‘Pngtubing’ has become the best way to do low-tech Vtubing

Whether it’s the casual vibe of low-poly characters or grand live performances from virtual superstars, I can never get over the ingenuity of Vtubers. Now, a few clever creators have found another way to bring cute character creations to life while streaming. It’s called “Pngtubing,” and on September 18th, the work of a streamer named Jeli enchanted thousands of viewers online by showing just how cute the flipbook-like animations can look.

In general, the world’s most popular Vtubers — content creators who stream using a virtual avatar — resemble 3D anime characters. Instead of using a 3D model and face-tracking software, Pngtubers use PNGs or GIFs to digitally represent a character. As the streamer speaks into the microphone, the PNG image changes between frames, bringing the character to life with animation.

Jellywho streams on Twitch as a chibi character with strawberry buns, got the idea to become a Pngtuber after seeing people using them to stream the game Muse Dashboard. Unlike the complicated and potentially expensive software and art that goes into 3D Vtubers, Pngtubers can create a character with just a few frames of art. That doesn’t mean people aren’t welcome to add more complicated animations to their character, though. After you streamers like Oceonax And Mdxcai get creative With their Pngtubers, Jeli wanted to create something new.

“When I saw people like (Oceonax and mdxcai), I realized that streaming could be more than just sitting and talking to a screen – I could build an entire world and setting. It was like an endless source of inspiration opened up to me,” they told Polygon via X.

To celebrate the ninth anniversary of Substory, Jeli decided to create a special Pngtuber model inspired by the game. They gave their Pngtuber a special outfit modeled after the protagonist of the game and drew a whole scene showing the character in a cozy children’s room. As Jeli speaks into the microphone, the character’s mouth moves. But they added one more detail. As Jeli presses the up, down, and side arrows, animations are displayed showing how the Pngtuber moves around the bedroom.

You can watch a clip from the stream below. It’s a really cute concept and a unique way to present Jeli’s interactions with the game. The gameplay streams to a TV drawn into the scene, accompanied by animations as Jeli plays. In a boss fight in Substoryyou can see Jeli’s Pngtuber avatar in different poses, moving in a way that almost looks like he’s playing Dance Dance Revolution.

The clip went viral on X, garnering over 24,000 likes. Jeli told Polygon that they are humbled by the warm reception their work has received.

“I’ve wanted to stream for a long time and I started earlier this year after a really bad January. I wanted to be able to look back in December and say ‘this was a good year’, you know? That’s given me a huge confidence boost to continue my streaming setup. I love character design and game design, so I hope to do something in that area soon.”