[{"content":"Preface This post has actually been in the works for a long time. I was writing it while also researching and learning MMD, so it got delayed for ages~~~.\nNote: This guide assumes you are using an Apple Silicon (M-series) chip. Intel chips are not covered.\nAlso worth noting: this post is about exploring feasibility.\nThis post references various online tutorials along with my own hands-on experience. If you spot any errors, please let me know through any available contact method — I\u0026rsquo;d greatly appreciate it~.\nSolutions Virtual Machine Nanoem Virtual Machine If you\u0026rsquo;re on a laptop, it\u0026rsquo;s recommended to plug in your charger when using MMD inside a virtual machine. MMD is a DirectX 9 application and is not ARM-native. Running it inside Windows on ARM triggers the system\u0026rsquo;s emulation layer, which increases power consumption and puts significant strain on the laptop battery.\nThe most common approach is to use Parallels or VMware to create a virtual Windows environment on macOS, install the required dependencies, and then run MMD.\nWhile performance may take a slight hit due to the emulation layer, it\u0026rsquo;s simple and convenient~.\nOn Apple Silicon Macs, you can only install Windows on ARM, since the M chip is based on the ARM architecture and cannot run x86 Windows.\nMMD runs fully with MME support. There are a few minor garbled character issues, but no serious crashes or critical problems occurred during the production process.\nFor video export issues, see the section below: Video Export Problem (Important ‼️)\nPmxEditor has some strange window bugs, but it\u0026rsquo;s still usable (\nIn the end, I produced an MMD video which you can watch at the link below~:\nCredits: ◆Model: TararaTarako-style Hoshimachi Suisei distribution has ended ◆Motion: mobiusP https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1uP411t7aA ◆Camera: ひな https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZhr8htPCb0 ◆Stage: SliverRose0916 https://www.deviantart.com/sliverrose0916/art/Lumino-Stage-MMD-DL-619854285 ◆Music: DECO*27 / Hatsune Miku - Rabbit Hole https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSW2LVbPThw ◆MME: Ray-MMD / LightBloom / ikBokeh_v020a / AutoLuminous / Diffusion7 Nanoem Nanoem is a compatible re-implementation of MikuMikuDance (MMD) and similar applications, built primarily for macOS (a Windows version also exists). It supports the ARM architecture — even Raspberry Pi — and multiple graphics backends including OpenGL and Metal.\nGitHub Repository: Nanoem\nScreenshot: The usage is largely the same as the original MikuMikuDance. Differences:\nSome minor operational differences Project files use the .nmm extension Built-in MME loading module Built-in model editing functionality similar to PmxEditor Does not support some MME effects (most notably, Ray-MMD rendering is not supported) If your Mac isn\u0026rsquo;t particularly powerful, this is the recommended option — it avoids the performance overhead of a virtual machine.\nI also made an MMD video using Nanoem, but it\u0026rsquo;s still a work in progress~.\nVideo Export Problem (Important ‼️) MMD comes bundled with 6 video encoders:\nWMVideo8 Encoder DMO WMVideo9 Encoder DMO MSScreen 9 Encoder DMO DV Video Encoder MJPEG Compressor Uncompressed (AVI) These are essentially video codecs from the 2000s-era Windows ecosystem, and they fall into two extremes: either heavily lossy, or producing absurdly large files.\nFor example, the uncompressed AVI format produced a file of 80+ GB for a 2-minute 42-second video.\nThere are tutorials on Baidu Tieba, Bilibili, and elsewhere showing how to install UtVideo Codec Suite or ffdshow, which lets MMD access VFW (Video for Windows) or DMO (DirectX Media Objects) encoder interfaces to export H.264 video.\nHowever — and this is a big however — none of these projects support the ARM architecture.\nThis is quite unfortunate, as it means increased strain on your storage drive — especially painful given Apple\u0026rsquo;s sky-high SSD prices.\nMy current workaround is to first export as uncompressed AVI, then use ffmpeg to compress and post-process:\nffmpeg -i input.avi -vf \u0026quot;format=nv12\u0026quot; -c:v hevc_videotoolbox -q:v 65 output.mp4 I didn\u0026rsquo;t dig any further down this rabbit hole, as it starts touching CPU instruction set territory that\u0026rsquo;s beyond my understanding.\nRelease Mac version as dmg file instead of zip file\nDoes this work for ARM laptop?\nWindows ARM64 native support\nThis media player project supports ARM and includes built-in decoders — not sure if it would work as a workaround though:\nmpv.net\nAfterword \u0026amp; Rambling For virtual machine software, I personally recommend Parallels — in my testing, Parallels performs better than VMware.\nOnline tutorials suggest running MMD via the Wine compatibility layer, but my attempts were unsuccessful. It does launch, but the workspace renders as a black screen for unknown reasons. I initially thought it might be a patched version issue, but switching to various other versions produced the same black screen.\nThere are also guides for running a dual-boot setup via BootCamp, but this only supports Intel-based Macs — it does not support Apple Silicon. As for Intel CPU performance\u0026hellip; I\u0026rsquo;ll leave that without comment, since I don\u0026rsquo;t have any Intel Mac devices.\nReferences I did a lot of research, so here are all the sources~\nBest Way to Run MMD on a Mac\nOnly use Mac OS X and I have never used MMD\nNanoem\nSetting up and creating animations with Nanoem on macOS (Japanese)\n宮沢雫_MMD (YouTube Channel)\nMMD Self-Study Log: Basic PowerShader Rendering Tutorial (Chinese)\nMMD Production on Mac (Chinese)\nGuide to UtVideo export settings in MMD (Chinese)\n\u0026hellip;and more to be added gradually.\n","date":"2026-03-15T00:00:00Z","image":"https://pub-dd98031e7983477f92c1ab44e6f50047.r2.dev/suisei_rabbithole.png","permalink":"https://manutsawee.blog/en/post/how-to-run-mikumikudance-on-mac/","title":"Two methods to run MikuMikuDance on macOS"}]