>>350749936
I knew nothing about blender or unity when I joined vrchat. Started by frankensteining/kitbashing mmds, then gamerips like custom maid, then vroid. Took a few years but now I make stuff from scratch because I learned everything involved piece by piece. I've even sold a couple of models on booth, so they're at least good enough that someone wants to pay for them.

Never used public pedestal avatars but I guess you have to if you're a new player these days. If you're new and want to upload something, you should skip the old mmd days and start with booth. Find a good quality base with lots of options and get familiar with the model. Don't worry if it's popular, that just means there's more clothing and stuff available for it. Make it unique by editing and customizing it and learn the software in the process.