---
title: '【 making a vtuber model from scratch ! 】 character design, art, & separation'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=rYtfbAI2P1c'
video_id: 'rYtfbAI2P1c'
date: 2026-06-16
duration_sec: 0
---

# 【 making a vtuber model from scratch ! 】 character design, art, & separation

> Source: [【 making a vtuber model from scratch ! 】 character design, art, & separation](https://youtube.com/watch?v=rYtfbAI2P1c)

## Summary

The video is a tutorial on creating a VTuber model from scratch, covering character design, art creation, and layer separation for rigging. The creator shares their personal rebranding journey from a themed character to a model based on their real self, emphasizing simplicity and personal resonance in design. The tutorial includes practical tips on canvas setup, sketching, and organizing layers for efficient rigging.

### Key Points

- **Rebranding Motivation** [0:17] — The creator rebrands from a themed character to a model based on their IRL self, focusing on simplicity and personal resonance.
- **Design Philosophy** [1:59] — Advises choosing a design you are comfortable with rather than trying to be overly unique, as that leads to dissatisfaction.
- **Canvas Size and Resolution** [3:36] — Recommends using a 4000x6000 pixel canvas at 300 DPI for high-resolution art that eases rigging.
- **Drawing Software and Tools** [3:49] — Uses Clip Studio Paint with a symmetrical ruler on a folder to affect all layers, and toggles snapping for asymmetrical parts.
- **Sketching Process** [4:31] — Starts with a full-body sketch to check proportions before adding clothes, and keeps a naked sketch underneath for future outfit changes.
- **Separation for Rigging** [6:05] — Explains that more separation in art makes rigging easier and better, but depends on rigging style. Advises asking riggers for separation guidelines.
- **Advanced Rigging Techniques** [6:50] — Mentions using clipping masks to hide the chin when the model looks up, and reverse clipping in Live2D.
- **Layer Modes in Live2D** [7:13] — Live2D only has additive and multiply layer modes besides normal, so adjust shading layers accordingly.
- **Layer Organization Tips** [8:30] — Keep layers neat, name them properly, indicate left/right from the model's perspective, and keep sketch layers for future adjustments.

## Transcript

foreign
[Music]
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everything I do to help my friends and
help other people who might be
interested for those who don't know I
originally debuted as a YouTuber named
tufufu about two years ago I made my own
model I made my logo I made all my own
assets but instead of leading towards
being a more themed character I've been
wanting to make my own model and brand
myself more towards my IRL self
and it's easy to draw so in this Rebrand
series I'll be going over drawing my
model art rigging making logo design
graphics and other things that go into
the whole entire thing obviously this
specific video goes over all the model
designs and art and uh as well as a
little lore so if you're interested in
seeing the rest of the process of me
making my model and everything
um please subscribe
okay so first off is designing the
character my new design is a lot more
simple than my last Model and it's based
off of me so it's pretty easy to figure
out what I want the main look to be I
did have some trial Doodles uh before my
model which really these I had my color
palette down I just had to figure out
like the general look I wanted and even
when I was drawing my model sketch I did
go through some other hairstyle
Renditions I decided just to keep all of
them though and I'm gonna make toggles
for each hairstyle what I thought the
pigtails the best for my normal default
overalls outfit so I kept them as the
default look if you helped figure out a
design I would first go for an aesthetic
you personally like
whether it's pink and cute or like
creepy and dark or clean and simple or
super complex and you're like a myriad
of a million animals
my rule of thumb is to go for a design
you're comfortable with and that really
resonates with you I know a lot of
YouTubers struggle with trying to make
it super complex super unique design
since there's so many other YouTubers
out there they want to stand out if you
go down that route you'll honestly never
be happy with your design and you'll
keep wanting changes so I would say just
go for a general Vibe you like that you
can brand yourself around
and I'll make a video of me making some
different toggles for different outfits
and looks and stuff anyway so watch out
for that
you can also use your lore to help with
your entire look if you want this is my
previous feature model was Cthulhu
inspired I incorporate it into my
current model star
IRL I actually had open heart surgery
when I was a kid so I'm making mine more
as if I sealed away to Fufu within me
and I have this big old scar from it
which I basically did anyway
I'm super into a cultish stuff sort of
like that so it all fit pretty well
obviously you can't see the scar with
this outfit but I'm planning on making
some cute concept art about it and
putting into my refs now onto actually
drawing and separating the model
front-facing models are the standard
obviously but you can make a
three-fourths looking model as well but
drawing separating and rigging a
three-fourths model is a lot tougher to
do so I would not recommend it unless
you really want to put all that work in
front facing models they're perfect to
use as a simple ref whenever you're
requesting art or doing anything like
that make sure your canvas is pretty big
too I typically start with a 4 000 by
6000 pixel canvas with minimum 300 DPI
makes the art a good resolution easy to
work with and like today personally I
use clip Studio paint and I use a
symmetrical ruler on a folder so that
all the layers within the folder are
affected by the symmetrical ruler then I
make sure I have all my snapping options
visible on my brushes that I use so I
can turn them off and on when the
snapping is turned on it actually
follows the ruler and then when it's
turned off it doesn't so I can use that
for unsymmetrical parts of the design do
make sure that your symmetrical ruler
and your respective program is right in
the middle of the canvas
I know some artists like they shrink
their canvas after or remove the model
around to fill the canvas into more but
it does make the live 2D rigging process
a little more painful and I am all about
making things efficient and easy for me
for sketching I always start off with a
full body sketch to make sure all the
proportions on the anatomy look right
before I put on clothes it's also really
helpful to have like a naked sketch
underneath everything for when you want
to do other outfits as well you can also
do a half body model if you'd like I did
start off with a half body model
especially if you're using the free
version of live 2D and you're limited in
your warps it's a lot easier to do a
half body or just draw a full body and
just rig half of it then after I sketch
out the body to what I think looks right
I really hone in on the face since it's
one of the main things you notice with
the V2 Remodel and it's one of the more
complex things to separate to make sure
everything works well obviously usually
I would recommend rendering your art
more before actually separating
everything personally I find that it
keeps everything looking really cohesive
especially if you have a really complex
shading style or painterly style but
ultimately it depends on your art style
whether or not you want to okay now on
to separating this will look a little
different for everyone obviously
depending if you're separating
everything from the beginning or if
you're separating everything from
rendering your art already I'll be
putting up little mini guides up on the
screen that you can screenshot or pause
if you want to see them this is all how
I personally separate everything if you
want less work on yourself you can
simplify some of these if you want more
work on yourself you can separate
everything even more it just depends on
how complex you want your rig to be
usually the more separated your art is
the easier and better it looks to rig
but it also depends on your rigging
style so if you're ever commissioning
someone else to rig your model I would
suggest asking them if they have
guidelines on how to separate your art
and everything because trust me it will
save a lot of time and a lot of hassle
for the rig artist I will be going over
how to add toggles like outfits and like
other emotions especially like animated
crying or other things like that in
another video there are some things you
can add to make your rig more impressive
that isn't necessarily all the art you
see here such as clipping masks for
hiding the chin you see this a lot with
models that look up to hide that chain
and to really get the illusion that
they're actually looking up you can see
there's a thing in live TV called
reverse clipping where whatever your
clipping will be opposite so instead of
clipping onto something it will be
clipped around it also keep in mind live
TD currently only has two layer modes uh
besides normal of course which is the
additive layer and the multiply layer
so if you have any color Dodge or use
something else for shading and
highlighting I would suggest fixing your
layers to adjust to looking better on
those modes another important thing are
layers you wouldn't see from the front
but you will see looking to the side for
example a big one is hair if you only
have your front hair in like one layer
for the back hair it's gonna be a bit of
a struggle to really get a clean angle
when you're looking to the side also you
want to keep in mind that you will need
a lot of extra room on your layers when
you're extending out your art knowing
how to separate your art is really
essential for a nice looking rig but
sometimes you don't know what you need
more of so when you actually get to
rigging and you realize oh shoot I need
to add more art onto this layer you can
always just go back in and change it and
then if you ever want to remake your
entire model after learning how to
separate better and how to rig better
then your models will just keep getting
better and better
while you're separating everything make
sure to keep all your layers nice and
neat because there's going to be a lot
of layers make sure you use folders make
sure you name everything right name it
properly but name it simple and then
remember to indicate which side is on
the left and right side of the model
when you're in live to D and you're
putting in your parameters and it says
left and right it's going to be the left
and right of the model's perspective
so I usually like to use arrows to make
it easier for myself
and you're going to want to get rid of
layers that you don't really need so
anything just random or has nothing on
it you're going to want to keep your
sketch layers though especially if you
have a full body sketch layer this makes
it easier for if you want to make any
adjustments to anything or if you have
an outfit or toggles you want to add on
to it and then you should be able to rig
everything hopefully in my next video I
will be using live to eat the rig just
the head for the next video and then
I'll do the rest of the body and
everything in other videos I'm hoping
it'll be a quick enough video I like my
rigs to look nice but I like to do them
quickly and efficiently so I have a lot
of tips and tricks for people who might
need them and it will be mostly for
beginners but you might learn something
if you actually know stuff already so
I'll see you next time in the next video
oh my goodbye good goodbye guys thanks
for watching my first YouTube video
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