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  • Welcome to MONA
    • What is a Space?
    • Unity Overview
  • ⬛Create
    • Getting Started Building
    • MONA Crash Course
      • Setting up MONA in Unity
      • Introduction to Unity
      • Setting up Simple Assets
      • Metaverse / WebGL Limitations
      • Creating 3D Assets
      • Applying Materials & Unwrapping UVs
      • Importing Assets into Unity
      • Adding Colliders
      • Adding Lighting
      • Adding a Custom Skybox
      • Setting up Canvases
      • Uploading to your Wallet
    • Building Spaces
      • Space Limitations
      • Create your Space
        • Space Overview
        • Colliders
        • Materials
        • Portals
        • Canvases
        • Artifacts
        • Add a Custom Skybox
        • Test Your Space
        • Troubleshooting
      • Improve your Space
        • Lightmaps (Unity Lightmapper)
        • Light Probes
        • Reflection Probes
        • Animation in Unity
        • Importing Animation
        • Player Property Volumes (PPV's)
        • Warp Volumes
        • Adding Audio
        • VRM Switcher
        • Custom Canvases
        • Embedded Video
        • User Interface (UI)
        • Creating Custom Shaders
        • Imported Assets
        • Lightmaps (Bakery Asset)
      • Optimise your Space
        • Prefabs
        • 3D Asset Specs
        • Optimizing your Space
      • Adding Interactivity
        • Visual Scripting
          • Web Request Node
        • Mona Reactor
          • Creating Animation
          • Using Animator
          • The Reactor Component
          • Reactor Overview
      • MONA Tools
        • Template Utility
        • MONA Capture
        • Light Probe Generator
        • VOX Importer
      • Submit Your Space
        • Submitting your Space
        • Creating an Image & Video Preview
        • QA Process
        • Mint Your Space
      • Update your Space
      • Frequently Asked Questions
      • Troubleshooting
    • Creating Assets
      • Asset Requirements
      • 3D Asset Types
      • Asset Creation Approaches
      • Optimizing your Mesh
      • GLB Considerations
      • Example - Cyberpunk Car
    • Creating Avatars
      • Getting Started with VRM
      • VRM Requirements
      • VRM Creation
        • Using Mixamo for Rigging
        • Adding Custom Bones to the Rig (Optional)
      • Creating your Avatar using UniVRM
        • Importing UniVRM into Unity
        • Creating the VRM using UniVRM
        • Adding Spring Bones in UniVRM (Optional)
      • Creating your Avatar using 'VRM for Blender'
        • Adding 'VRM for Blender' into Blender
        • Using 'VRM for Blender' for Rigging
        • Adding a Material
        • Assigning VRM Details
        • Exporting the Avatar
      • Uploading your VRM
      • Using Avatars in WebAR
      • Submitting your VRM to the Mona Marketplace
      • Mint Your Avatar
      • Troubleshooting
    • Resources
      • MONA Claim Asset Requirements
      • Unity Wallet SDK (Alpha)
      • MONA Playground
      • MONA Tutorials
        • Retrowave Modules
      • Asset Resources
        • 3rd Party Assets
        • Textures
        • Shaders
        • 3D Assets
        • Audio
        • Tools
        • Tutorials
      • MONA Library
        • MONA Library Submission
      • Useful Unity Packages
      • Updating the Template SDK
      • Importing Mozilla Hubs Spaces to MONA
      • Importing AltspaceVR spaces to MONA
    • MONA Marketplace
  • ⬛Explore
    • How to Use MONA
    • Using VRM Avatars
    • Audio Settings
    • Explorer's Frequently Asked Questions
  • ⬛Collect
    • Setting up a wallet
      • Delegating a Wallet
    • Own a Space
      • Host an Event
      • Uploading your Images
      • Add Images to a Canvas
      • Live Music Feed
      • Token Gated Access
      • Minted 3rd Party Assets
    • MONA Create
      • Create FAQ
    • Live Streaming in MONA
      • Setting up OBS Studio
      • Livestream using OBS Studio
      • Livestream using a Mobile Device
      • How to Stream Using Twitch or YouTube
      • Add a Livestream to a Canvas
    • Collector's Frequently Asked Questions
  • General Resources
    • Web3 Introduction
    • How to sell Art in Web3
    • Game Dev Glossary
    • Buildathons / Challenges
      • 3D Asset Buildathon (Current)
        • Frequently Asked Questions
      • Emote/Emoji Challenge (Completed)
      • Stream Challenge (Completed)
      • Custom Avatars (Completed)
      • Build : NY Challenge (Completed)
      • Sculpture Challenge (Completed)
      • Portal Hub (Completed)
      • Interact (Completed)
      • The Renaissance (Completed)
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On this page
  • VRM requirements
  • Creating the Asset
  • Tools Required for VRM Creation
  • Avatar Requirements
  • Notes to consider
  • One Sided Materials
  • Nudity
  • Parallel Edgeloops
  • Advanced VRM Functionality
  • Blendshapes

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  1. Create
  2. Creating Avatars

Getting Started with VRM

VRM requirements

When designing a VRM, especially if you plan to mint it with the Mona Marketplace, you will want it to work on as many platforms as possible including Mobile and/or Standalone VRM spaces. For this we are recommending creating your assets for a mobile/VR specification.

If your VRM has a high polygon/material/model count or significant texture size, it will affect how the space will run, especially seeing as there can be up to 100 users in a space at a time! So, make sure to keep within the recommended specifications.

The Maximum specs below will still pass QA, but would not be considered a good avatar for a Mobile/Standalone VR experience (depending on the space and number of VRMs in the space).

Excellent VRM Specs
Good VRM Specs
Maximum VRM Specs

Less than 8Mb in total

Less than 10Mb

Less than 12Mb

Less than 2m in unit height

Less than 2m in unit height.

Less than 2m in unity height

Less than 7,500 polygons (15,000 triangles)

Less than 10k polygons (20,000 triangles)

less than 12.5k polygons (25,000 triangles)

1 Meshes

1 Meshes

1-2 Meshes

1 material

1 material

1-2 materials

1024 x 1024 total textures *

1024 x 1024 individual textures *

2048x2048 total textures *

*Note how the textures differ from Total and Individual. Total means that all your textures add up to the target textures. So instead of having a diffuse, normal, smoothness/Metallic, and emissive texture at 1024x1024, they would actually be 512x512 each to add up to a 1024x1024.

Individual would be 1024x1024 for each texture type. Textures play the largest part in file size and affect how performant a VRM is in a space, which is very important when it comes to Standalone VR and Mobile platforms.

Creating the Asset

To get started building a VRM Avatar, you will first need to create a Character. A Character model typically is in a humanoid form but could also be as wild or crazy as your imagination. With Mona, we don't prescribe form.

You will need to model your character in 3D modelling software like Blender, 3DSMax, Maya, etc.

Most of this documentation will assume you already have a character made and ready to add a skeleton, also known as rigging.

Tools Required for VRM Creation

There are a number of different methods to create a VRM. The following are two methods that are well documented.

Using Unity

Using Blender

Avatar Requirements

Your avatar is recommended to be in a T-Pose before rigging.

This will reduce issues with the animation of your avatar. It is possible to set your character as a T-Pose using Mixamo (described in the following doc), however it may not look as accurate.

Remember if you are submitting VRMs to the Mona Marketplace, it is important to keep under the requirements specified above otherwise your avatar will potentially slow down a space and/or fail QA.

As there can be a large amount of avatars in a space, it is necessary for avatars to have reasonable specifications. Especially if those assets are going to be used on low end devices such as standalone VR or mobile.

Notes to consider

One Sided Materials

Materials are one sided, meaning a dress would only be visible from the outside, and invisible underneath. One way around this would be to create a simplified mesh going up on the inside so the mesh is double sided. It may be possible to create a custom shader for VRMs that supports double sided materials, but this is also more expensive to compute.

Nudity

It is recommended not to have nudity on your base character mesh. This applies if your character has a dress and underwear hasn't been considered. The model will probably be seen underneath (when jumping or in high places), so this should be considered when designing your character.

Parallel Edgeloops

As your model will be animated you will need to consider how the model is created so that the key joints in the body can animate well. This will also improve Mixamo/Accurig process for improved results with fast rigging methods.

Decimation will not create clean edgeloops and therefore the character will not animate well.

Key areas that need clean edge loops include :

  • Neck (top/bottom)

  • Shoulders

  • Elbows

  • Wrists

  • Finger joints

  • Hips

  • Knees

  • Ankles

  • Toes

Advanced VRM Functionality

Blendshapes

As Mona does not currently use blendshapes this tutorial will skip that functionality (for now), however if you want to use your avatar in platforms that do (such as VRChat) then you can learn more at the following :

PreviousCreating AvatarsNextVRM Requirements

Last updated 2 years ago

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3D Creation tool (, 3DStudioMAX, Maya etc.)

or (Optional for fast rigging)

+

or (Optional for fast rigging)

(Youtube)

⬛
Blender
Mixamo
Accurig
Unity 2020.3
UniVRM
Blender
Mixamo
Accurig
VRM for Blender addon
From Blender to VRM : Prepare your own VTuber Model
UniVRM Manual
T-Pose Example