Upload Avatars to VRChat Cross-Platform (PC and Oculus Quest)

The Mission

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Upload to VRChat a character to use it as an avatar can be a bit difficult or messy to do, even more if you want it to be Cross-Platform, here we are learning how to do it.

Resources

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• Unity latest stable version
• Mixamo

Before doing anything, is my character compatible
​to be a Cross-Platform Avatar?

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For a character to be able to be Cross-Platform it requires to be optimized for mobile devices:
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• Maximum size of 5-8 MB.
• Have less than 5.000 triangles.
• Only 1 Skinned Mesh.
• 1 Material for each Avatar, 2 only when neccesary.
• Textures should be 1024x1024 at maximum.

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For more information about what you can and can't do with your avatar visit this website:

https://docs.vrchat.com/docs/quest-content-optimization

Prepare Unity to be able to upload Avatars to VRChat

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You will need these things to upload your own Avatars to VRChat:
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• A VRChat Account (The Steam account doesn't allow to upload custom characters).
• Unity latest estable version
• VRChat SDK

In the following link they explain the requirements and how to set up the SDK:

https://docs.vrchat.com/docs/setting-up-the-sdk

In my personal experience It worked when I didn't installed Unity Mitigation Tool, so I don't recommend installing it. Maybe it's just a coincidence. To import the SDK you have to go to Assets > Import Package and select the SDK in the folder.

CAUTION: Importing the SDK will only affect the current Unity project. You will need to import it in every Unity project in which you want to upload something to VRChat.

If its the first time you log in with an account in the SDK you will have to wait until you are able to upload anything to VRChat.

Setting up the Character in Unity

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Once you have the Unity Project with the SDK and your rigged character its time to put it on a scene.
​To import the fbx model go to Assets > Import New Asset.
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You will have to do the same to import the texture (Another way to import them is draging them into the Project Tab).

Once you have imported both, drag the model into a new Scene. To create a new Scene you can go to File > New Scene; Right Click on the Project Tab > Create > Scene; or simply type Ctrl + N.

1. Change the Scale

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To be able to see how big is your character with respect to the world, go to GameObject > 3D Object > Cube. A cube of 1x1x1 will appear in the Scene so you can compare it with your character.

​If you need to change the Scale of the character DON'T DO IT ON THE TRANSFORM COMPONENT OF THE CHARACTER IN THE SCENE, this could create unwanted errors in the future.

​To modify this parameter the best option is to click the character in the Project Tab and in the Inspector Tab > Model change the Scale Factor value until you have the size desired. You will need to Apply to see the change in the Scene.

2. Create a Material

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To create a new material in the Project Tab, Right Click > Create > Material. Left Click in the New Material and in the Inspector Tab should appear the configuration of the material.

Left Click in the circle between the square and Albedo. A new window should appear, showing all your textures in your project, you have to select the one you want for the model. Once you have done this, drag the Material from the Project Tab to the model of your character in the Scene Tab. If everything is ok the model will show now the texture correctly.

Another option is to click your character in the Project Tab > Material and there click in the circle in the list of materials and choose the material you have created previously.

Quick Tip: If you want to change the name of something in the project, for example, a material, in this version of Unity you can press F2.

3. Add the VRC Component

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Now you click the parent object of your character and look at the Inspector. Click in Add Component, search VR and add the VRC_Avatar_Descriptor.
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In this component change the parameters of View Position to align it in front of the character. This is where the First Person Camera will be when playing with this character. In theory this would be enough to upload the character, but for caution lets check that there isn't any big problems.

Go to VRChat SDK > Show Build Panel Control, popping up a small window. You have to look at the messages below the button Build & Publish.

If you want to add Visemes to your character so it can move their mouth when you talk I recommend you to check our Visemes Guide:

https://www.polygonalmind.com/blog-posts/create-and-upload-a-vrchat-avatar-with-blend-shapes-visemes

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TIP

Enable Legacy Blend Shape Normals in Unity 2018. Or your character will have weird shading when talking. It can also make your upload a lot larger and so, prevent you to upload since over 10 mb.

thanks to @franadaVRC for the tip

4. Fix the Rig

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Click your character in the Project Tab > Rig and change the Animation Type to Humanoid.

Go back to the VRChat Tab.

If you have this problem you have to click on Rig > Configure and select None in the UpperChest box and change the Chest bone to Spine2. Make sure that you have at least 3 fingers rigged:
​Thumb, Index and Middle to have Full IK and Tracking later.

If there is no Red Errors it should be fine. Then click Build & Publish. The build can take some time depending on your computer and the model you are uploading.

This should appear in the Game Tab. Here you can name the avatar, give a description, indicate if there is any content warning and if you want it to be able to be shared. Make sure to check that you own the rights of the characters. If for some reason in the future you upload a character you dont own you can have legal problems later.
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To change the preview image you have to go to the Scene Tab and move the new VRCCam in the scene.
When you are done, click Upload and wait for the process to end!

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Alejandro Peño

Technical artist

Videogame and animation enthusiast. I aspire to become a great videogame artist and developer, providing enriching experiences for those who share my passion.

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