People, who built the HRP-4C robot, now dressed it up as Hatsune Miku for this year technology showcase event CEATEC 2009 that is currently ongoing on the outskirts of Tokyo.
Even tho their work is technologically impressive, I find it esthetically unpleasant (to express myself mildly). Probably one of my favourite robot Miku is the PSP playing Miku.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
MikuMikuDanceCup 2009 Summer (MMDCUP III Trilogy)
I haven't really covered any MMD related topics here before. Let this be the first light one. (This is a hard topic for me, because there are great amounts of info around and mostly not in English. But I'll still try).
MMD is a short for MikuMikuDance that is a simple program that makes it possible to animate Miku and other Vocaloids in 3D. This is used by many enthusiasts and there are a lot of those low-polygon dance videos out there. Some want to take it onto a higher level and use it for story animation. Many of these are made for special MMD events like MMDCUP III Trilogy that was held about a month ago. It featured 133 MMD videos that received a staggering 3.2 million views during the event.
Since the event is over, there is an official closing movie. I had to embed it with Korean subtitles, because there is no original one in Youtube. You can find authentic version in NicoVideo here.
Vocaloidism had a coverage on this, but to sum the most important things up, there was a competition under three themes: Season, Future and Easy. It started at 24th of June and ended on 24th of August. Activity in NicoVideo defined the rankings. All participating videos can be found here. Those who can't access NicoVideo can watch most of them in Youtube. I used this channel (find videos with 【第3回MMD杯本選】 in their name).
I could go into discussing about points and top videos, but I won't do that. Instead I will make my own picks out of the competition. These are highly subjective and you may want to watch all videos yourself. I watched most of the competion videos and favorited what I liked most and now I try to present them in more organized manner.
My favorite one is "Island" (アイランド). Nice song, natural chracter animation, nice camera work and most importantly, great story. It also reminds me a great PS1 game with absolutely wonderful music, Chrono Cross.
Another favorite is the one where Miku has birthday and gets a present. What happens there looks very realistic, you'll see.
Sometimes it is not Miku in trouble, but Haku instead. By some peculiar reason she just can't get off the table. Luka is also playing cute, but I can't get what she's doing. She can dance to OSTER project tho. I've seen a lot of Miku dancing videos, but some still impress me. In one video Miku wants to be with her master and actually finds a way with help of Luka. Escaping to real world would be a good idea if things would turn out like in horror movie. Maybe Miku is destined to fight for Earth or just bad guys as hero so that Haku can safely drive her trailer (for great lol, skip to 3:15 and watch to very end). For laugh, it is also worth checking out what Mona does.
I could go on, but I already doubt that many of you read this post through. I'll finish this post with one promotional video (not quite new tho) that might make you want to try MMD yourself.
I haven't tried using MMD, but would like to. Ideas and people are welcome :)
MMD is a short for MikuMikuDance that is a simple program that makes it possible to animate Miku and other Vocaloids in 3D. This is used by many enthusiasts and there are a lot of those low-polygon dance videos out there. Some want to take it onto a higher level and use it for story animation. Many of these are made for special MMD events like MMDCUP III Trilogy that was held about a month ago. It featured 133 MMD videos that received a staggering 3.2 million views during the event.
Since the event is over, there is an official closing movie. I had to embed it with Korean subtitles, because there is no original one in Youtube. You can find authentic version in NicoVideo here.
Vocaloidism had a coverage on this, but to sum the most important things up, there was a competition under three themes: Season, Future and Easy. It started at 24th of June and ended on 24th of August. Activity in NicoVideo defined the rankings. All participating videos can be found here. Those who can't access NicoVideo can watch most of them in Youtube. I used this channel (find videos with 【第3回MMD杯本選】 in their name).
I could go into discussing about points and top videos, but I won't do that. Instead I will make my own picks out of the competition. These are highly subjective and you may want to watch all videos yourself. I watched most of the competion videos and favorited what I liked most and now I try to present them in more organized manner.
My favorite one is "Island" (アイランド). Nice song, natural chracter animation, nice camera work and most importantly, great story. It also reminds me a great PS1 game with absolutely wonderful music, Chrono Cross.
Another favorite is the one where Miku has birthday and gets a present. What happens there looks very realistic, you'll see.
Sometimes it is not Miku in trouble, but Haku instead. By some peculiar reason she just can't get off the table. Luka is also playing cute, but I can't get what she's doing. She can dance to OSTER project tho. I've seen a lot of Miku dancing videos, but some still impress me. In one video Miku wants to be with her master and actually finds a way with help of Luka. Escaping to real world would be a good idea if things would turn out like in horror movie. Maybe Miku is destined to fight for Earth or just bad guys as hero so that Haku can safely drive her trailer (for great lol, skip to 3:15 and watch to very end). For laugh, it is also worth checking out what Mona does.
I could go on, but I already doubt that many of you read this post through. I'll finish this post with one promotional video (not quite new tho) that might make you want to try MMD yourself.
I haven't tried using MMD, but would like to. Ideas and people are welcome :)
Friday, October 2, 2009
Upcoming Black Rock Shooter Anime
If you have been living under a rock like me, you may not have heard about this: they are actually making a Black Rock Shooter anime. The number of episodes and release date are still unknown, the most accurate info being: "spring 2010"
So, why am I making a post like this so early? The big fuss is over the fact that on 30. September, a "Pilot Edition" was released. Don't expect much, even if these are 3 rather big files, they all come down to the same video with different mixes of the song.
Here are all the 3 videos put together in HD.
For me, it was a somewhat disappointment. I have never been a big fan of the song itself. The visual style would be K-On meeting Gurren Lagann. The story seems too cliche - average schoolgirl gets a magic boost and transform into Black Rock Shooter to defend the earth from... a scythe-wielding goth chick? Seems like we have to wait until spring to find out.
So, why am I making a post like this so early? The big fuss is over the fact that on 30. September, a "Pilot Edition" was released. Don't expect much, even if these are 3 rather big files, they all come down to the same video with different mixes of the song.
Here are all the 3 videos put together in HD.
For me, it was a somewhat disappointment. I have never been a big fan of the song itself. The visual style would be K-On meeting Gurren Lagann. The story seems too cliche - average schoolgirl gets a magic boost and transform into Black Rock Shooter to defend the earth from... a scythe-wielding goth chick? Seems like we have to wait until spring to find out.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Vocal-oid
Making a program sing like a common singer is a feat by itself. Some creators have taken it to a new level, giving Miku a lot more vocal depth and creativity. In my opinion, making a vocaloid sing "words" is not easy, but to make her sing utter gibberish should be next to impossible. Making it actually sound good is simply amazing.
I haven't found many songs like this and I am pretty sure that there are better examples out there. I have found some a capella versions, but nothing really good.
Only the chorus is as mentioned above, but since it is so cute, I thought I'd share.
I haven't found many songs like this and I am pretty sure that there are better examples out there. I have found some a capella versions, but nothing really good.
Only the chorus is as mentioned above, but since it is so cute, I thought I'd share.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Unofficial Hatsune Mix manga
It arrived. I was very exited. It was Hatsune Mix manga, compiled from monthly releases under the same title by Comic Rush. I don't really know why it is "unofficial", but that doesn't really matter. Here it is, on my desk, waiting to be read.
I find it very interesting piece of work since it is made by the same illustrator KEI who made the original Miku design. The manga is written in Japanese, but it has furigana as reading aid. So I find it suitable for Miku fans learning Japanese, like me :)
The manga itself consists of 8 unrelated stories. Each one is a bit twisted on its own way. I don't agree with everything written here, but it pretty much describes what to expect.
It is also available for online reading, but that is not exactly the same. In my printed version there are two chapters missing: "01. Abandoned Mix" and "06. Wandering Mix". That was unexpected and a bit disturbing. A small relief is that all 16 wonderful color pages are not bloated with texts.
Getting my hand on this one was a bit tricky here. I found that the cheapest way to order it was from Amazon.co.jp here. Still the shipping to here in Estonia was a beefy ￥ 3700 while the manga itself was only ￥700. That's about 500 EEK in our local currency
I take this manga to Animatsuri this weekend, so everyone interested, can read it in such a nice place as manga reading corner :)
I finish my post with one cinematic version of Abandoned Mix (that I didn't get):
I find it very interesting piece of work since it is made by the same illustrator KEI who made the original Miku design. The manga is written in Japanese, but it has furigana as reading aid. So I find it suitable for Miku fans learning Japanese, like me :)
The manga itself consists of 8 unrelated stories. Each one is a bit twisted on its own way. I don't agree with everything written here, but it pretty much describes what to expect.
It is also available for online reading, but that is not exactly the same. In my printed version there are two chapters missing: "01. Abandoned Mix" and "06. Wandering Mix". That was unexpected and a bit disturbing. A small relief is that all 16 wonderful color pages are not bloated with texts.
Getting my hand on this one was a bit tricky here. I found that the cheapest way to order it was from Amazon.co.jp here. Still the shipping to here in Estonia was a beefy ￥ 3700 while the manga itself was only ￥700. That's about 500 EEK in our local currency
I take this manga to Animatsuri this weekend, so everyone interested, can read it in such a nice place as manga reading corner :)
I finish my post with one cinematic version of Abandoned Mix (that I didn't get):
Animatsuri 2009
This weekend, on 12-13 of September the biggest anime related event in Estonia is being held here in my hometown Tartu. Lots of stuff will be happening there, click the link for more info. If you didn't know about it yet (quite improbable), then now you know. :)
Both writers of this blog are also part of organizing crew. You can find me and Riho at information desk along with our mascot if all goes as planned. Riho will be selecting music for the event, so some extent of Vocaloid content will be expected.
I hope to see lots of Miku, Haku, Rin, Len, Kaito and other Vocaloid character cosplays (it is very improbable tho :P ). All Vocaloid cosplayers will get their pics posted here. I probably won't be making pics, but I can collect them from others who do :)
Let's finish this with good quality cosplay, but with a bad quality video unfortunately.
PS. Ahh... It is so good to have internet again. I recently moved to another place and there have been 9 days without internet.
Both writers of this blog are also part of organizing crew. You can find me and Riho at information desk along with our mascot if all goes as planned. Riho will be selecting music for the event, so some extent of Vocaloid content will be expected.
I hope to see lots of Miku, Haku, Rin, Len, Kaito and other Vocaloid character cosplays (it is very improbable tho :P ). All Vocaloid cosplayers will get their pics posted here. I probably won't be making pics, but I can collect them from others who do :)
Let's finish this with good quality cosplay, but with a bad quality video unfortunately.
PS. Ahh... It is so good to have internet again. I recently moved to another place and there have been 9 days without internet.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
2nd birthday of Hatsune Miku
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