Vtuber Model Manual

What is this?

You may be wondering "I paid for a vtuber model rig not for an appliance" so why is there a manual alongside the files with funny names and extensions?

Well I noticed that some vtubers on twitch and youtube have amazing models, but, there is still something that seems off about them, not that they look bad, is just that they could look better. And its not because of bad rigging but because of poor configuration or lack of it.

You see, the most popular facetracking software for indie vtubers, vTubeStudio and prprLive (I wont talk about VUP since half of that program is in chinese and their UI is too complicated IMO), set your model configuration with some default values, and depending on your camera and the lightning of your room, tweaking these little numbers can do amazing differences on how your model looks while moving, and also can save you of some neck pain (looking at you angleZ parameter).

Should I read it?

Well yes, but actually no. Your model already has a configuration for it to work on your face tracking software. So it's not necessary to change anything, you are free to slap your model into vTubeStudio, turn on OBS, start streaming, become famous and dominate the word! (or just have fun with it).

It is the default configuration plus a couple of tweaks made by me just to be sure the extra parameters unique to your model aren't completely ignored (for example the breathing and ear movement).

But as I said before, not all cameras and room illumination are the same, so if you found the tracking is not working properly, here is a guide on how to improve how your vtuber self will look when streaming.

Also, everyone has there own preferences about how a vtuber should look like. some think that their movemnt and physics should look realistic, others prefer fluffiness and bounciness. I hope that this guide will help you on setting your model as the best it can be!

Warning: I don't recommend you to edit the .json files manually from a text editor, since there is risk of making syntax erros that will make the file unreadable for the tracking app. The following setup can be done inside the face tracking app, the only exception being prprLive without animoji DLC (but if your are not buying the DLC, you may as well just use vTubeStudio)

How does a vtuber model works?

After all the technical stuff about textures, masks, warp and rotation deformers we end with the following files:

expressions folder
animations folder
icon.png
your_model.8192 folder
your_model.cdi.json
your_model.moc3
your_model.model3.json
your_model.physics3.json
your_model.prprl2d.json only for prprLive
ARKitFaceTrackerSettingBeta.json only for prprLive
your_model.vtube.json only for vTubeStudio

When you load your model in your tracking app, it reads all these files to know how to build your model and what it has to do when you start moving like crazy in front of your camera. Thanks to some AI stuff, your app can detect diferent movement you do with your face likes these ones:

Looking to the right, left, up and down
Tilting your head
Open and closing your eyes
Open and closing your mouth
Smiling or sad mouth
Moving your eyebrows up and down
How close you are to your camera
... and possibly even more in the future

Note: inside the app these are called parameters too, a little confusing I know. Just keep in mind that we link the app parameters to control our model's parameters. Also you can configure the app to detect other things like mouse movement or mic input.

We will be looking at the model configuration menu of your tracking app, where you can choose which kind of movement triggers each of your model's parameters

BTW what are parameters? These are the movement that your rig artist incorporated in your model, so if your character can move their face to the left and to the right, it's is most likely that it has a "Angle X" parameter, just as if it can blink then it has the "Eye Open" parameter for sure, and so on. Even the crazy fluffy movement of your character's hair and tail (if it has one) is determined by their respective parameters.

Head Movement

When you start rigging a model, live2D cubism gives you a preset of parameters and the face's are the first ones, so why not start here.

Here is a list of the parameters that we will be looking at, and which detected movements are they linked to:


  {
    "Your model parameter name": "ParamAngleX",
    "vTubeStudio parameter name": "FaceAngleX",
    "PrprLive parameter name": "yaw",
    "What is detected": "Your face looking at the left or right"
  }


{
  "Your model parameter name": "ParamAngleY",
  "vTubeStudio parameter name": "FaceAngleY",
  "PrprLive parameter name": "pitch",
  "What is detected": "Your face looking up or down"
}


{
  "Your model parameter name": "ParamAngleZ",
  "vTubeStudio parameter name": "FaceAngleZ",
  "PrprLive parameter name": "roll",
  "What is detected": "Your face leaning at the right or left"
}

I belive any sane person would link the parameters like these, unless you have a really unique model that must look at the right when you open your mouth and look to the left when you close it.

Anyway, I usually don't make expressions that uses these parameters so lets continue with the next part, ok?

Expressions

None

Eye Movement

We'll be looking at how your blinking is detected and how the direction your eyes are looking at can also detected by these apps. Their parameters are similar to the previous section (unless you use Android + vTubeStudio in which case the closest thing to do is just use the face parameters once more)


{
  "Your model parameter name": "ParamEyeROpen",
  "vTubeStudio parameter name": "EyeOpenRight",
  "PrprLive parameter name": "eyeR",
  "What is detected": "Is your right eye open?"
}


{
  "Your model parameter name": "ParamEyeLOpen",
  "vTubeStudio parameter name": "EyeOpenLeft",
  "PrprLive parameter name": "eyeL",
  "What is detected": "Is your left eye open?"
}


{
  "Your model parameter name": "ParamEyeBallX",
  "vTubeStudio parameter name": ["EyeRightX", "EyeLeftX"],
  "PrprLive parameter name": "eyeballX",
  "What is detected": "Are your eyes looking to the left or to the right",
  "Are you moving your eyes in different directions?": "You must use vTubeStudio if you want your model to share your talent"
}


{
  "Your model parameter name": "ParamEyeBallY",
  "vTubeStudio parameter name": ["EyeRightY", "EyeLeftY"],
  "PrprLive parameter name": "eyeballY",
  "What is detected": "Are your eyes looking up or down",
  "Are you moving your eyes in different directions?": "Really? How do you do that?"
}

So the eye-tracking works similar to the face-tracking, not much more to say. The blinking is pretty straightforward, but... I belive that eyes can be really expressive, and we'll need another couple of parameters and some expressions to reflect this in your model.


      "Your model parameter name": "ParamEyeForm"
"What it does": "This let me set how much closed the eyes must be, doesnt matter what the previous parameters say"


      "Your model parameter name": "ParamEyeLSmile" and "ParamEyeRSmile"
"What it does": "This sets the shape the eyes will make when closed. This way you can decide if your model will make the uwu or n.n face"

Expressions

Half Closed Eyes

Closed Eyes

Happy Eyes

Mouth Movement

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      "Parameters": [
        {
          "Id": "ParamMouthForm",
          "GroupId": "",
          "Name": "Mouth Form"
        },
        {
          "Id": "ParamMouthExpression",
          "GroupId": "",
          "Name": "Mouth Expression"
        },
        {
          "Id": "ParamMouthOpen",
          "GroupId": "",
          "Name": "Mouth Open"
        }
      ]

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Neutral
Angry
Happy
Sad
Bored
Smug
Closed Eyes
Closed Happy Eyes

Brows Movement

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      "Parameters": [
        {
          "Id": "ParamAngleX",
          "GroupId": "",
          "Name": "Angle X"
        },
        {
          "Id": "ParamAngleY",
          "GroupId": "",
          "Name": "Angle Y"
        },
        {
          "Id": "ParamAngleZ",
          "GroupId": "",
          "Name": "Angle Z"
        }
      ]

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Neutral
Angry
Happy
Sad
Bored
Smug
Closed Eyes
Closed Happy Eyes

Body Movement

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      "Parameters": [
        {
          "Id": "ParamBodyX",
          "GroupId": "",
          "Name": "Body X"
        },
        {
          "Id": "ParamBodyY",
          "GroupId": "",
          "Name": "Body Y"
        },
        {
          "Id": "ParamBodyZ",
          "GroupId": "",
          "Name": "Body Z"
        },
        {
          "Id": "ParamBodyL",
          "GroupId": "",
          "Name": "Body L"
        }
      ]

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Neutral
Angry
Happy
Sad
Bored
Smug
Closed Eyes
Closed Happy Eyes

Arms Movement

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      "Parameters": [
        {
          "Id": "ParamRArm",
          "GroupId": "",
          "Name": "R Arm"
        },
        {
          "Id": "ParamLArm",
          "GroupId": "",
          "Name": "L Arm"
        }
      ]

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Neutral
Angry
Happy
Sad
Bored
Smug
Closed Eyes
Closed Happy Eyes

Physics


      "Parameters": [
        {
          "Id": "ParamRArm",
          "GroupId": "",
          "Name": "R Arm"
        },
        {
          "Id": "ParamLArm",
          "GroupId": "",
          "Name": "L Arm"
        }
      ]

Neutral
Angry
Happy
Sad
Bored
Smug
Closed Eyes
Closed Happy Eyes