ricedeity - Tumblr blog

ricedeity · 3 months ago

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hi again

yuma: his vision is like.. "little halloween ghoul", cuz his color scheme reminded me of a pumpkin. basically his entire sv1 design was centered around being able to give him pumpkin shorts LOL. since he was the second ever jp male vocal i did also try to give him more japanese-style clothing too w the sandals. he also had a bit of a bandage motif to give a sense of eerieness. for v2 i dialed up the japanese-style w the top but also wrapped it the way it's done for corpses to keep the sense that Something's Wrong With Him

natalie: similar to kevin, as the first feminine english voicebank her general design vision was just "steampunk girl". i also wanted her to look very classic, hence the vintage-looking hair style. reprised this in sv2 by elevating her gloves to opera gloves for class. i just realized looking at her now that i forgot to add some details to her sv2 design ough. but anyways. something i think is cute about her sv2 design is that the hair kind of looks like a fancy hat. classy lady

mai: miss mai saw the biggest change in design direction because sv2 gave her coworkers! she used to be the only complimentary voicebank, but now there's 2 more, so i knew right away i wanted them to have some kind of matching uniform. mai has an "apple bunny" motif, and i described her as a student, so i thought it'd be cute if the other 2 were like her teachers. she gets to keep the ribbon to maintain her "sweet lolita" subflavor.

cong zheng and xuan yu: their design vision is "half-tone rock royalty". cong zheng has a rose motif and xuanyu has a (half) moon motif. i thought it was cute that they had matching color schemes so i wanted to keep that matching "half"-ness as much as possible... it's a bit more literal in their sv2 designs w the color split going right down the middle

cheng xiao: her design vision is "peking opera but idol", more or less. i aimed for a simpler, more stylized idol-ish outfit with peking opera design elements, rather than full peking opera costume, just for the sake of drawability. that said the amount of peking opera douyins on my fyp increased significantly between sv1 and 2 so her sv2 might feel a bit more authentic LOL

ninezero: i think this joke has been lost to history. but the reason ninezero looks like this is because of his first demo trailer.

he just looks like this to me forever now. but i gave him clothes for sv2.

lin lai + yun quan: i would say their vision is "things about chinese children i find kind of funny" (big disclaimer: i am chinese and allowed to laugh at these things). in sv1 it's the hairstyles they gave them in back in the olden times. for sv2 it's the school uniforms that modern chinese school kids wear today.

yun quan's new pigtail + hairclip style is supposed to vaguely resemble the butterfly shape. linlai has a new little plant sprout on his hat. i also realized that the jersey designs being different imply that lin lai and yun quan go to different schools........

ritchy: his vision was always "rapper + pirate" (cuz his color scheme/design reminds me of like... algae on water). that's why he has the big coat + shirtless combo. his sv1 design leaned a little more towards rapper than pirate so i just leaned a bit the other way for his sv2 design. his hair shape kind of resembles a big captain's hat a little bit.

d-lin: his vision was "rapper + cadaver". his sv1 version wears all white because it's what chinese corpses traditionally wear in funerals. his "rapper belts" are also meant to double to look like his innards are coming out. he's also got the Y incision commonly done for autopsies, now looking a tiny bit more subtle in the SV2 version as the Y part connects to the hoodie. like linlai, he didnt have enough hair to give him a new hairstyle so i gave him a different hat. bucket hats are cool

wei shu: his design vision was essentially "humble, flowy chinese-style clothing". his vest hanfu thing is replaced with a more simple overcoat. instead of big flower that mixes in to his hairbun, now a few of smaller flowers mixed throughout his hair, that hopefully carry through that "delicate" feeling (kind of like a disney princess). i also gave him and ling wan matching braids.

hayden: his vision is "catholic garb + 2000s boyband". the collar + vest he wears in his sv1 is meant to simultaneously be giving "bishop" and "jonas brother".

since sv1 leaned heavily on the "catholic" side (esp w the cape), i leaned more into the "Jonas Brother" side for sv2 with the goofy ass scarf. its length and flow is also meant to resemble a catholic stole. if you have the whimsy for it in your heart.

sheena: she's the first native en/jp billingual voicebank, so her design vision was "japanese silhouette + western fashion". it's a bit subtle, but her sv1 design is meant to be a kimono shape! the middriff is the middle sash, the cover over her arms forms the long sleeves, etc. i couldn't really think of a way to reprise this smoothly for sv2 so i put a shawl on her and gave her more of a classy lounge singer feel while still kind of keeping the kimono shape underneath.

eri: first jp rap voicebank, so in wanting her design to still feel japanese her vision was "street fashion gyaru". i elevated it to a bit more of a classy vibe in sv2, but the big varsity jacket is swapped for a big hoodie to keep the "street"-feeling vibe.

ayame: her design vision was "sweet lolita but literally" as in pastry sweets, haha. lots of ribbons as well. i took her apron-ish dress and took in more of a maid-waitress kind of look for sv2. her ojou-sama hair drills also levelled up.

jin: his design vision is basically just "sleek, well-dressed uncle with a rockin' past". he was already one of the more simple designs, but i think the tattoos are still striking.

yi xi: her vision was "athletic street fashion + butcher". the stripes on her sv1 top are meant to be like stripes you often see on athletic clothing, but also meant to resemble a slit throat. this is the best design thing i've ever done, by the way. sv1 also utilizes a jumpsuit like one you'd wear for sanitary food-handling, but also doubles for cool street fashion.

i felt like i'd be cheating by using the jumpsuit again for sv2 (even though it's sooooo good). so i leaned a bit more into the butcher end by just giving her an apron. i feel like the cut of her overall dress can kind of look like a qipao if you squint, which gives a chinese flavor. the opera gloves that "end" at the normal gloves are meant to resemble butcher sleeves.

yes, i think it is a bit silly to put a face mask on a vocal synthesizer whose only job it is to sing. but between "butchers wear face masks for sanitary reasons" + "face masks for street fashion" i feel like i had a right to.

ling wan: her design vision was something like... "modernized-version of what would look cool on the back of a horse with a bow and arrow". this is partially why she's one of the only girls with pants lol..... big flowy pants and a long element that blows cool-like in the wind. again, she and wei shu have matching braids

felicia: her vision was "cunty theater kid", basically? for her sv1 i kept it steampunk like natalie's, but for sv2 i pushed it a little more witchy. felicia is a voicebank with a lot of range so i think something like this has the potential to encapsulate her many possible usages. she's got a bit of a "crown" submotif (like a strawberry crown!) that carries through on the choker in sv2. also the top hat is so crucial to me.

riku: his design submotif is "boring jpop guy fashion" HAHA. i think i was referencing bump of chicken specifically? anyways i suppose he's a bit more idol-y in his sv2 iteration, but the jpop guy flavor persists

wanted to yap a little bit about my SV2 vimalion design process as i wait for my arm to recover from drawing all those fullbodies o(*￣▽￣*)ブ part 1 of ????

i have always loooooved vocaloid update designs, v4 update era was my Absolute Favorite, so when sv2 was announced, against my better judgement, i was absolutely determined to make "update" designs for all (checking) 28 ?? vimalion sv designs. ough

there were a few things i wanted to achieve:

i wanted the SV2 designs to feel more like a unified ensemble

i wanted it to be obvious from an immediate glance whether you were looking at a SV1 or SV2 design

i wanted to leave flexibility for new future SV2 (only) designs in the future

vimalion sv1 designs were largely "neutral colors (black, white) + key colors", so for sv2, i reduced this down to "dark neutrals (black, grey) + key colors, with a gradient". it does make everyone look a little bit emo, and some sv1 designs (like weishu) didn't have any light neutrals which kind of makes them fail point 2, but i think overall it worked out pretty well :')

i also gave everyone newwww hairstyles ^_^ because it's fun. but i made sure they were all hairstyles that didn't change the length or cut of the hair cuz i like the idea of them being able to switch between these designs at will lol

(also, i added an extra line to the logo. for Synth V Two)

but the main challenge of this premise is that there are many vimalion designs i simply feel like i nailed on the first shot. i simply think that some of the vimalion designs are Perfect. also some of them i made like, literally only months ago. so i can't really go a miku v4 or longya v4 route of trying to "improve" or "modernize" them with only slight adjustments.

to this end, my approach was more along the lines of v4 flower: take the same original Vision, but turn it into a different direction*

i feel like this approach lets each iteration have its own identity, and since i don't want the SV2 designs to be replacement for the SV1s but rather just New Additional Designs If You Want Them, i felt like it was the right approach :-)

*i know v4 flower was just based off a genderbend fanart but bear with me for the sake of my design theory lol

anyways, i haven't really talked publicly about the direction/themes/motifs/Visions for the vimalion dt designs, so i thought it'd be fun to identify them and talk about how i did them in a different flavor for their sv2 designs! some are a bit more interesting than others haha

Saki: the og, very first AI voicebank... so i wanted her to feel very Lowkey, very Tutorial Character. nonplayable secretary in the idol game vibe. so my vision for her is "chic sexy office lady", which i did with a sexy little tube top- fully out for her SV1 and buttoned up under her blazer (but still w some skin showing under) for SV2- combined w sexy officewear (it's just normal officewear?)

Qing Su: she and saki were the only faceless vocals for a while, so when people made fan designs they often made them reaaaally complex. so i wanted qing su to be elegant but simple: "marine fashion + hanfu". hence the sailor collar :-) SV2 has her showing more skin but i feel like it's like a "walk in the ocean" vibe. she's also got a bit of a lace subtheme in SV1 so i brought that back in SV2 with the gloves to kind of echo the "elegance" vibe of the long skirt.

also! back when letter vocals were only 1 letter i also tried to incorporate the letter into their designs... this didn't last long, but it did stick for qingsu- in her SV1 design, the combination of her bun and the hair stick make a Q shape. i reprised this in spirit for SV2 with the hair loop + ponytail also making a Q shape :-)

Ryo: his vision is "street fashion + modernized traditional japanese". for his SV1 i gave him a little half kimono thing, kinda samurai reminiscent... SV2 i gave him a haori instead (though i brought the kimono sleeves back for vibes) + hakama pants. also, his hair is based off kenshi yonezu, so i just picked another kenshi hairstyle for SV2 lol

Kevin: i felt bad for english voicebanks not having traditional fashion motifs to pull from like the japanese and chinese ones. i figured steampunk is the closest thing to immediately recognizable English Fashion Culture, so that's why the english voicebanks have steampunk elements. and thusly as the first English voicebank his vision was just "steampunk guy". i brought back the K-shaped neck thing from one of Kevin's earlier design iterations because it's sooooo good. and then i put the goggles on his head because they annoy me around his neck. that's basically all i have to say for him.

mo chen: his vision is "cute menswear + chinese fashion", or more succinctly "match qingsu" LOL. i couldnt really get him to matchsies super close w qingsu anymore though so i swapped out his wendy collar so he could have an elegant sweater vest over chinese collar moment. his hair is in a loop to match his sister but maybe it can look like the O from his logo if you want.

an xiao: his vision is "elevated high fashion suit". it was a very dramatic weird bodysuit moment for SV1 but SV2 looks a bit more like a normal high fashion suit LOL. also his tits gotta be out. also idk he gives me "suit + sneaker" vibes right? dont you agree? (holding a microphone up to you) hey

feng yi: she was the first one i earnestly designed with "VIMALION" in mind rather than just one-off designs, so i went a little bit too crazy with giving her motifs. i guess her vision theme is "han lolita-ish?" but she also had subthemes of clouds, ribbons, that weird criss-cross thing on her wrists... plus her main theme of ginkgo... anyways. i took the fluff under her skirt that served as a "cloud" vision and gave it to her as a fashionable little shawl for SV2. i swapped the zettai ryoukai of her arms and legs (thigh socks -> opera gloves, bare arms -> bare legs) just cuz?? i also made her colors closer to what they actually are LOL

weina: her vision is "phoenix goddess". i regretted giving her a bird theme when ling wan came out and was actually bird themed HAHA. but for SV2 i just did another angle on this vision, though maybe a little more elegantly this time... hers probably feels the most like a "level up". you can't tell in her key art but her cape is still wing shaped i promise.

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okay i'll do the others in another part another time!! my arm hurts goodnight

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ricedeity · 5 months ago