VRChat: Build, Perform & Film a Character

“The character is the camera, the stage, and the performance.”

This intensive three-hour workshop introduces artists, filmmakers, animators, and curious beginners to a complete character-to-camera workflow for VRChat. 

Participants will learn how to prepare a 3D character, sculpt and personalize its appearance in Blender, create simple facial expressions using shape keys/blendshapes, prepare and upload the avatar to VRChat, and use VRChat’s built-in camera tools to perform and frame scenes. 

The final section covers capturing footage with OBS Studio so participants can leave with a short recorded performance and a repeatable workflow for making virtual films, performances, social content, or experimental animation.

By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:

• Explain the basic Blender → Unity/VRChat → camera → OBS production pipeline.
• Make simple sculptural and visual edits to a humanoid 3D character in Blender.
• Create or modify basic facial shape keys/blendshapes for expressive performance.
• Prepare, upload, and test a custom avatar in VRChat using the VRChat SDK.
• Use VRChat camera controls to frame and direct a virtual scene.
• Configure OBS Studio to record usable video and audio from VRChat.
• Record a short virtual character performance and identify next steps for developing it into a film, livestream, performance, or social-media piece.

About the instructor: 

Alec Jerome Kreisberg is a Miami-based multidisciplinary artist, director, animator, and creative technologist working across virtual production, real-time 3D, VR/AR, filmmaking, and live performance. His practice combines character animation, immersive media, game engines, and emerging technologies to create interactive narrative experiences. Through his studio 3DPPL and projects including Dream Arcade and DreamLink.Mobile, he has developed and performed virtual characters using real-time animation, VR, AR, Unreal Engine, Unity, Blender, and social platforms. His commercial and cultural work spans video production, motion graphics, 3D animation, immersive installations, and technology-driven live experiences. He has created AR/character work used at large scale online, contributed to broadcast and branded productions, and teaches hands-on workflows that help artists move from an idea to a working digital character or virtual scene. His approach emphasizes experimentation, accessible tools, performance, and learning by making.

@alecjerome | @3dppl | alecjerome.com | 3dppl.com | dreamlink.baby