---
title: 'How To Separate VTuber Art For Live 2D Cubism'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=ieiioJaznXc'
video_id: 'ieiioJaznXc'
date: 2026-06-17
duration_sec: 0
---

# How To Separate VTuber Art For Live 2D Cubism

> Source: [How To Separate VTuber Art For Live 2D Cubism](https://youtube.com/watch?v=ieiioJaznXc)

## Summary

This video provides a step-by-step guide for aspiring VTubers on how to properly prepare and layer their character art in a PSD file for seamless rigging in Live2D Cubism. It emphasizes the importance of organizing layers correctly to avoid future hours of rework, covering key sections like the head (face, eyes, mouth) and body.

### Key Points

- **Goal: Art for Live2D Rigging** [0:11] — The video kicks off a tutorial series on becoming a 2D VTuber, starting with art setup. Live2D Cubism will be covered in future videos.
- **Prerequisites for VTubing** [0:21] — You need art of your VTuber model, cut into many little layers, exported as a PSD (Photoshop document) because Live2D Cubism only reads PSD files.
- **Why Correct Art Setup Matters** [1:04] — If art is not set up correctly at the early stage, rigging will be flawed and you'll waste hours going back to fix it.
- **Program Layer Limits** [1:34] — Check your art program's layer cap (e.g., Procreate has a cap). A complex model with many layers may be tedious in a program with a low limit.
- **Folder Organization Saves Time** [2:07] — Group layers into folder categories. The author uses: one main body folder, subfolders for body parts, another for features, and left/right sides. This keeps the file organized for rigging in Cubism.
- **Head: The Most Important Section** [2:58] — The head can be divided into: face, eyes, front hair, ears, eyebrows, nose, and mouth. Simpler rigs can keep the nose, front hair, and face as whole layers, but separating them further (e.g., hair into middle/left/right) allows a 3D effect.
- **Eyes: Extensive Separation Required** [4:19] — Eyes need many layers: sclera, top lid, bottom lid, iris, pupil, lashes, highlights, etc. Even simple models use multiple eye layers because rigging eyes is one of the hardest parts of Live2D.
- **Mouth: Simple Layers, Complex Rigging** [5:01] — Recommended mouth layers: top lip, bottom lip, tongue, inner mouth, top teeth, bottom teeth. Layer separation is simpler than the eyes, but rigging is equally complex.
- **Body: Limb Separation by Joints** [5:29] — The body is simpler; separate arms, legs, torso, and boobs (if present) into left/right portions. For more movement, separate limbs at joints.
- **Hair: Bangs vs. Rest** [5:58] — Non-bang hair gets its own folder; includes back of head and actual hair. Number of layers depends on hairstyle (solid piece vs. many strands).
- **Extras: Expressions and Accessories** [6:25] — Any extras (expressions, accessories, animal ears/tails) should be placed in their own folders within the main folder, wherever they are located.

### Conclusion

Properly layering your VTuber art into a well-organized PSD file is the critical first step to avoid hours of rework during rigging. Follow the folder structure and separation guidelines for head, body, and extras, then move on to rigging tutorials.

## Transcript

Want to become a vTuber like iron mouse, nyanners, or nux taku?
But have NO money to hire an artist
OR a Live2D rigger?
Well, today is your lucky day
 because I'm going to show you
how to become a 2D vTuber
in this Live2D tutorial series.
My God, OK, it's happening.
Everybody, stay calm.
So what do you need to start
 your vTubing journey?
Well, first you need art of your vTuber model
and then it needs to be cut up
in a bunch of different little layers
 and then exported as a PSD (photoshop document).
Then you will need to get an art
 rigging program called Live2D Cubism
which don't worry, I'll be covering in
 full tutorials on this in future videos.
But for today, we're going to be focusing
 on your vTuber art
It is really important that you make sure
 your model art is set up correctly
at the early stage because if it's not. . . .
 you could end up with this.
OK, maybe not to that extreme,
 but your model won't be rigged properly,
and you'll be wasting a lot of hours
 trying to go back and fix it,
so let's go over
 how to set up your art the right way.
Now, before I even show you
 my model layers, I want to specify
that your art needs to be in a PSD file,
 which stands for Photoshop document.
This is because it is the only file type
 that can be read in Live2D Cubism
Yes, there are a lot of
 art programs out there
that can export your art in PSD!
You don't have to just
 use Photoshop!!!
Just Google if your art program can export in PSD,
 and if it does, then use that.
one thing I would pay attention to is
 how many layers your art program
can handle. Because if you are thinking of
 using an art program like, let's say,
procreate, then you have a layer cap,
 which could be tedious
if you're planning on making
 a complex model with a lot of layers.
OK, now that we got that out of the way.
Let me show you my layers. Mm-Hmm.
OK, I know this looks
 really scary and overwhelming,
but trust me, it will all make sense
 as we go through each step.
If you happen to notice I have all of my
 layers grouped into several
different folder categories, then good job
 you have more than two brain cells.
I have them in several folders
to categorize everything better because
 when you take this file into Live2D,
it will be organized to help you sort
 through each part when rigging,
and it honestly saves you so much time.
Everyone has their own special way
 on organizing their layers,
but I like to do it like this
 where I have one folder that is basically
kind of like the whole main body
 and it holds everything.
Then a bunch of subfolders
 to categorize the main parts of the body
and then another category of folders
 of everything divided into its features.
Then lastly, I need any layers
 the left and right
side of each corresponding part
 on the actual layer.
I want using different model examples
 to show how simple and complex
you can make your avatar
 look like throughout the whole video.
Let's start with the head first,
since that is literally the most important
 part to any model,
in my opinion, since, well, it's
 what you see the most on stream.
The head can be divided
 into these different sections the face,
the eyes, the front hair, the ears,
 the eyebrows, the nose and the mouth.
So most of these don't have to be separate
 any furthure unless if you want to.
For example, the nose,
 the front hair, the face,
they can all be on their own whole layer
 for a simpler rig,
But if you want to separate each of these
a little further
 for something more complex,
then you can separate the face layer
 into the hair shadow.
If your character has it
 hair color and fixed line art,
the nose can be separate into the lineart,
 the shadow and the highlight.
And lastly, the front hair
 can be separated further into the middle.
The left and the right part separating it
 like this can allow you to create
an almost 3D effect with your vTuber
 model when you're rigging it
and don't worry! I'll show you how to do that
in another video later :)
the ears and the eyebrows folder,
 I think, are pretty self-explanatory.
You literally just need to separate them
 from the left in the right,
and it should all be drawn on its own
 layer like this?
Hey, are you still with me, Bobas!?
You better let me know by giving this
 video a like and subscribing to my channel
if you haven't already!!!
I do a lot of tutorials like this,
 as well as other entertaining vTuber
content on my channel.
Thanks so much. Now for the eyes.
I want you to pay close attention.
You need to just stop.
OK, I'm sorry. You need a separate
 into a lot of different layers.
Even the simplest models
 that aren't cartoon
have quite a few layers for the eyes.
This is because I rigging is
 one of the most difficult aspects of Live2D
especially if you don't
 separate the parts correctly.
Here's how you should separate the
 eye parts for a basic rig.
If you want to get a little fancy and
 get that beautiful eye tracking like Baoo senpai
then you can separate the iris,
 the pupil , the lashes and the highlights.
And don't worry,
 I'll go more in depth about this.
Another Live2D eye rigging tutorial for you
The mouth can be separated
 in quite a few different ways.
It really comes down
to how much control you want over
 your model's mouth movements.
I personally would recommend
 having the top lip layer, the bottom
lip layer, the tongue, the inner mouth
 and then separating the top teeth
in the bottom teeth if you have any.
It's a little bit more simpler in terms of
 separating it compared to the eye layer,
but the rigging part of it is actually just
as complicated, and that's all the parts
 with the head section.
Now let's move on our body.
The body can be divided
 into these different sections.
This is a lot simpler
 because you don't need to separate these
any further than besides their
 corresponding left and right portions.
But of course, if you want to have
 more movement in your view to remodel,
then you have to separate your limbs
by their joints, and I recommend
 separating the booba from the torso.
If your model has them.
*sigh*
the rest of the hair that doesn't include
 the bangs have its own folder inside.
You have pretty much the back of the head
 if you want to separate that
and then the actual hair. Now depending
 on what kind of hair style you drew.
That's going to determine
 how many layers it will have,
because you can either separate it
 a lot in different strands
or you can just kind of
 leave it in one solid piece like this.
If you make it this far into the video,
 then congratulations,
you're pretty much done
 with layering your art.
You don't have to separate or add
 anything extra from this point.
But if you were thinking of adding things
 like expressions, accessories, animal
ears, tails etc. Then of course
 these will be put into their own folders
and added to the main folder
 wherever they're located.
I hope this video is helpful to you,
 and if you haven't, then make sure
to subscribe to my channel for more
Mari Yume vTuber content!
and feel free to check out my livestream
 when I went over all of this part.
If you want a much
 more detailed explanation.
Thanks so much for watching. Bye Bobas!