What is a VRM character?
A VRM character is a 3D humanoid model saved in the VRM file format, an open standard released by Dwango in 2018 and stewarded since 2019 by the VRM Consortium, whose founding members include pixiv, Unity Technologies Japan, and Crypton Future Media, the company behind Hatsune Miku. The current VRM 1.0 specification was published in September 2022. Under the hood, VRM extends glTF, which the Khronos Group calls "the JPEG of 3D", with everything a character needs that a generic 3D model doesn't: a standardized humanoid skeleton, named facial expressions, hair-and-clothing physics, anime-style toon materials, and license terms embedded in the file.
That standardization is the point. A game-engine model is rigged however its creator liked; a VRM model promises the same bones, the same expression names, the same conventions. One file works across VTubing apps, social VR platforms, game engines, and hardware like the CODE27 Companion Hub. Your character stops belonging to one program and starts belonging to you.
What's inside a VRM file
- Humanoid rig: a standard bone map with 15 required bones (of 55 the spec defines), so every VRM app can retarget animation onto the same skeleton.
- Expressions: 18 standard presets in VRM 1.0: five emotions (happy, angry, sad, relaxed, surprised), five mouth shapes for lip-sync (aa, ih, ou, ee, oh), blinks, and look directions.
- Spring bones: lightweight physics so hair, skirts, and accessories sway naturally with movement.
- MToon materials: the toon shader that gives anime VRM models their clean, cel-shaded look.
- License metadata: the creator's usage rules travel inside the file as real spec fields (commercialUsage, creditNotation, allowRedistribution, and more), and every default is the most protective option for the artist. We love this detail at CODE27; respecting artists' terms is the foundation our whole platform is built on.
Where do VRM models come from?
Four common routes, from free to fully custom:
- VRoid Studio (free, by pixiv) lets you build an anime-style character with sliders and texture painting, then export straight to VRM. It is the on-ramp most creators start with: pixiv reported more than 4.6 million VRoid accounts as of August 2024.
- Download one free from VRoid Hub, pixiv's model-sharing platform. Creators there can mark their models downloadable, and free-to-use characters are an established category; every model page states its own usage conditions (download, commercial use, modification), so read them before you press the button. Models for sale appear there too, linking out to BOOTH for the purchase itself.
- Buy or commission. Marketplaces like BOOTH carry thousands of VRM 3D models by independent artists, and on VGen, a marketplace built around human-made, no-AI work, you can commission a VRM character made just for you, directly from the artist. Check each model's embedded license before use. That metadata exists to protect the artist, and commissioning is the most direct way to support the people who make this art.
- Build one from scratch. Most character artists in this scene work in Blender end to end, sculpting, retopologizing, UV-unwrapping, and texturing before exporting with the VRM add-on; that is how our own team builds Codies. Professional pipelines often sculpt fine detail in ZBrush and rig in Maya, then bring the finished model to VRM through Blender or Unity.
Costs vary widely by route. As of August 2026, ready-made anime VRM models on BOOTH typically list for $20–$50 (¥3,000–¥7,000), with listings ranging from free to about $235 (¥34,600). Commission prices on VGen depend on how the artist builds. Some work in VRoid Studio, shaping its standard base body and drawing custom textures; these VRoid-based commissions list anywhere from about $35 to $500, most between $50 and $250. Others model the character from scratch in software like Blender, with custom geometry, rigging, and expressions; those start between $300 and $1,100, and industry pricing guides put finished mid-tier custom 3D models at $800–$2,500, so read listed prices as starting points. Two things to confirm in the brief: commercial-use licensing (costs extra and varies by artist) and VRM delivery, since some from-scratch artists deliver Blender or FBX files and charge a separate fee for VRM export.
| Route | Typical cost (USD) | Time to a usable model | Skill needed | Customization |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Create in VRoid Studio | Free | Minutes for a first preset-based character; hours to make it fully your own | Beginner | High within anime style presets |
| Download from VRoid Hub | Free (paid models link out to BOOTH) | Minutes | None | As shared; usage conditions set by each creator |
| Buy on a marketplace (BOOTH) | $20–$50 (free models available, often simpler versions of paid ones) | Minutes | None | Limited to the artist's options |
| Commission an artist (VGen) | $50–$1,100 depending on how the artist builds (commercial licenses cost extra) | 3–12 weeks typical; VRM-focused commissions often 15–25 workdays | No 3D skills (a clear written brief and reference images help) | Fully custom, made for you |
| Convert your own model (Blender or Unity) | Free (open-source tools) | Hours for an experienced rigger; a first attempt often takes days | Intermediate 3D | Total control of an existing character |
How do you convert a 3D model to VRM?
If your character already exists as FBX, PMX, or another rigged format, the open-source VRM Add-on for Blender is the standard path. That includes characters built in Reallusion Character Creator, which has no native VRM export as of Character Creator 5 and reaches VRM through its FBX output. The conversion itself: import your model, map its skeleton to VRM's humanoid bone set, assign MToon materials, define the expression blend shapes, add spring bones, and export. The other established route is Unity with UniVRM, the VRM Consortium's own reference implementation: import your FBX into a Unity project, set the rig to Humanoid, and export through UniVRM. Unity was the standard path before the Blender add-on matured, and it remains the official one; pick whichever tool you already live in. Either way, the one non-negotiable is the humanoid rig. VRM's animation portability comes from that shared bone map, so conversion is mostly the craft of conforming your model to it.
Four steps trip people up most, and they are the same checklist our own character team works through on every export:
- T-pose normalization. VRM expects a clean T-pose with rotations zeroed and uniform scale; the Blender add-on's Force T-Pose option exists for exactly this (see the official export checks).
- Facing direction. VRM 1.0 models face Z+, and FBX imports frequently arrive facing the wrong way with a rotated root.
- Materials. PBR node setups don't survive export; materials need to be rebuilt as MToon, the toon shader VRM apps expect.
- Expression mapping. Your model's blend shapes must be mapped to the standard presets by hand, or lip-sync and emotions won't fire.
What happens when you import your VRM to the Companion Hub?
This is the part we obsess over. The CODE27 Companion Hub is a desktop device where a virtual companion, a Codie, lives in 3D. Import a standard humanoid VRM model through the Codie Management System (a local-network upload from your own computer or phone, on your own Wi-Fi), give them multiple outfit slots, and the Hub's interactive character technology takes over from there.
Movement from 700+ human performances
Your VRM character doesn't come with animations, and on CODE27 it doesn't need to. Every movement in our library was performed by real people in motion-capture suits, cleaned up by animators, and tagged with metadata so the right motion plays at the right moment. Each Codie can contextually call on more than 700 of these animations, chosen to match what they're saying and doing, with automatic lip-sync layered on top. Because VRM guarantees the humanoid rig, all of that human nuance retargets onto your character the moment the import finishes. You can also tune the Animation Style (masculine, feminine, or non-binary body language) and how strongly expressions play.
The library keeps growing, and every entry is tagged so the right motion can be found in the moment: as of August 2026 it holds more than 700 motion-capture animations across five categories.
| Animation category | Examples | Percentage of all animations |
|---|---|---|
| Idle & presence | breathing, weight shifts, glances | 36% |
| Music & dance | dancing, singing, rhythm moves | 22% |
| Emotes & reactions | laughing, blushing, facepalms, touch responses | 20% |
| Conversation gestures | talking gestures, listening, agreeing and declining | 15% |
| Activities | greetings, waves, playful moments | 7% |
Your expressions carry over
CODE27 drives the complete standard VRM expression set today: the named emotions and vowel shapes your model ships with. Our character team is working toward the full ARKit 52 blend-shape standard for even finer facial detail. VRoid Studio models arrive ready: it builds the standard expression set for you, and its Expression Editor lets you adjust how each emotion looks, slider by slider. If you build your model from scratch in Blender, you sculpt each expression as a shape key while you model and assign it to a VRM preset at export, which is exactly how our character team builds every Codie's face. And if you converted from another format, the mapping in step 4 of the checklist above does the same job. Either way, you don't have to guess: since version 1.5.0, the Companion Hub runs an expression compatibility check on every imported VRM and shows you what's ready and what needs attention.
A licensed voice from a real performer
Your character needs a voice, and ours come from real voice performers. With their consent, studio recordings become licensed voicebanks using deep-learning voice synthesis, the same family of technology behind Vocaloid 6 and Synthesizer V. You can preview and pick the voice that fits your character, with emotional delivery built in.
A personality you write yourself
The Codie Management System's Persona settings let you write who your character is: personality, speaking style, backstory. The character you modeled becomes the character you imagined. Model, motion, voice, and persona run as one.
Today and tomorrow
As of the current software (version 1.5.0, August 2026), the Companion Hub supports standard humanoid VRM models, with support for more formats (FBX, PMX, PMD, and glTF) announced and in the works. If your character lives in another format today, the Blender conversion route above gets you there now.
FAQ
What is a VRM model?
A VRM model is a 3D humanoid avatar saved in the VRM file format, an open glTF-based standard with a normalized skeleton, facial expressions, physics, and creator-license metadata. One file works across apps, platforms, and devices.
Where can I get anime VRM models?
Make one free in VRoid Studio, or download a free model from VRoid Hub, where each model states its own usage conditions. Ready-made anime VRM models on BOOTH typically cost $20–$50 (¥3,000–¥7,000); VGen commissions typically run $50–$250 for a VRoid-based build, and fully custom models start at $300, as of August 2026. Always honor the license embedded in the file: VRM lets creators set rules for how their character may be used.
Can I convert my 3D model to VRM?
Yes, in either Blender or Unity. The VRM Add-on for Blender and the official UniVRM package for Unity both convert rigged FBX/PMX models by mapping the skeleton to VRM's humanoid bones, assigning MToon materials, and defining expressions before export.
Does the CODE27 Companion Hub support custom VRM models?
Yes. Upload standard humanoid VRM models over your local network via the Codie Management System, with multiple outfit slots, 700+ human-performed animations, automatic lip-sync, and licensed voices.
Will my VRM character's expressions work on the Companion Hub?
Yes, and you can confirm it before you rely on it. The Companion Hub supports the full standard VRM expression set today, with automatic lip-sync, and the complete ARKit 52 blend-shape standard is in progress. Since version 1.5.0, a built-in expression compatibility check reviews your VRM file at import and shows whether each expression is set up to work properly, so nothing is left to guesswork. VRoid Studio exports arrive ready, while converted models just need their shape keys mapped to the standard presets.
Ready to meet your character? The CODE27 Companion Hub is the physical home for human-made virtual companions, and for the VRM character you already love. New to setup? Start with the Companion Hub support guide, or join the community on Discord to see what other creators are bringing to life.
