VRChat Custom Avatar, 2020, Avatars 3.0!

Introduction

Oh boy, this has been a long time coming. I know I promised you guys a video pretty soon, but we had to wait until Avatars 3.0. As some of you know, I’ve been really busy with the Virtual Market project. If you've been following my videos for a while, you'll see that I've been uploading a few things about that and being more involved with them.

I want to do a tutorial that involves some of the assets that they’ve created and put you guys in the right direction for some legal models. So you know what time it is? It’s time for an updated tutorial. This time we’re going to be using Avatars 3.0. Go ahead and create a new project. You will want to create a brand new project file for Avatars 3.0. So, go ahead and hit new, create one for Avatar 3, put it in a place you’ll remember, and let’s get started there.

Unity Preparations

Inside Unity, you need to do a couple of things. What I highly recommend doing is first you should save a new scene and inside your assets folder, create an Avatars folder. Install Dynamic Bone if you own it. Since you’re making a new project, you’re going to want to stay organized.

The first thing I recommend doing is downloading a set of assets. These are basic things that can be used as a toolkit for building avatars. Obviously, you want the latest versions of Avatars 3.0 from the vrchat.com website.

Next, grab a bunch of shaders. Some of the most commonly used shaders include Arc Toon Final, Arc Tune Plus T, Silence Shell Shading Shader, Shayche’s Unity Shaders, Reflex Shader, and Unity Chan Toon Shader 2.

Setting Up Blender

For this tutorial, we’re going to be editing the Mokuri Avatar. We’re going to look at some new features in Avatars 3.0, like custom particle and emoji menus, as well as how to do standard gestures that you used to do on your hands.

One highly recommended tool is Pumpkin’s Avatar Tools. This is now compatible with Avatars 3.0. You’ll find the ability to edit poses, create custom backgrounds, and rapidly iterate your models in here. It’ll automatically find missing scripts for you, and you’ll be able to copy settings from other avatars.

For Blender, not much has changed except Blender is now on version 2.9. You’ll want to make sure the Cats Blender plugin works perfectly (you'll want version 17.1-dev). This fixes a few bugs and allows you to embed textures on export to FBX prefab files.

Image Editor

When working with avatars, you probably want a good image editor. I recommend Krita, which is free, open-source, and just about as good as Photoshop. Install it and you might want to go into the Windows settings and rendering options, specifically to lighting settings, turning off auto-generate. Save your scene with a new name in a scenes folder to keep track of all your avatars.

Organizing Assets

Right-click on your assets folder to create subfolders like Avatars and Shaders if your shader supports being placed in a different folder. Clearing the console to ensure no errors is essential.

Under Edit -> Preferences, go to Cache Server. Here you can set a custom cache server location or leave it alone but ensure the cache server mode is local with a reasonable size cache. This will allow rapid switching between Android and PC, facilitating quick avatar uploads.

Working With Models

For editing the Mokuri Avatar, import the fbx files from the body directory using Cats, keeping upper chest bones and twist bones. Importing files correctly helps in combining or replacing textures and components easily. Using Blender’s Edit and Object mode, navigate through and customize components.

Managing Textures in Krita

For texture customization, import textures into Krita, painting over the UV maps to customize how avatars look. Save these changes and reapply in Unity to see real-time changes.

Finalizing Model in Blender and Unity

Merge parts, clear unnecessary bones, and export the customized model back into Unity. In Unity, ensure materials are set up correctly and rig it as a humanoid. Fix any potential issues through Blender and re-export, re-import till you're satisfied.

Setting Up Avatar Descriptor

In Unity, set up the VRChat Avatar descriptor, ensuring view position, lip-sync, eyelid type, etc., are correctly set up. Create playable layers for gestures by setting up parameters and animations under layers. Ensure everything is linked correctly for both hands, setting appropriate conditions for each.

Conclusion

By following these steps, you can ensure a fully functional VRChat avatar with customizations and new features available in Avatars 3.0. This guide gives a comprehensive approach to setting up and customizing avatars with both Unity and Blender, using external tools like Krita for texturing.

Keywords

VRChat
Avatars 3.0
Unity
Blender
Dynamic Bone
Shaders
CATS Blender Plugin
Krita
Avatar Customization
Playable Layers

FAQ

Q: What is the first step in setting up an Avatars 3.0 project? A: Create a new project file in Unity specifically for Avatars 3.0, then organize your assets folder.

Q: Which shaders are recommended for use in VRChat? A: Commonly used shaders include Arc Toon Final, Arc Tune Plus T, Silence Shell Shading Shader, Shayche’s Unity Shaders, Reflex Shader, and Unity Chan Toon Shader 2.

Q: How do you handle texture customization for avatars? A: Use Krita to import your avatar’s texture and UV map, then customize as needed, saving and applying the changes in Unity.

Q: What are the essential Unity settings to change for avatar projects? A: Disable auto-generate in lighting settings, set up cache server mode to local, and ensure appropriate material setups under the Rig and Model tabs.

Q: What tools are recommended for avatar customization in Blender? A: Pumpkin’s Avatar Tools for pose editing and rapid iteration, and Cats Blender Plugin for model import and export.

Q: How do you add gesture animations for avatars in Avatars 3.0? A: In Unity, set up playable layers and parameters, then add corresponding animations ensuring correct gesture conditions.