In this first part of my “budget VTuber” series, I’m going over the simple, free workflow I use to get a 3D VTuber model up and running without spending money. Some of the steps might be a little outdated because software keeps streamlining the process, but this method still works well for me. The goal here is a quick crash course: make a basic avatar in VRoid Studio, export it correctly, then bring it into VSeeFace for basic face and head tracking with a webcam. I start in VRoid by creating a new character, picking a body type, and using the preset options to get something workable fast. VRoid can go way deeper (clothing and hair creators, even drawing custom hair strands), but I’m not doing an in-depth character creation tutorial here because that can take a while. Once your model looks how you want, I show the export settings I use: reduce polygons, uncheck “delete transparent meshes,” and export as VRM 0 (that’s what I’ve always used, and most tutorials still cover it). Then I load the VRM into VSeeFace, make sure webcam/mic are set, and tweak settings for smoother tracking—like auto blinking if your webcam struggles. It’s totally usable for free, but expressions are limited on a basic VRoid export, so in the next videos I cover adding better expression tracking and other tracking methods.