Features

Camera Drone

Introducing the Camera Drone! This is a new feature for VRC+ subscribers.

The Camera Drone is a fully-functional drone that you can fly within VRChat. You can use it as an additional recording tool, or you can simply fly around with all of your friends!

Not an expert at flying? That's okay! The Camera Drone features a handful of control and flight settings that can change the way it behaves, meaning that no matter your experience with flying (in VRChat or otherwise), you should be able to get the hang of it!

(You can find the Camera Drone in the Quick Menu Camera section!)

(As a note, we're looking for worlds to fly the Camera Drone in -- generally, they should have accurate colliders and be fairly scenic. If you have suggestions, tag us on social media with #VRCDrone!)

Camera Dolly

This has been in beta since the last major release, but will ship to live with 2025.1.3!

If you have been using the Open Beta previously for Camera Dolly, please check the small section under Features & Changes that have a few notes relevant to you.

Selfie Expression

Seflie Expression enables you to use your webcam to add tracking to your desktop avatar! As a note, this feature is in Early Access VRC+ for subscribers, although it's likely it will eventually become a general-access feature.

Yes, that's right -- this feature allows desktop users to track their facial expressions, head and eye movement, and even their hands.

This system uses built-in visemes and your webcam -- meaning that it should work for most avatars with no additional effort required!

Selfie Expression adds an entirely new level of interaction for desktop users. Wave to your friends! Smile! Give them a high-five! Pat them on the head! You can do it all, baby.

Because Selfie Expression requires the use of your webcam (and because everyone has a different environment/system), there are new options related to this feature in Settings, under Tracking & IK. Likewise, because it requires the use of your webcam, you have to enable it here before it will work.

All webcam data is processed locally -- the image is never sent to us or other users. This does, however, mean it can be a little heavy on some systems. Beware!

(Note: if you notice your avatar's eyes aren't tracking, it's likely you haven't set up eyelook in the SDK! Go fix it!)

Changes & Fixes

• The Safety Settings Menu has been completely redesigned.
  • All of the old Safety Settings can now be found alongside the regular Settings, instead of in their own menu.
  • This allows us to add more options for users, giving them more customization over their experience.
• We've updated the instance creation flow.
  • Instance creators can now choose to enable or disable a bunch of features.
    • This includes Emoji, Stickers, Sharing Pedestals, Prints, and Drones.
    • These can be adjusted on-the-fly after the instance has been created.
    • If they are disabled while content is in the world, that content will be removed.
      • Ex: If there are Prints or Stickers in the world and you disable them, they will all be removed from the world.
  • You can do this via the client. World authors can also choose the defaults for their world from the website.
  • Public instances not owned by any group will always use the defaults chosen by the world author.
• Hover states over the entire UI have been improved, making them more consistent across platforms.
• User Details Status, Trust Rank, and Age Verification are now inside a field that can be scrolled through, giving this section a little more room. This is useful for languages that needed the space.
• Fixed being able to sit in stations on distance or personal space hidden avatars.
  • If you're in a station on an avatar, you will now be removed from the station if that avatar becomes hidden by distance.
• Improved the visual quality of the loading screen.
  • Things were blurry. We called the optometrist.
• Fixed an issue that would cause others to hear a pop if you muted yourself while you were still transmitting audio.
• In some rare cases, the transparent microphone icon would pop up on the loading screen. This has been fixed.
• Fixed alignment issues in the Instance Creation menu.
• PhysBone Tweaks!
  • PhysBones now run in order of dependency. This means you can put a VRCPhysBone/VRCPhysBoneCollider on an object under another PhysBone component, and they will run in the proper order. The max dependency depth is set to 8 levels deep.
  • Fixed issues related to when PhysBone gravity falloff is calculated. Now it should no longer mater what position the player is in when switching to a new avatar, the gravity falloff will be calculated the same each time.
  • Minor optimizations for PhysBones.
• Notification events on top of the Quick Menu should now always display the proper image.
• Fixed Print images that are saved locally during creation.
• Fixed an issue that could lead to disconnects if spawning more than 50 prints in one instance.
  • But, like, stop.
• Fixed inconsistent ability to interact with the "Show badge on profile" and "Hide badge" options.
• Improved messaging if an error occurs while attempting to buy VRC+ on Steam.
• Fixed spacing issues with the Main Menu affecting localization.

Notes for the Very Special Open Beta Folks

All of the above stuff is new for 2025.1.3! But if you've already been using Open Beta for the Camera Dolly, we have a few specific changes for you:

• The Camera Dolly Advanced Settings have been tweaked.
  • Adjusted the Camera Dolly menu a smidge: The Audio from Camera, Export, and Import buttons have been moved into an expandable group, similar to Emoji camera mode buttons.
  • Also fixed a bug where camera menu expandable groups didn't rotate in and out of portrait orientation correctly.
• Fixed camera dolly import menu not working when OSC is disabled.
• When you hover over UI elements for the Camera Dolly, you will now see tooltips.

March 13, build 1602

Changes & Fixes

• Added a help button to the Camera Drone's UI.
  • This links to an extensive in-game documentation about the Camera Drone.
• New Drone controller visuals!
  • The design of the controller now matches the drone itself better, including antenna ears and a new color scheme!
  • Improved the Drone model's texture to match.
• The drone controller's position now restores more reliably when leaving FPV mode.
• The camera and drone controller will now spawn in the opposite hand for a more natural orientation when opening them via the Quick Menu.
• Fixed a timing issue that could cause instance settings to mismatch between users in the same instance.
• Fixed issues with worlds using GetTrackingData for the Head position in combination with Selfie Expression.
  • It will match the Camera's position again.
• Fixed a variety of UI regressions:
  • The avatar cells on the wings will once again only display their text on hover.
  • Increased the size of the "hamburger" menu button on the wings menu.
  • Increased the size of the Quick Menu back button and made sure it was consistent across all pages.
  • On the User Details pages the "Block User" and "Hide Avatar Globally" buttons should now use the correct color.
  • Updated the hover image on the represented group to fit the more square shape.
  • Removed the underline from "By" in the world details page.
• Fixed camera lens becoming invisible after closing the drone controller with Spout enabled.
• Fixed handheld camera showing a white screen when traveling while having it open.
• Handheld camera should no longer be visible on loading screens.
• Stream Camera and Spout output will now show black instead of random colors and images from world origin while loading a world.
• Fixed performance regressions with OnTriggerStay in some worlds.

March 18, build 1603

Fixes & Changes

• Reduced player voice latency.
  • By up to 250ms, on the receiver's side.
  • Yes, really.
• InputFields (TMPro/Built-In/VRCUrl) now respect the Interactable and enabled states and will not open the VRChat keyboard popup if disabled.
  • This is a minor breaking change and was announced here.
• Changed the VRC+ Quick Menu page layout to fit 5 buttons per row.
  • Added Camera Dolly, Drone and Selfie Expression buttons to fill up the newfound space.
• Selfie Expression fixes!
  • Fixed an issue that caused repeating "webcam incompatible" notifications, even with compatible webcams.
  • Made notifications when Selfie Expression pauses due to the "Auto-Adjust Quality" feature more informative.
  • Allow smooth blend-in of hand tracking when avatars are crouched or prone.
  • Slightly reduced jitter in Selfie Expression eye tracking.
• Fixed scrolling through the "Bio" section on the User Profile page.
• Fixed the message, "Emojis are disabled in this instance" sometimes reappearing continuously until you rejoin the instance.
• Fixed a bug that could disable Prints for the remainder of a session if an error occured while printing.
  • Printers: demons even in virtual reality.

Drone Updates

• Added a potential fix for crashes experienced while using or spawning the Drone.
  • We're not super confident in this one, please let us know if you still encounter crashes or stutters related to the Drone!
• The Audio Listener is no longer attached to the Drone in FPV mode. You will still hear rotor sounds, however.
  • Don't fret, we will very likely bring this back as a toggle in a coming beta update. For now it had to be removed for technical reasons.
  • In positive news, this toggle will probably be available outside Drone mode as well!
  • You can adjust the volume of the propeller noises you hear locally in a slider now.
• Added Legacy Input options for the Camera Drone to support a wider variety of professional FPV radios.
  • You'll need to set this up in a config file. See the guide for how to do that!
• Added better names for Steam Input bindings related to the Drone.
  • Make sure to reset Steam VR Input bindings before flying the Drone if using a custom binding set!
  • We also improved the Drone's default bindings for Vive controllers.
• Several other Drone-related input changes!
  • Added input actions to select Drone flight presets directly. These default to the dpad for gamepads.
  • Added a sensitivity setting to allow scaling keyboard inputs.
  • Control Scheme configured for the Drone will now be stored separately between Keyboard + Mouse and Gamepads or VR.
  • Fixed Drone center rate limits to allow for linear curves, they now can go as high as the max send rates.
  • Removed extra Unity deadzone handling for drone controller axes, which were adding an additional deadzone on top of the configurable option.
  • Improved throttle input to use the full range of the axis better.
• Pressing the menu button now exits FPV mode. Otherwise, if in Drone control (but not FPV) state, pressing the menu button will toggle the UI state.
  • Any default FPV-mode bindings on the menu button have been moved to chords instead.
• Tweaked a whole lot of flight characteristics:
  • Throttle sliders are now available in flight presets.
  • Throttle configuration now defaults to 0 exponential, making it respond more linearly.
  • Fixed a bug that could cause throttle to go negative with some settings.
  • Throttle is now capped to max rate.
  • Added controller settings for centered stick behavior (altitude assist, 50%, 0%).
  • Added a "cross section drag" slider.
    • We account for a minimum value of 20% at all times.
  • Added airstream scaling to throttle forces.
  • Tweaks to flight presets defaults - you'll need to hit "Reset" to get new defaults if you've tweaked these before!
• Drone propellers now spin in physically appropriate directions. 🤓
• Renamed Drone flight mode from "horizon" to "angle" which more accurately captures its behavior.
• Drone FPV display now correctly applies avatar scale.
• Improved the screen animation when entering Drone FPV in VR.
• Improved visibility of certain UI elements on the FPV HUD in VR.
• Reduced default camera tilt setting for the "micro" flight preset.
• Fixed an issue where closing the Drone with Spout active on Desktop would open the menu in an erroneous state.

March 20, build 1604

Fixes & Changes

• The user who created a Group instance can now modify instance settings (blocking Stickers, Drones, etc.) even if they are not a moderator of that specific group.
  • Moderators for the group will still be able to edit these settings too.
• The camera indicator (the lil' floaty lens you see for remote users) has been completely refactored!
  • ⚠️ Camera indicators will not be synchronized between open-beta and live users from this point on! This will resolve itself once 2025.1.3 ships to live, of course.
  • Basic functionality should be about the same, but much more stable:
    • Improved late joiner syncing of camera position.
    • Fixed indicator jittering for VR users while they are turning.
    • Improved positional snapping, e.g. when you change lens space. No more lenses awkwardly resetting across the map.
  • When using the Dolly's "multi-cam streaming" mode, all active cameras will now have a remote indicator (up to 4).
  • New visual effects!
    • The indicator now flashes white in addition to the shutter sound to indicate a picture has been taken.
    • When using the "Timed Photo" functionality, remote users will now see a ring around the indicator counting down visually in addition to the bloop noises.
  • Fixed an intermittent spatialization issue with the shutter and timer bloop noises.
  • Fixed a bug where the indicator could be invisible after using the Drone.
  • The nameplate over Drones is now attached rigidly, meaning its position won't be slightly desynced anymore.
    • We've also repositioned it to be a bit more centered.
• Player nameplate voice indicator FX now takes Udon-configured voice distance into account instead of a hard-coded distance limit.
  • This means that in worlds with a radio system you should see nameplates light up with voice as long as you can hear someone, even if they are across the map.
  • tupper hijack: thank you so much oh my god i can finally tell who in the furball is screeching at me
• The "Audio from Camera" option has been moved out of the Dolly menu and is now available in the regular Stream camera, the Drone, and during Spout streaming!
  • It will be available in all scenarios where Spout streaming works too.
  • As before, this will make all audio sound like it is coming from the position and rotation of your camera.
  • For technical reasons, we cannot have an Audio Listener attached to your camera and your head simultaneously.
  • The value is saved for Stream and Drone mode independently, but resets across client restarts.
  • Since it was moved out of the Dolly menu, this also means this toggle is no longer VRC+ exclusive!
• Properly animated the camera UI scrolling arrows, so they no longer run off into the horizon.
• Fixed certain complex Camera Dolly animations importing in a broken state.
• The camera now has the 'orientation toggle' button in VR too, allowing the dolly to record in portrait mode.
• The Camera Dolly now has a yellow feature callout.
• Fixed tooltips for the "Languages" section on the User Profile page.
• Fixed a bug where you could not edit group visibility options.
• Fixed an issue that could cause an avatar's mouth to be clenched slightly after disabling Selfie Expression.
• Fixed a bug which prevented zero length finger colliders from working.
• Fixed a behaviour change around multiple PhysBones affecting each other's root transforms applied to existing avatars.
  • This will become an SDK toggle instead.
• Fixed an issue which caused PhysBone components to stutter for the first frame they were enabled. This would especially happen when someone was far away from the world origin.
• The buttons on the confirmation modal shown when you enable Selfie Expression now highlight on hover.
• Reduced compression artifacts on several UI elements on PC.

Drone Changes

• Fixed a potential crash, stutter or nuclear fusion when spawning Drones close to each other, or triggering extreme physics scenarios.
  • ⚠️ We're still not 100% confident in this fix - please let us know on Canny or Discord if you still experience any crashes or specifically Drone-related stutter on this build!
• The Drone now has some cute animations for movement. And you can headpat it.
  • You can headpat the Drone.
  • The Drone is headpattable.
  • And it squirms a bit if you hold it.
• Remember that Deadzone slider we added last update? Believe it or not, it works now.
  • This should allow you to completely disable your deadzone too, by setting it to 0.
• Drones (and Prints, coincidentally) should no longer briefly appear at world origin for remote users.
• Updated Drone spawn/despawn VFX.
• Fixed a bug where the Drone UI was visible from the back of the controller at certain angles.
• Fixed a bug that caused the "Flight Preset" submenu to become desynced.
• The "Flight Preset" submenu now closes correctly.
• Updated default SteamVR Input bindings for HP Motion Controllers to include Drone controls.
• Corrected label of throttle behavior for angle mode in Drone controller settings.
• Slightly reduced quality of Drone textures on mobile platforms for better performance.
• Menus will now close when entering FPV mode.

Known Issues

• Drone prop noises can be a bit strange when "Audio from Camera" is enabled.
• People at or near world origin may not be audible when using "Audio from Camera".

March 25, build 1605

Fixes & Changes

• Fixed a bug that could cause the "selected" and "hover" pages on the Quick Menu to remain stuck open.
• The shutter and timer sounds for remote users are back on the "UI" volume slider as intended.
• Camera UI sounds are now audible while "Audio from Camera" is enabled.
  • The toggle itself no longer makes a sound, since it would switch position while playing.
• Fixed a minor audio glitch with Camera UI noises.
• Disabling the face mirror after using Desktop Selfie Expression will now remember the setting.
• We replaced the ink cartridges in the printer, it should no longer remain visible after a Print spawns.
• "Shared by" text on sharing pedestals no longer renders over world geometry.

Drone Changes

• Drones now have a dedicated slider in the Audio Settings to adjust their volume.
  • This slider may not remain exclusive to Drones in the future, but for now they get their very own.
• Fixed a physics bug which caused unpredictable behavior between different hardware or performance levels.
• Retuned the Drone's PID controllers to improve responsiveness.
• Fixed an issue with the Drone's altitude changing behaviour which made smooth changes difficult.
• Joystick input is now directly tied to Drone angle in angled mode for better control.
• Reduced braking behaviour in Drone angled mode to allow smoother flying.
• The "Lock" option on the camera is no longer incorrectly reset when using Drone FPV mode.
• You can no longer keep holding the viewfinder after entering FPV mode.
• You can no longer hover-select your own Drone.
• Changed "Audio from Camera" for Drone to update the listener's location only while in FPV mode.
• The drone will no longer get stuck in headpat mode.
  • Although it sure would like to.
• Closing your Action Menu now works correctly while in Drone FPV mode.
• Legacy Input for drones now takes priority over top of other input methods. Once used, it will take over until either the associated controller is unplugged or the drone has been put away.
• Legacy Input for drones no longer jitters on/off rapidly while in VR, or while any other input methods are active.
• Fixed a typo in the tooltip for the "Drone" safety option.

Known Issues

• On Quest, Dolly points may appear rotated or on the loading screen.
• When flying the Drone in FPV mode with "Audio from Camera" enabled, voices of players far away from where your avatar is standing my not be audible under certain circumstances.