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Setup guides / VTuber streaming setup

VTuber streaming setup

Stream as an avatar: which app for a Live2D or a 3D model, a webcam or an iPhone for face tracking, and how to bring the avatar into OBS with a transparent background.

Updated October 14, 2026

The short version

A VTuber stream is an ordinary stream in which an app moves an avatar with your face instead of showing your camera. The model decides the app: VTube Studio animates 2D Live2D models and doesn’t do 3D; VSeeFace animates 3D VRM models and doesn’t do Live2D. Both are free. Track your face with a webcam, or, in VTube Studio, with an iPhone or iPad that has Face ID, which its maker rates as the most accurate tracker. Then capture the avatar in OBS with a transparent background: VTube Studio’s manual says never to use a green screen.

First step: Install the app for your model, load the model, and check that it follows your face and blinks before you open OBS. See the steps →

Your signal pathOn camera or a call
WebcamUSB video out
MicrophoneUSB audio out
Streaming computerUSB inputs · OBS
HeadphonesWhat you hear
Power supplyPower for each device
Router and platformEthernet · upload
USB videoUSB audio3.5 / 6.3 mmEthernetPower
WebcamUSB video out
MicrophoneUSB audio out
Streaming computerUSB inputs · OBS
HeadphonesWhat you hear
Power supplyPower for each device
Router and platformEthernet · upload
USB videoUSB audio3.5 / 6.3 mmEthernetPower
━━ Video┄┄ Audio··· Network┄ Power
Every connection
  1. Webcam USB outUSB cable → A USB port on your computer
  2. Microphone USB outUSB cable → A USB port on your computer
  3. Microphone / interface headphone out3.5 mm or 6.3 mm headphone connection → Headphones (what you hear)
  4. Computer Ethernet portEthernet cable → router; your upload → Platform (check the stream preview)
  5. Wall socketThe maker’s power supply, or USB power → Computer and devices that need their own power
Load this setup in the builder →

Two apps, by the kind of model

Check your model’s file type first: a Live2D model and a VRM model need different apps.

VTube StudioVSeeFace
ModelsLive2D (2D) onlyVRM 0.x and VSFAvatar (3D); not VRM 1.0, not Live2D
Runs onWindows 7 or newer and macOS 10.14 or newer, through Steam; phone and tablet apps for trackingWindows 8 or newer, 64-bit
Face trackingWebcam, iPhone or iPad, or Android phoneWebcam, or an iPhone through iFacialMocap, FaceMotion3D or VTube Studio; hand tracking with a Leap Motion
PriceFree with every feature; a paid add-on removes the watermark shown while webcam tracking is onFree
Into OBSSpout2 on Windows (recommended), Game Capture, NDI or its virtual webcamGame Capture with Allow transparency, Spout2, or its virtual camera

Webcam, iPhone or Android for tracking

VTube Studio ranks its trackers iPhone first, then webcam, then Android.

TrackerWhat you needWhat VTube Studio says
iPhone or iPadAn iPhone or iPad with Face ID (iPhone X, XR, XS, 11, 12 or newer; iPad Pro 3rd generation or newer), or one with an A12 chip or newer (iPhone SE 2020, iPad 8th generation), and the VTube Studio appSmoothest and most detailed (Apple’s ARKit). The phone sends the tracking to your computer over your home network, so the computer does less work
WebcamAny webcam; 1280 × 720 or more and 15 to 30 frames a second for good eye and blink trackingReally good, but it loads your processor, and blinks and eyes are less accurate than on an iPhone
Android phoneA recent Android phone and the VTube Studio appPretty good, behind iPhone accuracy, and some features are iPhone-only

Light your face evenly whichever you use: tracking reads your eyes and mouth from the picture. The webcam test shows whether the camera keeps a steady frame rate in your light, and the lighting layout shows where to put a light.

Bring the avatar into OBS

These follow each app’s own manual.

  • VTube Studio on Windows, with Spout2: install the Spout2 plugin for OBS that matches your OBS version, turn on Spout2 in VTube Studio, choose the Color Picker background with Transparent in capture on, then add a Spout2 source in OBS and set its Composite mode to Premultiplied Alpha. It uses almost no processor time and leaves VTube Studio’s own buttons out of the picture. The manual warns not to follow the plugin guide’s “Resize Output (source size)” step, which can break your scenes.
  • VTube Studio on a Mac: OBS can’t capture its transparency there. Use the NDI plugin, which carries transparency, or capture the window over a solid colour you pick in VTube Studio and remove it with a Chroma Key filter; keep that colour out of your model.
  • VSeeFace: add a Game Capture in OBS with Allow transparency ticked, then press the small ※ button at the bottom right of VSeeFace to hide its interface and clear the background. The space key shows the button again.
  • For calls: both apps also have a virtual webcam, so the avatar can join Zoom or Discord as a camera.
  • Black capture? On a laptop or computer with two graphics chips, OBS and the avatar app must run on the same one (OBS’s GPU selection guide shows how). Running both as administrator helps, and VTube Studio’s manual names RivaTuner as one app that can block the capture.

Your microphone stays a microphone

The avatar app moves the mouth, but your voice still goes to OBS from your microphone, exactly as in any stream. Check it with the microphone test, and if the mouth moves before or after your voice in a recording, fix audio and video sync measures the gap and sets OBS’s Sync Offset.

Rehearse before the first stream

Record two minutes in OBS with the game or scene you will stream running. Watch the file for blinks and mouth movement that keep up, edges of the avatar without a coloured fringe, and a frame rate that holds when the game is busy. If tracking stutters only during the game, the processor is the limit: an iPhone tracker, a lower tracking quality in the app, or capping the game’s frame rate takes load off it.

Questions

Can I be a VTuber with just a webcam? Yes. Both apps track a webcam; an iPhone is an upgrade, not a requirement.

Is VTube Studio free? Yes, with all its features. With webcam tracking it shows a watermark until you buy the Remove Watermark add-on on Steam.

Can VTube Studio use a 3D model? No, only Live2D. Its manual sends 3D and VRoid models to VSeeFace, and can send its iPhone tracking to VSeeFace.

Do I need a capture card? Not for the avatar: it runs on the streaming computer. You need one only for a console or a second PC, as in the console setup.

Settings for the platform you stream to

Once it is wired, each platform’s own figures for bitrate, keyframes and audio, with the date we checked them: Twitch · YouTube Live · Kick · Facebook Live · TikTok LIVE. The bitrate calculator gives the number to type into OBS for your output.

Going live for the first time? Follow the steps to stream on Twitch, go live on YouTube, stream on Kick, go live on Facebook or go LIVE on TikTok, from the account to ending the stream.

Sources