VTubing and YOU

[Enbyeon]

Have you been to YouTube or Twitch dot television and seen that streamers there are not webcams, but CRITTERS or ANIME? Have you ever wanted to be a CRITTER or ANIME on a stream? There are ways, and I am here to impart knowledge to you.

Teach Me, Enby-sensei! What programs do I use?

• Fugi - Using the same tech as the Fushigi, and making it lighter by removing the 'shi', you can use this very lightweight solution where all you need is an image and to be in a Discord voice channel or chat. Even if you don't use it for yourself, it is a popular solution for stream guests, as it can detect everyone in a voice chat, not just you!
• veadotube mini - do you wish to be a CRITURE? Do you wish to shake and shiver and bounce whenever you speak? Do you want your images CRISP while using a program that's LIGHTWEIGHT? This is your tool. Combine it with hotkeys and you can switch character sets with redeems or mood! Wanna be ANGRY CRITUR? Wanna be DIFFERENT CRITURE? Anything is possible.
• VSeeFace - One of the most popular solutions for the world of 3D is VSeeFace. Using *.vrm or *.vsfavatar files, you too can be an anime! It's a little bit old and janky, but if you put in the work, you can get perfectly satisfying results.
• VTube Studio - When you wanna go FULL ANIME COMMERCIAL CONSUMERISM you go VTube Studio! If you enjoy how the big names look, and you can get someone to make a 2D live model for you, you can look absolutely snazzy with this one. (I used to use this one as well! It's neat!)
• VNyan - A free replacement for VSeeFace, this doesn't piggyback like VTuber Plus and also has some crazy scripting options and ways to mimic sounds other than A and O (fun fact, your non-iphone webcam can only detect those mouth motions!). This is my current go-to.

Enby-sensei, I saw this cool VRChat avatar, how do I make it my Tuber??

I can tell you the path I went down to learn this, and it was this blog post: https://xeiaso.net/blog/vrchat-avatar-t ... 022-01-02/

Thank you, Enby-sensei! Now I can por-

Do not thank me for cursing you with knowledge that will only make you ask more questions than give you answers as the abyss of Unity being a fucking bitch consumes you.

In the next post, I will show you the wonderful world of scripting in VNyan :

[Enbyeon]

Post reserved for VNyan scripting shenanigans.

[Mixi Blacksand]

I really may have to write up my adventures in converting a VRChat avatar to a VTuber, because I see a lot of what you've linked there where people just turn it into a VRM, lose a ton of information, and have to manually rebuild things. If you use Warudo and it's own extension of the VRM format you can keep your Poiyomi shaders, use a script to convert Physbones back into Dynamic Bones, and have a very accurate copy of your VRC avi with a lot less work than the VSeeFace/VRM process requires. I was even able to combine it with LIV, my Quest 2 with hand tracking, and Slime FBT to get full hand and body tracking over top of the game.

[Enbyeon]

I really may have to write up my adventures in converting a VRChat avatar to a VTuber, because I see a lot of what you've linked there where people just turn it into a VRM, lose a ton of information, and have to manually rebuild things. If you use Warudo and it's own extension of the VRM format you can keep your Poiyomi shaders, use a script to convert Physbones back into Dynamic Bones, and have a very accurate copy of your VRC avi with a lot less work than the VSeeFace/VRM process requires. I was even able to combine it with LIV, my Quest 2 with hand tracking, and Slime FBT to get full hand and body tracking over top of the game.

Yeah the link I put in only covers VRM, but I convert my VRChat models into vsfavatar format and retain all the custom shaders, but it does come with rebuilding everything like you said.

Is Warudo's extension of the VRM format compatible with anything that can read VRM/VSFavatar, or can it only be used in Warudo?

[Mixi Blacksand]

I don't know, after briefly testing the options I settled on Warudo as the one I wanted to use for webcam-based streaming so it's all I have proper experience with.

[gardevoir]

Thanks for the primer!

Lately, I’ve seen a couple of VTubers with really good hand tracking—-the motions look so snappy and natural (aside from how the hands occasionally stay still while the rest of the body moves). What’s the state of the art look like for hand tracking these days?

(Also, it’s always a little heartening to be reminded that I’m not the only one cursing Unity from the bottom of my heart while I’m working on VR-sona stuff. )

[Enbyeon]

Thanks for the primer!

Lately, I’ve seen a couple of VTubers with really good hand tracking—-the motions look so snappy and natural (aside from how the hands occasionally stay still while the rest of the body moves). What’s the state of the art look like for hand tracking these days?

(Also, it’s always a little heartening to be reminded that I’m not the only one cursing Unity from the bottom of my heart while I’m working on VR-sona stuff. )

I *think* the person in that clip is using VR tracking for hand tracking, which is something you can do but I haven't really tried dabbling into it. What I use is a Leap Motion 1 (there's also a 2, that's more expensive but marginally better) and a 3D printed choker to hold it around my neck. You can also place it on the table, but I'm not a fan of how it works then.

That said, the Leap Motion too janky for its price, but it's also the most reliable and logistically least-annoying option.

[beeps]

I don't vtube stream stuff (well, I did a few times several years ago), but as an anxious dysphoric critter I've been wondering if I could use a vtube avatar for work calls.

I mean, that'd be crazy... but maybe crazy enough to work...

[lopodyr]

I would love to get into VTubing at some point but I'm planning on making my life even harder by working on a Mac, with Godot. Wish me luck (or stop me before I hurt myself).

At any rate, thanks for sharing the knowledge

[Mixi Blacksand]

Thanks for the primer!

Lately, I’ve seen a couple of VTubers with really good hand tracking—-the motions look so snappy and natural (aside from how the hands occasionally stay still while the rest of the body moves). What’s the state of the art look like for hand tracking these days?

(Also, it’s always a little heartening to be reminded that I’m not the only one cursing Unity from the bottom of my heart while I’m working on VR-sona stuff. )

One solution I came up with, since I have inside-out VR gear already was to:

* Enable camera hand tracking on the Quest 2
* Connect via Steam Link so that data is passed to Steam VR
* Also have SlimeVR running for my FBT
* Set up Warudo to use SteamVR for pose tracking
* Set up my FBT + finger tracking in Warudo

Then I could move around the screen and talk with my hands - within the range of the Quest's cameras, anyway.

[Flann]

For the fellow Linux peeps I've managed to get decent results with the combination of Facetracker and VSeeFace running in Bottles.

I don't vtube stream stuff (well, I did a few times several years ago), but as an anxious dysphoric critter I've been wondering if I could use a vtube avatar for work calls.

I mean, that'd be crazy... but maybe crazy enough to work...

That is a thing I've done for shits and giggles, OBS Studio has a Virtual Camera output, with that you can loop the output from OBS into whatever conferencing platform you use.

[Gabu]

oooh!! useful thread!! good recommendations for what software to use for vtubing!

although the thing that is still a mystery for me is, i wanna make my own feral 3D model (i have blender experience) which is (obviously) not already built for VRC, and havent really found any good guides on how to set up a VRM/VSFAvatar file from the ground up, with just a rigged model

and also which software would be good for that. i remember for 2D avatars there were multiple separate softwares you could use, but for 3D is it really always gonna be Unity with plugins?

[Enbyeon]

and also which software would be good for that. i remember for 2D avatars there were multiple separate softwares you could use, but for 3D is it really always gonna be Unity with plugins?

I only know of Unity with plugins for setting up VRMs/vsfavatar files. If there's a different method, I'd love to know too lol

For feral avatars, the big issue with VRM is that it requires a humanoid skeleton. So you could make the head and mouth move, but the rest of the body would require animations probably and then you have macros to play them?

[idadeerz]

i used to use veadotube mini, but i got extremely fed up with the ToS/license the developers provided with the software. specifically, there's a section that prohibits the software to be used for bigotry and illegal acts. now this would be fine were it not for the fact that they explicitly included 'babyfurs' in this part of the license. at some point this was sheepishly removed from their website after they got backlash for it.

FxeEg52XwAA1hPV.png (119.53 KiB) Viewed 257 times

i personally prefer my software *without* BS custom licenses that wouldn't even hold up in a court of law. a software license shouldn't be a place for someone to soapbox about how much they hate certain parts of the queer community... it's not like they can stop anyone from using the software, but i feel like people should at least be informed about this when choosing to use it.

personally, i ended up switching over to Rahituber. it does everything that veadotube mini does, but it can get much more in-depth in terms of model making. there's layers, (fake) physics, mouse/controller tracking (and a workaround to make it do face tracking, too), http-controlled states so you can easily automate stuff using stream integration software... rahi is very cool and super active when it comes to developing the software and answering questions about it, too.

here's a (very unscripted) video i recorded showing my model off:

I don't vtube stream stuff (well, I did a few times several years ago), but as an anxious dysphoric critter I've been wondering if I could use a vtube avatar for work calls.

I mean, that'd be crazy... but maybe crazy enough to work...

that's absolutely possible! i use OBS Studio to stream, so i already have sources set up for my pngtuber model and stuff like that. you can also use OBS as a virtual camera, where it will mimic a webcam device and output whatever you're broadcasting to that device. then you can use it like any other webcam in software like Discord or i assume Zoom or Teams.

[Gabu]

For feral avatars, the big issue with VRM is that it requires a humanoid skeleton. So you could make the head and mouth move, but the rest of the body would require animations probably and then you have macros to play them?

yeah i wouldn't even need that much body movement, just swaying along with the head and i wasn't planning on any paw tracking anyway. and then yeah, different poses like sitting up or laying down just manually swapping between them

but even just the requirement of a humanoid skeleton.. gahhhhh why is it always like this!!! like even in non-furry circles surely an avatar with like a robot arm that has an extra joint is not that weird right, like... is non-humanoid skeleton THAT inconceivable for the normies???? lol

i used to use veadotube mini, but i got extremely fed up with the ToS/license the developers provided with the software. specifically, there's a section that prohibits the software to be used for bigotry and illegal acts. now this would be fine were it not for the fact that they explicitly included 'babyfurs' in this part of the license. at some point this was sheepishly removed from their website after they got backlash for it.

oh jeez i use it to but this is enough reason to make we switch over, SCREW that

also DANG your model looks so good!!!!!

[Ribbon]

personally, i ended up switching over to Rahituber. it does everything that veadotube mini does, but it can get much more in-depth in terms of model making. there's layers, (fake) physics, mouse/controller tracking (and a workaround to make it do face tracking, too), http-controlled states so you can easily automate stuff using stream integration software... rahi is very cool and super active when it comes to developing the software and answering questions about it, too.

Ohhhhhh this'll take quite a bit for us to learn, we switched over to LandiTube pretty recently which was a step up from Veadotube but had we known about Rahituber, we would have jumped straight to it. Seeing the support for layers was very much closer to what we were looking for and seeing built-in support for mouse movement and controller inputs leads to a lot of fun possibilities. Appreciate this!! - Finn (fae/she)

[idadeerz]

personally, i ended up switching over to Rahituber. [...]

Ohhhhhh this'll take quite a bit for us to learn, we switched over to LandiTube pretty recently which was a step up from Veadotube but had we known about Rahituber, we would have jumped straight to it. Seeing the support for layers was very much closer to what we were looking for and seeing built-in support for mouse movement and controller inputs leads to a lot of fun possibilities. Appreciate this!! - Finn (fae/she)

np!!

i've not really looked into LandiTube before; maybe i should have since i do use SAMMI very extensively. the way it integrates into OBS looks incredibly cool... can imagine that's difficult to set up, though. it looks like it's more for just moving talksprites around rather than making a full vtuber model. though maybe i'm wrong, it's not like i've used it myself.

i used to use RahiTuber just for stuff like that, but Rahi has added so many new features to it that i wanted to try creating an actual vtuber rig in it. it's so cool having seen it go from just a simple pngtuber software to something capable of stuff like that!

[Mixi Blacksand]

For feral avatars, the big issue with VRM is that it requires a humanoid skeleton. So you could make the head and mouth move, but the rest of the body would require animations probably and then you have macros to play them?

yeah i wouldn't even need that much body movement, just swaying along with the head and i wasn't planning on any paw tracking anyway. and then yeah, different poses like sitting up or laying down just manually swapping between them

but even just the requirement of a humanoid skeleton.. gahhhhh why is it always like this!!! like even in non-furry circles surely an avatar with like a robot arm that has an extra joint is not that weird right, like... is non-humanoid skeleton THAT inconceivable for the normies???? lol

The Humanoid skeleton is just a starting point. You can have MORE bones, you just need to provide a base set for the IK system many inbuilt systems and plugins rely on. From there you can make whatever constraints and animations you want to drive the extra limbs.

That TOS story reminds me of 3D Coat's old TOS. Great program for many things, one of the best alternatives to Substance Painter, but used to have a section on the website about promoting Christian values and a TOS that prohibited for using it for *anything* erotic. They have thankfully removed all that these days.

[Azuli]

Dang, I'm glad I got here. While I don't have a 3D avatar yet, having some extra info on vnyan (which can run on Linux, iirc) will be of great help in the future!

Right now, I need to work on a new PNGtuber

[vurrsys]

personally, i ended up switching over to Rahituber. it does everything that veadotube mini does, but it can get much more in-depth in terms of model making. there's layers, (fake) physics, mouse/controller tracking (and a workaround to make it do face tracking, too), http-controlled states so you can easily automate stuff using stream integration software... rahi is very cool and super active when it comes to developing the software and answering questions about it, too.

I've been looking to switch away from Veadotube for a while (I used to be one of the beta testers and quietly left but still have access to all the new betas that come out, lol) and this is the perfect excuse to finally make the switch. Ty for the recommendation!!

[SWZTCH]

omfg i am so happy 2 read all of this i am totally normal about live2d and vtube studio and can totally be trusted around pngs....

that sucks abt veadotube!!! ive been swapping over very slowly to pngtuber+ cuz its like veadotube but you can like... animate it and have diff layers + edit how they move. its suuuper cool imo, i just havent had time to learn it sobsss

https://kaiakairos.itch.io/pngtuber-plus

[outdated video but u get the gist of it! u dont need to be a artist, just as long as u have layers separated ]

[ElTipejoLoco]

pngtuber+

I made a thing for this, but unfortunately the program's also been the only Godot engine run software that I've had freeze and crash on me. Its transparency solution or something must be more demanding than it seems at first glance when run alongside OBS and games, even though when it's crashed for me it seemed more like a time-based thing than not. Might just be my system/setup, though.

Hidden text.

If you're curious I can give you some details on the numbers I set up for the pieces pictured above, but essentially I set it up so that there would be some squish to the hair parts and some swing to both those and the glasses whenever the image bounces when PNGTuber+ detects speech. Unfortunately all my audio inputs options are kind of garbage so I don't think I'll ever get good and consistent results when relying on programs using very simple (i.e.- noise-gateless and noise-reductionless) options for 'em.
You could probably do more fun things with more parts, 'course, I'm just boring.
Critters' animal ears or slime/drool could also probably be animated to swing and squish more dynamically and wildly, for example.

[Enbyeon]

Posting here in hopes that someone can help me figure out this problem.

I'm trying to port over the Daemo VRC avatar to VRM format. The main struggle I've been having is that it has an armature that isn't properly tracked when ported. It's t-posing, there's no arm or head movement... Last time I had this issue, it was a model with 4 arms, but I managed to fix that by renaming the different bones. Hasn't worked here (or rather, I couldn't figure out what or where to rename it).

Attached is the armature and a disclaimer from the editing scene by the creator. (I've tried contacting the model author, but I haven't gotten a response for 2 weeks now.)

[Coca]

oh! u should check the mapping settings inside unity (unfold the character mesh, click on the character avatar > configure avatar), there you can track the head and arms without renaming it, just pointing the right bones to unity

i've created a ton of VRchat model from scratch and it was very easy to convert them to VRM, but since i've done my own rigging (and that's my irl job) it's easier than taking someone else rig, i know the struggle T_T

[Enbyeon]

oh! u should check the mapping settings inside unity (unfold the character mesh, click on the character avatar > configure avatar), there you can track the head and arms without renaming it, just pointing the right bones to unity

i've created a ton of VRchat model from scratch and it was very easy to convert them to VRM, but since i've done my own rigging (and that's my irl job) it's easier than taking someone else rig, i know the struggle T_T

That helped me figure out a solution! Thank you so much!