Avatar Studio: Create and Share Custom Avatar Items
We're working on a set of tools for anyone to make custom Avatar items through Rec Room Studio; check out the first set made by our first Avatar Studio Creator, Sawhorse!
8/20/2024
We previewed it at Rec Con last year, and now we are excited to officially announce the launch of Avatar Studio, a game-changing tool that will let creators create, design, and sell your very own Avatar items in Rec Room!This is a BIG step forward in customization. We’ve started early testing with a well-known creative studio, Sawhorse Interactive, to tweak our creation tools before rolling them out to you. Thanks to their help, you'll be able to create, share, and reap the rewards from making Avatar items that have never before been possible in Rec Room very soon.Here’s an update on how Avatar Studio works, how we'll be rolling it out to more creators, and some of the cool new items you can find in-game right now from our early testers.TL;DR
We previewed it at Rec Con last year, and now we are excited to officially announce the launch of Avatar Studio, a game-changing tool that will let creators create, design, and sell your very own Avatar items in Rec Room!This is a BIG step forward in customization. We’ve started early testing with a well-known creative studio, Sawhorse Interactive, to tweak our creation tools before rolling them out to you. Thanks to their help, you'll be able to create, share, and reap the rewards from making Avatar items that have never before been possible in Rec Room very soon.Here’s an update on how Avatar Studio works, how we'll be rolling it out to more creators, and some of the cool new items you can find in-game right now from our early testers.TL;DR
- What is Avatar Studio?: Avatar Studio lets creators design and customize Avatar items using advanced 3D software, with tools identical to those used by Rec Room devs.
- Early Testing with Sawhorse: Sawhorse Interactive tested Avatar Studio, helping us refine the tools. Some of their new Avatar Studio-created items are available now in the Watch store.
- Pricing changes with Avatar Studio: Our goal is to make Avatar customization more affordable and accessible for everyone. Avatar Studio minimum prices will be set per item type with a minimum price of 375 tokens. We are also reducing the minimum price of Custom shirts to 250 tokens.
- When can I start creating?: We’ve opened access to a handful of early testers today! We’ll keep adding to early access with priority given to 3D creators with prior experience. A broader rollout will follow with closed beta later this year. If you want to be considered for access, you can submit your portfolio through this link here.
What is Avatar Studio? 
Avatar Studio is an evolution of Custom Shirts. Creators will be able to import models and textures they've made in other apps to create brand new looks for Rec Room Avatars to wear.Avatar Studio is identical to the tools our own team uses to create the Avatar items you find today. We’ll also be providing stock assets so you can modify and make them your own! For example, you could use a hoodie template and paint your own design like with Custom Shirts, or take it a step further and create your own unique hoodie shape and design. Your creativity and uniqueness can now be expressed more than ever before in Rec Room!
Avatar Studio is an evolution of Custom Shirts. Creators will be able to import models and textures they've made in other apps to create brand new looks for Rec Room Avatars to wear.Avatar Studio is identical to the tools our own team uses to create the Avatar items you find today. We’ll also be providing stock assets so you can modify and make them your own! For example, you could use a hoodie template and paint your own design like with Custom Shirts, or take it a step further and create your own unique hoodie shape and design. Your creativity and uniqueness can now be expressed more than ever before in Rec Room! Early Testing with SawhorseTo make sure Avatar Studio is the best it can be, we gave early access to Sawhorse Interactive. Sawhorse is a professional creative agency and production company with years of experience creating customized 3D content, and they’ve been helping us tweak Avatar Studio’s first build before we roll it out to more creators. This accelerated our process for Early Alpha, so thanks to them, we’re rolling out access to a number of hand-picked creators TODAY with more to come soon!If you want to check out what Sawhorse made while testing Avatar Studio, their first batch of cool new Avatar items are now live in ‘Featured Creations’ in the Watch storefront! These are currently FBA only, with bean versions coming to the store very soon - but you’ll still get the bean version when it comes out if you get the FBA one! This is just a sneak peek of the fantastic content that you’ll be able to create with Avatar Studio.
Pricing changes with Avatar StudioWe believe that your Avatar is an extension of you and how you want to express yourself. To make that self-expression come alive, you need to be able to customize how you want - without it costing an arm and a leg. When you receive access to Avatar Studio and design your own items, they’ll go through an approval process before publishing. Once approved, you’ll be able to sell these items in-game for players to purchase.We’ve heard your feedback about item pricing, so to celebrate this evolution and to make expression more accessible, we are lowering the minimum price of custom Avatar items as of TODAY. Custom shirts will now have a minimum price of 250 tokens (reduced from 1000 tokens). Other custom Avatar items created with Avatar Studio will have minimum prices per item type, but for most, this will be set at 375 tokens.
When can I start creating?We’re excited to get Avatar Studio into the hands of as many creators as possible as quickly as possible. Over the coming months, we will gradually roll out to more creators while collecting feedback and improving key features (plus squashing any pesky bugs that crop up).Here are our rollout phases:
- Pre-release (DONE!): Pre-release testers (Sawhorse Interactive) can successfully build and publish items with Avatar Studio.
- Early Access / Alpha (NOW!): Hand picked early-access creators that have experience with Blender and 3D modeling, texturing, and rigging.
- Closed Beta: We will continually expand access to users with access to Rec Room Studio, implementing more features and collecting valuable feedback.
- Open Beta: Access to everyone! Avatar Studio will still be fixing bugs and adding polish for a confident full release.
- Full Release: All creators will have access to the full version of Avatar Studio!
In the meantime, we recommend downloading Blender 3.6 LTS and brushing up on your 3D skills. If you have any questions or want to join the chatter around Avatar Studio, join the Creator Hub discord and find the #avatar-studio channel in the Rec Room Studio section of the server!
We are super excited to see what you'll bring to life with Avatar Studio. Stay tuned and keep an eye on this page for more updates as we continue to develop and roll out to more creators!
