Tutorials

Your first model from a PSD

From a layered drawing to a model that turns its head and loads in VTube Studio. About an hour the first time.

1. Prepare the art

Draw (or get) your character as a layered PSD or Krita file:

• every part that moves on its own on its own layer: each eye white, iris, eyelash, eyebrow, the mouth, each hair strand that sways
• parts in folders (face, eyes, hair, body): they become parts in Ayatsuri
• clipping layers for things that stay inside another (an iris inside its eye white); they become clipping masks
• draw what's hidden behind other parts too (the face under the hair), so nothing shows a hole when it moves

Good layer names save time later: eye_white_L, eyelid_R, hair_front_1. Re-importing an updated PSD matches layers by folder and name.

2. Open it

Open… on the home screen (or drop the file on the window). Every layer becomes a mesh, every folder a part. Save right away as .aom; that also starts the timelapse.

3. Mesh the parts that move

A fresh layer is a single quad, which can only stretch. Give the moving parts real meshes:

1. Select a mesh (click it, or its row in the Part palette).
2. Ctrl+E for Mesh Edit, then Automatic mesh: Standard for most parts, Deform for hair and cloth.
3. Done.

Parts that never bend (a pin, a badge) can stay quads.

4. Add the parameters

In the Parameter palette, add the standard ones you need: Angle X, Angle Y, Eye L Open, Eye R Open, Mouth Open Y. Using the standard IDs (ParamAngleX and so on) means VTube Studio and trackers wire them up by themselves.

5. Rig a head turn

Follow A head turn with a warp: one warp deformer over the head, two keys on Angle X, and the face turns.

6. Blinks and the mouth

Follow Blinking eyes. The mouth works the same way on Mouth Open Y.

7. Export

File > Export as moc3, version 5.0, into a new folder. Load that folder's model3.json in VTube Studio.

Next: give it some swing with hair physics.