Streaming used to be an activity limited to professional players or people looking to make a life out of it.
Today, streaming has become a hobby for many players who just want to share their favorite gameplay, moments, and thoughts with their friends, family, and online strangers.
Not only has streaming become pretty popular but also more accessible than ever.
Over the past years, the term “VTuber” has become an increasingly popular word in the streaming world. If you frequent streams, you have probably seen a lot of animated character streamers and might be wondering how they work.
Well, these are known as VTubers, and today we will be telling you all about them and how to become one!
What is a VTuber?
Despite existing for years, VTubing is still a pretty new concept that is constantly evolving, which can cause misunderstandings around what it is. In principle, VTubing is no different from normal streaming or video-based content creation.
What sets it apart is that when engaging with these activities, your virtual character will be taking your place on the stage.
There are many reasons why you might enjoy using a virtual character as your avatar by becoming a VTuber.
First: There is the anonymity that comes with not having to reveal your identity. Not only will this allow you to stay safe in the online world from the get-go but also as your audience grows, removing one of the problems that come with notoriety.
Another benefit of being a VTuber is the creative freedom it brings to the table, allowing you to express yourself in new and exciting ways. From creating your avatar’s background history to designing his looks, and giving him a personality, there are certainly a lot of aspects you can tune as you want.
Creating your virtual identity is like bringing the best out of the theater, Tabletop RPGs, and videogames together, giving them life through animation and your performance. No matter if you wish to be a cat girl or a hell-spawned anthropomorphic fox, everything goes.
How Did VTubing Start?
The desire to project a personality and character into inanimate objects has been part of human culture ever since puppetry started over 5000 years ago.
From India to Mexico, every major civilization has partaken in the art of puppetry, evolving the art and allowing it to survive to this day. Now, with technology being more advanced than ever before and a whole new world of applications, puppetry has taken new expressions.
When digital animation was invented, few people would have imagined how many use cases it would eventually have. While movies and shows would animate digital characters that would reach millions, it would take decades for the medium to expand to other industries.
When Gorillaz launched its first video in 2020, the English band would take digital characters to a whole new level by cementing the concept of digital artists and visual characters.
Sure, virtual characters like Max Headroom had been created before but it was Gorillaz the first mega band to popularize this use of digital characters, Japan would take it to the next level over the next decades.
With the launch of Vocaloid software like Lola and Leo, Japan would eventually see the introduction of Meiko. This animated digital singer was an instant success in 2004, allowing virtual characters like Hatsune Miku, Megurine Luka, Kaito, Rin & Len Kagamine, and many more.
Today, virtual characters have grown to the point of going mainstream all around the world, expanding their presence through streaming services, video games, and social media.
With Augmented and Virtual reality on the rise, as well as technologies like projection, fans are now able to assist their concerts and interact with them in new ways.
While all of these virtual singers and characters had been animated beforehand so far, computer vision technology would eventually get good enough to open a new era of virtual character creation.
Now, existing and new virtual characters could be used in real-time, which offered new possibilities and immersive experiences by allowing them to react to their environment by talking, moving, and interacting in real-time.
This is where puppetry comes back as it was only a matter of time until people wanted to use these real-life animated virtual characters as an avatar. Long gone were the days when a virtual character seemed static despite being full of colors and animations. The era of Vtubers was starting.
How To Become a VTuber
If you want to join the fun and become a VTuber but are worried about the technical aspect of it, worry not. Creating your virtual avatar and starting to create content is way easier than most people would imagine at first. This is because a lot of software, solutions, and platforms supporting VTuber are readily available.
If you have the desire and drive to become a VTuber, the technical aspect won’t be challenging.
If you are a streamer, you probably know that one of the most difficult steps is choosing the right platform and tools to start your new hobby (or job). When VTubing, you will face a similar challenge as there are a lot of different software solutions.
These include popular names like :
The platform you choose will depend on many things but especially on the type of VTubing avatar you will be using. As such, let’s talk about the types of VTuber avatars you can choose from first.
1. Design Your VTubing Avatar
The first step when designing your VTubing avatar is to come up with concepts, which include how your avatar looks and how they are. As your avatar is meant to be a virtual character, it is important that your audience (and you) can connect with it, just like with any other streamer or content creator.
As such, it is time to decide:
- Will your avatar look like yourself or quite the opposite?
- Do they come from our world or maybe a fantasy world as she is a fairy or anthropomorphic animal?
- What’s their personality like? What is their backstory?
The more information you have about your character, the easier it will be for you to play it in the future. You don’t want your future viewers noticing you getting out of character or being inconsistent!
Once you have an idea of who your character is, it is time to come up with what they look like. While you can do this step first, we find that it is easier to come up with the style after you have an idea of who your character is.
During this step you want to come up with ideas about your avatar’s height, complexion, hairstyle, skin and eye color, accessories, distinguishing features, logo, clothing, and similar aspects.
Below, you can see a reference sheet created by a Redditor for their VTuber.
Here’s my new reference sheet for my vtuber~! from VirtualYoutubers
2: Create your Avatar
Creating your VTubing avatar might be the most important step you will need to take before becoming a VTuber. This is not because it is necessarily difficult but because your avatar will be one of the most important factors to determine your success.
Sure, you may put on an impressive performance and quality content but unfortunately, if your avatar doesn’t catch the attention of your potential viewers, they might never know that.
There are many things you should consider when creating your VTubing avatar, so let’s stop beating around the bush and get right to the point.
Choose Your Avatar’s Type
When we talk about the type of avatar we are referring to the type of model you will be using for your Vtubing avatar. There are 3 main types of avatars out there: PNG, 2D, and 3D.
PNG Avatar
The most basic type of avatar you can choose is a PNG avatar, which as the name implies is just a static PNG image depicting your avatar. This avatar won’t move or do much beyond reacting to your voice when you talk, usually consisting of a “resting” and “active” voice.
2D Avatar
Next, you have 2D avatars. As the name suggests, these are avatars made out of 2D art just like PNG avatars. However, 2D avatars can move after undergoing a “rigging” process, a digital process reminiscent of how puppets work.
By having a 2D avatar you will be able to have your avatar’s eyes, mouth, and body parts move as you move, creating a dynamic avatar that mimics your movements.
3D Avatar
Lastly, you have 3D avatars. These are just more advanced versions of 2D avatars which are fully made in 3D animation. This adds another layer of complexity that allows you to give more realism to your avatar, even if it is an anime-live character.
Fortunately, while 3D avatars are not easy to do from scratch, they might be easier to create than 2D avatars in some cases.
3. Choose The Right Platform
Now that you have selected the type of avatar you want to start with, it is time to make them a reality.
To achieve this you will need to choose the right platform. With so much variety there, choosing the right platform can be hard, which is why we have chosen what we consider to be the best platforms to create each type of avatar.
Creating a PNG Avatar
When it comes to creating a PNG avatar, there is not much science beyond knowing how to draw, learning how to do so, or using an avatar creation platform.
The reason why you will need to create a PNG is that your avatar’s picture must have a transparent background to work correctly. To create this avatar, you can use programs like Photoshop and illustrator to do it from scratch or paper doll-style avatar makers like Picrew or Charat.
Just make sure to have two images: One for when you are speaking (active) and another for when you are not (inactive).
Creating a 2D Avatar
2D avatars will require you to use more specialized software. In this case, we recommend Live2D Cubism, which is one of the most popular platforms out there.
Before using it, you will need to have a PSD image for each of your avatar’s individual layers, which means its element that you want to animate independently.
Once you have the PSD files they can be imported to Live2D Cubism before being rigged. Here is an easy official tutorial for you to start with.
Creating a 3D Avatar
When it comes to 3D avatars, there are no more popular platforms than VRoid Studio. This platform is not only entirely free but it also allows you to create anything from a barebones avatar to a professionally-looking avatar. The result will depend on your skill and effort.
Surprisingly, using VRoid Studio is easier to use than Live2D cubism, as it is similar to traditional avatar makers in popular titles like Final Fantasy XIV, Eve Online, Skyrim, or Dark Souls.
That being said, most veteran VTubers don’t like the appearance of the standard VRoid 3d base, a sentiment shared by many viewers.
That being said, VRoid is a solid start that will let you start Vtubing pretty quickly and upgrade your models as you go. VRoid also has a pretty detailed tutorial on how to use it, which is updated with every major release.
4. Use Your Model to Stream
Now that you have a model of your avatar, it is time to start streaming. In this case, we have chosen to use Streamlabs OBS not only as it is one of the most popular streaming software out there but also one of the best. Let’s get started
Using Your PNG Avatar
Using your PNG avatar to stream is as easy as using Discord Reactive Images and having a Discord account (as well as downloading it). The process is pretty simple and consists of connecting your Discord account with Discord Reactive Images, before adding a specific link as a source in Streamlabs. We recommend you use this official tutorial!
Using Your 2D Avatars
Using your 2D avatar is a pretty straightforward process once you find the right software. In this case, we will be using Animaze (from the same developers of FaceRig).
The specific tool is called Animaze Virtual Camera, which is free to use with the free version of Animaze. As the name suggests, this tool will use your 2D model and work as the source for Streamlabs, effectively having your 2D avatar show in your place.
In order to do this, you will first have to download Animaze Desktop and install it. Once this is done you can import your 2D model, activate the Webcam tracker, and then use Animaze Virtual Camera as the “Video Capture Device” source in Streamlabs.
While this might seem like much due to the 3 links to the tutorials, worry not as it is an extremely simple and straightforward process.
Using Your 3D Avatars
To use your 3D avatars, you will need to use face tracking software. This will allow your new virtual character to track your movement and expressions, allowing them (and therefore you) to interact with their (or your) audience.
In this case, we recommend using VSeeFace as it is free and has been tested by thousands of VTubers. Setting up the program is not only as easy as importing a VRM file followed by choosing your camera and microphone input.
Once this is done, you can add your avatar to Streamlabs by adding a new “Game capture source” and selecting VSeeFace. If you need a detailed tutorial, we recommend this one!
