How to Design & Animate a VTuber Avatar

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A guide to making animated YouTube avatars for absolute beginners

Co-authored by Megaera Lorenz, PhD Reviewed by Candace Gasper

Last Updated: March 21, 2026 Fact Checked

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What You’ll Need

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Designing Your Character

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Building Your Avatar (3D)

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Building Your Avatar (2D)

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Animating Your Character

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Creating a Video or Stream

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Video

If you’re interested in becoming a VTuber, your first question is probably how to create your avatar. Luckily, there are a ton of tools available that make it easy to create and animate your own VTuber avatar, even as an absolute beginner. Even better, as long as you already have a working webcam, you can get everything else you need for free! Whether you want to create a 2D character or a 3D one, we’ll guide you through all the tools and resources you need to get started.

Making a VTuber Avatar: The Basics

To make a VTuber avatar, you'll need an app to create your avatar base model (or "puppet") and a motion capture app to animate it. The apps you need vary depending on whether you're making a 2D or 3D avatar. Once you have your avatar, you can capture video of it or stream it with an app like OBS.

Section 1 of 6:

What You’ll Need

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1
A character creation app While you can design your own character from scratch if you’re super tech savvy, you’ll probably want something more user-friendly as a beginner. Apps like VRoid Studio and Mannequin Character Generator are great for building 3D avatars using highly customizable, prefabricated parts. These work a lot like the character creation tools in video games.
- If you prefer a 2D avatar, you can create the base character in an app like Illustrator, Photoshop, or Procreate, then import it into a 2D character animator app.
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Animation software with motion tracking Once you create your character, you’ll need a way to animate it. There are several free tools you can use to get your character moving. Most of these apps use a camera to detect your head, eye, and mouth movements. Some will also track your hands or even your whole body.
- Some popular options for 3D avatars include VSeeFace and Warudo.
- If you have a 2D avatar, try apps like Inochi2D, Live2D, or Adobe Character Animator to bring them to life.
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A working webcam Since most of these apps rely on face tracking to animate your characters, you’ll need a camera. Most modern computers have a built-in webcam, but you can also buy an external one or even use your phone’s camera.
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A Leap Motion Controller (optional) If you want to capture more sophisticated hand movements, this device works with many 3D avatar animation programs to do just that.
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Streaming software Once your character is rendered and ready to go, you just need streaming or video capture software to put your videos together! The most popular option is OBS Studio (which is totally free).

Section 2 of 6:

Designing Your Character

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1
Decide if you want your character to be 2D or 3D. If you want a 3D avatar, you’ll need to create and animate a 3D model. Many of the character design apps that are available now let you create 3D avatars that have more of a 2D, traditionally animated look. If you want a truly 2D character, the design process will be slightly different.
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Create some sketches (optional). If you have a very specific idea in mind of how you want your character to look, it can be helpful to make some sketches. This is especially important if you’re drawing your own 2D avatar.
- Your sketch can be really basic. Just try to get a sense of things like your character’s basic face shape, hairstyle, build, and outfit.
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Draw your avatar if you’re going the 2D route. If you’re making a 2D avatar, you’ll need to produce a polished drawing, which you can then animate using a motion tracking app (see Animating Your Character). You can do this in a drawing app such as Procreate, Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop, Clip Studio Paint, or Krita.
- If you’re using Adobe Character Animator, you’ll need to create the base drawing in another Adobe app (like Illustrator or Photoshop).
- To get the most fluid animation, you may need to create your character’s features (such as the face, eyes, mouth, hair, and so on) in separate layers so they can be animated individually.
- If you’re totally new to drawing avatars, our guide to drawing anime characters will give you some good tips on how to start.
- Depending on the animation app you’re using, you can also potentially use an avatar generator like this one.

Section 3 of 6:

Building Your Avatar (3D)

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1
Install your character creation app. The most popular option is VRoid Studio. It’s totally free, and you can use it on PC or Mac. This is a great, user-friendly option for beginners who want to build an avatar from a customizable base, just like you would in a video game character creator.
- Another free option that works similarly is Mannequin Character Generator, which is available through Steam.
- If you’re an experienced 3D modeler, or if you want total control over what your avatar looks like, you can use an app like Blender to build your character from scratch. Check out our guide to modeling in Blender.
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Create a custom character. The way to do this varies depending on the app you’re using, but it’s generally self-explanatory. Choose a base for your character’s body (you can usually pick from a masculine or feminine base), then choose things like the facial features, hairstyle, and clothing. You can typically use sliders to adjust the size, shape, and position of the features. You can also add custom colors and textures.
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Export your character as a VRM file. Most 3D avatar animation apps use VRM animation. Once your character looks the way you want it to, select your app’s “Export” option and choose VRM as the output format. Fill out any additional required info (such as the name of the character and the name of the creator) and follow the prompts to complete the export process.
- You may have the option to choose between VRM1.0 and VRM0.0. Check the documentation that comes with the animation app you’re using to determine which one is appropriate.

Section 4 of 6:

Building Your Avatar (2D)

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1
Use a drawing program with layers. While it isn’t strictly necessary, most 2D character animators work best if your “puppet” is composed of separate elements. For this reason, apps that allow you to work in layers, like Adobe Photoshop, Clip Studio Paint, or Krita, work well for this purpose.
- Krita is a completely free, professional-quality drawing and painting app for Windows, Mac, and Linux.
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Create your character in separate layers. How many layers you use depends on how complex you want your avatar to be. For example, you might have a simple neck and shoulders as your base layer, then create separate layers for the head, each eye, nose, mouth, each eyebrow, and the different sections of the hair.
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Export your avatar in a format that supports layers. Once your avatar is complete, you’ll need to save it in a format that’s compatible with your animation program and allows the components to remain separate. For example, if you’re using Adobe Character Animator or Live2D, you can save your file in PSD format.

Section 5 of 6:

Animating Your Character

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1
For 3D avatars Once your character is created, all that’s left is to import it into your animation program of choice. The process for doing this varies depending on your chosen app, but you’ll generally be prompted to import your character from the VRM file you created. Depending on the app you’re using, you might also be prompted to choose whether to animate just the face, the face and upper body, or the entire body. You might also need to give the app access to your camera the first time you use it.
- If you’re looking for a very simple app that will just animate your character’s face, VSeeFace is a great option. You can enable features such as eye blinking, mouth movement, and eyebrow movement. You can also adjust the lighting on your character, choose whether to mirror your movements, and more.
  - VSeeFace can also track hand movements if you have a Leap Motion Controller.
- If you want an app with more bells and whistles, including hand or full-body motion tracking, Warudo might be for you. While it’s also free (and far more customizable than VSeeFace), the drawback is that you can only run Warudo from the Steam client.
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For 2D avatars If you’re going 2D, you’ll need to import your character “puppet,” then use the app’s interface to map the various parts of the puppet to your own facial features. This can feel a bit daunting, but most of these apps are designed to automate much of the process for you. You’ll be able to make adjustments like how sensitive the different features are to your movements, how smooth the movements are, and more.
- One of the most user-friendly options is Adobe Character Animator. It offers a free trial option, but then requires a subscription. Unfortunately, you must have access to Photoshop or Illustrator to use this app.
- Inochi2D is free, but may require a bit more of a learning curve than Adobe Character Animator. You’ll need to save your character puppet in PSD format for this app.
- Live2D offers both a free version and a free trial of the pro version. One advantage of this app is that it can animate drawings that have not been separated into layers (although this will reduce the quality of the animation).

Section 6 of 6:

Creating a Video or Stream

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1
Use your animation app’s record mode to capture a video. Many character motion capture apps have a built-in record mode. You can use this option if you want to create a clip of your avatar rather than using it for a live stream. Export the clip so you can edit it in your favorite video editing software.
- New to creating and editing videos? Get started with our guide to making YouTube videos!
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Use OBS to capture live animation. This is a great option when streaming gameplay or creating a live reaction video. For example, you can use the “Capture specific window” tool to capture your avatar in your chosen motion capture animation app while streaming a game.^{[1]
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- Not sure how to get started with streaming on YouTube? Check out our detailed guide.
- Learn the basics of recording your screen in OBS with this wikiHow article.