ust

I doubt many people are reading this blog yet, or that anyone really will bother to, but I’ll write it here just because I’ve already said stuff about it over Twitter, dA and Skype.

I have put a very specific password on Matryoshka and Mozaik Role. If you know the password, do not share it. Redirect people to me to obtain it. Most of my new USTs will have that password, and the password itself is a tip to keep in mind.

As for why I have started to do this, please keep reading.

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I have very simple terms for my USTs. However, some people have APPARENTLY found them confusing. Therefore, I have elaborated. These are terms that most other UST/VSQ makers use themselves when they distribute:

1. Please credit

I don’t mean a “lol I dunno who made this not mine,” I mean take the time to see who made it. Check Youtube. Check Vocalochu. Check UTAUlibrary. Hell, look in the damn file and see if there’s a README, maybe? (Matryoshka users I’m looking at you.) If you ABSOLUTELY can’t find who made it, then feel free to post “I don’t know who made the UST but it’s not mine.” However I’ve been seeing this sort of thing on USTs made by people that OVER HALF THE FREAKING FANDOM knows by name! (YurahonyaP, sango312, UTAUReni)

Even worse than the “idk” type of thing, of course, is not crediting at all, or claiming the UST as your own. This sort of thing is an insult to the hours of work that UST/VSQ makers put into their creations. “Oh bah, they’re not earning any money, they’re doing it on their own time, why should I care,” you say. Well to that we say fine. What if we hadn’t made the UST at all? Would you have gone and made your own? No, most likely you would have looked for another UST of another song to abuse, or if you particularly liked this one, you’d have thrown a fit, requesting it whenever and wherever you could. So if we’re giving you our hard work for you to slap a voicebank on and call it a cover, in the very least, let us be recognized. Think about this: when you click render, who’s actually responsible for making your UTAU sing the song properly? Hmm?

2. Do not redistribute

This goes hand in hand with what I’ve said above. Redistributing USTs, whether just for trading or to claim that they are yours, makes it harder and harder for the next person who gets it to know who made it and properly give credit. Who the hell remembers who made the Toeto UST? No one, because it’s been file transferred more than downloaded now.

3. Both of the above apply to any VSQs made from USTs, and vice versa

Oh my lord. It is NOT THAT DIFFICULT to change a VSQ into a UST and likewise, especially if you don’t edit it at all. Although, even if you’ve fine-tuned it for the other program, ASK THE ORIGINAL CREATOR BEFORE SHARING THE CONVERTED FILE. 9 times out of 10 if you’ve put effort into the conversion we’ll give you the go-ahead to redistribute, so long as credit is given to us for making the original note/lyrics base, of course. But honestly. The very basic act of changing a VSQ into a UST is no big feat. You click a couple of buttons. Whoopdedoo. SAME GOES FOR HIRAGANA VERSIONS OF ROMAJI USTS AND VICE-VERSA.

Are those really too hard to grasp? Credit the creator, don’t redistribute? It’s 2 rules with a 3rd condition added in for good measure. Seriously, Ameya has more rules on what you can and can’t do with the UTAU program than we have on our USTs.