How can anyone say what art is worth? Value is a very subjective and personal topic, but in the case of Commercial materials like Vtuber models (since streaming is often a source of income) these models are highly valuable and sought-after. The image that an artist produces is potentially used for merchandising and more, often without any royalties or continued relationship with the artist, so it’s very important to discuss licensing and usage plans. The numbers provided are very rough, low estimates from August 2022 and are subject to change over time, but are intended as a base for pricing vtubers.
We would recommend this guide for even more information about commissioning your first vtuber model.
Foreword: Please note that this guide is not law. Individual artists are able to charge what they need. These estimates can change based on factors like demand, experience, and more.
Usage Rights & Licensing
Usage rights are extremely important, and discussing the business usage plans should usually happen in the planning stages. If you don’t discuss this at all, this product is a one-time payment where the artist still retains copyright over the creation. In America, the copyright is an “Automatic Right” to the artist as a creator. The copyright does not need to be registered. So, you must negotiate a purchase for that in the event of generating income from the creation (which includes profit from streams or merchandise; though stream donations are typically outside of this realm). Make sure you discuss usage to determine how licenses will be transferred.
Do you already have a character design?
This may not be obvious, but a really nice character design itself can be a costly thing. If you don’t already have a solid reference for a character, that can produce a lot of friction with an artist who has to continually revise a design that is not solidified. A good reference sheet should have a full-body view of a character from front and back, a color pallet, and close-up shots of details like tails/ horns. This can cost at least $150 USD in most cases, and could be more expensive if there are a lot of details and revision cycles. Try to provide as much information as possible in a list format, and if you aren’t an artist then simple sketches can still help for really basic proportion or shape info.
Level of Detail for pricing vtubers
It’s very important to consider the level of detail involved with a project. Are they symmetrical, meaning that they can be drawn with a mirrored canvas? Do they have swappable emotion states or accessories? Can they be used with one simple tool like Veadotube Mini, or require more setup from multiple programs?
If you are looking to budget, try to find artists who use templates for their pngtubers and beyond. You might find artists who offer “YCH” meaning “Your Character Here” or even have their own special name for their templated designs. This means that the design you get won’t be absolutely original, but can be cost-effective if you are budgeting or seeking many different models.
For any kind of vtuber, planning is essential. How many different emotional states or outfits will they need? In most of these cases, unique assets need to be created and then programmed onto the model, especially for pngtubers. Do you want your pngtuber to blink? Should they be animated in any way at all? For a rigged vtuber, there are over 48 basic parts to be aware of (counting both left and right sides) which means that symmetrical characters can be ideal to draw and rig.
A Live2D rigging artist needs to arrange the parts to move in all 9 cardinal directions, create basic expressions like blinking or smiling, and set up physics for bouncing or dangling details. It can take a lot of work to create a smooth rig! Beyond that, these Vtuber rigs often have Emotes and Animations that the rigging artist takes time to create and program onto the character aside from the basic smile and frown. Another thing to consider is how specific parts of your model will move or jiggle in ways that are unexpected, unique motion design can take a lot of planning or even revisions which will reasonably impact cost. Most importantly, if your model has hands then that can really impact the cost of any model, since it requires more art assets and typically adds a lot more work to a rigging artist’s process.
Especially keep a list of any “special effects” you want on your model. Being able to hide parts of the body, move the arms, or toggle certain outfits or emotions. Do you want your vtuber to have a bald mode? Do they have certain forms, or parts that disappear or change color? These are very important for your rigging artist to know!
If you’re planning a 3D model, it’s very important to know that 3D modeling and rigging requires even more resources. 2D materials like references, block-outs, and painted textures must be produced. Beyond that, the 3D model needs to be modeled, UV mapped and textured, and then finally rigged, which is a very involved process that often requires multiple artists.
Software considerations
A pngtuber can be operated with one program like Veadotube Mini, or configured using Discord and OBS which are both entirely free. Any pngtuber will require a bit of technical setup, but it’s the relative simplest out of all vtuber pricing options. Most artists will create only a “Waist-up” or “Bust” of a character, so be sure to ask if you need a full-body pngtuber. A pngtuber is made of 2 frames of artwork, which usually costs at least $100 USD and can increase if you need animations or more frames. The simplest ‘chibi’ pngtuber models tend to be at least $50 USD.
Live2D uses a Photoshop file as a base image, because a .PSD Photoshop file is comprised of a stack of Layers. These layers are used to separate all of the moving features, so that a rigging artist can create motion. A very basic custom “chibi” style model is often at least $300 USD because of the art and rigging involved, and may be based on a template. For fully unique art, the cost can easily rise over $1000 USD when considering add-ons and complexity.
As mentioned in the Level of Detail topic, 3D models are very complex to produce. There is no way that they are “cheaper and easier” than 2D. You often need your artist to produce “Blendshapes” if you want your 3D character to lip-sync and emote. 3D models often cost well over $3000 USD because of these many factors.
This document on Github is a wonderful resource to compare specifications.
Considering Hardware
Using just a microphone with a pngtuber is typically the very cheapest option, as you could even use a pair of photographs to create your talksprite. The type of microphone you get is entirely up to you, but if you plan to stream then you might want to consider quality like Blue Yeti at least. When you hire an artist to create a unique pngtuber avatar for you, anticipate that you should pay at least $100 USD to consider their time and your influence on revisions. Your pngtuber model reacts to basically any sound from your microphone, so be careful with the background noise of your environment.
The costs will rise when considering using a webcam for a facial-tracked Live2D Vtuber, meaning you’ll need to invest in the webcam hardware as well as the model. One can typically find a really basic webcam in the range of $20-50 USD, and remember that you still need a decent microphone if you intend to talk.
Most 3D models absolutely require the ARKit tools from recent mobile devices, primarily from Apple. You need a camera with “TrueDepth” front-facing camera software, found in most iPhones as well as some others like the Samsung Galaxy Note 10+. Live2D models can also use a few basic ARKit shapes, which we will elaborate on in the next section.
Having live tracking on your hands is very complex on any vtuber model, and will often mean you need more complex hardware, too. You’d typically need a peripheral like LeapMotion or Rokoko tracking for accurate hand motions.
The two tiers of Live2D/ VTube Studio Models
As mentioned in the “Considering Hardware” section, Live2D models can often cost over $350 USD for the basics of a webcam and simple rigged model. If asked, your rigging artist should be able to create the basic ARKit face shapes like CheekPuff and MouthX so you have a few more shapes when using a TrueDepth camera.
Live2D models have a whole “Tier Two” type of complexity, if using a 3rd party program called “VBridger” to add more facial tracking to the model. The rigging artist has to produce many more keyforms to support VBridger models, as well as have their own copy of VBridger so they can program the motions properly. Most beginners will only need the “Tier One” basic Live2D features, so make sure to ask about VBridger when pricing vtubers.
Final notes: assess your own Learning Curve
Is this your first time ever using VTube Studio? If you’ve never even opened the program to try a test model and look at the settings and hotkeys, you need to start practicing now. Vtube Studio itself is a free program with some cute models installed, plus you can find a lot of free resources online to have a generic starter model. You can connect it to your Stream Deck or Lioro Board and practice a bit. Try using it on your next Zoom or Discord call with your friends. Using the program with your own webcam will really help you see the range of control you can have in your custom vtuber model.
And remember, pngtubers are vtubers. Vtuber is an umbrella term, it was originally short for Virtual YouTubers, but nowadays a lot of Twitch streamers use them. Being that a pngtuber is a virtual avatar for a streamer to express themself, all pngtubers are vtubers, even if not all vtubers have a pngtuber model.
Resources:
Commissioning your first VTuber model– Buyer’s Guide
Making a VTuber model– Model Artist Guide