Vtubers
VTuber Technical Issues: How to Troubleshoot VTuber Problems
3 mins read
VTubing has its merits, but it also comes with its own set of challenges. Instead of just worrying about your stream quality, you also have to watch out for the quality of your avatar. Is it showing correctly? Are there any technical hiccups during the stream? Is it not tracking your movements and face correctly? These and so many other concerns add up to the difficulties of being a VTuber. Luckily for you, these problems have solutions, and we’re here to help you out. Just follow these helpful tips.
1. Network Issues
The most common problems that arise during streams can be solved by fixing your network connection. A lot of delays, frame drops, sync issues, and video lags often happen due to poor network performance. What you can do is try to restart your wifi router to see if it fixes things. You can also switch to a wired connection so that you can have a more stable speed. If none of that works, switch to an alternative and more reliable connection if you have the option to do so. Fixing your internet issues should always be the first step.
Connecting via mobile hotspot is usually not recommended since the stability of mobile internet is generally not suited for the heavy demands of streaming. Your best bet will still be to use a wired connection right from the start. Otherwise, you can opt to upgrade your internet plan to make things easier for you.
2. Avatar Appearance Issues
There may be times that your avatar won’t appear correctly, or it might load problematically. A quick fix would be to restart your stream to see if it will solve the issue. If not, you may have to check your avatar’s file assets to see if anything is corrupted or missing. This is why it’s important to have back-ups of your avatar files so that if anything gets corrupted, you can easily fix the issue. You may also need to re-download the avatar if you have the option to do so.
3. Tracking and Sync Issues
If your avatar isn’t in sync with your movements, there may be issues with your camera. Try unplugging and replugging your camera restarting your stream to see if it fixes things. Check as well if your camera’s firmware is up to date as well, as it could contribute to the performance. On the other hand, it might be a case wherein the face tracking movement is that which has an issue. In this case, you might want to restart the program as it might resolve the slight jitter.
4. Hardware Capacity Issues
If none of the above work, it might be a case where your hardware cannot keep up with the system requirements. You might want to first check if you have sufficient RAM (random access memory) as the face tracking software along with OBS and the game you are playing (if any) might be too much for your computer to handle. While 8GB of RAM is the minimum capacity you must have, it will definitely be a lot better to upgrade to a much higher RAM most especially if you’re playing triple A games and the like. Otherwise, it might also be good to check your set up’s GPU (commonly known as graphics card) as it works hand in hand with your computer’s CPU. Your GPU is usually the one tasked to handle anything involving graphics rendering and at times, a relatively old GPU cannot process as efficiently anymore which might affect not just your Vtuber software, but also the quality you can output your stream to.
The Alternative Solution
An option you can look into that is relatively more lightweight is to consider the use of PNGTuber models. These–as the name suggests–makes use of PNG images that do not need to be rigged and its movements are usually voice-activated, or may be controlled by using hotkeys. PNGtuber models are also usually a lot cheaper than Vtuber models but it does not allow for a lot of flexibility unlike the latter. However, it can be a back-up option for you if the issues you’re encountering still persist.
We hope these tips help you fix your VTuber avatars in the future, should problems arise. If none of what you try works, don’t hesitate to consult professionals about it.