We need to start talking about the future of UTAU's engine development before it's too late

VocAddict

The Voice Within Us
Defender of Defoko
EDIT: I'm now down to 32Gbs of space on my hdd and after looking through all the folders, there is no makefile for QTAU. Everything is still in a .pro state and... I have no idea what I'm looking at when I open them. I understand not wanting to reinvent the wheel, but people need something easy and intuitive where they can just open it and use it without a lot of mucking around in programming tools.
I'm not sure if I saw a makefile either and the readme is kinda worthless. Maybe it compilable through Qt? Idk, I haven't used it before. Do we have proof that it even runs to begin with?
 
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수연 <Suyeon>

Your friendly neighborhood koreaboo trash
Supporter
Defender of Defoko
I don't think Ameya is done working with UTAU... I mean, it has such a large community and to stop updating it and possibly not allowing many people to use it, I don't think he'd want that to happen... Hopefully he's working on a huge update or something
I doubt the size of the community is a motivating factor of whether they'll continue to work on it or not. The fact of the matter that people miss is that UTAU isn't free. Free to download and use? Yes. But he's likely not going to continue updates for a program that he's getting nothing out of monetarily. No one pays for the license despite the amount of downloads the program gets (which is only $32 - so if you can afford ChipSpeech or a meal out at a higher end restaurant, you can afford UTAU's license). In fact, the few people who do buy the key just give it out publicly without remorse - which is sad.

IDK about you, but if I spent years working on a program by myself, got downloads by the thousands, and had a cheap license which could help fund not only my overall living, but also fund the program itself so I could make it greater - why would I continue when people are too cheap to spend $32 dollars? There comes a point when you can no longer work on something that has no value for you. If Ameya has truly moved on from UTAU, I don't blame them because they need to eat and pay bills like the rest of the adult world.
 
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CrimsonNeko

Teto's Territory
Defender of Defoko
I didn't even know other people were talking about this topic, it's really buried and took me several searches on google to find out that other people were talking about it. I don't know anything about programming language but I would be more than willing to help if somebody would be able to point me in the direction to learn how to do something like this(such as places to learn programming languages and anything else I would need to know).

Also i've got a youtube channel(AerinLullaby) that I post UTAU covers frequently on(every one or two days), and i've not got many subscribers but i'll keep going with the channel and if anyone wants me to post anything about getting developers together, or anything else then I am more than happy too. Hopefully my channel will grow so maybe I can make a difference and help bring a UTAU equivilent or whatever happens.
 

Tomato Hentai

dont call me a veggie
Defender of Defoko
I didn't even know other people were talking about this topic, it's really buried and took me several searches on google to find out that other people were talking about it. I don't know anything about programming language but I would be more than willing to help if somebody would be able to point me in the direction to learn how to do something like this(such as places to learn programming languages and anything else I would need to know).

Also i've got a youtube channel(AerinLullaby) that I post UTAU covers frequently on(every one or two days), and i've not got many subscribers but i'll keep going with the channel and if anyone wants me to post anything about getting developers together, or anything else then I am more than happy too. Hopefully my channel will grow so maybe I can make a difference and help bring a UTAU equivilent or whatever happens.
If you don't know anything about programming right now then it's going to be a long time until you'll be able to write a vocalsynth.
 

HixaiU

Ruko's Ruffians
Defender of Defoko
If you don't know anything about programming right now then it's going to be a long time until you'll be able to write a vocalsynth.
I agree with this comment it isn't easy at all making synths is one of the hardest things to program.
 

Yuko Vi Britannia

Momo's Minion
If you don't know anything about programming right now then it's going to be a long time until you'll be able to write a vocalsynth.

Well unless many programmers with decent skill are interested in developing a vocal synth then it's probably best if she wasn't put down about this, because you never know, if somebody starts learning how to do this now and actually stays motivated and gets encouraged to do this then maybe a great vocal synth could be created.
 

bio

VocalSynth Enthusiast
Supporter
Defender of Defoko
Well unless many programmers with decent skill are interested in developing a vocal synth then it's probably best if she wasn't put down about this, because you never know, if somebody starts learning how to do this now and actually stays motivated and gets encouraged to do this then maybe a great vocal synth could be created.

I don't think @Tomato Hentai was trying to put @CrimsonNeko down at all. They were just saying if you have little to no experience in coding, then programming a synthesizer is big project for a beginner. Its the truth.
 
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Tomato Hentai

dont call me a veggie
Defender of Defoko
Well unless many programmers with decent skill are interested in developing a vocal synth then it's probably best if she wasn't put down about this, because you never know, if somebody starts learning how to do this now and actually stays motivated and gets encouraged to do this then maybe a great vocal synth could be created.
Sorry, I didn't know I wasn't allowed to tell the truth because it might discourage someone, even though it's something people should probably know so they don't start and immediately get frustrated because programming is too complicated and they were expecting that they'd be able to make an amazing vocalsynth when all they know how to do is print or add numbers. I'm not saying that's what would happen to CrimsonNeko, but I've seen this happen before with people who are like "I HAVE NO PROGRAMMING KNOWLEDGE BUT I WANNA MAKE A TRIPLE-A GAYME FOR DA ECKSBAWKS!"
Being over-confident is not always a good thing.
 

Yuko Vi Britannia

Momo's Minion
Sorry, I didn't know I wasn't allowed to tell the truth because it might discourage someone, even though it's something people should probably know so they don't start and immediately get frustrated because programming is too complicated and they were expecting that they'd be able to make an amazing vocalsynth when all they know how to do is print or add numbers. I'm not saying that's what would happen to CrimsonNeko, but I've seen this happen before with people who are like "I HAVE NO PROGRAMMING KNOWLEDGE BUT I WANNA MAKE A TRIPLE-A GAYME FOR DA ECKSBAWKS!"
Being over-confident is not always a good thing.

I know that can happen with people who do not know anything about programming, I've seen it before. In fact I was like that when I first started. I know that she will be able to do something like this though(because trust me, when she wants to do something she will not stop until she manages it(it's insane)). I get where you are coming from though.
 
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Zoku

making doper vocaloid music than the rest
Defender of Defoko
we have absolutely nothing except just a small grasp on certain ideas and constant debating on programming skills that less than a handful of us have
 

bio

VocalSynth Enthusiast
Supporter
Defender of Defoko
I was hoping @Lystrialle would update us on where this "project" is headed.

It seems that we have almost everything planned
 
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Shasta

Professional Lurker
Global Mod
Defender of Defoko
Yo. Software engineer here, I do this kind of thing for a living. If you're serious about an open-source version of UTAU, I'd recommend at minimum putting together a team with the following people:

1. A leader
2. A user interface/visual designer
3. Two or more devs

Unlike a plugin or resampler, UTAU is a public-facing program with a full user interface, making it much more tricky for a single dev to implement. The hardest part of making this kind of software is the non-programming part. Some challenges I could see popping up:

- Motivation. This is why a charismatic leader is a must, preferably one who has led projects of this scale to completion before. They would have to keep the project from dying and the team from losing interest.

- Publicity. If people don't hear about the product, don't use the product, don't care about the product, it will die. There's a reason software companies have marketing departments.

- Product design. If there's not a clear and documented vision for the software, devs won't be able to build it. What will it look like? What framework should it use? What languages should be used to write it? Should it be a web app or desktop app? How will it support Mac and Linux users if it is a desktop app? Should it include any plugins as built-in features, and if so which plugins? How will it support different recording styles and languages with Unicode characters such as Japanese of Korean? If a plugin/resampler has code specifically to work around failings in the original UTAU, should the new software duplicate those failings so the same plugins can work? Should oto.ini file size limits be removed to help along more advanced UTAU like Beta? How should plugins work for non-Windows users? Etc, etc. The problem space here is enormous, and much of it has nothing to do with coding. Most professional teams have a dedicated Project Manager (PM) who does nothing but work out these annoying issues all day long.

TL;DR quality software on this scale needs a team with a good leader. Visual designer is a must as well. If you guys are serious about making this happen, let me know and I'd be happy to help write the thing. I love UTAU and this community, even if I am mostly a lurker. :smile:


Hey umm. I study marketing in school, so I could help in that department, and I would love to help.
[doublepost=1470381192][/doublepost]I may also know a linguist who could help with software translations so it can reach a bigger audience too.
 
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Zoku

making doper vocaloid music than the rest
Defender of Defoko
^^^ those will help in the long run but we can't do anything without even the most basic front end program
 

Shasta

Professional Lurker
Global Mod
Defender of Defoko
Well, someone knowledgeable in marketing and promotions could be useful for promoting the project idea and getting the news around that this is planned and hopefully get a bigger team. I'm not saying the project needs one yet, but it could help.
 
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