VTube Studio currently comes with a few pre-built Live2D models to play with and pretty much full functionality out of the box in order to jump-start your Vtuber career. You can cue up canned animations to hotkeys, stick PNG props to your model, and set backgrounds to transparency before sending the model to OBS or a similar program. Caveats include the fact that literally everyone using VTube studio has these default characters so while you can impress your friends for a few minutes by turning into a cute anime girl, don't expect the Superchats to come piling in without putting in a little more effort. The one DLC on Steam right now is the ability to remove the watermark from the recently-added webcam support, so try it out in the free version first to see if it works for you. My computer is very potato these days so the software running alongside Streamlabs eats up all my CPU power, but I'm certain any build constructed in the past five years will do just fine.

Face tracking was originally accomplished by linking a phone with a decent camera to a computer but I imagine a lot of people have been waiting for a plug-and-play option like a standard USB webcam. Some users claim that phones offer superior tracking and I'm inclined to believe them without seeing it for myself, given the gulf in quality between consumer webcams and something like an iPhone camera. I think the devs recommend a 1080p camera as the minimum but I didn't have any problems using a 720p camera.

Where VTube Studio really excels is the amount of control it gives the user in fine-tuning every little motion, while also allowing the user to hand-wave away things they don't want to consider right now with auto-setup. There were a lot of moments where I would make a small adjustment, like for example setting a different sensitivity to eyelid tracking, and it would simply work right away according to what I wanted. Most of the hard work is done by spending hours tinkering with parameter values in Cubism first, but it's in VTube Studio where you'll see tangible results. VTube Studio has been essential in previewing every iteration while I work on my model. I'm definitely not on the level of the pros that have been at this for years, but doing everything yourself is, of course, infinitely cheaper than trying to commission someone with a backlog of work. Plus, there's nothing quite like seeing something you worked hard on come together.

I'm used to fighting with my programs to get them to do what I want so just for functioning as intended, I really can't recommend VTube Studio enough for anyone curious but unsure of how big a commitment they're ready to make. VTube Studio works equally well for anyone serious about becoming the next million subscriber streamer, and also for anyone streaming as a hobby without a big concern over the financial viability of becoming popular on the internet.
1) What are you getting with this software?
VTube Studio or in short VTS is a tracking software aimed to be used for Virtual Streamers know as Vtubers. Each Vtubers would have their own model commissioned from artist and animator, or create them by their selves, the software it self comes with free official Live2D sample models for you to test.

Important: In current state of when writing this review, VTS only tracks 2D model created with Live2D Cubism, its not aimed for 3D models so please understand the difference between 2D model and 3D model, do the research on the differences between them before make conclusions.

This software is used by many Vtubers whose aim is to do any type of streaming in Twitch, Youtube and other streaming platforms. If you do not know what does Vtubers do, you should do a research on this subject to understand what role does tracking software like VTS plays role in it.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2) Why i recommend this software as Animator who prepare models for VTS
There are few more different software in the market that aims to make use of Live2D models for 2D Vtubers to use, however out of all currently existing one, VTS is the best in the market by huge march and i will explain why.

As user: Generally its very easy to use and setup, the configuration flexibility that VTS offers is not really needed for basic users but for advanced users this will play huge role on how your model behave and moves, resulting in very unique behaviors and unique way to control your model.

Initially VTS came with only mobile as tracking and it does have very accurate and smooth tracking, however tracking quality will depend on if you are using modern iPhone/iPad with face ID or an modern Android phone that supports VTS. The webcam version is new addition with the 1.6.0 and above version, its tracking capability is definitely will be inferior than the iPhone/iPad tracking as mobile are really really expensive but have very accurate tracker. But the webcam tracker is still pretty decent to let you decide if you want to use the webcam version or mobile version, as Android tracker do have some limits that webcam version is capable of doing.

Compare to other webcam software, webcam tracking is pretty much on competitor level, but the iPhone/iPad tracking will just beat any other software in the market in term of how good is the tracking. However due to many other beneficial factors that VTS offers, the webcam tracking is totally up for the task and you can still enjoy streaming with it.

The beneficial factors that VTS offers are such as: Your own imported images as stickers that you can stick on your model which do follow around. Alpha channel that does not requires you to use green screen and chroma key with streaming software like OBS. Unlimited custom hotkeys for your model to take advantage of and let me tell you that they functions very well compare to some other software.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3) And now the biggest difference that you might even won't know without testing many different tracking software as well as VTS is: Many Animators prefer VTS over other software due to how easy to prepare a model for it, install model for it, and maintain it for future upgrades. The flexibility that it offers are just that comfortable that the many animators who started using VTS cannot look back at other software. Your animator will simply say thank you for choosing this software should you decided to dive into Vtubing.

On top of that the Developer of this software is animator as well, so they know what we the animators want for future update and listens to feedback. They also have their own discord for community to talk about anything related to Vtubing - technical support - and users feedback - and constant improvements along with new functions adding in updates.


I just can't emphasis enough how superior VTube Studio is in the current market of Vtubing, and i already wrote long essay here so i will let you do the rest of the exploration on your own should you decide to become Vtuber or just enjoy having fun with it with your friends through calls.

Lastly, congrats on reaching this far if you manage to read up everything that i wrote up. Now you can decide on your own if you want to stick to this software or try it. No negative reviews should impact on your own decision, and should you have struggles with the software but looking forward to keep using it, consider joining their discord for assistance, update news and meet new people.