---
title: 'Video 2HjAnFtmPjU'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=2HjAnFtmPjU'
video_id: '2HjAnFtmPjU'
date: 2026-06-14
duration_sec: 0
---

# Video 2HjAnFtmPjU

> Source: [Video 2HjAnFtmPjU](https://youtube.com/watch?v=2HjAnFtmPjU)

## Summary

Mary U demonstrates how to create high-quality Live2D VTuber models using Procreate on iPad, overcoming the 40-layer limit by splitting models into multiple PSD files. She shares her complete workflow, from canvas setup and symmetrical drawing to exporting and fixing common PSD export issues.

### Key Points

- **Overcoming Procreate's Layer Limit** [00:00] — Procreate has a 40-layer limit, but you can split your model into 2-5 files, export as PSDs, and piece them together in Photoshop or Clip Studio Paint.
- **Canvas Setup for Symmetry** [01:10] — Create a canvas with width >3000px and height 4000-5000px to have >10 layers. Enable Drawing Guide with Symmetry, and set a shortcut for assisted drawing.
- **Sketching and Color Adjustment** [02:35] — Include all details and colors in the sketch. Merge layers, then adjust saturation up by ~10% to compensate for Live2D desaturation. Duplicate the file for detailed work.
- **Cropping to Save Layers** [03:04] — Duplicate the sketch file and crop to just the head or body to free up layers. Use a low-opacity reference layer for tracing and a 100% one for color picking.
- **Liquify and Coloring Tips** [04:00] — Use Liquify to adjust shapes. For coloring, use automatic selection with feather (~3%) and color drop. Alpha lock layers to change line art colors without spilling.
- **Hair Brush and Shadow Trick** [05:00] — Use a special hair brush that creates line art automatically. For shadows, duplicate the layer, lower brightness, move down, add blur, adjust curves (increase red), then Alpha lock and airbrush a cool color.
- **Cutting Guide and Art Tips** [07:49] — Avoid eyes pointing outward. Draw extra hair layers for volume. Use underfills (solid color instead of line art) for chest/torso/hair to create a 3D outline effect.
- **Exporting and PSD Border Bug** [08:37] — Separate left/right eyes and symmetrical parts. Export as PSD. Important: Procreate PSDs have an invisible border that messes up Live2D auto-meshing. Crop the PSD in Photoshop or Clip Studio Paint before sending to a rigger.

### Conclusion

By splitting models into multiple files and using the right techniques, you can create professional VTuber models in Procreate despite its layer limit. Always crop exported PSDs to avoid the invisible border bug in Live2D.

## Transcript

hi I'm Mary U and as you may know V
models are notorious for needing to be
separated in parts and layers often
hundreds of them but today that 40 layer
limit in PR crate is not going to stop
me from achieving greatness and it will
not stop you either I'm showcasing some
of my recent models that I drew with
procreate and rig and live 2D I have
been a loyal procreate user since the
beginning of my aring career all my
models are drawn completely in prr never
changed even at the toughest times never
doubted you want te my G so if I can do
it you can also create models of this
quality and I will show you how the
general solution is to sever your model
into Parts usually two to five files
export them as psds then piece them
together at the end on the computer
using Photoshop or Clips paint I'll show
you the complete process and things you
need to look out for please watch until
the end because there is one big common
problem with exporting psds from
procreate if this is your first try
making VOR models I recommend starting
off with a chibi or a half body model to
keep things easier and to get familiar
with the overall workflow
first okay let's start with per cre
setup when you first create a canvas
preferably make the width more than
3,000 and the length according to your
character's height I usually give myself
4 to 5,000 but try to have more than 10
layers available then go to settings
canvas toggle drawing guide edit drawing
guide and go to Symmetry and done now
your current layer should stay assisted
and everything you draw is symmetrical
you can go back to settings and toggle
off the drawing guide to get rid of the
line and as long as your layer still
says assisted it's still going to be
symmetrical but when you make a new
layer normally you have to turn on and
off the cyst by clicking on the layer
but I find it much more practical to
make this button a shortcut so to do
that go in settings preps gesture
controls and in assisted drawing turn on
the first tap Square setting and it
might conflict with your default
shortcut but screw whichever shortcut
you previously had and now that this
button is drawing assist you can sketch
your model out way easier hopefully I'm
going to put my sketch time lapse as
examples it's just a sketch but try to
include all the details and colors you
need this is because it will be much
harder to adjust these things later on
while seeing how the entire model looks
since your model will be severed when
you're done with your sketch you can
merge all the layers by pinching them
together I mean if you want to preserve
them you can duplicate your file but
before we move on I found out that life
2D actually desaturates the PSD exported
from procreate by like 10% so I'm going
to turn the saturation up in the sketch
beforehand to compensate for that and
since everything's one layer it's it's
easier to do color adjustments and this
was my final color adjustment and to
move on to the detailed model going to
duplicate my file just going to one of
them and going to crop tojust the
head and I can turn on snapping to
center it and crop out all the empty
space to save more layers similarly if
you want to move onto the body or legs
just duplicate the original sketch and
then crop to get more layers now for the
reference layers I duplicated to have
two one on low opacity and one on 100%
opacity the lower one is for tracing and
the higher one for color picking so I'm
going to demonstrate I'm going to make
some new layers turn on our assisted
with our short cut and you can watch me
struggle with line art I do find that my
line art looks very pixelated a lot of
times you can turn on anti- aazing in
your brush settings find a smoother
brush or make the canvas bigger but I
just Incorporated it with my sketchy art
style my first tip is that lufy is your
best friend is my best friend anyway and
once you have an enclosed line art you
can go to select in
automatic click the outside of the line
art hold and drag left and right to
adjust the threshold and to further
avoid the type of overfilled
border we can click on feather and have
around
3% and click invert then go into layers
make a new layer underneath toggle on
the 100% reference layer hold to pick
the color turn it off and then color
drop on our current layer when you color
drop don't let go and then hold to drag
left and right for the threshold again
that's what the feather is for and
utilize your appropriate shortcuts like
if I want to Alpha lock this layer I can
swipe to the right with two fingers on
the layer and now I can change the color
of my line art without the color
spilling outside
also I have this life-saving hair brush
Auto line art that I'm going to upload
along with my whole favorite brush set
on COI for free Link in the description
most brushes are not created by me I
just stole them from different free
brush sets Okay so the way you use this
brush is that first you draw the hair
out it's going to be white don't worry
okay then duplicate the layer so swipe
left on the layer and duplicate set the
top layer mode to multiply Alpha lock
the bottom layer
and color pick the color you want color
it in and just continue rendering on the
same layer now I usually do all the
shading
everything oh but one thing to note is
that the outline brush doesn't work if
the color you pick is completely black
yeah but just choose a color that's
close to it there is so much potential
with this brush if you're not that py on
line art consistency I also love the
fact that you can lufy multiple layers
together together by swiping right on
the layer to select multiple and if your
primary layer which is the one in the
deeper blue is assisted then your
liquify is also going to be assisted if
not then it's not going to be
assisted when you're done the hair
layers you can merge those together and
I'm going to teach you a quick Shadow
trick which is to duplicate the layer
select the bottom one go to adjustments
Hue saturation brightness lower the
brightness to none
click on the cursor to select your layer
move it downwards then go to adjustments
CAU and blur swipe left and right to
adjust the blur then go to adjustments
curves and I usually just turn the red
up then I can Alpha lock the layer turn
the opacity down select a bluish color
and airbrush it on the shadow to give it
a secondary color for like a cooler
sense of depth okay it's hard to
visualize on my balding head so these
are actual examples of how my bangs
would turn out using this
method also if I want to separate these
two hair strands I can just select swipe
down with three fingers select cut and
paste it's really nice quick menu
shortcut so let's say if I move on to
the body I would want a copy of my
rendered head on top of it so that I can
visualize everything better but I don't
want to save my severed head as a PNG in
my album so I can import it into my
other file so I can just go to actions
copy canvas go back to my body file and
I can paste and there it is my head also
turn on snapping magnetics so that your
parts move in a straight line and now
that you have all the tools and
shortcuts you can continue drawing the
model I have a cutting guide for you to
follow some general tips for the art is
that first try to avoid es pointing
outwards they're going to look like
their gaze is not focused and then
second I recommend drawing some extra
hair layers on the sides at the back and
covering the forehead just so that
there's more volume when rigging and you
know so that your character doesn't
accidentally look Bold and the last one
I found out recently is underfills so
it's basically instead of line art you
have a solid color it's great for chest
torso and hair to give that 3D outline
disappearing effect if interested you
can look more into this from other
artist and riggers they explain it more
in detail than I do so last thing when
you're exporting when you're done
everything you named all your layers
you've grouped everything into proper
folders you still need to separate left
eye to right eye and all the symmetrical
but non-connected Parts you can separate
these later in Photoshop but I will just
go in and select half the face erase a
half of it because I can just copy paste
it and flip it in live 2D in fact if
you're plenty of layers away from your
layer limit you can even just duplicate
the folder and flip it in
procreate so now to export you can go to
actions a share PSD I'm just uploading
it onto drive you can also upload
multiple psds at the same time by going
back to gallery and click select select
your psds and Click Share so there's one
last big important thing it's like a bug
when you open and exported PSD from
procreate in life 2D it has this
invisible border around all the layers
like right now it's supposed to show me
the layer's boundaries right but it's
showing me the whole canvas and that
will mess up the auto matching by a lot
because it will not be able to give a
very detailed mesh and the solution to
this problem is just to crop your PSD in
Photoshop or Clips you to a paint so I
can crop the whole canvas outwards and
it'll still work technically if you're
assembling a full body you'll need to
extend the canvas anyway and the problem
is fixed so remember never send the raw
PSD from procreate and crop to a riger
with the Border because it will mess up
Auto meshing and trust me I have been
there in pain and confusion also if your
PSC does not open in live 2D there is a
manual page that I recommend you search
up so yeah now that the art is completed
if you want to rig the model I got a
full step-by-step tutorial and if you
have any questions this discussions and
want to share your art feel free to join
my Discord server and I wish you get to
create the YouTuber of your dreams