Generative AI has grow to be an instrumental a part of artistic workflows for game development. Nonetheless, as detailed in my earlier post, text-to-3D lags behind 2D when it comes to practical applicability. That is starting to vary. Today, we’ll be revisiting practical workflows for 3D Asset Generation and taking a step-by-step take a look at easy methods to integrate Generative AI in a PS1-style 3D workflow.
Why the PS1 style? Since it’s far more forgiving to the low fidelity of current text-to-3D models, and allows us to go from text to usable 3D asset with as little effort as possible.
Prerequisites
This tutorial assumes some basic knowledge of Blender and 3D concepts comparable to materials and UV mapping.
Step 1: Generate a 3D Model
Start by visiting the Shap-E Hugging Face Space here or down below. This space uses the open-source Shap-E model, a recent diffusion model from OpenAI to generate 3D models from text.
Enter “Dilapidated Shack” as your prompt and click on ‘Generate’. Once you’re pleased with the model, download it for the subsequent step.
Step 2: Import and Decimate the Model
Next, open Blender (version 3.1 or higher). Go to File -> Import -> GLTF 2.0, and import your downloaded file. Chances are you’ll notice that the model has far more polygons than really helpful for a lot of practical applications, like games.
To scale back the polygon count, select your model, navigate to Modifiers, and select the “Decimate” modifier. Adjust the ratio to a low number (i.e. 0.02). This might be not going to look excellent. Nonetheless, on this tutorial, we will embrace the low fidelity.
Step 3: Install Dream Textures
So as to add textures to our model, we’ll be using Dream Textures, a stable diffusion texture generator for Blender. Follow the instructions on the official repository to download and install the addon.
Once installed and enabled, open the addon preferences. Seek for and download the texture-diffusion model.
Step 4: Generate a Texture
Let’s generate a custom texture. Open the UV Editor in Blender and press ‘N’ to open the properties menu. Click the ‘Dream’ tab and choose the texture-diffusion model. Set the prompt to ‘texture’ and seamless to ‘each’. This can make sure the generated image is a seamless texture.
Under ‘subject’, type the feel you wish, like ‘Wood Wall’, and click on ‘Generate’. Once you’re pleased with the result, name it and put it aside.
To use the feel, select your model and navigate to ‘Material’. Add a brand new material, and under ‘base color’, click the dot and select ‘Image Texture’. Finally, select your newly generated texture.
Step 5: UV Mapping
Time for UV mapping, which wraps our 2D texture across the 3D model. Select your model and press ‘Tab’ to enter Edit Mode. Then, press ‘U’ to unwrap the model and select ‘Smart UV Project’.
To preview your textured model, switch to rendered view (hold ‘Z’ and choose ‘Rendered’). You may scale up the UV map to have it tile seamlessly over the model. Do not forget that we’re aiming for a retro PS1 style, so don’t make it too nice.
Step 6: Export the Model
Once you’re pleased along with your model, it is time to export it. Navigate to File -> Export -> FBX, and voila! You may have a usable 3D Asset.
Step 7: Import in Unity
Finally, let’s examine our model in motion. Import it in Unity or your game engine of alternative. To recreate a nostalgic PS1 aesthetic, I’ve customized it with custom vertex-lit shading, no shadows, a number of fog, and glitchy post-processing. You may read more about recreating the PS1 aesthetic here.
And there we now have it – our low-fi, textured, 3D model in a virtual environment!
Conclusion
That is a wrap on easy methods to create practical 3D assets using a Generative AI workflow. While the outcomes are low-fidelity, the potential is big: with sufficient effort, this method may very well be used to generate an infinite world in a low-fi style. And as these models improve, it might grow to be feasible to transfer these techniques to high fidelity or realistic styles.
If you happen to’ve followed along and created your personal 3D assets, I’d like to see them. To share them, or if you may have questions or wish to get entangled in our community, join the Hugging Face Discord!
