When picking out UTAU, how much does a UTAU's design influence your decision?

RaccoonButler

Founder of The Church of Mawarine Shuu
Defender of Defoko
Are there certain design elements that usually make a bad impression on you? Are you put off if the illustration isn't very good? Or, do you try not to pay any attention to design whatsoever?

It's ok to be honest, I mean we're all a little biased and have some expectation of an Utau's voice from their design.

(But avoid trash-talking a sub genre of Utau designs by going on a tangent about how they're wrong and terrible.

Ex: "Furloids are disgusting and should be burned and all of their creators are despicable human beings," vs "Furloids are kind of off-putting to me just because furries in general make me uncomfortable but that's just me, other people may think differently."

Just say how they affect your first impression and why)
 

Aloof

Momo's Minion
Designs more save voices that don't stand out then hurt voices that are good but only have okay or unorthodox characters.
 

Skiyoshi 十三

Lotus#12915
Defender of Defoko
If there are very low quality illustrations for the design, (MS Paint bases.) I am simply off put by it. I don't mean to be mean, but if you use a base and color it with ms paint barely, then that same effort will likely be in the voice bank.

Nowadays I am more comfortable with furloids, and welcome them much more than I have before. Before I was iffy about them. Macloid-esque UTAUs also use to put me off, but now its just a trend I accept and enjoy now.

Crossdressing designs confuse me the most, as then I grow nervous because I know their owners are essentially sensitive about what pronoun or gender you assume of them. I'm not saying they're bad, but with the gender debates, I tend to stay away from them to avoid conflict.
 
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Cdra

possibly dead
Global Mod
Supporter
Defender of Defoko
I'll be honest, I'm a lot less likely to even look at a voicebank if the design follows fandom cliches, especially if they have Vocaloid-y designs, though I'm even more likely to raise a brow if I see a name that I think is dumb. If the illustration quality is low, that just depends on how so, but it generally tips off a flag in my mind that the user hasn't been able to put a lot of effort into the UTAU -- if they did, in my opinion, they'd find a way to get better art even if they can't produce it themselves, whether by commission or bartering or similar. I instantly assume a voicebank is terrible if the design is traced off of a Miku base.

But, I rarely handle other people's UTAU all that much, so my opinion is only worth so much. I do find that cliche designs and bad names rub be the wrong way very quickly, though. Furry designs are only a problem when they're boring/cliche, just like human ones. (But super "original" designs that are hard to work with, ie, not humanoid at all, give me a bit of trouble as well, though I think that's more just me.)

(On crossdressing designs with Shun, I actually will refuse to touch the bank or design if it's a "trap" or similar, because if the user who made it can't handle gender respectfully, I really don't want to be anywhere near the UTAU. Ritsu is only okay because his design is a troll and he's coming out of a rather different culture.)
 

Mougeki Mero

Defoko's Slaves
Defender of Defoko
(On crossdressing designs with Shun, I actually will refuse to touch the bank or design if it's a "trap" or similar, because if the user who made it can't handle gender respectfully, I really don't want to be anywhere near the UTAU. Ritsu is only okay because his design is a troll and he's coming out of a rather different culture.)

I don't get your point. If I make an "trap" UTAU, I mean, a crossdresser UTAU
character you would not want to use the VB...? I mean, I don't get the "respectfully" part...You mean the owner should not get mad if people use "he or she, etc"?
 

ExistenceReaper

Procrastinator
Defender of Defoko
I don't know, I mean I honestly haven't used a large variety of voicebanks but for the most part my main concern on designs is if I can actually draw them without pulling my hair out. It just puts me off if it's overly complicated.

It also bothers me when it seems like the design is sloppy or low quality; if it isn't obvious that effort was made, I would usually assume that either it was made by a child or someone who doesn't care enough.

Design matters, but to what degree is a personal opinion. It's good to get advise but at the end of the day, it's the creator's decision.
 

Cdra

possibly dead
Global Mod
Supporter
Defender of Defoko
I don't get your point. If I make an "trap" UTAU, I mean, a crossdresser UTAU
character you would not want to use the VB...? I mean, I don't get the "respectfully" part...You mean the owner should not get mad if people use "he or she, etc"?
"Trap" characters are rather offensive in my opinion, being based in some rather ugly stereotyping and transphobia. Most people who make "crossdressing characters" just handle it in a fashion I find disagreeable. It's possible that it could be done fine, but most people don't. It's less about the owner getting mad when people use different pronouns and more the character's gender being fetishized -- ie, crossdressing/trans-ness is cute/funny/something like that rather than just being... you know... just part of the character.

It's more my personal irritations than anything else.
 
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Yinitara

Ruko's Ruffians
Defender of Defoko
While the quality of the voice is the most important thing, I can agree that design makes a huge difference.

The more creative a design, the more likely I am to actually go out of my way to download the utau and try them out. I've seen a lot of utaus that are imitations of various vocaloids, or that have horrendously confusing designs that completely put me off. Sometimes I wonder why people don't ask around for help designing because there's literally tons of people out there who would be willing to (myself included). It also kind of bothers me when utaus have really casual clothing. I guess its okay but... jeans and a t-shirt...? That's not very interesting to look at! Others might disagree, and that's cool but at least embellish it a little bit ;-

Anyways, I'm a bit more lenient with the quality of the art though, mainly because not everyone can draw/pay for high quality art.
 

Animé Fan

Head of the Shonen Academy
Defender of Defoko
I'll be frank and say that I'm rather picky when selecting UTAU based off of design and characterization. I'm not really a huge of anthro UTAU since they're not really my taste and UTAU with multicolored hair since most of that is sadly associated with bad OCs. I solely go for young boy or shonen UTAU, but most of the ones I see either sound too old for their design or are portrayed in a severely negative sense. In addition, simply stating that an UTAU dislikes "young boys/shotas" is a big personal no-no for me. I mean, if an UTAU is sadistic in nature, then sure; however, hate on young boy characters is just too much for me to handle.
 
K

Kassandra

Guest
I tend to avoid UTAUs with bad art and weeaboo-ish names, especially if it's really crypton looking/sounding or has an extremely American name, because usually those are people just starting out. It's not to say they don't put in effort, because even I was a beginner once, and I was very crappy at art (I still am hahahahaha) but, sometimes, what looks sh*tty (not sure what words are censored, sorry) to others might be the best a person can do at that time.

I actually get excited for furry designs, not because I like them, but because they tend to have really great voices.

As far as character goes, I mean as long as it's not ridiculously over the top weebish and there was thought put into it, I'm OK with it. I don't mind characters with preferences, likes/dislikes, etc. I don't really think character matters that much anyway with UTAU (unless the person is like ONLY USE THEM FOR CERTAIN SONGS, blah blah blah) since most of the time we're just interested in the voicebanks. I mean, unless you really want to get to know the UTAU as an OC, I don't see the point in getting too into their character since, like said, most people just want to use the VB.

I like a variety of designs, so I'm not very picky unless like said, it's extremely weebish and just really bad on the eyes, then I recommend trying again and getting someone to help you.

Overall, even with crappy art or designs, I try to look past it to hear the voice anyway because I try to give everyone a fair shot.
 

Mougeki Mero

Defoko's Slaves
Defender of Defoko
In my opnion, I dislike the furry ones because IDK They just feel...strange for me...
OMG March 2016? lol My start here...Anyway, after time passed I got used to the furries and learned to love them! They have cool desings most of the time...creative!!!

Just like almost everyone else, I'd avoid the Crypton-ish style...specially if it uses those bases around internet;
I also avoid MMD Model edit pictures, specially TDA. Besides the fact it is too much overrated, I think the edits are like...IDK, poor most of the time. I make an exception for well made edits and original models.
 

Shasta

Professional Lurker
Global Mod
Defender of Defoko
When it comes to designs, I typically am not that picky. I will confess thought... If an UTAU has bad art, my expectations for their voicebank instantly goes sky high or else I won't mess with them. Though, occasionally... If it's a newcomer, I often offer to draw the art for them since I understand the struggling of being a horrible artist and a newcomer. I used to be put off by furries, but I've grown to like them and to an extent, tried to learn how to draw them (it failed miserably, and imma leave it at that.) One big no no is if I'm doing a video, I will not accept an UTAU who's official art has a huge fricking bulge. Like, no. That will not be on my channel. I don't want your bulges on my channel, lmao. Also like, overly detailed drawings, I don't want distinct nipples on my channel. I couldn't type any of that with a straight face. Like, overly Crypton esque design doesn't really bother me, unless it's literally copied off of one of their vocaloids.. Also, bases... Yeah, no.. I understand struggling with poses, but at least put some effort into it.. Another thing, MMD models. Like, could you not? Especially TDA model edits... If you made the model yourself, then that's one thing, but if you just strolled through deviantart, grabbed what you liked and put it together... Yeah... No.... I understand that not everyone can be an amazing artist, but there are lots of people out there that are willing to either give you art, or barter. To tie into all of that, recolors... I despise recolors. If I can tell the design of the UTAU is a recolor, I straight up won't use it. When it comes to names, I don't usually have a preference. Unless it's some sort of cringy name, but those aren't really that common unless it's some sort of joke. Like seriously, if you look at my utau, we have Shadow, Neko, Ryoko Tsukiko, and Kevin Andrews, I don't care about names, lmao. i lile diversity. There aren't really any design aspects that put me off, aside from overly revealing, or overly detailed designs. I always listen to the voice, regardless of design, but as said before, I will hold a poorly drawn or in some cases, over drawn designs to higher expectations.
 

Piia

Retired User
Retired User
Defender of Defoko
Objects (excluding objectheads, those are cute) and furries don't appeal to me (design-wise, I mean). Sorry to everyone whose UTAU baby falls in these categories.
In general... I also don't find it beckoning if the avatar is like a Miku rip-off (or any mainstream character ) lololol those are w h a t I s t h a t
I also don't like designs that aren't shaded or not given dimension (no texture whatsoever) because, since I'm a really judgemental person when it comes to things, so it gives me the idea that the voice bank would sound 'bland' for some reason.
It just puts me off from using the VB but that doesn't mean that I haven't heard things with pukey-'looking' UTAUs and Vocaloids with heavenly voices~
 
P

partial

Guest
As much as I hate admitting it, I definitely do tend to lean towards androgynous designs. Girls who look like boys, boys who look like girls. If the character has short hair and an appearance that makes it difficult to guess their gender I'm usually all over it.
 

LilyoftheValley

Your local flower girl
Defender of Defoko
I tend to be drawn more to UTAU that have nice designs. Really, it just makes me watch said video or listen to the cover. If I wanted to make a cover with them I'd like nice art to have in a video.
 

spookysneeze

Ruko's Ruffians
Defender of Defoko
Voice comes first, but I'm more inclined to check out an UTAU if their design catches my eye first. The voice should always be most important obviously, but since there's like a gazillion million UTAU out there it doesn't hurt to make your design stand out against others ^^
 
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