Sep 272013
 

Click to view Hatsune Miku V3 (Japanese) product page.

On August 26th JST, Hatsune Miku’s V3 Japanese and bundle software packages launched to the world. It has undoubtedly made the largest impact of any previous Vocaloid software release. Many producers waited in eager anticipation to finally receive their orders. But perhaps too many.

The wave of new software owners was so large, it overwhelmed YAMAHA’s Vocaloid software activation server, according to a report by Crypton and YAMAHA. Crypton quickly commented to apologize and state that the product can operate for 14 days without activation, so there was no immediate inconvenience to customers. After a period of time, Yamaha finally managed to fix the server capacity issues.

In celebration of the launch, a new demo was uploaded to the official Hatsune Miku YouTube channel. The song, titled “Happy Rainy Day“, features composition by HachiojiP with the use of V3 Miku’s Soft and Solid vocal styles.

Crypton also released a new Bonus Files pack, which contains various rendered V3 Miku illustrations by iXima, as well as VSQX (Vocaloid3 project data) files of previously released demo songs. These include “Payment” by HeavenzP, and “Six Greetings” by Kikuo. The file can be downloaded at the bottom of the V3 Miku product page from the first orange link.


 
Additionally, a new video was launched today that features interviews with key members of Crypton staff and Hatsune Miku’s V3 software development. These include Crypton CEO Hiroyuki Itoh, V3 Miku producer Wataru Sasaki, Miku’s voice provider Fujita Saki, Tsuyoshi Kuroda from the Piapro Studio team and more. The road to V3 Miku’s completion faced several new challenges compared to previous software releases.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eD9H34jvh0c]
Aug 092013
 

Hatsune Miku V3 (Japanese) official artwork by iXima.

During the Xperia and V3 Miku press conference, Crypton revealed the release dates for Hatsune Miku’s V3 Japanese and V3 English software.

The Hatsune Miku V3 (Japanese) software is scheduled for launch on September 26th for Windows and Mac, and will include the 5 previously suspected voice banks: Original, Dark, Soft, Sweet and Solid. The product price is set at 16,800 Yen (or only 12,600 Yen for registered users of Miku V2), and includes the following production software: Piapro Studio (vocal editor), Studio One Piapro Edition (DAW) and PreSonus (sound resources).

Hatsune Miku V3 (Japanese) Website

Hatsune Miku V3 (English) official artwork by Zain.

The Hatsune Miku V3 (English) software is scheduled for launch on August 31st for Windows and Mac, and will be a single voice bank. The digital download price is set at $149 USD, and is available for purchase in many regions. The boxed-version details are still to be announced. It will include the same editing and production software as the Japanese counterpart.

Hatsune Miku V3 (English) Website

V3_BoxAdditionally, a 3rd software package has been announced, and will bundle Miku V3 (Japanese) and Miku V3 (English) in the same package. The scheduled release is set for September 26th. The cost for the bundle is 21,000 Yen (or only 15,750 Yen for registered users of Miku V2), which offers a nice discount over buying the two products separately. It will include the same editing and production suites as the two previous software packages.

Hatsune Miku V3 Japanese and English Bundle Page

Lastly, an information email was sent to registered users of Hatsune Miku’s V2 software, which details a special offer to provide V3 (Japanese) versions of Miku’s Light and Vivid voice banks. This offer seems to be exclusive to owners of the previous Hatsune Miku Append V2 software.

Hatsune Miku V3 Demo by Kikuo.
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWtHv3Lih_0]

Aug 082013
 

 

Crypton Future Media and Sony Music Records have announced a live stream where they will show a release presentation on the Hatsune Miku Xperia project, as well as the launch schedules for the Hatsune Miku V3 and Miku English softwares. The announcement stream is scheduled to start at 6:00PM JST on August 9th.

Stream link: http://live.nicovideo.jp/watch/lv147276940


 
In the first half of the stream, Crypton and Sony will talk on the topic of the Hatsune Miku and Sony Xperia phone collaboration, as well as the MikXperience e.p. album release. The second half of the stream will feature Crypton speaking on the topic of Miku V3 and Miku English. Some Miku English demos will be played, and the launch schedule for the software will be announced. Don’t miss this event!

Via Piapro Blog

Jul 242013
 

A followup to my own earlier summary of the live stream event, more details are now known of what was announced during the press conference stream held by Crypton and Yamaha.

As mentioned before, several existing Vocaloid products are getting Mac-compatible releases. These Mac versions are denoted by the “NEO” branding in their title. This includes, and may not be limited to: Vocaloid Editor for Cubase (VocaCu), VY1V3, VY2V3, Mew, Zola Project and Aoki Lapis. A Mac-compatible installer for these products will be freely available to current Windows-based Vocaloid users.

Untitled-2Untitled-9Untitled-8Untitled-7

 
Several details of Hatsune Miku V3 and English were revealed. The Japanese version and English version will be sold as separate products, but will come bundled with the same suites of editing and production software. Hatsune Miku English will also be sold internationally.

A slide shown by Hiroyuki Itoh leaked 6 different V3 Hatsune Miku voice banks: Original, Dark, Soft, Sweet, Solid and English. This may not be the finalized list, but it seems likely that a couple of the least popular Appends from Hatsune Miku V2 (Light and Vivid) were dropped. Full details of the products, including pricing and availability, will come sometime in early August.

Crypton also touched on the topic of Meiko V3, confirming that she will also be bundled with a full suite of editing and production software, as well as have a Mac-compatible installer upon release. They also plan to have a Mac installer available for Kaito V3, along with all of their other existing Vocaloid products.

Untitled-14Untitled-15Untitled-19Untitled-17

 
Crypton announced the revamped product page on their website, and they plan to open a “Crypton Channel” on Nicovideo (probably similar to their existing YouTube Channel?). There will also be an upcoming Piapro collaboration this weekend that will be aimed at fans outside of Japan, so stay tuned for that announcement. Lastly, they are working on an new project aimed at creators, the details of which is currently unrevealed.

Thank you to Hightrancesea at Vocaloidism for his more detailed report. Be sure to read it if you want a few laughs.

Jul 082013
 

Because there is so much other news to go over, I will make this a quick summary of my coverage from Twitter as the panel was happening.

Near the beginning of the panel, a short clip from Mikumentary Episode 3 was played. Mikumentary is a documentary series on Hatsune Miku that was created by Tara Knight. Crypton also mentioned how English Miku will be supported on Mac, and that English Miku will be easily accessible to people in the U.S. through the online vendor bigfishaudio.

A new English Miku demo was played (which was also played several hours earlier at Japan Expo 2013 in France). English Miku was also mentioned to include Crypton’s own Piapro editor for free. Crypton then announced their new partnership with the online shop WeLoveFine to sell officially licensed Miku shirts. WeLoveFine will also be holding shirt design contests.

Crypton congratulated Hatsune Miku’s Facebook page for hitting 1 million followers, and is throwing an event to celebrate. They have launched the “Find Me” campaign to find the concentration of fans in certain cities around the world. They plan to use this data to try and host events in areas where there is sufficient demand. You also have a chance to win a flight and tickets to see Magical Mirai in late August.

There is still no confirmed launch date for English Miku other than for “Summer 2013”, so you can subscribe to the English Miku website to be immediately notified of updates when they happen: http://mikuenglish.com/

Below is a video I personally recorded of the English Miku demo at Anime Expo 2013.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktgHnv6NyIQ]