VTubing Glossary

VRM is an open file format for 3D humanoid avatar models, built on top of the glTF (GLB) 3D standard. A single .vrm file bundles the 3D model, textures, skeleton/rigging, and facial blendshapes, making it portable across VTuber apps, VR, and metaverse platforms.

A VTuber (short for 'Virtual YouTuber') is a content creator or streamer who performs using a virtual avatar — 2D or 3D — instead of showing their real face. The avatar is driven in real time by face and motion tracking, so it mirrors the creator's expressions and movements while they stream or record.

A PNGtuber is a VTuber who uses a static 2D image (a PNG) as their on-screen avatar, instead of a fully tracked 2D or 3D model. The image typically toggles between a few states — such as mouth-open and mouth-closed — based on microphone input, giving a simple talking effect without face tracking.

Live2D is a technology and software for animating 2D illustrations so they appear to move in a lifelike, almost-3D way — without being a true 3D model. It's the most common way to make a 2D VTuber avatar, splitting an artwork into layered parts that are warped and shifted in real time to follow the creator's face.

GLB is the binary version of glTF, an open standard 3D model format often called 'the JPEG of 3D.' A single .glb file packs the 3D mesh, materials, textures, and animations together, making it a compact, widely-supported way to share 3D models across game engines, web viewers, and 3D tools.