Preparing your Computer
Preparations done before installing UTAU.
So, you want to install UTAU, huh? Look no further, as the entire Preparations section will help you on how install UTAU and its necessities!
Preparations
Before installing UTAU, there must be changes made to computer so that the program with work properly. Going STRAIGHT into installing UTAU without taking necessary preparations is not recommended. We want a program that functions properly without making you frustrated in the long run.
Luckily, it's really easy to prepare your computer before installing UTAU! If you follow the instructions carefully, then you will be well on your way to the installation process.
Changing your system locale
The first and only important step in preparing your computer to install UTAU is changing your system locale to Japanese. You CANNOT use AppLocale as an alternative.
But why change your system locale to Japanese, you ask? The reason why we want to change our locale is so that the Japanese characters that show up in UTAU and downloaded voicebanks with Hiragana filenames and such will display correctly (we will get to that part later in the tutorials). If we do not change our system locale and then install UTAU, said Japanese characters will instead read as gibberish, or more specifically, mojibake. We don't want that to happen.
Depending on your operation environment, there are specific ways to change your locale. Let's get started, shall we?
Changing your system locale on Windows
Windows is the most popular OS for using UTAU, as it allows for more resamplers and plugins (a topic to be discussed later in the tutorials) to be used. Keep in mind that not everyone uses the same version of Windows, and that the process for changing your locale is different for each version.
The instructions for changing your system locale in Windows 10 (and Windows 8) will be described in much greater detail, since Windows 10 is the OS I use.
Windows 10 (and Windows 8)
Go to the Control Panel. You can do this by searching up "Control Panel" in the search button of your taskbar. You will see this screen afterwards.
Under Clock and Region (Clock, Language, and Region for Windows 8), click on Change date, time, or number formats. You will then be prompted with this screen:
Now, go to the Administrative tab, and click on Change system locale..., which will bring you a ton of locales to choose from via dropdown.
Select Japanese (Japan) from the dropdown, and then click OK.
After that, you will have to restart your computer for this change to fully take effect. Once you have restarted your computer, you are now ready to install UTAU! Yay!
Other Windows Versions
I won't be covering how to change your system locale to Japanese in other Windows versions in this article, but you can consult this page here, as this also provides a detailed walkthrough in changing your system locale.
Changing your locale on MacOS
It's not necessary to change your MacOS's locale to Japanese, so if you happen to use MacOS, keep moving on to the next tutorial!
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