How to create a VRChat avatar

Pick your avatar

Generally when you decide to upload your own VRChat avatar you have an idea for what your avatar will look like or you might have liked someone else's model and you want to use that as a foundation.

Finding an avatar

Visit the Avatars page on this site to discover a huge list (over 600) of avatars to choose from. Some are paid (you purchase the 3D model and a base texture from a site such as Gumroad) or free (from Gumroad or some other file hosting site).

What an avatar comes with

Depending on which avatar you chose, an avatar comes with various files so you can customize it and upload it to VRChat:

• a .unitypackage that contains the 3D model OR
• a .fbx file that contains the 3D model
• a Substance Painter file OR
• a Photoshop file OR
• multiple individual .png files (named albedo, normal, etc.)
• alternate versions (such as a Quest version)

An example avatar

For this tutorial we will download a free VRChat avatar called Toastacuga - a fantasy creature from the game Monster Hunter. You can download it by clicking the button below and clicking View Source (you will need to be logged in to Twitter):

This avatar (~200mb) includes a .unitypackage file, a .fbx file and .psd files for the textures.