Experiment: Does good art affect views?

Ant

Teto's Territory
Defender of Defoko
So I've been wondering, does good art affect how many views your UTAU cover gets? I'm thinking that's a "yes," but I can't say so for sure since I usually use the original PV as the video and don't use art. I want to test this, though, so here's what I plan on doing:

I'll make 2 copies of the same cover with an UTAU that isn't very popular, and upload them to two new youtube accounts and wait one month. One cover will have awesome art, the other I'll make in MS Paint. My logic is that since the thumbnail of the video looks good, more people will want to click it, or people will assume that the cover is high quality.

The only problem is, I'm not very good at art. :C I'm going to try my hardest, but I don't know if the results will be that great since my art wouldn't be as... appealing.

But I'd like to know what you think, do you think good art will increase the amount of views a cover gets?
 

Ant

Teto's Territory
Defender of Defoko
Thread starter
Yeah, same here. Nonetheless, concrete evidence is needed. XD I just thought of something, I could use an unknown Japanese Utau, that way there might be some art already there.
 

michaeleliable

Momo's Minion
So true. I've seen utau's that suck, but have so many views, and everyone says "you utau is so beautiful and high quality" and i'm like no. The visual overshadows their ears. But then again utau is very artsy. It combines music and art to make an awesome combination. But still I can't stand it when that happens.
 

adriann

Ye Olde Fart
Supporter
Defender of Defoko
I honestly believe that's not too true, because if someone has enough subscribers or idk has had a LOT of time under their UTAU post belt (like, years perhaps), someone's gonna have stumbled on their pretty-picture-less video/audio post and, if the bank sounds really good, or to that person's liking, I'm sure that would be a new follower, and maybe this new follower links his/her friends to it and etc.

I've not really encountered too many UTAUloids with undeserved fame? The more famous, lower quality ones I know of aren't even TOO low Q, probably have just a bit of a teeny accent problem, or the user's just been around for a good long while?

However, if there's a video with really gorgeous art on it, sure it would help get your view count up, but if the voice is that badly done, no one is really going to want to share it or go back to it?

Not that I'm saying the things work all too separately. Nice art may be quite attention grabbing, like I mentioned before. It also depends on what audience you target, too, if you don't copy popular Asian cartoonist styles. And, as previously mentioned, the "name" a user has (how well-known they are).

This is just my opinion, though, please don't hurt me.
/hides
 

Lemondolly

Teto's Territory
Defender of Defoko
Well I noticed that I subconsciously, and I know that it isn't right, judging the voice by art on the video before I hear the voice. :[
 

BX

Momo's Minion
That would be a very interesting experiment!

And to give my opinions about this, I'd say definitely.
Since on video sites you can only preview by the thumbnail, and if it is not a voicebank that is familiar, I think people tend to click on the good-looking ones more.

Well that's different from having many users, though. But views, I think yes.
 

Shine

Teto's Territory
I think so.
Art is one of my biggest...well..."impediments" in this UTAU fandom. xD Like, I can draw, my art is not that /bad/, but I have no way of painting digitally, and I know traditional art doesn't has the same quality as digital art.

Anyway, going back to this thread theme:
Yeh, I think it does affects.
Some fans of UTAU dont have the same notions the users have. Like, the voicebank quality, consonant glitches, accent issues (some are obvious, but other, only UTAU users can detect).
So, the art is a good way to catch the fans and the inexperienced users. Good art + Good voice = VERY Popular video. Good art + medium voice/bad voice = Quite popular video. Anyway, good art is always important, unless you only want to catch the attention very experieneced users who know what a good voice/good mixing/pitchbending is. ^^
 

KitWistful

Teto's Territory
Defender of Defoko
Yes I love experiments, Ant the UTAU Scientist General *O*

Yes, I agree that visual presentation is a HUGE factor in utau/vocaloid music. When every song starts out as "[UTAU cover] Anti the...", and there's a million of those songs, even the smallest factors can make the difference between a click and no click.

Even disregarding how important the visual aspect is to our favoured favourite vocal synths -- I mean, it's very nearly the difference between a character and an instrument.

For an example of good music, weak presentation: I never would have found this beautiful composer if I hadn't been recommended it independently of the YT sidebar.
 

moonst4r

Witch of the Night
Supporter
Defender of Defoko
I remember a similar question to this. We are more likely to be drawn into the pretty art in the thumbnails. Does that mean that the rest of us that have no drawing skills are handicapped? No, I do not believe so. Like it's been said before, there can be other factors influencing the views of the video if they outweigh the art. How much work you put into the voicebanks, the mixing, etc.

If it helps, take for example my Hurting For a Hurtful Pain cover. It's one of my most viewed covers with a good amount of likes, even more than some of my other covers that have nice art. I did not use a picture for it and only pasted it over the PV which also do not have pictures. So getting views on an artless video can be done.
 

brella

Momo's Minion
Art is a factor most in new views. It's likely a person scanning newcomers for example, to click on the videos based on the thumbnail art. That being said, the viewer will only continue watching and listening if the production value is high (voice, mix).

So really, a view count means nothing in this sense.

Actually my main point is that UTAU is a combination of both auditory and visual appeal. You can't strip one from the other. (And people shouldn't hate on someone for having "popularity" due to their art being very good.)
 
D

dCatharsis

Guest
I don't know, I consider myself "good" at drawing and coloring and I've been in this fandom for 4 years, but I'm pretty unknown.
Maybe it's because I don't draw anime, IDK.
 

Ant

Teto's Territory
Defender of Defoko
Thread starter
Mmmmkay, both covers have been uploaded. But I won't link to them or say what song/UTAU I used in order to keep this as neutral as possible. All that's left to do is wait. :smile:
 

Aline

Teto's Territory
Definitely.

It's not the only factor, obviously. If you made the UST/VSQ/VSQx (or asked someone to make it for you) and put it for download, for example, it would affect views far more than any art would. Because other people would want to take those files and make their own covers.

Though, having really good settings and a pretty/funny title also helps. MitchieM didn't get all those views in Freely Tomorrow because of the art, that much is obvious. He got it because of his Vocalshifter + Vocaloid skills and maybe because of his ever amusing titles ("Miku-chan sugee" is pretty amusing to me, at least).

If you're already a big name in a fandom (not necessarily UTAU/Vocaloid, could even be Fanime or utattemita), it also helps quite a bit. Or don't you think Octoloid will have 50k+ views when he's released because he's Octopimp's UTAUloid? Some will see his vid because HQ voice, others because good art/design, but most of those people will be Homestuck/Octopimp fans. Reputation is something to be valued.

I think the least important factor to get views is, in fact, the voice itself. As it was said before, many "generic" voicebanks get a lot of attention while some pretty unique ones are ignored. Which is a bit of a shame, but it's how life works. Even showbiz is like that. Unique does not equal good. Good marketing is what does make one stand out in this field. This is why IA gets more original songs and overall users than Iroha, after all (much to my personal displeasure).
 

deactivated

Teto's Territory
I personally don't respect UTAU with bad art. Simple as.

I mean... It's just PART of it. Making PVs and art is always what makes me want to actually watch it.

I will click on a link that was a full PV or great art, but I will never click on a link where the art looks like it was made in MS Paint. My first impression of an UTAU is the art quality, then I judge the voice.

It's always disappointing when an UTAU has a full PV or professional art, and the voice SUCKS.
 

ninjamitsuki

Momo's Minion
Oh my, that's rather shallow. I cannot draw for the life of me, but when I do draw I put all of my heart and soul into it, even if it turns out looking bad because I don't know anything about anatomy and shading.
 

KitWistful

Teto's Territory
Defender of Defoko
ninjamitsuki link said:
Oh my, that's rather shallow. I cannot draw for the life of me, but when I do draw I put all of my heart and soul into it, even if it turns out looking bad because I don't know anything about anatomy and shading.

Indeed. I agree that the art is very very very important, and I love a good visual/voice combination, but in the end it's...well, obviously in the end what brings us back to the song is...the song. My pretty radical opinion is that the ideal proportion of vocaloid quality is 1 part visual and 1 part aural.

But producers who aren't super-confident illustrations can still make a pretty good image...I'm sure that good use of colour and interesting details can still be appealing, regardless of the quality of the rendering. If the UTAU has a unique, compelling design, I think that would shine through.
 

TheSnowSongstress

Momo's Minion
Defender of Defoko
I honestly think it's true
I'm guilty of it too u_u i remember clicking this colorful x melody cover because the art was beautifully made, and then the UTAUs....lacked
Plus i will totally reject an utau if it looks like a recolor, ORZ.
Maybe it's because you think that if they put a lot of effort in the art, they did in the UTAU too?
Since you can only see the art, and not hear it when you see a thumbnail :'c
 

Obakebaka

Momo's Minion
There are a lot of variables determining how good an utau sounds.
Not so much with how an utau looks. Monitors display colours different and every person sees colours differently with their eyes, but good art is still good art regardless of those factors.

I thought Sabi's first test bank sounded fine but then my headphones and laptop broke and I got a new set and I noticed just how much needed improving. Third time seems the charm now but it was damn hard recording the second test bank in a busy kitchen with an inferior mic on a PC everybody uses.
Now those other headphones broke (It happens a lot because of my large head bending and breaking the bands) and I got a new laptop so I'm back in my more soundproof room with a better mic.

All of that effort is undone, however, when the LISTENER has a crappy pair of headphones, sound card or speakers and can't hear the difference.


I'm actually more driven towards viewing videos with bad art to see if the sound matches the image. Sometimes I'm pleasantly surprised.
 

Raiyux

Ruko's Ruffians
Defender of Defoko
Unfortunately, I believe it is a combination of both. While UTAU is all about sound, people want to have something pleasing to look at while they listen. Personally, I want to be able to close my eyes and listen to it and say that it sounds good, but I also want to mute it and admire something with my eyes...if that makes sense. An UTAU should marry well to both senses.

Of course, I don't totally disregard UTAUs that sound good, but have bad art...But I can't help but click away when I don't like what I hear, even if the art is good. The sound comes first to me, although both are important. Character is important, too.

But don't forget that it's not just videos, themselves! A lot of people attract views from other sources, like Deviantart. I'm not popular on there because my art is mediocre, therefore the traffic to my Youtube channel/videos are quite low. Good artists who link to their videos from outside sources seem have a boosted level of watchers...At least, this is something I've noticed, myself.
 

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