Lawrence Elsa

Dec 312013
 


 
A MikuMikuDance modeler by the name of Koron uploaded a teaser video to Nico Video on December 24th to showcase a new and improved Hatsune Miku model nearly a year since releasing his first one. The model is very high quality, has very precise rigging, and has a large variety of facial expressions. Since the video preview was uploaded on December 24th, the video has already surpassed well over 100,000 views, clearly demonstrating its popularity.

Koron promised the download would be available before the new year, and he kept his word. The download is now available through a link in the video description, and is available for anyone to download and use as long as they abide by the Terms of Use. The password hint says to type the 8 digits after the “SM” in the video url.
 

Dec 102013
 


 
The Voca Nico Night X’mas Party event will begin on December 24th, and will run from 6:00PM until 10:00PM JST. The location of the event is the Roppongi Centrum building, in Roppongi Tokyo. The event will also be livestreamed on nicovideo for everyone to enjoy.

Stream Link: http://live.nicovideo.jp/watch/lv159403273

The DJ and Vocaloid producer lineup for VNN:

DJ VocaNico
HachiojiP
OSTER project
DJ’TEKINA
Saoririsu
and more to be announced!

Mark your calendars, reserve your timeshift if necessary, and enjoy the show!

Nov 292013
 

Mirai2cap
 
Sega has released Project Mirai 2, the highly anticipated sequel with new songs, gameplay mechanics, as well as customization features.

mirai gameplay
 
A new layout for notes has been created for the game play, which is far more variable than the simple note wheel that was in the first Project Mirai game. Note combinations such as rainbow hold notes that giving points for pressing buttons for the duration of the note, simultaneous button presses, and using all four buttons have been added to the game play for a more unique experience. In addition to more buttons to use, the touch pad is also usable for Tap Notes, which have pink, blue, and yellow notes in place of the buttons if you chose to use the feature.




The PVs for each of the songs will allow you to chose one or more character to dance in the background depending on the song, however a number of original PV’s from Nicovideo have been added in place of a few stages and modules, such as Arifureta Sekai Seifuku, Lots of Laugh, Melancholic, and many more. Similar to the first game, select songs have multiple voice tracks for other Vocaloids to sing to, such as Electric Angel having Rin, Luka, or Meiko’s voice sing along.




Options for the Diva Room have been vastly expanded, such as room customization, a variety of character interaction, gift giving from one Vocaloid to another, and theme differences depending on the time of day. There is also department store where you buy items, Costumes, drinks and dessert, but also with furniture to remodel the room.

In addition to the Vocaloid interaction, a mini-game based off of the popular Puyo Puyo games, which features a WiFi two-player mode, or Single-player against an AI. There are also options to play this mini-game with different button layouts, background music, and visual themes. Information can be shared between players through Profile Cards sent to others via wifi, sharing achievement information, and song completion information.

room_cottage
 
puyopuyo39_ss_2
 
Custom song creation has been added as well, allowing the user to create completely new song tracks to play. Such features include the ability to compose music with the music editor, create the path and notes for the track, and have a character of your choice set up with several different dance moves to a stage of their choosing. Instrument sounds include Piano, Strings, Brass, Reed (instrument), 8-bit chip-tune, and even the ability to create vocals, with each Vocaloid’s voice track able to sing “la” at different pitches to create a melody.

dancestudio_ss_01
 
The game also features an Augmented Reality system to display your surroundings on the screen while a Vocaloid of your choice performs over the designated area. you can either use an iPhone or Android phone to display one of the pictures for the AR stage, or print out an AR image from the website as the surface for the performance.

ar_ss_02
 
The game is available for international purchase from CDJapan, but can only be played on a Japanese 3DS unit due to the console’s region lock. If you happen to own one, then you’re in luck. SEGA has yet to comment on plans for localizing the Mirai series, but keep an eye for future announcements.

Via miku.sega.jp

Nov 102013
 

piapro gsc colab banner

 

A new collaboration from Piapro has been announced alongside Good Smile Company for both a pouch design, and a charm to go with it.

Collaboration A and B are to be themed for spring time, and involve musical instruments. Collaboration A is for the pouch itself, which can  have any number or combination of the Crypton Future Media Vocaloids on the design. Collaboration B is for a charm to go with the pouch, requiring that it have the desired themes, and be a charm of either Miku, Miku and Luka, Len and Rin, or Kaito and Meiko.

img_chara_set

This recent collaboration will last from November 7th, to November 18th. Like recent Piapro collaborations, the requirements have been very specific for participation and submission:

  • Use their template in .psd format as your starting point
  • Keep the file in .jpg format when complete, but keep the original .psd file if you are chosen as a winner
  • If using transparency, make a note of it in the description for your artwork
  • The designs must have a spring and musical-instrument theme.
  • If submitting a pouch for collaboration A, use Crypton Future Media characters only,
  • If submitting a charm for collaboration B, keep the characters limited to Miku, Miku and Luka, Len and Rin, or Kaito and Meiko
  • Recommended, but not required that the colors be in CMYK format so the image you see would be the same as the printed colors when completed.

img_cmyk

Once the submission is ready, tag it with GSC2013A for collaboration A, or GSC2013B for collaboration B. If you do not have a keyboard to type these specific characters, copy and paste them into the tag-box before submitting your design to Piapro. The Deadline for both categories is November 18th, 2013, 17:00 JST, and will not accept late entries due to different time zones.

Sep 032013
 

A flash-based dance application was uploaded to DeviantArt by John Su that allows you to make a 2D Miku dance to the movement of your mouse. Other features include mouth and eye sprites that can be changed with either a drop down menu, or hotkeys, but the most important feature is the ability to record and save all of the motion and animation data for later!

Several videos have been created using this program and uploaded to YouTube, all featuring the little Miku dancing and singing in synch to music. Below is a demonstration video by the program’s creator, with Miku singing to the song “motto☆hade ni ne!“.