Package and Host Your Avatar
At a minimum, avatars in Overte must have an FBX, glTF, or GLB model, and an associated FST file that includes information about how your avatar looks and behaves. Together, these two files (with any optional texture or script) form an "avatar package". There are two ways you can create an avatar package: by using the Avatar Packager in Interface or the Overte Avatar Exporter for Unity in Unity.
Once you have packaged your avatar, you need to host it on the cloud so that Overte can access it and correctly render your avatar for all users.
Package Your Avatar
If you're reading this page, you likely already built your own FBX model or found and downloaded a model that you want to use in Overte. Therefore, all that remains is to package your avatar and create the FST file. This file includes information about the skeleton, blendshapes, textures, and scripts used by your avatar.
We provide two ways to create an avatar package: either through Unity or through our Avatar Packager.
Overte Avatar Exporter for Unity
In some cases, you will want to download an avatar from an external website and use that avatar in Overte. The Overte Avatar Exporter for Unity (also known as the "avatar exporter") converts human-like avatars and packages them for use in Overte.
Once you have successfully used the avatar exporter to package your avatar, you must host it somewhere on the cloud. You can upload it to Amazon S3 or a webserver for example.
Avatar Packager
The Avatar Packager is a tool in Interface that identifies potential errors in your avatar's FBX model and then creates an FST file for you.
To package your avatar using the Avatar Packager:
In Interface, go to Edit > Avatar Packager.
In the Avatar Packager window, click 'New Project'.
In the Create Project window, fill in the following details:
Name: The name you want for your avatar.
Project Location: The folder path where your avatar's files are stored. The Avatar Packager will create a new folder for your project at this location. The package will contain your FBX model, an FST file, and any scripts/textures in your avatar.
Avatar Model: The location of your avatar's FBX model.
Texture Folder: If your avatar has textures in a separate folder, specify the folder location. If your avatar's textures are embedded in the FBX, you do not need to specify anything.
Click 'Create'.
At this point, you have successfully packaged your avatar. You can close the Avatar Packager here and upload your FST file and FBX model to the cloud location of your choice.
Host Your Avatar
Before you can use a custom avatar, you must first host its FST and FBX/glTF/GLB files in a place that is publicly accessible. You can use any cloud platform including Amazon S3, Google Cloud Storage, Microsoft Azure, Dropbox, etc.
Troubleshooting with the Avatar Packager
The Avatar Packager will notify you of any errors or warnings that may affect the way your avatar looks and behaves in Overte. This is a list of the errors you may encounter, along with basic instructions on how to fix your avatar. Errors (in red) must be fixed before you upload your avatar, while Warnings (in orange) may or may not affect whether your avatar will show up and behave correctly in Overte.
참고
Many of the errors you will encounter describe issues with the avatar's skeleton. The troubleshooting tips below will attempt to fix the errors in Unity.
However, if the bone structure of the model does not resemble a humanoid skeleton (with two legs, two arms, hips, chest, spine, and head), then it is likely not compatible with Overte out of the box. You will not be able to fix these avatars in Unity alone. Instead, you will likely need advanced knowledge of building, rigging, and mapping bones in a 3D modeling tool such as Blender or Maya.
Error | How to Fix |
---|---|
Hips are not mapped This error occurs when there is no "hip" bone identified in your avatar's skeleton. |
If an appropriate bone does not exist, or this does not resolve the issue, you will need to fix the avatar's skeleton in a 3D modeling tool of your choice. |
Spine is not mapped This error occurs when there is no "spine" bone identified in your avatar's skeleton. |
If an appropriate bone does not exist, or this does not resolve the issue, you will need to fix the avatar's skeleton in a 3D modeling tool of your choice. |
Chest (Spine1) is not mapped This error occurs when there is no "chest" bone identified in your avatar's skeleton. |
If an appropriate bone does not exist, or this does not resolve the issue, you will need to fix the avatar's skeleton in a 3D modeling tool of your choice. |
Head is not mapped This error occurs when there is no "head" bone identified in your avatar's skeleton. |
If an appropriate bone does not exist, or this does not resolve the issue, you will need to fix the avatar's skeleton in a 3D modeling tool of your choice. |
Neck is not mapped This warning occurs when there is no "neck" bone identified in your avatar's skeleton. |
If an appropriate bone does not exist, or this does not resolve the issue, you will need to fix the avatar's skeleton in a 3D modeling tool of your choice. |
LeftEye is not mapped | This warning occurs when there is one or more missing "eye" bones in your avatar's skeleton. |
If an appropriate bone does not exist, or this does not resolve the issue, you will need to fix the avatar's skeleton in a 3D modeling tool of your choice. |
Multiple top-level joints found Overte's standard avatar skeleton has one root bone (typically the hips) that every other bone is connected to, either directly or indirectly. This bone is known as the "parent", "root", or "top-level" bone and it defines the center of your avatar. Click here to view our standard avatar skeleton. This error occurs when you have more than one of these "top-level" bones defined in your avatar's skeleton. Rather than a hierarchy of joints, you will likely see many bones at the same root level in your skeleton. |
In Unity, check your avatar's skeleton in the Hierarchy window. In some cases, having multiple bones at the root level won't affect your avatar, especially if they are unimportant bones (for example, the tongue bone probably will not affect the overall appearance of your avatar). In these cases, you can simply ignore the error and proceed with packaging and hosting your avatar. If you have multiple "top-level" bones that are important (for example, if the hips and neck bone are at the same level), then you will need to fix the avatar's skeleton in a 3D modeling tool of your choice. |
<boneName> is mapped multiple times This warning occurs when one of your avatar's bones is mapped multiple times in your skeleton. For example, a back bone may be mapped to both the spine and the hips. |
If an appropriate bone does not exist, or this does not resolve the issue, you will need to fix the avatar's skeleton in a 3D modeling tool of your choice. |
Asymmetrical arm/leg/hand bones We assume that the left and right appendages (arms, legs, and hands) have the same number of bones. This warning occurs if we detect a different number of bones on the left and rights sides of the body. |
|
Spine is not a child of Hips Overte's standard avatar skeleton has one root bone, and every other bone is a descendent of that bone (either directly or indirectly). In the standard skeleton, the spine must be a direct descendent of the hips. Click here to view our standard avatar skeleton. This warning occurs when the spine is not a direct descendent of the hip bone. |
If the appropriate bones are mapped to the Hips and Spine, or this does not resolve the issue, you will need to fix the avatar's hierarchy in a 3D modeling tool of your choice. |
Spine1 is not a child of Spine Overte's standard avatar skeleton has one root bone, and every other bone is a descendent of that bone (either directly or indirectly). In the standard skeleton, the chest bone (or Spine1) must be a direct descendent of the spine. Click here to view our standard avatar skeleton. This warning occurs when the chest is not a direct descendent of the spine bone. |
If the appropriate bones are mapped to the Spine and Chest (Spine1), or this does not resolve the issue, you will need to fix the avatar's bone hierarchy in a 3D modeling tool of your choice. |
Head is not a child of Spine1 Overte's standard avatar skeleton has one root bone, and every other bone is a descendent of that bone (either directly or indirectly). In the standard skeleton, the head bone must be a direct descendent of the chest (or Spine1). Click here to view our standard avatar skeleton. This warning occurs when the head is not a direct descendent of the chest bone. |
If the appropriate bones are mapped to the Chest (Spine1) and Head, or this does not resolve the issue, you will need to fix the avatar's bone hierarchy in a 3D modeling tool of your choice. |
Hips are on ground This warning occurs when the bone mapped to the Hips is on the ground, rather than at hip level. |
If the appropriate bone is mapped to the Hips, or this does not resolve the issue, you will need to fix the avatar's bone placement in a 3D modeling tool of your choice. |
Hips/Spine/Chest Overlap Overte's standard avatar skeleton requires that each bone is placed at different locations on the body. For example, the hips cannot be positioned at the same location as the chest. This error occurs when either the hips, spine, and/or chest bones have overlapping positions. |
If this does not resolve the issue, you will need to fix the avatar's bone placement in a 3D modeling tool of your choice. |
Avatar has over 256 bones This warning occurs when you have more than the maximum number of bones allowed (which is 256 bones). |
This warning cannot be resolved in Unity or Overte. To fix it, you need to remove bones from your skeleton using a 3D modeling tool of your choice. |
Missing # texture(s) This warning occurs when Overte cannot find textures for your avatar. This will affect the appearance of your avatar, and it may appear grey when you try to use it. |
After you package your avatar, copy all external textures to the 'Textures' folder that we create for you. Then, update your project using the Avatar Packager. |
# unsupported texture(s) found This warning occurs when your textures are not supported by Overte. Supported image formats include PNG, JPG, JPEG, TGA, TIF, and TIFF files. |
|
No textures assigned This warning occurs when you do not have any textures embedded in your model or referenced in your FST file. If your avatar was intentionally designed without textures, this warning can be safely ignored. |
For more information, see Unity's help on their Material Editor. You can alternatively use a 3D modeling tool of your choice to assign materials and textures to your avatar. |
Model file cannot be opened This warning occurs when your avatar package is missing either an FBX or FST file. |
|
Unsupported avatar model format This warning occurs when your avatar model is not a supported format. Overte only supports FBX, glTF, and GLB models for avatars. |
This warning cannot be resolved in Unity or Overte. To fix it, you need to open your model in the 3D modeling tool of your choice, and export your model as an FBX, glTF, or GLB file. |
Avatar is possibly too short This warning occurs when Overte detects that your avatar will appear very small when you use it. |
|
Avatar is possibly too tall This warning occurs when Overte detects that your avatar will appear very large when you use it. |
|
Avatar has no rig This warning occurs when your avatar is not rigged. |
This warning cannot be resolved in Unity or Overte. To fix it, we recommend running your avatar model through an auto-rigging tool such as Mixamo. |