Last reviewed 26 May 2026

Substance Designer overview for vr chat

This video introduces Substance Designer for creating textures used in VRChat world assets. Use the checklist below to keep texture size, material count, and platform budgets under control when importing the results into Unity.

Recommended Setup

Open the world project through Creator Companion, save the active scene, and test the change in a small scene before moving it into a larger world.

  1. Start from a backed-up Creator Companion project.
  2. Apply one asset change at a time, then test the imported result before adding the next step.
  3. Check the imported materials, meshes, SDK warnings, and avatar or world performance impact before upload.
VRChat note

World tutorials need to be checked against VRChat world rules, not just Unity behavior. Components, lighting, audio, shaders, and platform targets can behave differently once the world is built and uploaded.

Playlist Companion

Open the video on YouTube

Creator: El Fideo Rubio
Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6-hgPM6A

Good Fit

Use this when an asset change needs to be checked in Unity before it goes into an avatar or world project.

Before You Start

  • Confirm you are using the supported VRChat Unity version for the project.
  • Open the project through VRChat Creator Companion when possible.
  • Check for red Console errors before assuming the tutorial step is the problem.
  • Make a backup or duplicate scene before changing assets, controllers, prefabs, or SDK settings.

Follow-Along Checklist

  • Confirm the scene has a VRC Scene Descriptor when the workflow affects uploadable world content.
  • Use allowlisted components and VRChat-specific components when a system needs to survive upload.
  • Retest performance on the target platform, especially when the tutorial involves lighting, audio, video, or dense materials.
Help! The video was made for an older SDK or Unity version.

Older tutorial UI labels can drift. Use the current SDK panels, Builder messages, and a private test upload before relying on the setup.

Help! The result works in Unity but not in VRChat.

Test in a built VRChat instance. Runtime permissions, networking, platform restrictions, and SDK validation can change behavior that looks fine in the editor.

Help! I want to apply this to a production project.

Rebuild it in a small copy first, then move only the confirmed pieces into the production avatar or world. That keeps tutorial experiments from becoming permanent project clutter.

Official References

Related Docs

Topics: worlds, textures, substance-designer