M2 () created the default model of Akita Neru. Kio () created the default model of Sakine Meiko. However, in June 2013, he appeared to come out of retirement and updated the program to it's version 8 release in July. On May 26, 2011, he announced he would retire from developing the program any further. However, because each creator had their own different 3D programs which were difficult to utilize, fans with little or no knowledge of 3D animation skills had little opportunities to make similar videos of their own unless they invested a lot of time just learning the basics of each software. On October 2007, shortly after Hatsune Miku was introduced, some 3D animators began to post 3D Promotional Videos of Miku on Nico Nico Douga. Yu Higuchi (樋口M /ヒグチエム) was one of the leading 3D program developers of Vocaloid characters on Nico Nico Douga and is most well known as the creator of MikuMikuDance. Soon, it became a worthy alternative to other existing 3D programs and fans can now publish 3D videos of vocaloids on video-streaming websites such as Nico Nico Douga and YouTube. This program simplified many aspects of 3D animation creation and its user friendliness, ease and simplicity attracted many creators. On February 24, 2008, MikuMikuDance was released as free software.
