VoxelVR is an upcoming VR social media platform that’s free to download on Steam right now. It’s very similar to Second Life, but more simplistic in its mechanics and is geared more towards social interactions. One thing notably different about Vrchat though is that avatars are pre-rendered rather than being real time 3D models. This means that any art style can be applied to an avatar and it will look great no matter what.
Avatar selection screen in Vrchat For the time being, there are only a few avatars available for download on the Vrchat website here . While they’re good enough for making casual acquaintances or role playing in, in my opinion they don’t go quite far enough in terms of what depictions are available. There needs to be more body types and more representation for marginalized people within the game.
How to change avatar vrchat
VRChat/VoxelVR is a VR social media platform, so it’s designed to be accessible for everyone. No matter what device you’re using or how poor your computer may be, there won’t be much in the way of barriers to entry when trying out the game. This means people who are in need of representation in VR can finally find it, not just in-game but also with the people they meet on their journey. With all of this being said, I still think there’s plenty of room for improvement when it comes to representation. While your avatar looks very nice no matter what you choose, I feel like that doesn’t quite go far enough into making sure everyone can see themselves in the game.
Making avatars isn’t exactly easy, but it is possible. The first step to making your own avatar for Vrchat or any program is to find a model that you can use as a base for your work. Something like DAZ3D which offers free models you can turn into an avatar. With any luck, they may even be compatible with Vrchat. Another option I’ve found is Mixamo, which offers free models you can use as a base for your work. They’re not completely compatible with VRChat/VoxelVR but if you have any experience making avatars then it shouldn’t be too difficult to fix them up. An entirely free option is Makehuman . This program lets you make your own avatar from scratch, provided there is a model they have available for it. You can find everything from elves to orcs and even a few animals as well if that’s what you’re into.
How do I create an avatar?
Once you’ve got an avatar you want to work with, the next step is to get them in-game. This part isn’t too difficult if you’re using Vrchat or VoxelVR. All you’ll need to do is navigate to this website , download the files, then put them into the game’s avatars folder once the program is running. This folder isn’t too hard to find, but if you can’t find it feel free to ask someone for help with this part. Once the files are in the folder, simply start up Vrchat or VoxelVR and you should see your avatar waiting for you.
What can people see when they look at my avatar
This part can be a little harder, depending on what you’re using as your base. For Mixamo and DAZ3D there’s a good chance all they’ll see is the base model of the avatar you downloaded. This isn’t so bad for some avatars but if you want to change it up a bit then this may not be the best route to take. Makehuman has a neat feature for this part though where you can apply other textures and clothing to your character. This lets you change up their appearance without changing the base model and it’s how I usually like to go about doing things.
After importing your avatar into VoxelVR, open up setting and enable mesh upload. Then go to the directory, find your avatar and upload it. For Vrchat I’ve heard of a few people having issues getting an avatar to work but they did it by replacing the default png texture with a jpg or bmp file that looked similar in color.
Conclusion
VRChat/VoxelVR has a lot going for it, including its free-to-play status and cross compatibility with multiple headsets. That being said, I still think there’s room for improvement in the representation department. Avatar customization is great but body types could use some work.