Live2d Tutorial for Ren'py

In this beginner-friendly tutorial, I'll go over the entire animation pipeline for Live2d to Ren'py. From designing characters for animation, rigging and animating your characters, and adding these characters into your Ren'py games!
Download Live2d Cubism HERE: www.live2d.com/en/
0:00 Intro
1:00 Live2d Overview
2:12 Installing Live2d + Ren'py plugins
4:06 Design your Characters for Live2d Animation
8:17 Meshes
15:26 Warp Deformers
18:40 Rotation Deformers
20:34 Parameters
27:28 Parameters for Eyes
30:02 Parameters for Mouths
32:57 Parameters for Heads
38:27 Parameters for Hands
40:31 Parameters for Hair
44:54 Alternative Models
45:50 Texture Sheets
48:07 Animation: Posing
51:20 Animation: Timeline
56:10 Animation: Lip Sync
1:01:34 Exporting
1:02:38 Ren'py Implementation
1:08:26 Last Thoughts

[@seireiart]

Just when the world needed him the most, he came back 🙏

[@joinplay]

I'm developing horror novel game And I'm a professional coding gamedev which is why I found this tutorial useful!!! Thank you very much!!!!❤❤❤❤🎉🎉🎉 You earn a sub

[@anandfell6616]

no wonder he was not uploading often... Keep teaching its the best tutorials on renpy on the internet!

[@vimi]

I'm blocking out some quicker-to-make videos for the near future!

[@JuleSan_jk]

Just WOW. And how long this might has taken until the very release, OMG~~ Thank you for this super detailed, handy course and your ongoing dedication to teach!

[@vimi]

It's been MONTHS of work!

[@JuleSan_jk]

@@vimi

[@kleyayarizba]

I can't believe I've seen an hour-long video without clicking away. It really speaks of your amazing editing skills and structured videos!! And it was super informative too, thank you :)

[@vimi]

Thank you!

[@HoneyballLP]

I animate my illustrations with Live2D for little short trailers for my novels xD And also my emotes on twitch OWO Thank you so much for this wonderful video. I get ask a lot how to use this program and now I can share your work :3

[@Fahrenheit451.]

I was going through so many tutorials on Live2d all morning and getting more and more frustrated and then I stumbled on this. Just what I was looking for. Now why couldn't anyone else explain it this way so that it makes sense? Thanks for this

[@maesaliva]

RIGHT when I’m getting into visual novel design (I’ve been making games for about two weeks now and found this guy’s tutorials to be very helpful) he came back :0

[@vimi]

I timed it just right!

[@sunnysandra7977]

The ungodly scream I left ou when I saw this notification, WELCOME BACK SIR, THANK YOU FOR YOUR KNOWLEDGE SIR

[@AlexarionBeatbox]

This channel and your videos literally deserve at least like 10x recognition of what they have right now

[@scroptels]

Amazing! i still need to properly learn live 2d, this will come handy when i get to it, thank you so much!

[@otakusociety9240]

HE'S BACK! WOOOOOO YEAAH BABYYYY, THATS WHAT IM TALKING ABOUT THAT'S WHAT IVE BEEN WAITING FOR! WOOOOOO!

[@moyacronin9874]

thank you for your hard work vimi, great vid !!

[@germansommer1665]

This is amazing! Thank you so much for your hard work making these videos

[@NicoleHam]

WHAT THE!! How did I miss this video? Been trying to learn this on my own and you just answer ALL of my questions so casually. THANKS AGAIN!

[@vimi]

Glad it was helpful!

[@JackMack]

Incredible work, thank you for this amazing tutorial! You're killing it.

[@MrLucky7]

Whoa thanks for posting new video, love this channel

[@DarkChibiShadowYT]

This is beautifully in depth thank u

[@BlackHayateMX]

Thank you!!! My team and I were looking for exactly this!!!

[@spector969]

Wow, this is really in depth, thanks for making such a great tutorial, dude!👍

[@cronicasdeeberron8782]

Love you so much, man. Welcome back! We missed you! (Although I was hoping for an update for the Action Editor video) this is ABSOLUTE GOLD. Thank you!

[@Elpizo_Edith]

I seriously appreciate how much effort you put into doing this video. I honestly cant imagine how exhausting it probably was at times, but for someone like me, who is starting from level 0, this is a great asset and resource. Seriously thank you for taking the time out of your life to make something like this to help beginners on their path. 25/10 would ren'py again

[@vimi]

Thank you so much!!

[@hernanfoster2204]

thank you for this! 😄animations are always interesting to watch, I would love to see more animation tricks inside renpy.

[@Jenneviv]

1 year waiting for you to post this video and I can say that it was totally worth it. Awesome job! Thank you for the effort of making this

[@thirtysilver33]

Dude, you spent so much on that skeleton! :)

[@tatsuhirosato8646]

really good video. Please do more like this, although, I'd break it up into seperate videos for easier referencing. Thanks for keeping the community strong!

[@ADreamCalledeternity]

Oh my gosh, you're the best!! I've been struggling with lip sync and exporting for Ren'py, this is perfect!

[@pocketofryeproductions]

I JUST FINISHED WATCHING ALL OF YOUR VIDEOS AND NOW YOUR BAAAAAAACK

[@unciervoenciervado]

your videos are always great. I stopped doing VN long ago, but I'm glad you're helping so many people

[@ExtemporaneousnessOne]

This is so cool, I gotta try this out! Man, Vimi always got our back 😎

[@spenceduggs]

This is literally EXACTLY what I was looking for, oh my god.

[@andreasmalikae472]

Amazing video, thanks for your help !

[@Z0RLIG]

What a wonderfully detailed tutorial!

[@YumeNiffel]

Omg, the two things I was interested the most, in a cohesive, noob friendly tutorial, just when I start picking up the videos on this channel? It's fate. Thank you so much for the great content! I'll be coming back to this video again and again!

[@vimi]

Thank you!

[@keyzack]

Finally!!... My favourite Renpy Content creator with one of the most demanded subject 🥲

[@fuzai_koi]

I've been trying to learn Live2D for my vn! Thank you so much! So helpful, as always ;0;

[@arvorejakku5547]

I haven't watched all of the video yet, but it is so nice to see you again! We missed you, Matt!

[@keita-sama]

I was wondering what was cooking lol Great content as always!

[@rubyx9674]

Thank you SO much for your hard work!

[@Mjumiman]

Thank you for this! I've been interested in Live2d for a while, but was overwhelmed by the technical details. This made it a lot less intimidating!

[@astromonke1739]

Yooo you come back!!

[@Ketsu112]

hell yeah, welcome back!

[@renpytom]

I learned a ton from this. Thanks for all the work that went in to putting it together.

[@vimi]

Thanks! Your video is next!

[@Mikarabbit-ed7bq]

just here to say, your video is really helpful!

[@allcapsoff]

holy shit incredible video tutorial

[@CalixRomeroOfficial]

New content! And it's about Live2D. Yay! ❤

[@EriksBlue]

Welcome back!

[@marc13bautista]

Holy shit this looks awesome! Skeletal animation as you've mentioned seems a lot more fun and less problematic and stressful than the process of the traditional frame by frame animations (especially for a solo dev like me who is new to Renpy and can't really draw all of the art assets myself). This process might even work perfectly well and in sync with Smack Studio's (pixel based) animation tool that can make 3D sprite art with 2D art with an auto tool that can greatly reduce issues with meshes you've mentioned at 5:00, also has frame by frame workflow, and allows you to be able to add imaginary joints and bones (that can be added to meshes like here). Downside it's only pixel based and Smack Studio goes for about $15 but it looks like the PERFECT tool to use with your process for live2D in Renpy! Maybe there's other alternatives but the showcases they do on their KZbin with their Smack Studio pixel editor looks amazing for live2D. Also any assets made in their editor can be used for other (commercial) projects outside their game+editor. I might end up using this process and Smack Studio together for my own Renpy VN project! 😄💙🦈 This has really got me excited to developing my project now.

[@Crossbitgames]

awesome, I just needed a tutorial about this! thx subscribe

[@malbo-]

This video came at the perfect time, I was just looking into learning live2d for my project, thank you

[@vimi]

It's kismet!

[@cykelvester]

This is really cool, thanks for the videoes

[@thynetruly]

Waiting on the edge of my seat for the next video, this is gold

[@vimi]

The next one shouldn't take as long!

[@LuskusbaIndata]

Crazy, you are amazing ❤ true pro

[@agatasainrus]

Thanks for the video ☺️ this inspired me to make vn with animation!

[@Graphi]

ahhh live2D! i know basics in it from back when i made my Vtuber and while i tend to not like the look of character sprites with live2D for VNs ive been considering using it for other features and me and a friend of mine have been experimenting with animating bugs in it. it works really well! i skipped around a bit during the live2D tutorial since it's mostly stuff i knew but your explanations are VERY good and this is probably the best tutorial ive seen for it.

[@vimi]

Pretty much all the time I'm weighing the benefits of when I want to use transforms in Ren'py, or animate with Live2d.

[@Mrjacharles]

Dang this is a new one on me ... looks pretty radical ^.^

[@legalizedcomedy]

Welcome back

[@Nillyhaidz]

I WAS LITERALLY THINKING ABOUT THIS LAST NIGHT WOAH

[@nurseruben5431]

We missed you bro

[@Braincain007]

Awesome, thanks!

[@user-xe7md5ic1g]

Thank you for your video. I learned that I definitely would not want animation for the very first VN

[@basicdragonstudios]

Thank you! :)

[@DaniPotatoArt]

Thank you so much!

[@depotemkin]

Мы ждали вашего возвращения полгода, сэр

[@faiyazahmed7838]

Ok it means you alive 😂

[@Pixxeria]

Happy to see you again! I wonder if there's a way a similar integration between Blender and Renpy

[@vimi]

Not that I know of.

[@owlsama7045]

Hi! I'm new to this channel and I'm so grateful that I discovered you please keep it up! I have a question, you probably have answered this before or maybe you already have a video according to it(I would gladly watch it if that's the case hihi)... Do you have a suggestion or recommendation on character facial expressions or actions? Or like mannerisms?? That's all. Thankyouu! hihi

[@DarkChibiShadowYT]

Wahoooo ty

[@TheROZ]

welp, ill be fiddling with live2d for the next few months. lol. Reallly Appreciate it Danny

[@TheROZ]

update...Me and Rigging...We abouts to fight lol.

[@creeperselvaggio3754]

I thing I want use this thing for the personage but is a fantastic thing for the button and many other thing

[@chillasslofi8962]

Now that you did this tutorial, can you think about doing the one you talked about a long time ago. The one where you said you'd show us how to make the character walk around and be able to explore with user controls? None the less, thanks for all that you do.

[@vimi]

I never got that working right - it looks good on screen, but actually controlling it did not have great gamefeel. I'm trying out some other methods like the Pink Engine, and when I find a methodology or technique that I like, I'll make a video on it.

[@chillasslofi8962]

@vimi Oh cool, I just recently found out that that was a thing. I can't wait to see what you do with it.

[@randp6711]

Woo!

[@cottonthebunny9721]

I really love your videos, they've been EXTREMELY helpful as I've been working on my own VN with a friend and a lot of your tips, tricks, and tutorials have been life savers! I do have one question though: Is there any way to organize Ren'Py code effectively and efficiently (i.e. a folder system or something along those lines)? The VN I mentioned earlier is very reliant on choice making which will lead to different endings and my main roadblock/concern is losing things and keeping track of the code. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

[@vimi]

I like to separate out my script into different .rpy files; as long as your label aims at a different rpy file, they are all treated the same way. My script.rpy file ends up becoming a directory for a bunch of different labels that need to be called up in a separate sequence, while I have different rpy files for different chapters, modules, and python definitions.

[@thelastsecret3514]

This is an amazing technology and an amazing video! Thank you so much! I thought I was on top of technology by using AI art for my games, but now the question is how to integrate it into Live2d and that's a whole new challenge! 🤔

[@vimi]

It's involved, I'll tell you that. It's easy to build assets from the ground up for animation in Live2d, but doing the reverse requires some skill to maintain style consistency. Since a lot of AI tends to add a lot of visual noise to art, it's even harder! You could possibly try asking a generative art ai to create texture sheets directly, but I can't imagine it would all add together to be a visually coherent figure.

[@thelastsecret3514]

@@vimi My first idea would have been rather to use an AI-generated picture and "cut" it into different parts, add the missing (hidden) parts manually and then stitch it together for Live2d. Then style consistency would not be a problem, as this works already well for normal character sprites. - Do you think that method could work?

[@vimi]

@@thelastsecret3514 Depends entirely on what style you're going for, but I'd do some serious experimentation before diving into that production pipeline.

[@fexgy5595]

NOTE: if u apply to the 3 years of l2d school you can get a huge discount!!! it worth try like 70%less the alst time i see

[@nido_ri]

For to lipsync, can we use the voice channel to play the mouth animation?

[@vimi]

On Live2d's side, if you set up lipsync, it should work automatically with whatever clip you pair it with. On the Ren'py side, lipsync can't be done automatically; the animations need to be baked with the lipsync attached to them, and then played at the same time as the voice clip. It's a bit of a pain in the butt, and there are probably ways to semi-automate the process, so I'm keeping an eye out for any tools or methodologies to do this more efficiently 👀

[@Mikey-gs6jl]

Thank you for this incredibly useful resource! I have a question about characters with multiple outfits, a lot of Live2D info hasn't been maintained and maybe you might know if it's better to have multiple versions of the same character or a bunch of hidden layers?

[@vimi]

You can use "expressions" as a way to turn on and off layers, and that's usually one of the better ways to set up outfits in a way that works with all the animations you've made. Depending on your needs though, that might not be the best method. It's worth testing and trying out what works best for your project!

[@necroticdemonart]

I might just get back into doing visual novels and interactive ones like nekopara and ect

[@santi23aparicioh]

There has to be a way to combine this with the 3D models from Koikatsu and the studio, perhaps taking several shots at different angles and using them as a base? It would be an incredible leap to creating highly detailed and animated sprites. Nice video and new sub.

[@vimi]

Yup, that's doable! I've made bone + mesh animations out of screenshots of 3d Models, photos, and midcentury paintings.

[@santi23aparicioh]

@@vimi Thanks for answer! You should make a tutorial when you have time (if you want of course) with this idea. Using Koikatsu would be more advanced since you can literally make disappear parts of the body or face and let only one for example just eyelashes and also take screenshot of the same model in different angles. Anyway, sorry for the long answer and thanks for your amazing work!

[@tomoyaokazaki2138]

I do hope you make more tutorials, but I gotta say…this video was way too long. All the info is very helpful, don’t get me wrong. I just hope your future tutorials won’t be an hour long 😅 but if they are, I still look forward to watching them. I always learn new things with Ren’Py and try out the things from your tutorial videos. Please, teach me more 😄 I wanna learn everything that we can do in Ren’Py.

[@vimi]

This one was really long because I had to make sure I put all the essential information in one video - it would have taken more time to separate this into multiple different vids, and those tend not to perform as well. The next few videos in my docket are a lot shorter!

[@chuck8240]

Now I need a Programm that can do art for me because the best I can do is a stickman that has a stroke 😂

[@LeoGarcia2.0]

Do i need a powerful computer to develop a visual novel? Just discovered your channel and i am binge watching. Much love from Brazil 🇧🇷

[@vimi]

I make mine in Ren'py, which runs at pretty low specs - I've been able to run it on a hundred dollar mini-pc.

[@SaraNoemiVEVO]

Hi!! This video is amazing but i have one question, how do i put live2d files in renpy so the animation i created appears as the main? like when you open the game with the main screen options and that..

[@vimi]

Define the image like I showed, but make sure it's called on "init", and then you can define gui.main_menu_background with that image name instead of "gui/main_menu.png". I cover the basic steps in another video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eKfboaZ4brJsbNE

[@lalzng]

can i just say i love you?

[@vimi]

😳

[@johnwagner8310]

I'm pretty sure Nekopara uses E-mote, not Live2d. Other than that, great video. :3

[@Cinopyon_]

I’m attempting to learn Live2D for my VN, and this video was wicked helpful! Although when I try to run my game, it tells me the .json file doesn’t exist, I tried searching online, but I can’t seem to find a solution. I’m sure that I must’ve done something incorrectly, if anyone could help I’d appreciate it!

[@vimi]

It sounds like you may be referencing an animation that doesn't exist in your files, which can happen if you misspell something, or don't link it correctly?

[@stevena488]

Ah... Flash-era Motion tween.... We meet again....

[@dvdantunes]

indeed ❤

[@NewbieGamersoRus]

Can you make visibility or opacity parameters ?

[@wilsonjunior9806]

What about the audio, does renpy play it automatically or do we always have to put "play sound "test.wav"" before running the animation?

[@vimi]

You can either manually place the audio, or you can set up your audio to auto-play when the associated dialogue pops up. My "Ren'py Sound & Audio Tutorial" video covers all of that.

[@Papalon-rn2pc]

When I put the sample animations, it works perfectly. But my animations only show the image, the motions don't work! and shows this: "When showing Silv, Scene1 is not a known attribute." Where is the problem? (Renpy v8.2.1 and Live2D V5.05)

[@henryalastre8018]

Can you show us how make a open world in renpy please?

[@Eliany1999]

this is late but I'll still ask in case anyone knows, how can I make a looping idle animation of the character breathing and blinking from time to time? I mean, how would I set that in ren'py? I'm good with how to use live2d but I'm totally new at ren'py

[@vimi]

Do you mean you want a layered animation of the blinking on top of the breathing at random points? At this point, Ren'py can't layer animations, but honestly, trying to randomize the blinks is kinda overkill, I just make REALLY long idles with the blinks in there, and fade between animations. That being said, I can do some tests later on and see if there's anything I can do to coax that behavior out (my next game is using a lot of Live2d)

[@Eliany1999]

@@vimi yes, I meant kind of randomizing the blinking but I'm a total newbie to ren'py so I am not sure of the programs limitations and stuff, I'll try with making long animations in Live2d with the blinking for now then! Thank you!

[@Warm_Fireplace]

Is there a way to lipsync on renpy with a Live 2d Model? Without having to animate each line lip flaps =P I know the live 2d sdk supports lipsync but no idea of renpy does.

[@vimi]

There are some plugins that work with Rhubarb Lipsync, but I've generally I've found the quality to be low enough that I'd rather just use a tasteful lip flap than take the time to try to sync the audio. It's worth giving a shot, though! github.com/Wendy-Nam/RenPy-Lipsync-Plugin

[@Warm_Fireplace]

Oh! Thanks a lot =D @@vimi

[@user-tb8ib9of6v]

Can you make a tutorial for creating a chapter menu in Ren'Py?

[@vimi]

ok, adding it to my list.

[@Cmaxon1521]

Does this work for elements of layered images? Say I have a Live2D loop of hair blowing in the wind as a part of a layered sprite.

[@vimi]

Yes! You can also add the hair blowing as an expression! Lots of ways to do it!

[@Cmaxon1521]

@@vimi that's great to hear! I'm still pretty new to Renpy and even newer to Live2D. Any plans on making a video for something like this? Currently struggling with adding Live2D or even ATL animations into a layered image

[@Cmaxon1521]

never mind I figured it out! thank you for such a fast reply. Your content is really helping me out

[@LuskusbaIndata]

already try this but why my animation didn't show, it only show a seluet and file name only can you tell me what wrong with it ?

[@vimi]

That means that ren'py can't find the image - it could be a simple syntax error, where the name of the defined image + the animation doesn't match what you called, or you may have not made a defined image for the Live2d animation at all.

[@LuskusbaIndata]

@@vimi i try it again for several days, rewatch the video but still don\t understand and no result, but when i use hiyorin from live2d it work well

[@LuskusbaIndata]

@@vimi god i am so happy i find the problem i watch your video like 10 more times and figure it out thank you so much for sharing

[@herobot1]

Hi, when I go to Ren'py to install Live2D Cubism, I get an error message that said it could not find a Cubismsdk in the Ren'Py SDK directory. I feel a bit foolish but am I the only one with this problem? Thanks in advance for any help.

[@herobot1]

Figured it out. You need to have the CubismSdkForNative zip file in your Ren'py folder. Which I did not. If anyone had the same mix up. There it is.

[@vimi]

To be fair, I probably should have broken that part down more. Later on I'll include some more explicit instructions in the comments.

[@herobot1]

@@vimi in your video when you said "There! Done!" My spider sense was tingling... It can't be that easy can it? ;)

[@cristiangaban960]

So it's 50 meshes per file , but unlimited files ?

[@vimi]

With the free version, you're limited to 50 meshes per file, but you're allowed to make as many Live2d files as you want, yes.

[@joelmartinez7326]

I do not know how to draw

[@psychospeech6189]

You can pay someone to make something for you, you can learn to draw.. or if you want, you can use AI to get the basic idea of a charecter and then Trace and practice drawing that charecter untill you get it the way you want

[@professorq4081]

It seem Live2d and Ren'py having some problems lately.