so i've got some pretty awesome news for those who are looking to commission a live 2d vtuber
model iron vertex which are the people behind many great avatars like yanner's iron mouse and project
melody have created a new site called v tuber market this site is meant to be a replacement
for the discord marketplace that currently exists on the live2d community server this is going to
make looking through posts so much faster and it's going to be a great resource for any interested in
both buying and selling live2d services now the site is pretty basic featuring just a search bar
home browse and about page but what makes the site so special is how it allows its creators
to link their personal websites so their portfolio is easy to find you can also upload a gif to show
off what a client might expect if they hire you this makes skimming through listings so easy and
it's nice to have a central location run by a very trustworthy team let's take a peek at what
the standard listing looks like they'll have their status either open or closed what they're offering
rigging or illustration whether or not they do nsfw which yes you can search for that bracing
their website and usually an example they also have a typed post that lets you know a little
bit more about them if i sound excited it's just because i'm happy this exists and i hope that
this becomes the most used website for live 2d enthusiasts before we get into how to commission
one if you find the video helpful like and subscribe it helps me out way more than you think
and i really appreciate it so now that we have all that information out of the way let's talk about
what you're looking for in a live 2d commission for those that are new and don't really know what
live 2d is a live 2d model is best described as dynamically animated 2d images which move with the
aid of a program webcam or phone that can be used for live streaming video games youtube videos this
guy is kind of the limit here you can do a lot of stuff with them probably the best known examples
are hololive like gargura and so if you've ever wanted a model like hers this is what you're
looking for live 2d models are broken down into two parts you'll first need the actual artwork for
the model referred to as the illustration now the price range varies a lot here i've seen it as low
as 10 bucks or free and i've seen it go as high as 1 500. in all honesty there really isn't a
consistent range you're going for here and you're really just paying for the exact style you want
i've had friends find amazing models for cheap and i've seen others pay thousands the second portion
of your live 2d is finding your animator also known as the rigging there are a lot of people
who can do both the illustration and rigging but there's many more that specialize in just
doing one or the other it's my experience that if you want to go for the top of the line model with
the smoothest motion you're gonna be commissioning two very expensive people just wanted to get that
out of the way another downside to going with two people is you do have to try and properly
plan when you are buying the art and rigging to fit both people's timelines but as long as you're
honest and diligent with your communication this really shouldn't be an issue now there
is a little bit of prep work that we need to do before we commission our live 2d artists
number one you need a reference if you approach an artist with a really vague idea you're not going
to end up with something you're happy with this most often happens when you haven't taken the time
to produce a reference sheet i'm going to give you an example of the sheet i gave to the artist who
made my cat model mythic sites this might seem like overkill but any parts you don't specify
are left up to your artist's interpretation if you try to make them change it after it's already
been drawn you better expect to be charged for it fun fact a lot of artists will either not accept
your commission or charge you a design fee if you try to give them something vague number two
you need to understand what you're commissioning here's where i want to plug the most amazing
written guide by faf this goes over not only what you need to look at from a commissioning
perspective but also what you might need to communicate to an artist when they are making
your artwork it's written from the perspective of a rigging artist and i seriously cannot recommend
it enough it's so detailed and could probably be a video series all its own i wish i had known about
it when i was first looking for a model it even has a list of ready-made models for practice so
you can have a better idea of what you're looking for to summarize some of the main points you need
to know if the artist can produce rig-ready art what kind of budget you might be looking at how
the pieces should be cut up and even a link to the live 2d community discord we mentioned earlier
if this seems like a lot more effort than you want to put in you should reconsider getting a live 2d
model in the first place png or 3d might be a better fit so let's get to the main event how
do you choose someone and just as importantly how do you avoid getting scammed i'll be going over a
couple different strategies starting with the least risky meaning you're probably not going
to get scammed and you're going to end up with a great model and end with the most risky most
of these points can and will carry over to a commission of any creative nature whether that's
pngs stream overlays 3d avatars or music the first and most secure method is finding a streamer or
youtuber who uses a model that has the style you want and read their bio or just ask them who made
their model everyone likes talking about who made their models and often they are willing to comment
on how easy their artists were to work with i've personally mentioned many times on stream my model
art was made by yaiba and my rigging was done by known in studios why is this the least risky
because you get to see the model being used what it's capable of and whether or not you
want similar quality this is the most useful for finding different styles and animators fairly
quickly and the only real downside is cost often if you find a popular streamer and want a model
made by the same people who made theirs wait lists are longer and costs are generally higher this is
again because quality is almost guaranteed you'll find as we go down the list things tend to get
cheaper quality becomes much more flexible and the amount of work required by you goes up most
things in this tier just work well because they are very established artists next method is to
browse twitter vtuber.gg artstation or any other site that has a search bar for commissions here's
where we step into scammer territory and where you want to take every possible precaution to ensure
you get what you're paying for i was almost burned recently because i didn't pay enough attention and
it's only because of my good friend camille that the scam was recognized even though it was very
obvious in retrospect a few warning signs to watch out for are a pretty bland header or banner most
people who do this legitimately will take the time to look legitimate if you don't have confidence
from your initial glance at someone's profile it's okay to just back out and look for someone else
it's far better to have your initial meeting filled with confidence rather than doubt what
you'll want to check next is their body of work anyone you look at on these sites needs to have
a good portfolio so you have multiple examples of what you'll be getting here's where it's a
good idea to try and reach out to the individuals who have been using that artwork or model and ask
how working with the artist was the more examples you find the better off you're going to be it's
also very very important you pay attention to how similar all of their art looks if you come across
someone who has drastically different levels of art or the styles don't really seem to match
you've probably found a scammer and it's time to move on this is a little bit more difficult to
do with rigging because finding someone's style is not as readily apparent especially if this is your
first time looking examples and references from other people are really going to be what works
best and in fact making friends or getting to know the artist well before you commission them is
going to be your best shot it's also very nice to have artist friends who you can and should check
with before you go ahead on a project they'll know what to look for and help you make a good decision
if everything looks good you can move on to contacting them i would recommend reaching
out with an initial message to make sure their comms are actually open along with a nice friendly
greeting once you've established their open tell them exactly what you're looking for make sure you
both understand what each other is trying to get out of this commission it's okay to be picky it's
okay to ask questions if you start to have doubts it's also okay to back out of the discussion
what's most important is that you and your artist feel excited to work with each other communication
at this stage is just so important and the earlier you talk about any potential problems
the easier they are to fix ask for sketches make sure you're checking in with them periodically and
give them good feedback on what they've already done remember if you try to change any aspects of
your model after the drawing or rigging has already been done you better expect to pay
because it's unfair of you to try and change the arrangement once it's already been started most of
what is and isn't allowed is readily available by the artist's own terms of service make sure
you read this it's basically a guide on how to interact with any given artist and answers most
of the questions you'll have you're gonna start off on the wrong foot if you don't even give
the artist the time and respect to read their terms of service finally the last method you
can try finding someone completely new this is obviously the most risky you have no idea what
kind of quality you can expect but these people are also generally the cheapest if you really
just want to have something that moves go ahead and take the risk just don't be surprised if
it turns out badly and don't brow beat someone because they didn't deliver your perfect match
new artists are going to make mistakes seasoned artists will too just remember there's a person
on the other side of the screen and you can work out most problems amicably so now you
found someone you like your initial conversation goes well they tell you the design is something
they can easily do and now would like to discuss payment the most common i've seen is paypal and
here's where another indicator of a scam might pop up if they want payment by paypal never
pay them as a family or friend you're basically writing off that money if something goes wrong
you're never seeing it again make sure they send it as a business invoice because if they try and
run off with the money paypal is very forgiving to the customer and nine times out of ten you'll get
your money back payment via card also has some buying protection as if push comes to shove you
can file a charge back but if you use this to scam the artist you're the worst type of person please
reevaluate your life the most important thing to remember is communication if there's ever anything
you're worried about it probably stems from something you or your artist didn't understand
and the only way you're gonna fix it is by talking to them here's all the information that i know
what i used and what i wish i had known when i first started seriously i cannot recommend fafs
guide enough and if the only thing you take away from this entire video is that guide my job here
is done hope you all enjoyed the video if you did you know what to do and i'll see you all next time