<s>
MikuMikuDance	B-Application
(	O
commonly	O
abbreviated	O
to	O
MMD	O
)	O
is	O
a	O
freeware	B-License
animation	O
program	O
that	O
lets	O
users	O
animate	O
and	O
create	O
3D	O
animated	O
films	O
,	O
originally	O
produced	O
for	O
the	O
Vocaloid	B-Application
character	O
Hatsune	O
Miku	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
MikuMikuDance	B-Application
program	O
itself	O
was	O
programmed	O
by	O
Yu	O
Higuchi	O
(	O
HiguchiM	O
)	O
and	O
has	O
gone	O
through	O
significant	O
upgrades	O
since	O
its	O
creation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Its	O
production	O
was	O
made	O
as	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
VOCALOID	B-Application
Promotion	O
Video	O
Project	O
(	O
VPVP	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
motion	O
data	O
used	O
to	O
animate	O
the	O
characters	O
and	O
the	O
pose	O
data	O
mainly	O
used	O
for	O
making	O
screenshots	O
can	O
be	O
exported	O
as	O
.vmd	O
(	O
Vocaloid	B-Application
Motion	O
Data	O
)	O
files	O
and	O
.vpd	O
(	O
Vocaloid	B-Application
Pose	O
Data	O
)	O
files	O
,	O
respectively	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
software	O
also	O
uses	O
the	O
Bullet	B-Application
physics	I-Application
engine	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Users	O
can	O
also	O
use	O
Microsoft	O
's	O
Kinect	B-Algorithm
for	O
motion	O
capturing	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
MikuMikuDance	B-Application
is	O
exclusively	O
a	O
posing	O
and	O
animation	O
software	O
,	O
modelers	O
use	O
3D	O
modeling	O
software	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
Blender	B-Application
or	O
Metasequoia	B-Application
,	O
to	O
create	O
the	O
model	O
and	O
UV	O
map	O
,	O
while	O
the	O
majority	O
of	O
conversion	O
to	O
the	O
MMD	O
platform	O
(	O
such	O
as	O
facial	O
morphs	O
,	O
bones	O
and	O
physical	O
bodies	O
)	O
is	O
done	O
with	O
a	O
program	O
made	O
exclusively	O
for	O
MMD	O
model	O
conversion	O
,	O
PMD	O
Editor	O
or	O
its	O
successor	O
PMX	O
editor	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
software	O
itself	O
comes	O
with	O
a	O
small	O
number	O
of	O
models	O
of	O
well-known	O
Vocaloids	B-Application
and	O
an	O
invisible	O
grid	O
,	O
to	O
which	O
particle	O
effects	O
can	O
be	O
attached	O
to	O
in	O
MME	O
,	O
a	O
stage	O
,	O
some	O
accessories	O
,	O
and	O
two	O
samples	O
of	O
what	O
MMD	O
can	O
do	O
,	O
in	O
the	O
form	O
of	O
.pmm	O
files	O
;	O
the	O
file	O
type	O
that	O
MMD	O
projects	O
are	O
saved	O
as	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Videos	O
using	O
the	O
software	O
are	O
regularly	O
seen	O
on	O
sites	O
such	O
as	O
Nico	O
Nico	O
Douga	O
and	O
YouTube	B-General_Concept
and	O
are	O
popular	O
among	O
Vocaloid	B-Application
fans	O
and	O
users	O
alike	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
models	O
for	O
Vocaloid	B-Application
may	O
also	O
be	O
used	O
for	O
Vocaloid	B-Application
music	O
,	O
going	O
on	O
to	O
be	O
used	O
by	O
studios	O
working	O
with	O
the	O
Vocaloid	B-Application
software	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Most	O
of	O
these	O
tend	O
to	O
be	O
Vocaloid	B-Application
or	O
models	O
that	O
do	O
not	O
have	O
a	O
particular	O
copyright	O
holder	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
there	O
are	O
alternative	O
programs	O
that	O
provide	O
similar	O
functionality	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
MikuMikuMoving	O
(	O
MMD	O
's	O
"	O
replacement	O
"	O
that	O
is	O
updated	O
frequently	O
and	O
has	O
many	O
of	O
the	O
features	O
of	O
MMD	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
new	O
file	O
formats	O
unique	O
to	O
the	O
program	O
,	O
support	O
for	O
the	O
Oculus	B-Device
Rift	I-Device
head-mounted	O
display	O
and	O
a	O
new	O
UI	O
,	O
among	O
other	O
features	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
free	B-Application
software	I-Application
,	O
Blender	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
on	O
June	O
1	O
,	O
2013	O
,	O
MikuMikuDance	B-Application
's	O
creator	O
began	O
to	O
release	O
updates	O
for	O
the	O
program	O
very	O
suddenly	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
December	O
2014	O
,	O
Sekai	O
Project	O
announced	O
that	O
they	O
had	O
acquired	O
permission	O
to	O
release	O
MikuMikuDance	B-Application
on	O
Steam	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
software	O
was	O
released	O
as	O
freeware	B-License
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
models	O
of	O
the	O
Vocaloid	B-Application
mascot	O
series	O
provided	O
with	O
the	O
software	O
are	O
subject	O
to	O
the	O
Piapro	O
Character	O
License	O
,	O
and	O
are	O
not	O
allowed	O
to	O
be	O
used	O
without	O
permission	O
for	O
commercial	O
reasons	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
program	O
does	O
not	O
include	O
all	O
of	O
the	O
Vocaloid	B-Application
characters	O
by	O
default	O
,	O
but	O
it	O
includes	O
Crypton	O
Future	O
Media	O
's	O
Vocaloids	B-Application
which	O
are	O
Hatsune	O
Miku	O
,	O
Kagamine	O
Rin	O
,	O
Kagamine	O
Len	O
,	O
KAITO	O
,	O
MEIKO	O
,	O
and	O
Megurine	O
Luka	O
;	O
and	O
although	O
Yowane	O
Haku	O
,	O
Akita	O
Neru	O
,	O
Sakine	O
Meiko	O
,	O
and	O
Kasane	O
Teto	O
are	O
not	O
official	O
Vocaloids	B-Application
(	O
Teto	O
being	O
an	O
UTAU	B-Application
)	O
,	O
they	O
became	O
so	O
popular	O
that	O
Crypton	O
officially	O
licensed	O
and	O
added	O
them	O
to	O
Project	B-Application
Diva	I-Application
.	O
</s>
