Chibi: PNG-tuber application made in Rust
70 comments
·March 21, 2025wewewedxfgdf
It looks cool but I don't really know what it is/does.
What is a PNG tuber?
A video would help.
nanoxide
It's for streaming on platforms like YouTube or Twitch, usually when streaming games or doing art. Instead of using a webcam to show yourself (mostly in a small overlay in a corner), you show a PNG image of yourself or an avatar. To give these static images for variety, you can change them based on voice input (i.e. as if the PNG was talking), or emotions like laughing. Related: V-Tubers which use 3D models or more intricate methods like motion capturing to animate a virtual version of themselves.
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DidYaWipe
So... an avatar.
Why must people churn out an endless parade of non-descriptive BS, when we already have the necessary words? Depressing.
pjc50
See "do not post shallow dismissals to HN" rule.
Etymology is youtuber -> virtual youtuber (Kizuna Ai et al) using motion tracked 3D models -> shorten to vtuber -> people develop 2D models as cost reduction -> even further cost reduction by just representing yourself with a static image -> "pngtuber".
It also places things in a cultural context, like most language. Nobody would describe a news broadcast with a static image of the news anchor as a "pngtuber" even if technically it's similar.
rcxdude
Because that's how language works. vtuber/pngtuber describe a specific form of avatar, and people aren't gonna say 'they're a streamer that uses a 2D reactively animated animator' when they can say 'they're a pngtuber' and be perfectly well understood by the audience that is actually going to watch them instead of telling them to get off their lawn.
chiffaa
Because "avatar" isn't specific enough - some creators use fully dynamic rigged models with motion controls (those got a name of VTubers, because they started as Virtual YouTubers, see: Kizuna Ai), some use static images (so your traditional avatars, often being commissioned artwork of their OCs) to just fill the video feed while discussing topics with no relevant footage to show (often seen with content creators covering animation). PNG-tubers, being dynamically controlled static images, are in the middle of the two, and the term appeared somewhat naturally as a result. It has a very clear definition in the area it's being used in so I wouldn't call it non-descriptive honestly
mqus
"an avatar" would also cover vtubers so png-tuber is actually more accurate here
ForTheKidz
I don't think it's depressing—every generation has to find their own voice.
throawayonthe
It's more specific, and useful to the people using it.
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flobosg
I agree. Since the submission seems to come from the package author themselves, a Show HN with some explanatory text would have been a more suitable alternative.
dymk
Nifty! I think the readme would benefit a lot from a short video of it doing its thing.
hollow-moe
also have a look to VeadoTube Mini, same kind of software, alas closed source, it has idle animations and some other features for free https://olmewe.itch.io/veadotube-mini
pryelluw
Care to explain what this does? I don’t get it from the readme
OneDeuxTriSeiGo
It creates a "pngtuber" i.e. a static image vtuber. So you get a very limited amount of animation that is voice activated (basically animated discord speaking icons). It's used for streamers who are getting into vtubing but who can't yet afford a full vtubing rig (or the hardware to run it).
pryelluw
Thank you for answering. I needed the context in order to understand the code better (learning more rust).
aravindet
What's vtubing?
OneDeuxTriSeiGo
The act of being a vtuber where vtuber means "virtual youtuber". Essentially youtubers or streamers in general who don't show their face but instead use an animated character model that is controlled by the user's face and/or body.
Some fancier vtubers use mocap suits for this but generally it's done with phone or desktop based face tracking software. That then maps to control inputs for manipulating the rigged model.
Examples:
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELjB3xWC3F0
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=944BE6_Brks
ronsor
> VTuber (Japanese: ブイチューバー, Hepburn: BuiChūbā) or virtual YouTuber (バーチャルユーチューバー, bācharu YūChūbā) is an online entertainer who uses a virtual avatar generated using computer graphics.
atoav
Minimalist stop-motion-style avatar switching between two poses/images with an audio threshold level, giving the impression the avatar is talking.
joshdavham
It'd be cool if maybe there was a quick video demo!
aboardRat4
Rust people as usual.
Compete disregard to prior art and blithe disregard to p's and q's when usurping other projects' names.
xx_ns
I don't see how the two projects are related, so there shouldn't be any confusion. The project you linked isn't even called chibi, it's called chibi-scheme. If you suggest that we should not use common words in our project names if those words have been used before, we would've run out of names long ago.
krapp
The fact that most of the comments here are complaining about the imprecise etymology of terms like "vtuber" and "pngtuber" like old men yelling about kids these days with their hip-hop bebops and bad is good... is kind of hilarious. Absolutely no interesting conversation of any technical merit is to be found because people are using words wrong. This from a community that considers "enshittification" a precise and technical term of art.
Please no one tell this lot about "fleshtubers," they'll throw their soup in a rage.
ziddoap
It is as if some people hit a certain age and just want the entire world to stop evolving around them so that they can remain comfortable.
"Those damn kids and their newfangled words with context/nuance I don't understand!"
kbelder
I'm old, and hate the bastardization of language when it's done out of ignorance, and particularly when it's done with some sort of manipulative agenda.
But this is a perfectly reasonable new term, describing an interesting subset of 'avatar' that has its own unique traits, and that is useful to distinguish from other types of avatar. Getting upset at that is like getting upset that somebody used the term 'recliner' instead of a 'chair'.
DidYaWipe
Thumbs up for putting a description in your title, contrary to some on here.
Thumbs down for using the meaningless term "PNG-tuber."
eschatology
Just because you are out of the loop does not mean it’s meaningless — in some spaces the term is very straightforward and concise
I’d cut down the snark; this news aggregator is not built for you specifically, there will be many things that you are unaware of and I don't think they should be met with snark (there must be some reason why people invent a new term for it; in this case, it is to refer specifically to an animated avatar rigged to a face (or body) camera usually for a video streaming activity. Usually it is comprised of many moving components and assets, a PNGtuber works off a single PNG file, and thus easier/cheaper to get started with).
atoav
"In our niche hobby we call it a singlyjack, what is there not to understand?" and then it turns out a siglyjack is more or less the same as a regular flathead screwdriver just painted with a purple color.
I am not to judge slang here, but animating character pictures between two states has been around for ages. Especially in animation (before computers existed), but also more specific in games (e.g. early Metal Gear Solid games, Doom, come to mind).
When this image (animated or not) represents a person online it was called an avatar since the dawn of time. Indpenedent of wheter it was realistic or just depicted the insides of a gearbox.
Now I am not against niche slang terms at all, but if your description of what it is hinges on understanding the slang term that you used for the title, that is a self-referential loop that doesn't help anybody: Snaglyjack is a snaglyjack-tool made from hardened steel
So with a short non-niche-focused phrase like "a lofi two-state avatar, animated by audio levels" most people would be able to imagine what it is the thing is doing. If that is not the goal, that is okay, but since it was posted on HN..
boredhedgehog
But how can you tell how niche your hobby is from the perspective of some other hobby?
I would have assumed vtubing to be pretty mainstream already, at least after all the Gawr Gura memes.
On the other hand, I still click most Go threads on HN, expecting them to be about the board game...
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joseppudev
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atriiy
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unit149
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So this seems to switch between two images (one with mouth open and one with mouth closed) depending on the microphone volume. That's pretty primitive since most VTubing apps attempt to do some kind of lip sync or model the lip movement in some way.