| 🛠 | This subject is work in progress. Please bear with us while improvements are being made and assume good faith until the edits are complete. For information on how to help, see the guidelines. More subjects categorized here. |
🛠 |
Xingchen (Simplified Chinese: 星尘; Traditional Chinese: 星塵), also known in English as Stardust, is a Chinese Mandarin VOCALOID developed by Shanghai HENIAN Information Technology Co. Ltd. in collaboration with and distributed by Beijing Photek S&T Development Co., Ltd. for the VOCALOID4 engine in April 2016. She is the first VOCALOID for the Voicebank Customize Project and was later part of the Medium⁵ cast.[1]
In March 2019, it was confirmed that she may receive English and Mandarin Chinese voicebanks for Synthesizer V depending on the differences between the new voicebanks and the VOCALOID voicebank. If the differences were to be too great, the voicebanks would be known as ZERO instead.[2] In late August 2021, she was finally announced for Synthesizer V Studio as Xingchen Infinity, an AI voice database[3] which eventually was released in February 2022.
She is voiced by Chalili (茶理理; Chálǐlǐ), a Chinese utaite.[4]
Concept[]
Xingchen was originally a mascot for the doujinshi group and series Quadimension.[5]
According to the Quadimension 3 album artbook and November's design concepts, Xingchen is capable of flying to Earth by using her hair. However, it was noted that she does not necessarily need to flap her hair while flying in space.[6]
Her birthday is August 12.[7] She is listed as a Leo.
One of the most prominent aspects for Xingchen's character and design is that she carries a yellow star tetrahedron (also known as a "double tetrahedron"). This shape is also present on the left corner of her dress and as the third stroke of "星" in her logo. The star tetrahedron represents the human body, heaven and earth, or aether, and is a shape found in Metatron's Cube.[8] This may be an influence to her design and name. In the artbook for Fairytale released in 2019, the attribute for the star tetrahedron was labelled as "sacred" or "holy" (神圣).[9]
In March 2019, Xingchen was revealed to be part of the Medium⁵ cast and was one of the girls who derived from a single being known as ZERO who possessed Metatron's Cube.[10] It was noted that out of all five derivatives, Xingchen looked and sounded the most like ZERO.
Etymology[]
Her name, Xingchen (星尘; Xīngchén), means "Stardust" in Chinese. "Stardust" is her official English name as it appears on her boxart, numerous promotional material, and is utilized on her official social media accounts.
She was originally known as "Quadimensionko".
Appearance[]
Xingchen's initial VOCALOID design was based on her original Quadimensionko concept. There were notable minor changes as she was given a skirt, shorter pigtails on the lower side of her head, and a different top. This design was drawn by November.
However, due to the Chinese fans' worries about her appearance looking similar to Hatsune Miku, Xingchen was later redesigned.[11] Her final design was drawn by ideolo but was conceptualized by November. Her quad-tail hairstyle was still kept but worn in a different way. She also wore a new one-piece dress and her arm-warmers were replaced with long gloves.
Xingchen's quad-tail hairstyle was created to represent "Quadimension".[12]
Relations[]
- ZERO - Originator
- Haiyi - Younger Sister
- Cangqiong - Older Sister
- Shian - Younger Sister
- Chiyu - Older Sister
- Minus - Fellow MEDIUM5 vocal
- Muxin - Fellow MEDIUM5 vocal
History[]
Xingchen was originally conceptualized as "Quadimensionko", a mascot for the Quadimension doujinshi album series and group.[13] She was later renamed to "Xingchen" upon announcement of her VOCALOID4 voicebank production, which was developed by Shanghai HENIAN Information Technology Co. Ltd. in collaboration with Beijing Photek S&T Development Co., Ltd. (then known as "Quadimension"). Throughout her development and time as a VOCALOID, Xingchen received a complete redesign and a character biography. She was later noted to be a part of MEDIUM5.
2019[]
On March 28, 2019, Ddickky posted on Weibo that two Xingchen voicebanks were being planned for Synthesizer V. These voicebanks were labelled as "Xingchen/ZERO English" and "Xingchen/ZERO Chinese", as the character would be determined based on the differences between the new voicebanks and Xingchen's original VOCALOID voicebank. If the differences were too great, the voicebanks would be known as ZERO rather than Xingchen.[14] However, due to contractual issues with Chalili, Xingchen's voice provider, Xingchen could not be produced for another voice synthesizer engine for the time being, greatly delaying Beijing Photek's Synthesizer V plans for her. Instead, another character was created with a similar, yet villainous image to Xingchen, which led to the release of Xingchen Minus, who was instead voiced by Sawako Sui Hua Zi.
2021[]
On June 19, 2021, Ddickky noted that he would like to create a "Xingchen Infinity" voicebank that would be made for Synthesizer V AI, but could not due to well-known reasons. He was looking for solutions to the issue.[15] On August 13, Ddickky posted the VOCALOID contract for Xingchen to bilibili. At the time, Beijing Photek was discussing the matters with Shanghai HENIAN, working towards having the contract revoked.[16] This voicebank was announced to be in production on August 25, with three conceptual designs revealed. The company announced they were looking for feedback and design proposals from fans.[17]
On November 27, Ddickky announced that the recording process for Xingchen AI would probably be completed at the end of the month or by early December. Afterward, things would speed up as Dreamtonics Co., Ltd. was noted to be very efficient. If nobody broke down the process, then she could be put out for sale before the Chinese winter holidays.[18]
On December 6, Quadimension's official bilibili account posted information about their upcoming music course plans that begin on January 18, 2022. Included in the voice database user benefits pack, Xingchen Infinity was listed. No other information was provided at the time.[19]
2022[]
On January 1, 2022, it was announced that Xingchen Infinity's recording period was nearing completion. Quadimension hoped to showcase her as soon as possible.[20] On January 25, Ddickky intended to have two demos released by that night:[21] a Chinese demonstration (later published as a self-cover of "Zero-Sum") and a Japanese Cross-lingual Singing Synthesis demonstration (later published as a cover of "Zankyousanka").[22] Ddickky commented that improvements for Infinity's beta have been plotted within the past few days. New training materials were submitted that morning, with more songs in the higher vocal ranges to perform better in power, as well as more Japanese and English songs. Pre-orders were planned to start the next day, along with the release of an English demo. Once the training was finished, the product could be released.[23]
On January 26, Ddickky released a statement regarding the production of Xingchen Infinity and the difference in sound compared to her VOCALOID4 version. He noted that the recording method was different and had its own requirements. For the sake of sound quality, it was required to record with a more solid or straightforward voice. Next, the recording material is put into the engine and comes back out as a library. Because of the changes created by the engine's processing, this would result in its texture: the interventions and distortions produced by the engine when putting the library together from the samples.[24]
Later in the day, Xingchen Infinity was made available on Quadimension's Taobao shop for pre-ordering. Her normal price was confirmed to be ¥812, but during the pre-order period, users could get her with a discount of ¥100 off, pricing her at ¥712. However, for users who already had her VOCALOID4 voicebank, they could receive an additional ¥100 off, meaning they could purchase her for a total of ¥612. A release date was not yet available at this time. It was also revealed that her final illustration was by ATDan and used the MEDIUM⁵ 2050 design that was introduced on August 12, 2020 for Xingchen's birthday and was designed by xiao Ye You Xi.[25] On January 29, Quadimension announced that the product should be finalized to release in weeks.[26] On February 10, Ddickky posted that Xingchen Infinity needed further improvements and would be delayed because of it. This meant that the pre-order period would be extended.[27]
On February 18, it was found that some producers began to receive her voice database and activation codes early. Ddickky later followed up to note that he would not be sharing any uploads from other producers as this would create confusion among fans and would be troubling to explain to customers why they haven't received their copy yet. He confirmed that her intended release was February 20.[28] According to her product page, the pre-order period was to end on February 21.[29]
Marketing[]
On September 26, 2015, an illustration contest for Xingchen's official artbook was launched and ended in December. Prizes were available to all who participated. Art pieces needed to tag Xingchen's official Weibo page or be sent in to the email address provided.[30] The winners were revealed on January 2, 2016: ORRY Miao, COCYTOPIA, KYURITIZU, Sida, and Lanbaba. They received gold phone straps of Xingchen, a place within the artbook, and payment. Chinese runner ups received silver phone straps, while overseas runner ups received a digital copy of Xingchen's artbook. No physicals were available for the overseas contestants due to shipping costs. The artbook consisted of 30 to 40 pages.[31]
Quadimension asked the fans for suggestions about the name for the official debut album and artbook. The artbook was later named "银河美术馆" (Yínhé Měishù Guǎn / Gallery of the Galaxy) while the album was named Star Wish.[32]
A figure was announced to be showcased at Wonder Festival on February 17, 2016.[33] The finished product was revealed in August 2016 and was made available for preorder on August 29.[34]
Voicebanks[]
- Xingchen
- Xingchen is a youthful, deep-toned female vocalist built for Mandarin Chinese.
- Xingchen (VOCALOID4), April 13, 2016
- Xingchen Infinity (Synthesizer V AI), February 20, 2022
Reputation[]
Reaction[]
When Xingchen was first announced as a VOCALOID, the Chinese fandom expressed deep concern about the lack of male VOCALOIDs and were worried about a striking resemblance to Hatsune Miku, but this was not as important as some fans already knew her as Quadimensionko from her past appearances.[35] In addition, they were accepting of designs that utilized the "twin tail" hairstyle since characters in the past, such as Dongfang Zhizi, followed this concept. Rather than expressing anger against these designs, the fans were calm and peaceful in their reactions. The Western fandom expressed more concern about Xingchen's resemblance to Miku in contrast.
Due to the Chinese fans' concern for her initial design, Quadimension changed Xingchen's appearance. When the new design was first revealed to a certain number of fans, some thought she looked a little more like Yuzuki Yukari, but were happy with the new look. However, when her design was fully revealed at Firefly Con 2015 to a larger crowd, a large number of fans thought that the new design ruined the uniqueness of her first design and felt that she changed too much, as there were people who were fond of her previous appearance. On the other hand, Western fans thought she looked similar to Yukari and developed mixed reactions: some liked this design better than the last, some were fond of the previous design, or some simply disliked both.
After Xingchen was released, she developed loyal and dedicated fans. She also attracted retired Chinese-language producers back into the fandom and they expressed their interests in creating songs for her.
In February 2017, "Deities of Cathaysia" became the first Xingchen song to achieve 1 million views.
Trivia[]
- While she is the first VOCALOID developed by Shanghai HENIAN to not be part of the Vsinger project, Xin Hua was the first Mandarin Chinese VOCALOID to not be part of it overall.
- She is the first to not receive a Molihua demo. Every Mandarin Chinese VOCALOID before her, including Zhanyin Lorra, sang the song at some point during their development.
- In 2019, Xingchen's initial design was later repurposed for ZERO, a girl who carried Metatron's Cube before she split into six: Cangqiong, Chiyu, Xingchen (kept in tower), Xingchen Minus, Haiyi, and Shian.
Achievements[]
- First Mandarin Chinese VOCALOID4
- First Beijing Photek VOCALOID
- First VOCALOID4 developed by Shanghai HENIAN
- First VOCALOID from the Voice Customize Project
- First Mandarin Chinese VOCALOID to move to another singing synthesizer
- First third-party Chinese Synthesizer V AI
References[]
- ↑ Stardust's Debut
- ↑ https://www.weibo.com/2182360953/Hn3f83q9L
- ↑ Xingchen Infinity announcement
- ↑ Voice provider
- ↑ Quadimensionko
- ↑ http://www.weibo.com/3180838712/Cs1nqw0Xb
- ↑ Character bio
- ↑ http://www.crystalwind.ca/eureka-amazing/meta-science/sacred-geometry/metaphysical-star-tetrahedron
- ↑ https://imgur.com/a/LFzUPk2
- ↑ https://www.bilibili.com/video/av42960488
- ↑ Stardust's clothing change
- ↑ Hairstyle
- ↑ Quadimensionko
- ↑ https://weibo.com/2182360953/Hn3f83q9L
- ↑ https://t.bilibili.com/537903039890499513
- ↑ https://t.bilibili.com/558425733660905885?tab=2
- ↑ https://www.weibo.com/6802075123/Kv4ram7mv
- ↑ https://t.bilibili.com/597601998680530256
- ↑ https://t.bilibili.com/601051909687946100
- ↑ https://t.bilibili.com/610673293554229556
- ↑ https://t.bilibili.com/619559602369571331
- ↑ https://t.bilibili.com/619632926054112178
- ↑ https://t.bilibili.com/619866988878952464
- ↑ https://www.bilibili.com/read/cv15002320
- ↑ https://forum.synthesizerv.com/t/topic/4913
- ↑ https://t.bilibili.com/621111769193096025
- ↑ https://t.bilibili.com/625549776072583574
- ↑ https://t.bilibili.com/628423959597161086
- ↑ https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/695380056943493280/944082015039418368/unknown.png - Screenshot as of February 17, 2022.
- ↑ http://weibo.com/p/1001603891364705253062
- ↑ Artbook winners
- ↑ http://weibo.com/5599743152/Dfm7GdfQT
- ↑ https://twitter.com/quad_stardust/status/693389601617018880
- ↑ Stardust figure preorder
- ↑
Stardust's reaction[dead link]
External links[]
Articles[]
[]
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||