SoulFlame VRM Exporter

Exports the appearance of a source avatar selected in Play Mode as one self-contained VRM 1.0 file. Open it from Tools > SoulFlame VRM Exporter.

Install

In the VRChat Creator Companion, open https://cucumberworks.github.io/vpm/ and choose Add to VCC. In ALCOM, or in VCC by hand, add the repository URL https://cucumberworks.github.io/vpm/index.json. Then add SoulFlame VRM Exporter to the project. In a project with VRM 0.x (for example from VRM Converter for VRChat), or with UniVRM imported under Assets/, read UniVRM first. Pre-release versions, such as 0.1.0-beta.1, show only when pre-release packages are turned on.

If the project already lists the exporter from Add package from disk, remove that entry in the Package Manager first.

Requirements

• Unity 2022.3.22f1, with Color Space set to Linear, as in VRChat avatar projects.
• UniVRM, to write the file. The exporter declares it as a VPM dependency, for the VRChat Creator Companion and ALCOM to add it along with the exporter (see below).

The exporter itself never installs or upgrades a package. The Capture tab of the exporter window lists a missing or unsupported package, and Refresh checks again after you change one.

UniVRM

The exporter writes with UniVRM’s VRM 1.0 package, com.vrmc.vrm (shown as VRM-1.0 in the Package Manager), and the UniGLTF package it builds on, com.vrmc.gltf (UniGLTF). Both must come from the same release: 0.125.x, 0.128.1 or a later 0.128 release, or 0.131.2 or a later 0.131 release. The exporter lists both as VPM dependencies, at 0.131.2 or a later 0.131 release, for the VRChat Creator Companion and ALCOM to add them along with the exporter. The CucumberWorks listing, which serves the exporter, serves both at 0.131.2.

If UniVRM was imported under Assets/. UniVRM unitypackages before 0.131 put it in folders such as Assets/UniGLTF, Assets/VRM10, Assets/VRM, Assets/VRMShaders and Assets/MeshUtility. Remove those folders before adding the exporter, or two copies of UniGLTF can stop the whole project compiling.

In a project with VRM 0.x but no VRM 1.0, adding the exporter through VCC or ALCOM can add VRM 1.0 with it, which makes Unity import every .vrm file under Assets again (see below). First back up any changes you made to the prefabs that VRM 0.x built from them.

If the project has VRM Converter for VRChat. VRM Converter installs UniGLTF and VRM 0.x (com.vrmc.univrm) of one UniVRM release, such as 0.128.1, and VRM 0.x needs exactly that UniGLTF, while this exporter version lists UniGLTF 0.131 as a VPM dependency. In such a project:

1. Use exporter 0.1.0, not the latest version.
2. If VRM Converter is 41.4, or 41.1 or earlier, update it to 41.5 first: those versions install a UniGLTF that no exporter version supports.
3. VCC or ALCOM may report com.vrmc.gltf conflicts with com.vrmc.univrm when you add or update the exporter, add VRM-1.0 or upgrade all packages at once (Upgrade All). If it does, answer No (or Cancel). If you already answered Yes, go back to exporter 0.1.0 in VCC or ALCOM and remove VRM-1.0 there if it stays, then change UniGLTF there back to VRM Converter’s release, such as 0.128.1.
4. Update the VRChat SDK on its own, not with Upgrade All, so that UniGLTF stays at VRM Converter’s release.
5. When you add VRM Converter to a project that already has this exporter version, VCC or ALCOM may report that com.vrmc.gltf conflicts with com.soulflame.vrm-exporter and com.vrmc.vrm. Answer No (or Cancel) there too. If you already answered Yes, go back to exporter 0.1.0 in VCC or ALCOM and remove VRM-1.0 there if it stays. Or, to keep this exporter version without VRM Converter, remove VRM Converter there, then remove VRM 0.x if you also added it on its own. If the project then has no VRM 0.x, remove the exporter and add it again.

If the project already has VRM 0.x but no VRM 1.0, add only the VRM 1.0 package, at the UniGLTF version the project has:

1. In Window > Package Manager, find UniGLTF and note its version, for example 0.125.0.
2. Choose + > Add package from git URL… and enter the URL for that version. Git must be installed.
   • UniGLTF 0.125.x, or 0.128.1 or a later 0.128 release: https://github.com/vrm-c/UniVRM.git?path=/Assets/VRM10#v0.125.0, with your version after #v.
   • UniGLTF 0.131.2 or a later 0.131 release: https://github.com/vrm-c/UniVRM.git?path=/Packages/VRM10#v0.131.2, with your version after #v.

The two versions must match exactly, patch included. With UniGLTF 0.125 or 0.128, do not import the VRM unitypackage into such a project: it brings a second copy of UniGLTF. If VRM 0.x came from UniVRM-0.131.2_a471.unitypackage, you can instead import VRM-0.131.2_a471.unitypackage from the UniVRM 0.131.2 release over it: it keeps UniGLTF as it is and adds VRM 1.0. Where you added the exporter from disk or by git URL, the Capture tab names the file for the installed version. When an update later moves UniGLTF to another version, remove the VRM 1.0 package you added and add it again with the new version. Until then VRM 1.0 may not compile, and the Capture tab names both versions; with no writer, Export shows the URL to use. Do not replace a VRM 1.0 that VCC or ALCOM added with the exporter this way: the VPM client can put it back the next time it resolves the project. For such a project the Capture tab gives steps to take in VCC or ALCOM instead. In a project that needs VRM Converter for VRChat, use exporter 0.1.0, as above.

Adding the VRM 1.0 package makes Unity import every .vrm file under Assets again, and VRM 0.x rebuilds the prefabs it made from them. Back up any changes you made to those prefabs first.

If you added the exporter without VCC or ALCOM and the project has no UniVRM. Add both packages of the current release with + > Add package from git URL…, UniGLTF first:

• https://github.com/vrm-c/UniVRM.git?path=/Packages/UniGLTF#v0.131.2
• https://github.com/vrm-c/UniVRM.git?path=/Packages/VRM10#v0.131.2

Or import VRM-0.131.2_a471.unitypackage from the UniVRM 0.131.2 release, which holds both.

Optional packages

Each of these widens what a capture can convert. They come from their VPM repositories, through the VRChat Creator Companion or ALCOM.

• NDMF 1.7.3 or a later 1.x release, when the avatar uses non-destructive tools such as Modular Avatar. NDMF 1.8.0 is not supported. Avatar Pose System rebuilds the skeleton when Play Mode starts, so set its object’s tag to EditorOnly before you enter Play Mode to capture, and set it back before you upload to VRChat; the Capture tab warns until the tag is set.
• lilToon 1.8.5 to 1.10.x, or 2.3.x, for lilToon materials.
• Poiyomi Toon 8.0, 8.1, 9.0 to 9.3 or 10.0 (the 9.1.28, 9.3.64 and 10.0.24 packages are tested), for Poiyomi materials, as the VPM package or the unitypackage imported under Assets/_PoiyomiShaders. Each material is checked against its own shader’s release, so materials on the shaders of those releases that Poiyomi keeps under Old Versions export too, and so do the 8.x Outline and 8.1 Early Z variants, which hold what 9.x’s Poiyomi Toon draws from its own settings. Other releases (8.2 was only Poiyomi Pro) and the Two Pass, Grab Pass, World, Outline Early, Lil Fur and Pro variants are blocked; such a material can use its basic look instead.
• VRChat Avatars SDK 3.7.0 or a later 3.x release (3.8.0 is tested), for PhysBones, VRChat constraints and the avatar descriptor.

Checking a converted avatar

The package ships a check page next to its code. Unity does not import it.

After an export, Check in viewer in the exporter window opens the page in your web browser; drop the file onto it as in step 3. To open it yourself:

1. In the Project window, right-click Packages > SoulFlame VRM Exporter and choose Show in Explorer (Windows) or Reveal in Finder (macOS).
2. Open the Demo~ folder and double-click vrm-check.html. It opens in your web browser and needs an internet connection.
3. Drop the exported .vrm file onto the page, or choose it with Choose file….

The page plays sample motions (idle, wave, bow, stretch), plays the file’s expressions, turns the eyes toward the pointer and runs the spring bones. Show spring joints and colliders draws them. The File list shows what the file contains and marks what may need a look, such as missing mouth or blink expressions or an avatar without spring bones.

The sample motions were made for the SoulFlame project and are released under the MIT license.