For some backstory: I’m a seasoned online content creator with 15+ years of experience, making videos and writing blogs on YouTube and other social media websites. A trend that started back during the height of the pandemic was Virtual YouTubers, or “V-Tubers”. However, having a model made for you to use can be costly. So I sought to figure out if the framework for a V-Tuber Avatar could be made with only AI.
Inspiration
The inspiration for my character came from a cyberpunk-inspired cosplay helmet bought from Amazon a year prior. I wanted the character to have a cyberpunk theme with demonic-inspired themes.
Sample image uploaded to AI Tool
AI Tool
This process uses a site called DreamStudio by Stability.AI, which uses the SDXL 1.0 model. The tool is capable of creating different visual styles of artwork. For this project, I chose the Anime style.
First Iteration
For the first iteration, I decided to use the inspiration image of the helmet and hopefully build a new image around it by feeding it into the model as a sample. The prompt goes as follows:
...front view of a man with robotic arms wearing a futuristic helmet with glowing red horns on his head. He's wearing a sleeveless, dark red trench coat and a bulletproof vest underneath. Four iron chains hang from his neck like jewelry.
This result turned out poorly. Originally, I thought to just build the rest of the model around the sample-inspired images, but that proved to be difficult since the AI clung too closely to the sample. So I got rid of it and relied on the prompt to build the avatar from scratch.
Second Results
For a V-tuber avatar, I needed a half-body shot to rig up to the software that gave it its 3D-like appearance. Using the first prompt. I ran another iteration.
The results were closer to what I wanted, but a few tweaks to the character’s ethnicity needed to be made.
Second Iteration
The prompt was altered to suit the needs and design of the model I wanted:
front view of a dark-skinned man with robotic arms from the waist up wearing a futuristic helmet covering his face with glowing red horns on his head. He's wearing a sleeveless, dark red trench coat and a bulletproof vest underneath. Four iron chains hang around his neck like jewelry.
These latest results were more in line with what I wanted. The prompt was good enough to keep running through it and randomizing the results with new iterations until I picked out a final set.
After I chose my final generated image, I ultimately hired someone to rig the asset for me so that it’s usable as an avatar. The video of its use can be seen at the top of this page.
After debuting the model for a few YouTube videos, I got some feedback from the r/Vtubers subreddit on it.
Coincidentally, that same person also commented on my use of AI images for the video thumbnails…
Funny enough, it seems that they couldn’t tell that the avatar model I used was made with AI as well. There’s probably more I could do to push the prompt to change certain things, like the excess chains around the avatar. But as of now, I think this project and its goal were executed just fine to acceptable results.
