Title: Creativity Reborn: Vocaloid Hatsune Miku

Overview

The primary goal of this activity is to introduce Vocaloid Hatsune Miku (and the concept of Vocaloids and similar technologies, in general) and MikuMiku Dance (MMD) freeware software tools to scholars and researchers. The critical takeaway elements are the importance of bottom-up, consumer-generated media (CGM) content creation, the empowering and democratizing value of this type of crowd-sourced creativity, and the accessibility of MMD software tools and information web sites for academic researchers and policy makers.

Instructions — YouTube

As an introduction to Vocaloid singing synthesis technology and the community surrounding Vocaloid Hatsune Miku, please view the following short videos using the links provided.

Yamaha Corporation’s official promotion video for Vocaloid (Japanese subtitles + English CC subtitles – please turn on CC to see the English subtitles)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHXz-CUD4ec

Google Chrome Japan commercial (Japanese subtitles + English CC subtitles – please turn on CC to see the English subtitles)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGt25mv4-2Q

Mikumentary Teaser Trailer by Tara Knight, professor of digital media in the Department of Theater and Dance at the University of California-San Diego (English and Japanese subtitles, dialogue)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckjOdS9USlo

After watching the videos above, please watch “Tell Your World” and “Rera” from the following list of videos. Any version of “Rera” is fine, although the Vocaloid 3 Remaster version is a remastering of the MMD Cup winning version with the newer version of the software. Be sure to note which version of “Rera” you watch so that you can mention it during discussions afterwards.

In addition to “Tell Your World” and “Rera,” please watch at least three other videos. You can choose any three that you like based on the title, the thumbnail you see when you check the URL, or even top or most recent comments you might read. However, please choose at least one or two without English subtitles. Be sure to note which titles you choose so that you can mention them during discussions afterwards.

Please note that some videos have English subtitles added by fans and some do not. Some songs have translations offered in the description section of the video posting (e.g., “Tell Your World”). Very few songs have official translations, but “Tell Your World” would be an example where the English lyrics in the video description were officially provided when it was uploaded upon its release in March 2012. In addition, many songs have had subtitled versions uploaded by fans and these uploads can be found by doing some searching on YouTube and elsewhere, as well as lyrics translations by fans posted on various web sites that can be found by doing some general searching on the WWW.

Of course, music has been appreciated across language differences for centuries, and even music within a single language may not have a clear or intended meaning even if lyrics are provided or understood in a literal sense. I will do my best to answer any questions regarding the songs and videos. It is important to note that Hatsune Miku has been accepted around the world despite (or perhaps even because of) language differences and without being officially offered outside of her native Japan. Her English voice bank has been in development for over a year and is currently planned for release sometime in the first half of 2013.

# — indicates a video that was made with MikuMikuDance (MMD), perhaps with additional software in some cases

Instructions — NicoNico Douga (English)

As of October 2012, NicoNico Douga (English) was officially launched via the main NicoNico Douga (Japan) site (nicovideo.jp) with the ability to select your language as well as a new viewer and new translator options. According to the official announcement, the NicoNico Douga (English) Beta site (niconico.com) is being shut down sometime in mid-November. Accounts are being transferred, but it appears that some elements such as playlists and comments may not be transferred. This is unfortunate timing for my activity, of course, so I apologize.

My original intention was to watch the same videos on both YouTube and NicoNico Douga (English), but that may not be possible with the changeover timing and the historical comments being omitted. Let’s try to access some of them, but if they do not load or do not have comments, we won’t spend too much time on them.

# — indicates a video that was made with MikuMikuDance (MMD), perhaps with additional software in some cases

Instructions — NicoNico Douga (Japan)

Since almost all of these videos were created in Japan by Japanese individuals, and since NicoNico Douga (Japan) is the most commonly used video sharing site in Japan (as YouTube is in the United States), it may be helpful to check out a couple of videos on the NicoNico Douga (Japan) site in order to get a better impression of the comments and popularity even if you cannot read Japanese. Also, as with YouTube, you may see non-Japanese comments on videos on NicoNico Douga (Japan) because some people go there in order to offer their feedback in a place where it is more likely to be seen by the original creator(s) regardless of language differences.

I have listed several links below, but I would like to mention that the official NicoNico Douga (English) site seems to be lacking the historical comment database for the videos. The NicoNico Douga (Japan) version of videos should still have all the comments. Also, it is fairly common for people who upload videos to YouTube to mention that the original video is on NicoNico Douga (Japan) and include the original video’s URL, so it is quite possible to check out the original URL from many YouTube copies (or NicoNico Douga (English) copies, for that matter). Finally, there have been a gradually increasing number of Japanese producers who have been launching their own YouTube channels and offering some of their videos there. I have included several of these in the extra information for anyone who might be interested. Hopefully, this trend will continue, and we can also hope to see more producers from Western countries create NicoNico Douga (Japan) accounts so as to encourage sharing in all directions.

As I mentioned in the NicoNico Douga (English) section, my original intention was to watch the same videos on both YouTube and NicoNico Douga (English). The issues with the changeover for the official launch of the NicoNico Douga (English) site as part of the main NicoNico Douga (Japan) site may be causing issues with comments not appearing properly. Some songs have been on NicoNico Douga (Japan) for years and have many, many comments, but they may not be loading properly right now. If you are interested and have an opportunity to check the original Japanese posting for some of the songs you like, you may discover a lot of comments or they may not load properly. Please feel free to continue checking if you are interested, though, as I am sure that NicoNico will continue working to resolve any issues.

# — indicates a video that was made with MikuMikuDance (MMD), perhaps with additional software in some cases

Related Links – Companies

The following links are a few of the company web sites related to the Vocaloid community.

Related Links – Producers & Fans

The following links are a few of the consumer web sites related to the Vocaloid community. These sites are from various producers of Vocaloid songs, visual art images, and animated videos, as well as the freeware MikuMiku Dance (MMD) 3DCG animation software.