius017]

I've heard people say Miku Chinese sounds like she's singing with her mouth stuffed full of cotton balls.

I can sort of see that. Granted, the only Miku Chinese song I've heard is First Storm (which I think is a really pretty song, BTW), and I know maybe 1 word of Chinese, so I don't know what it's supposed to sound like. But it did sound like her mouth wasn't opening very much.

I'm kind of forgiving regarding accent, too. I mean, Miku's probably always going to have a bit of a Japanese accent in English. But it reflects her character--she's a Japanese girl singing in English.

People work a long time to change/lose their accents for work in TV/movies/radio/etc. It's not unreasonable to ask for VBs in new languages to be as clear as possible, but I think what's involved with getting that result is something we should keep in mind, too. To get a really truly native sound, the best/easiest way is probably to have a native do it.

 

[uncreepy]

This was the news from August 31st:

Labopton Blog update / At the new technology presentation at "Magical Mirai 2019", we made an announcement about our company's currently under development new Hatsune Miku database (voicebank(s)) and the associated software!

^ The disclaimer at the bottom says they are currently developing it, so the image might not reflect the final product.

The details will be announced at the end of 2019. And the release is planned for the first half of 2020, so please wait!!
※ For people owning Hatsune Miku V4X and other virtual singers by our company, there will be an announcement at the end of the year for an exclusive sale.

I am annoyed about this tweet. Why even bother rushing to make the announcement by the end of the year if it's going to be the literal last day of the year? It feels like scrambling to finish homework. Might as well have just pushed back the announcement if you can barely manage to do it.

I hate how Wat is being vague about the "Hatsune Miku news". People who have been paying attention already know what was supposed to be announced (as in the free Miku Chinese update and detailed on the prices/info on new Piapro), but he's saying the date of the blog post and making confusing people go back and check what was said on that exact date. So annoying.

I will be really annoyed if the info ends up being like the Labopton BLOG post I quoted above this rant (as in a short and vague waste of time). It was very disappointing at the time that blog post was made, because it was right after we were treated to photos from the presentation at Magical Mirai by Amano Kei and Eji, but then all Crypton bothered to write that pathetic 4ish sentence, ultra-vague post "summarizing" the actual PowerPoint announcement. If we hadn't had that info from Eji and Amano, we would have zero clue what was going on because Crypton never bothered to spare non-Magical Mirai event goers with the same information.

I bet "first half of 2020" means we'll be stuck waiting until the last day of June 2020, huh? I will be very surprised if we get actual substantial information from Wat on the 31st (the only GOOD news is that because of timezones, we might get the news a day early). Substantial as in: Contains more than 1 tiny, unreadable teaser image; actually summarizes the "separation" of Crypton and Yamaha; reveals if new Piapro is compatible with old VOCALOIDs or not; actually let us stinking hear an official demo of anyone other than Miku???

I'm not sorry for being crabby about this, because I am sick of being strung along by Wat saying vague information like "Ooh, this is big, it's coming soon, just wait for the amazingness!" and then it just being something unhelpful.

 

[uncreepy]

Another thing: New Piapro was teased as being a real-time voice converter (リアルタイム声質変換) aimed at VTubers/for unique concert messages/for multilingualization (based on Labopton BLOG posts, irl presentations/documentation, news that Wat retweeted, and tweets from Wat himself). But we have YET to see ANY PROOF that it can actually do any of the sort. The official demo from March was pre-recorded and then converted. All the clips/songs we've heard so far were pre-recorded and hand-tuned to make it sound better. Is this actually a thing it will be able to do or not, Crypton?

If I don't see a video of the interface being recorded while someone talks in to it before this thing goes on sale (like what Voidol did for their livestreams/YouTube channel), then I guess I have no choice but to believe it's not a true feature anymore.

 

[Blue Of Mind]

I'm not sorry for being crabby about this, because I am sick of being strung along by Wat saying vague information like "Ooh, this is big, it's coming soon, just wait for the amazingness!" and then it just being something unhelpful.

Wat has always struck me as being vague with his tweets a lot of the time. It does annoy me too, especially when it's connected to the futures of the Cryptonloids.

 

[Scarlet Illusion]

I do think it's kinda of odd that they haven't made anything to show off these "multilingual" capabilities aimed at vTubers and what not. From what I've seen, a good chunk of developers tend to show off some kind of proof of concept to y'know, show that these features actually do what they claim.

I don't like how vague Wat's being, either. Especially considering the announcement that Crypton is moving away from Vocaloid caused such a huge shake up; this isn't just another voicebank update, this is the Cryptonloids moving to an entirely new software! The vagueness is fun for a little while when things are first announced, but we're so late into the game now that vagueness isn't exactly the best teaser.

(I like Crypton as much as the next person, but I can still critique and what not.)

 

[uncreepy]

I know people are probably annoyed about me complaining about the new Piapro/Wat all the time. I just think the way they are handling this is very strange (especially when you compare how these vocal synth companies release software compared to something more linear/transparent like a video game company). Why are they being so unnecessarily secretive, it's not like this is classified "proof aliens are real" government info or something, it's just singing software! Just post a stinking 10 second clip of someone using the software! Even the nyanyannya clips were after the fact (just like the official demo), none of it was "This is me actually working on it, hoo boy is this easy to use, just like Wat kept bragging about over and over! My tendonitis cleared up right away!" Am I going to have to import a guidebook? Or is it gonna come with a manual for once?

The more they push the quiet act and ignore the burning questions people have about the "fate" of Vocaloid and how the software actually works makes me extremely suspicious. It seems very cruel to leave people holding their breath for months with no end in sight. Plus, them showing only one tiny thumbnail of the interface of Piapro (that looks very similar to the standalone Miku Chinese version), hiding any glimpse of the 11 effectors or even their names and only showing the same single screenshot of Cherry Pie since March makes me feel like the software must have some major flaws or not be very impressive if they are relying so heavily on smoke and mirrors.

It makes me think Wat is relying on the past successes with their previous software, using that to "trick" people into pre-ordering the new software that has a 6 month release window and yet NO ONE other than a select few producers ACTUALLY know what the software looks/runs like? I feel like it could be a glorified re-skin with an updated VocaListener built in and they just want us to hand them money so they move on away from Vocaloid with the new funding. On top of them appeasing people with treating Meiko like a star all of a sudden. Sooo convenient for Crypton, playing ketchup right before their new software launches! What if the wait isn't worth it and it would be better to stick with the version of the Cryptonloids we already own?

Whenever we get a new tweet, I just wanna pull out my hair when I realize "That was vaguely interesting, but we still don't know anything new" and have been talking about the same info in slightly different way. And this thread is over a year old (not even including the fact that it used to be on VocaloidOtaku).

 

[uncreepy]

1) Oh, so it's Wat's fault for the lame end of the year sale (not really, they do this every year).
2) Wow, even Crypton has their hands in our pockets wanting us to buy an add-on voice bank (specifically Miku Chinese). Even though we literally don't know what the free update is supposed to entail.

 

[uncreepy]

Update: The 23rd is also the date of Miku Symphony in Osaka (plus a Mitchie-M signing and handshake event).

Please... make a blog post about the updates and don't only tell concert-goers. Don't let this be a repeat of the bomb Magical Mirai dropped.

 

[uncreepy]

It took a long time to realize this, but what if the Miku Chinese update allows people to use banks other than just her in Standlone Piapro? Right now it's "locked" so that literally Miku Chinese is the only bank you can use with it.

 

[Scarlet Illusion]

It took a long time to realize this, but what if the Miku Chinese update allows people to use banks other than just her in Standlone Piapro? Right now it's "locked" so that literally Miku Chinese is the only bank you can use with it.

If they opened it up to other VBs, I would consider buying Miku Chinese just for the standalone! I can't stand running synths as VSTs, because it's inconvenient for me to have to open up my DAW every time I want to use Piapro, not to mention running the DAW+Piapro is too taxing for my run of the mill computer.

Hopefully, if they make Piapro standalone compatible with other voicebanks, they'll be generous enough to pass it along to those of us who only own the Japanese and bundle banks.
(Too bad I don't understand or speak a lick of Chinese. Because buying Miku Chinese just for the standalone isn't exactly the best investment.)

 

[uncreepy]

If they opened it up to other VBs, I would consider buying Miku Chinese just for the standalone! I can't stand running synths as VSTs, because it's inconvenient for me to have to open up my DAW every time I want to use Piapro, not to mention running the DAW+Piapro is too taxing for my run of the mill computer.

Hopefully, if they make Piapro standalone compatible with other voicebanks, they'll be generous enough to pass it along to those of us who only own the Japanese and bundle banks.
(Too bad I don't understand or speak a lick of Chinese. Because buying Miku Chinese just for the standalone isn't exactly the best investment.)

Honestly, I wouldn't blow your money on Miku Chinese just for Standalone Piapro until we have more information to compare it to the new Piapro (which we will get by the end of the month). We know that the "Append" Cryptonloids are going to come with an updated version of Standalone that looks like the one Miku Chinese comes with, but with renamed parameters. Plus, I assume we will be finding out about if it's compatible with Vocaloids or not and new Piapro also seems to have the new features like Cherry Pie and VocalDrive.