← ForgeCaster

VTuber Studio

Make your stream yours, with local avatars and audience interactions.

Start with the included avatar or import your own, then follow the steps below. No developer account is required for local tracking or avatar output.

Start with a local project

  1. Install ForgeCaster Desktop 1.2.0 or newer. Open ForgeCaster → Open VTuber Studio.
  2. Use the included 2D starter, or select New 2D avatar. Import PNG, JPEG, WebP or GIF artwork to make a picture avatar. No developer account is needed.
  3. For 3D, sign in to the cloud panel, then enter the tenant slug in Studio’s Avatar library. Journeyman or above unlocks basic 3D. Import a self-contained VRM, GLB, glTF or FBX export.
  4. Check the model’s permissions. Your right to use or redistribute artwork is separate from the software’s license.
  5. Use Output & capture to adjust framing, then save your project.

Tracking and rigging

Choose Tracking & calibration, enable face tracking and press Start tracking. Your operating system may ask for camera permission. Allow it for ForgeCaster. Keep the camera near eye level, use even front lighting, then press Capture neutral while looking toward the lens. Save the calibration.

Microphone lip sync can animate mouth openness without a camera. Hands and body tracking require Master or above. Select seated or standing mode, and adjust smoothing if movement jitters. Camera frames, microphone samples and tracking inference remain local.

Master includes layered 2D grids and parameter bindings, humanoid bone mapping, a visual skin-weight brush and precise vertex controls, keyframe tracks, expressions and props. Open Rigging & animation → Skin weights, choose a skinned mesh and surface, and press Load / rotate mesh. Select a bone index and brush weight, then drag over the points. The brush affects vertices through the depth of the current view; rotate to inspect other sides. Save and preview the result.

Audience interactions

Connect your tenant, then create a prop or expression and save it. Under Props & interactions, add a rule for a command, gift, follow, membership, configured redemption or add-on signal. Choose the target action and cooldown. Gift rules use final gift events, not partial streak updates. Old events expire instead of replaying on reconnect.

Master Maker add-ons can declare the avatar permission and return {effects:[{type:"avatar",signal:"bonk"}]}. Test and publish that revision, then match bonk in a local add-on interaction. Scripts still execute in the existing isolated runner; they cannot access desktop files or system controls.

Put the avatar on stream

  1. Copy the private local source link in Output & capture.
  2. In OBS or Streamlabs, create a Browser Source and paste it. Set its dimensions to the dimensions shown in Studio.
  3. In TikTok LIVE Studio, create a Link Source and paste the same link. If that build rejects local links, open the pop-out and use Window Capture.
  4. For ForgeCaster Broadcast, choose Review in Broadcast, select the scene and add the source.
  5. For virtual-camera output, add the avatar to an OBS / Broadcast scene and start Virtual Camera. Choose that virtual camera in your other app. Route audio separately.

Keep Desktop open. The source listens only on this computer. Its private link can read the avatar’s rendered output and project assets; do not share it. Replace source link revokes older links.

Compatibility and recovery

Native .fcavatar projects preserve local layers, rig data, interactions and original assets. Export one for a backup or to move computers. Every save retains ten prior revisions.

VRM 0.x / 1.0 import paths include humanoid metadata, MToon and spring-bone support from Godot-VRM. Imported materials, skeletons, VRMA rotations and unusual extensions need testing with the creator’s actual model. Proprietary source files do not become runtime exports by renaming them.

To import a Live2D-compatible avatar, select its exported .model3.json file with the referenced MOC3 and texture folders beside it. ForgeCaster copies only referenced local assets. Its independent MIT-licensed Purism Core runtime is included; no proprietary Cubism SDK is bundled. Inochi models use stable TRNSRTS INP/INX exports. Use Model parameters to inspect ranges, override automatic tracking mappings or set resting values. Imported motions and expressions appear in their selectors. Artwork rights still belong to the model creator.

Subscription checks expire after at most 60 seconds offline. Free basic 2D remains available, and saved projects are preserved. Sign back into the cloud panel and reconnect the tenant to restore paid controls.