Vocaloid 3
Vocaloid 3 is a singing voice synthesizer and successor to Vocaloid 2 in the Vocaloid series. This version of the software is a much more expansive version, containing many new features, three new languages and many more vocals than past software versions combined. It was succeeded by Vocaloid 4.
History
Vocaloid 3 launched on October 21, 2011, along with several products in Japanese product, the first of its kind. Several studios are providing updates to allow Vocaloid 2 vocal libraries to come over to Vocaloid 3. With the launch of Vocaloid 3, a tool that was developed titled VocaListener, a software package that allows for realistic Vocaloid songs to be produced using human singing as a template, currently only supports Japanese vocals. It supports additional languages including Chinese, Korean, and Spanish. It is also able to use plug-ins for the software itself and switch between normal and "classic" mode for less realistic vocal results. Unlike previous versions, the vocal libraries and main editing software are sold as two separate items. The vocal libraries themselves only contain a "tiny" version of the Vocaloid 3 editing software. Yamaha will also be granting the licensing of plug-ins and use of the Vocaloid software for additional mediums such as video games. Also, Vocaloid 3 has Triphone support unlike Vocaloid 2 which improves language capabilities. The first Spanish Vocaloids, Clara and Bruno, were released in 2011.New technology is also being used to bring back the voice of the singer Hitoshi Ueki who died in 2007. This is the first attempt to bring back a singer whose voice had been lost, yet it had been considered a possibility since the software was first released in 2004. However, this is only being done for private use. A second attempt was made with the voice of hide, a member of group X Japan, who died in 1998.
The software was given a special version called "Vocaloid Editor for Cubase", this was a special version that would work with the Digital audio workstation. An OS X version of the software called Vocaloid Neo was announced on July 24, 2013. Several voices have since been confirmed for this version of the software. Producers who owned vocals that had Mac versions had their licenses updated to allow Mac installation of those vocals, however only the Windows or Mac install was allowed and both could not be installed under the same purchase. In 2013, the first Catalan vocal project was introduced called "ONA".
A series of resource packs called "Vocaloid-P Data series" were also released. A total of 4 volumes were released, the series was retired with the introduction of the SE versions of several vocals. In addition, Vocaloid 3, Vocaloid Neo and i-Vocaloid were later given an update which allowed access to a cloud storage system called "Vocaloid Net". This allowed users to use all 3 versions of the software to access stored files made in any of the 3 software.
Vocaloid 3 allowed for more variety of vocals to be produced, including some that Vocaloid 2 could not allow.
"VocaListener", which had been announced during Vocaloid 2, was released as a Job plug-in for the Vocaloid 3 software.
Vocaloid 3 vocals were also able to be imported into Vocaloid 4.
Products
Mew
Mew was released as a realistic Japanese vocal. She was released on October 21, 2011, as one of the 4 release date vocal. The voice is based on the singing results of Miu Sakamoto. A second edition was released under the name of "Mew SE", as one of five products that was released in the SE edition range. Mew Neo was later released on August 5, 2013.SeeU
SeeU was released as the first Korean vocal for the Vocaloid 3 software, being one of the four release date vocals released when the Vocaloid3 software launched on October 21, 2011. She is capable of Korean and Japanese and released by SBS Artech based on the voice of Kim Dahee.Throughout pre-Vocaloid 3 release promotions, SBS stood by a claim that you can recreate English with SeeU's Korean voicebank, and in Dec 2011 even went so far to say SeeU is actually "trilingual", although the comment seemed odd as SeeU had only two voicebanks. In Feb 2012 they stated that they were working on a full English voicebank. In August 2012, SBS reported that the recordings for the voicebank had been completed and was now going through a tuning process. Her English VB will be similar to an append and her design slightly adjusted. On February 4, 2013, in response to a Korean fan's question about the progress of English voicebank, SBS posted a reply that the development of English voicebank is on hold. Due to Dahee being incarcerated in 2015, SeeU English is not expected for a long time.
V3 Megpoid
The Vocaloid 2 product "Megpoid" was updated to the Vocaloid 3 version under the name of "V3 Megpoid". Several products were released under this name. The first of these packages was the "Megpoid Complete" product which featured 4 new vocals with natural song tones. The vocals were also sold separately for users who only wanted one or two of these vocals. this was one of four packages sold on the release day of Vocaloid 3 on October 21, 2011. An updated version of the original voice of "Megpoid" was also sold called "V3 Megpoid - Native". This had the same tone and fixed several problems from the Vocaloid 2 version. This product was released on March 15, 2012. An English version of the Megpoid vocal was also released on February 28, 2013, Internet co., Ltd noted this was one of their most difficult vocals to produce because it required several times the amount of samples of the Japanese vocal to produce.The Native and English versions would later be sold in 2016 on the Mobile Vocaloid Editor app.
VY1v3
VY1 was updated to VY1v3 from the Vocaloid2 engine and was one of the four release dates packaged released on October 21, 2011. This was an updated version of the software with a higher quality and smoother results. The package was later released as a second edition under the name of "VY1v3 SE", as one of five products that was released in the SE edition range. VY1v3 Neo was later released on August 5, 2013.Tone Rion
Tone Rion is a Japanese female released on December 16, 2011, in association with Dear Stage. Her vocals were based off of now retired Japanese singer Yumemi Nemu. She was given a second edition called "Tone Rion SE", as one of five products that was released in the SE edition range.Oliver
Oliver is an English male vocal based on the voice of a 13-year-old child. He was the first English vocal released for the new Vocaloid 3 engine and the first English based on a child's voice. He was designed as a choir singer. He was released on December 21, 2011, by PowerFX and was developed by VocaTone. He was the first English Vocaloid to gain a large amount of popularity, owed mostly to his usage in the show Bee and Puppycat as featured on the Cartoon Hangover YouTube channel.CUL
CUL was released for the VOCALOID 3 software based on the voice of Eri Kitamura. She sings in Japanese and was released by Internet co., Ltd on the December 22, 2011. CUL originally started out as the mascot for the TV documentary "VOCALO Revolution" which focused on the impact VOCALOID had had on the Japanese culture. Internet Co., Ltd noted that CUL was their most difficult vocal to produce in an interview and the vocal was re-done twice, though did not use any new recording sessions.Yuzuki Yukari
A Japanese female released for the Vocaloid 3 engine by AH Software on December 22, 2011. She is based on the voice of Chihiro Ishiguro. She was the first AH Software Vocaloid to also receive a Voiceroid vocal which was also released on December 22, 2011.A Neo version was released on December 19, 2013. She was designed by a group called Vocalomakets, the group consisted of Vocaloid producers.
Bruno
The first of a pair of Spanish vocals released for the Engine on December 24, 2011. Bruno is a male vocal produced by Voctro Labs, S.L. The two vocals had been in production since 2009.Clara
Clara was the second of a pair of Spanish vocals released on December 22, 2011, by Voctro Labs, S.L and is a complementary female vocal for Bruno.IA
IA was a Japanese female vocal with opera-esque results released by 1st Place. Her voice was sampled from the singer Lia and released on January 27, 2012. Her vocal proved quite popular and an additional vocal called "IA Rocks" was released on June 27, 2014. A Neo version of IA was released on December 7, 2013, while IA Rocks received a Neo version on June 27, 2014. IA was also the first vocal made for the Aria on the Planetes project.The licensing of her product allowed her image to be used for CDs and flyers without producers having to seek permission.