CeVIO Kafu announced for CeVIO AI (Early 2021)

[morrysillusion]

i completely understand the feelings Kaf has, but i still end up wondering... what are they really gonna do about Type B? The sample is literally pitched up and really doesnt sound good- would sound probably acceptable if it had been recorded with that intention in the first place! and if they release it as...that- wouldnt i just be able to pitch it down anyways and get it to sound like Type A? idk. thats kinda my only issue really. they shouldve considered these feelings before basically finishing a whole bank and trying to change it last minute, because again... a bank that would be recorded with the intention of voice acting and not being exactly like Kaf, wouldve sounded up fine and i wouldnt have the impression i have if they didnt show off the pitched sample of the original bank.

 

[xuu]

Yeah, I'm not buying KAFU now, unless they change their minds. I understand why Type B was chosen but it honestly pisses me off a bit that they went through making a whole survey where Type A won by a landslide only to choose Type B instead, especially when it's... quite literally just Type A with edited formant. Knowing how CeVIO and AI voices generally are developed she's almost certainly been fully recorded too. If they wanted to do this, they should have delayed her release and rerecorded her voice. They're essentially trading quality just so that it doesn't... sound like her voice provider... which was the selling point for an AI voice anyway. Now her selling point is just "she's Kaf but kind of not" which isn't nearly as good.

You know what? Even the reasoning bugs me. Kaf says she's not worried about Kafu sounding like her, but is also worried that there are people who are worried about that, so she's decided to go with the option that sounds like her but slightly higher? If she was that worried, it would be better to just delay her release and voice act a little, this is just lazy.

Disappointed is an understatement. Yukari and flower are the only thing keeping my hope alive for CeVIO AI now.

 

[___]

Now her selling point is just "she's Kaf but kind of not" which isn't nearly as good.

Which can be so easily undone too. Like....all that Kafu's team is relying on is on people choosing to not pitch her down which is kinda laughable after such havoc.

You know what? Even the reasoning bugs me. Kaf says she's not worried about Kafu sounding like her, but is also worried that there are people who are worried about that, so she's decided to go with the option that sounds like her but slightly higher? If she was that worried, it would be better to just delay her release and voice act a little, this is just lazy.

My guess is that this was written in a state of panick, it at least comes across to me that way.


And to be honest, I didn't say this initially because I thought I'd face comments like "well she's a huge vtuber so what?" etc. but I was honestly kinda worried after hearing there's a commercial vb voiced by a minor whose identity isn't completely anonymous, yeah vtuber so we don't know who she is 100% but we do know her social media presence etc and she's pretty involved in this whole situation, by anonymous I mean Yuki/Oliver level anonymous.....I have no doubt Kaf is a smart girl but I think they should've waited few years to develop Kafu if they wanted Kaf to be this heavily involved in this.

 

[Stardust]

Which can be so easily undone too. Like....all that Kafu's team is relying on is on people choosing to not pitch her down which is kinda laughable after such havoc.



My guess is that this was written in a state of panick, it at least comes across to me that way.


And to be honest, I didn't say this initially because I thought I'd face comments like "well she's a huge vtuber so what?" etc. but I was honestly kinda worried after hearing there's a commercial vb voiced by a minor whose identity isn't completely anonymous, yeah vtuber so we don't know who she is 100% but we do know her social media presence etc and she's pretty involved in this whole situation, by anonymous I mean Yuki/Oliver level anonymous.....I have no doubt Kaf is a smart girl but I think they should've waited few years to develop Kafu if they wanted Kaf to be this heavily involved in this.

I wonder if part of Kafu's ToS is going to say "please do not pitch down Kafu's voice".

As for your second part, I have heard Yohioloid was difficult to make due to his VP not wanting to record everything since it was tedious, and his VP was a minor at the time(17) who was heavily involved in it's creation. Even though they should have waited like you said, I would not be surprised if both Kaf and Yohio jumped to record before their popularity died off and the VB would be less marketable.

 

[___]

I wonder if part of Kafu's ToS is going to say "please do not pitch down Kafu's voice".

I think that'd be hella funny but also I think for some it'd make them dislike Kafu even more lol

As for your second part, I have heard Yohioloid was difficult to make due to his VP not wanting to record everything since it was tedious, and his VP was a minor at the time(17) who was heavily involved in it's creation. Even though they should have waited like you said, I would not be surprised if both Kaf and Yohio jumped to record before their popularity died off and the VB would be less marketable.

Yeah you can really tell by the vb too from what I've heard.

You do bring up a good point and at least Hio wasn't involved in a big controversy regarding his vb/the issues were of much smaller scale, I hope this is a lesson learnt and more companies will be wary of this.

off topic

"would not be surprised if both Kaf and Yohio jumped to record before their popularity died off and the VB would be less marketable"
poor Hio

 

[Stardust]

I think that'd be hella funny but also I think for some it'd make them dislike Kafu even more lol



Yeah you can really tell by the vb too from what I've heard.

You do bring up a good point and at least Hio wasn't involved in a big controversy regarding his vb/the issues were of much smaller scale, I hope this is a lesson learnt and more companies will be wary of this.

off topic

"would not be surprised if both Kaf and Yohio jumped to record before their popularity died off and the VB would be less marketable"
poor Hio

I agree. It would cause a controversy perhaps worse then Fukase's ToS back when he released. It is the only way to avoid people from achieving Type A's effect however, and if they are so persistent in not wanting Type A, then that is the only way to prevent it.

I've heard some of his English recordings were re-used for the Japanese, which would explain why some people have said some of the pronunciation in the Japanese bank sounds off(some had assumed it was the fault of him not being a native-Japanese speaker, like with the Crypton English banks, but the samples being re-used would make more sense). I have not listened to him much despite wanting to purchase the VB, but I could see this from what little I have heard.

The most he was involved in was the design I believe, which is very small compared to other issues one would face when making a VB. I hope so as well. As much as people adore realistic voices, perhaps they should be saved for providers that prefer to remain or are kept anonymous(ex. VY1 and VY2), and have VBs voiced by popular singers be Character Voice-type voices to avoid this controversy.

Off-topic

The sad part is both of them are not popular anymore Hio had a lot of potential too. What happened to him?

 

[___]

I agree. It would cause a controversy perhaps worse then Fukase's ToS back when he released. It is the only way to avoid people from achieving Type A's effect however, and if they are so persistent in not wanting Type A, then that is the only way to prevent it.

Guess we'll have to wait and see :/ I think it'd just also come across as unprofessional, it'd just reek of some rando utau's TOS

off topic

Whoa! I didn't know that!:o

The sad part is both of them are not popular anymore Hio had a lot of potential too. What happened to him?

What happened is that Miku's V3 was released few days after Hio :C so that took attention away from him

 

[Stardust]

Guess we'll have to wait and see :/ I think it'd just also come across as unprofessional, it'd just reek of some rando utau's TOS

off topic

Whoa! I didn't know that!:o


What happened is that Miku's V3 was released few days after Hio :C so that took attention away from him

It definitely would be unprofessional, and would make the team and CeVIO look even worse. Also, that Utau comparison is perfect

Off-topic

Oh no, it's just like Piko and Rin/Len Act 2 all over again. Male VBs are truly cursed, aren't they?

 

[blackout]

I know it's still Kaf's voice but what's even the point when you could literally crank up the pitch setting to ungodly heights with any other Cevio girl and just say "yes this is Kafu :)"... Cause that's how awful this Type B sample is sounding. Shouldn't the direction of her voice been something to be discussed like in the earliest steps of development? It's just baffling to me that they seriously think this sounds any good to be her default voice AND that they're only questioning how close they want it to sound to the voice provider so close to release (assuming it's still slated for Winter 2020)... She's sounding like a The Chipettes japanese dub voice synth

 

[BiscuitsandTriscuits]

TBH I get both sides rn the poll did get fans hopes up but also I get Kaf's worries about the voicebank having her exact voice which could have been solved by voiceacting tbh but I'm thinking they just might not have expected it to sound as good as it does tbh cause it sounds amazing type A does in particular but the reason I would get this is because of the way she pronounces things like it is very unique and I love it in the voicebanks so that is what I personally was looking for in them? So I personally have no issue with her decision I guess? Type A would have been better imo but B still has the quality that I personally valued just not as great as A was? Did this make any sense cause I got rambly XD

TLDR; I care about the way she pronounces things which is still in type B so I am not personally upset over this but I get why others are

 

[YOYo_MAMA]

One thing I got from this mess for sure,
They got KAF and Cevio AI the publicity and full attention of the audience now like they intended during the 1st PV release.

Just not in a good way with all this drama and indecisiveness.

 

[Nezuh]

Well, 'There is no such thing as bad publicity', they say

OFF TOPIC

ngl I really missed the drama in the vocalsynth space lol

 

[uncreepy]

KAFU has been delayed until early 2021 so they can develop her a little more. (I edited the title of the thread to reflect this.)

10/25「花達と椿と君。Vol.5」内での発表について、他。｜不確かなものをつくります。｜note (see item #2)

They mention they got about 5,000 answers to the survey and that they want to make her the best possible based on those answers.

The last line actually seems a bit... worrying, I guess.
皆様に使って頂く前に運営としての指針を改めて明確にするべきだと考えています。
They say that they are thinking they should clearly define/alter their management policies before everyone uses KAFU.

It makes it seem like they're playing ketchup and maybe realized some stuff while doing this project that they now need to address.

 

[Stardust]

I wonder if part of Kafu's ToS is going to say "please do not pitch down Kafu's voice".

The last line actually seems a bit... worrying, I guess.
皆様に使って頂く前に運営としての指針を改めて明確にするべきだと考えています。
They say that they are thinking they should clearly define/alter their management policies before everyone uses KAFU.

It makes it seem like they're playing ketchup and maybe realized some stuff while doing this project that they now need to address.

I did not think my guess would actually be a possibility, but here we are.
Unless this is just referring to how the company manages itself, but I am not sure. It is very vague, and not reassuring for Kafu's development.
Her being delayed has just reminded me that we still do not have a set release date for AI or the banks other then it possibly being December. It is releasing in almost a month, and there has been no info about it from the company. I suspect AI has been delayed as well.

 

[uncreepy]

It is releasing in almost a month, and there has been no info about it from the company. I suspect AI has been delayed as well.

Yeah... I've been thinking the same thing, too.

The adjustments are for how the company manages itself. Weird thing to announce publicly.

 

[Stardust]

Yeah... I've been thinking the same thing, too.

The adjustments are for how the company manages itself. Weird thing to announce publicly.

I hope it is not the case. The last thing CeVIO needs for the brand is a delay so close to release.

Thank you for clearing that up. I agree, that does not seem like something you should say, I think it would make consumers concerned about how professional the company really is. I do not want to sound harsh, but Kafu's team is feeling a bit amateurish.

 

[Rylitah]

I'd be kind of surprised if AI itself was delayed since Kiritan was just announced the other day and also has a Winter release date, though maybe it's possible that Techno-Speech hasn't told any of its partners any plan of a delay which would be.... bad.

Guess we'll see if AHS says anything about that on the 30th orz

 

[xuu]

​

I'm not even gonna comment. I'm just disappointed at this point.

 

[ruffe]

Kiritan remains the blueprint. KAF could've been interesting, but the Type B bank just ain't cutting it for me.

I have faith in Yukari and Flower, though. I doubt their rollouts will be half as horrible as this one and will end up sounding way better.

 

[___]

Am I going crazy or is she even more chipmunky? I swear she's more compressed and muffled sounding than before.