AI Image to 3D Game Ready Character Model | Unreal Engine 5 (Tutorial)

[@SmartPoly]

Check Out My Multiplayer Survival Game Course: smartpoly.teachable.com

[@dimitrishow_D]

Do you think ai is a threat or a tool?

[@SCHOOLERstyle]

I create much better 3D models on my channel than any of this AI junk! 💪

[@darkaurel9]

Thanks for this tutorial, but its not working... can you help? Im trying to follow your steps BUT deep AI always give me characters with posing and sometime cropped... How can you get a clean front wiev with A or T pose to be able to try next step?? Thanks in advance, I hope you can help it would be great !!! I tried for last 3 hours :P

[@dimitrishow_D]

@@darkaurel9 i tried it too nothing was good all crappy

[@knrz2562]

@@dimitrishow_Ddepending how you use it but it’ll never be smarter den man 🧠

[@legrandcolin]

As a senior 3D generalist, I’m thinking about reconverting to carpentry 😂 this is insane *insert they took er jobs meme*

[@t3chfx13]

Sadly it's not just gaming but most jobs that seem to be under fire after seeing some of the ai stuff over the last year. I really hate getting the govt involved but ai really needs over site and workers need protections. Previous major tech leaps were simply tools where ai is replacing peoples jobs across nearly all professions. The whole thing feels like short term gains but will likely have destructive long term consequences. If we are replacing people in industries that employ tens of millions of people then who is spending money anymore on the things these businesses sell? The whole thing feels like its leading to what will probably end up being one of the worst global economy declines we will have ever seen.

[@Rev2k010]

People still want soul

[@VR_drone1]

I think yes, this is the end bro.

[@CryinOverSpilledTea]

here is the problem: at the end of the day its the execution that matters. So they are taking jobs, but also we are gaining the freedom to create our own projects. And seeing how indie games are becoming increasingly successful I think this may backfire eventually. Personally, I am only starting game dev BECAUSE I can leverage so many tools now. Between family and work there is no way I would be able to create my own projects before now because I would either need many years to learn all the different parts of game dev from scratch, OR I would have to fund work from others to fill in the gaps.

[@darkdragondevelopment]

Currently trying to do the opposite 😂 people were funny about power tools in construction at first. Now they are vital and every single construction company in the world uses power tools. Unless someone wants to pay extra to have something made with hand tools.

[@ProjectDefi]

insane how easy it will be for people to make games with a very small team

[@Rehd66]

Clearly you've never tried making a game before

[@ProjectDefi]

@Rehd66 you are one hundred percent correct. I should've worded what I meant better. It appears that it will be easier than before to make a game with anything a much smaller team. Then what was needed before? I have also seen a team of two people.Make it a great game in five years.Without a A.L. i bet that time should be cut in half.

[@Rehd66]

@@ProjectDefi Yeah well I just tried it and it's about what I expected. If you want anything other than highly stylized big faces and whatnot, you're out of luck. I'm sure with time it'll be better

[@skiry_7207]

Damn, that's pretty insane. This can help solo devs or very small teams a lot...but at the same time it takes away the "magic" only humans can add.

[@super8bitable]

It helps them alright. Helps them look cheap and drives people away from their games.

[@manapotion1594]

@@super8bitable if your game can only attract with expensive look, your game is probably not worth playing

[@vermilionssj9081]

​@@manapotion1594thats true

[@jaysonp9426]

That magic is going away... I'm here for it

[@abomala1607]

@@super8bitable most low budget made by man look more cheap

[@Reksaurian]

The issue with things like this is consistency. You might make one Goblin that looks like that, but can you make a second that looks similar but different? Can you make it modular so its armour and weapons can be exchanged? That's the real power of modelling it yourself: adaption.

[@nyomanbandarayani6830]

you need Leonardo AI for that. Then use image to 3D AI to make the 3D from image. Use chatgpt to make a prompt for Leonardo AI.

[@Reksaurian]

@@nyomanbandarayani6830 I'm know about it thanks to a guy called Ray William Johnson who uses it to make all his art for his true-crime stories. It produces good results.

[@parkerjeans5777]

Yeah actually it would be easier to generate crowds. Ai is fantastic at overlaying an image and making variations of it. So that way an entire crowd would have their own miniscule variations that make them different enough to all be individuals

[@SCHOOLERstyle]

I create much better 3D models on my channel than any of this AI junk! 💪

[@svenrawandreloaded]

this is why LEARNING TO ACTUALLY 3D MODEL is your solution... People are so lazy.

[@METTI1986LA]

Its a nightmare because 3d Modeling is a Big Part of my Job and now skillless people think they are Designers because it now is possible to create things like this in minutes…

[@MrSnoid]

It feels like magic! However, since the lighting, shadows, and reflections are part of the textures, it might feel a bit off. That said, for my solo dev project maybe I can make some use of it. Please keep us update if you see this technology getting any better of maybe consider to create some tutorials to better use this 3D assets. Thanks!

[@RDD87z]

Its impressive, the results are so good, i know topology is dirty and not optimized for animation but omg did you see that? It would take anyone at least 5 hours or more to make such a model. meaning if you're 3d artist you should use this tool to make the base model, and start from there. it got the proportions and most of the modeling done u just need to adjust , polish / refine, clean topology, rig and ready! this is so good.

[@Reksaurian]

For low poly models, faceted models, you can use something like this process from OP, such as Meshy, to make the base model, import it into Blender and use a tool called decimate to reduce the polygons. Might need some editing to refine the details, and you'll need to paint the polygons, but you can do that in Blender or Unreal Engine 5 easy enough.

[@DT-hb3zu]

5 hours?! This would take me 15 😂

[@abomala1607]

you need also redo all the texture. because it guive crap low rez texture. But still impressive. For low style cartoonish game that already usable

[@molnargyula4961]

Which is the same amount of time again :)

[@eric24g]

its still nothing like creating your own. it feels good actually making it yourself. U feel more accomplished. These AI tools are good but notice they suck at generating the hair. Thats why he used a bald head image

[@tehf00n]

This definitely has use cases with it's current standard, but imagine how good it's going to get.

[@ChuckstaGaming]

Yep, another profession taken away by the advancement in tech. We're all going to have to become social influencers. Thinking about it, they should ban AI from being social influencers.

[@radudancoroian5169]

Its the same talking point over and over "going to get better" yet this things still have no real way of implementation nor are required.

[@piratelife6343]

​@@radudancoroian5169 bro this is literally usable in lots of different types of games, mobile, top downs, even some third person. Unfortunately, the tech is here

[@radudancoroian5169]

@piratelife6343 like 10% of that yeah maybe and it doesnt even have enough market appeal. I suspected in the 3d case is going to be a glorifoed asset data base and is moving that direction. Nothing to see here

[@Corruptinator]

Trellis is pretty insane, but if you want to go further use the generated model as a reference and sculpt a new shape based on the reference to make it look somewhat less AI generated.... Maybe with tiny hints of human creativity. Heck, bring that generated model into Blender and go crazy in sculpt mode to shape out the model's silhouette shape! Make that Goblin/Orc have long or short ears! Maybe sculpt a third eye! Use the model as a reference. Simple.

[@vermilionssj9081]

I was thinking the Same hahaha nice!

[@Trampus10-4]

That is the magic another reply was talking about. AI is a wonderful tool. But a tool still. It is up to the human eye hand and mind to create the results that show and enlighten on the magic a human can create.

[@miguelm.a7462]

It is good to use as base, but the generated model is useless in a profesional environment, but pretty good improve development times

[@chaosordeal294]

You needn't use the model as a reference, you can just sculpt additional detail right into it.

[@Corruptinator]

@ very fair point. There are multiple ways to sculpt after all.

[@ERBaruin]

This could be nice for prototyping, placeholders, testing and as a base mesh for further editing in blender and other software

[@romulino]

Def needs retopo. But I heard someone just released a model that does that. What a time to be alive.

[@goldennboy1989]

Next we need AI Retopo and AI Weight Painting

[@caffeine8900]

See, that’s the kind of AI stuff I was hoping for. Not art. I want it to make my life easier. Instead it’s taking away a the fun parts, making us spend more time doing the crappy parts. 🤦

[@mr.justdoev8245]

​@@caffeine8900probably at some point the topology will no longer matter, since something like AI reimagining will be used on top of the image on the screen, or the topology can be regenerated on the fly. Give it time.

[@DylanGulledge-rj2hx]

Voxel autoweight paint and Zbrush's auto Zremesher is a fantastic combo.

[@SCHOOLERstyle]

I create much better 3D models on my channel than any of this AI junk! 💪

[@fengariii]

​@@SCHOOLERstyle cool, now stop the spam

[@fhellak8847]

wow, the best opensource image to 3d lib, so powerful.

[@bwhity]

first of all great workflow and video, it's becoming a very powerful tool. the only problem is the poly count of these models is too high and the UV's are an absolute mess. Once AI figures out how to create clean UV's and correct topology and edge loops for characters its going to be huge

[@BitHalo]

There's some progress being made with other AI tools , MeshAI specifically is getting much closer to exporting with very clean topology about 80% the way there!

[@themeangene]

I don't think people realize that GPU shaders don't like jumping around in the UVs. That's why noise textures are more costly. But within 2-3 years this probably will be fixed

[@xxTacolord]

Game dev here. Interesting to follow all these new character art tools. All this is great for prototyping.. but as game devs / animators. Any professional can spot these mixamo rigs / animations from a mile away. Good prototyping tools but any self respecting game dev is gonna go get custom characters and anims

[@rafaelwillian7527]

That is very good for indie developers. thank you!

[@Dom-zy1qy]

Seems useful for prototyping. I don't really like using super bland placeholders, so I'll try this out.

[@qwerasdf-do9kd]

I have been looking for a tool like this for more than a month, so thank you very much.

[@watnoudan]

Ive been waiting for 32 years bud

[@chaosordeal294]

When he selects Smooth Shading in Blender, it does not change the model, it just displays it differently. It's necessary to do before baking, but it's aften easier to see what's going on in the model (to make your own edits) without. You can freely switch between the modes without affecting your model. He suggests merging close vertices, but that isn't necessary for a game model. In fact, if you're going to sculpt additional detail or make changes, you will probably want to multiply the number of verts at least a few times. When you retopologize and bake, you will lose 90%+ of the verts without losing any detail. For static models in Unreal, you do not need to retopo and bake, but if a model will be animated, you still do it the old way (though that may be going away in coming version of Unreal).

[@timmo77_]

Thx

[@MrKams1]

Looks very familiar 😂

[@mwa5704]

I had someone on Discord hit me up, saying that they are a 3D artist, basically doing this tutorial with any idea you have and selling it. I knew as soon as I saw it, it was AI. Soon, we're going to reach the point where 3D modeling will be so good that you won't be able to tell the difference, and a lot of people will end up getting scammed.

[@williamdawson4425]

this is amazing and can save SO MUCH time. Thank you

[@major-skull-gaming]

great video :) been having a lot of fun messing with unreal engine thanks to videos like this one!

[@sisaket33]

Why import the model into Mixamo instead of importing it directly into UE 5 and use the modular control rig?

[@MrT0R0NAGA]

Thank you very much! It looks super interesting and simple.

[@PatrickTheDM]

Amazing! Great tutorial.

[@TJJones-ck7gj]

I'm wondering. Could this process be used for non AI generated images as well?

[@ponimania]

Nice and easy stuff. Tnx mate.

[@mykelgaming]

This is unbelievable 🎉

[@oberdoofus]

thanks - very through and informative!

[@josiahdavisson]

Can you make a tutorial on using this strategy to make custom clothes? Like a military uniform or something like that?

[@محمد-ذ3ص3ث]

Great short and sweet video more on this would be amazing ❤❤❤❤❤

[@airesdagraca78]

Awesome video. Thank you for sharing

[@dallasscandling6329]

This shit going to take my job

[@charzulu]

This comment section is going to be wild in a few days. 😂😂 Good job, thanks for sharing!

[@sisaket33]

Why are you importing the model into Mixamo instead of importing it directly into UE 5 and using the modular control rig, as shown in one of your other tutorials?

[@wielandsmith]

You're the best! Thanks!

[@macebaccon]

Could you make a video showing how to pick up from the blender step, pose and 3d print? Or what other method would be better? Thank you!!

[@Antonwalnuts]

dont use ai if you want a quality product.

[@zomgneedarandomname]

the second site only gives errors, its just not working

[@SmartPoly]

possibly overloaded

[@Vindettacon]

same looks like an error in the javascript though so hopefully they fix it soon

[@s.patterson5698]

Same here.

[@SCHOOLERstyle]

I create much better 3D models on my channel than any of this AI junk! 💪

[@dillonmadson3130]

i would like to see how to create a RTS game!! been looking everywhere for years but nobody has made a video likes yours where it shows a finished product. also bought your course on the survival game, starting the lecture right after i push send lol keep up the good work

[@Bscoop75]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/eIPYY3mleMeBsM0

[@HixxyDubz]

how do you get it to show the whole body? mine cuts off half the body lol. Also i get errors when trying to rig the character...

[@knrz2562]

Type in body-render/model asset or something like that

[@HixxyDubz]

@@knrz2562 yeah managed to get a full body one but i still get errors when trying to rig it in mixamo.

[@therac23]

@@HixxyDubz i TYPED TPOSE WITH ARMS OUTSTRETCHED AND IT WORKED WITH THE RIGGER AFTER THE SAME ERROR

[@HixxyDubz]

@@therac23 thank you i will try that

[@knrz2562]

@@HixxyDubz ho0wsz it going any updates?

[@eligijuspranskunas3509]

on the generated 3D asset window it drops me ERROR all the time

[@SmartPoly]

it could be overloaded, there may be another site,

[@Kayzewolf]

I think using AI as a starting point, like to help inspire or get started, is fine. If you let it be the whole flow, your game will feel like soulless garbage. And yes, people will catch on, even if they don’t know “why” it feels that way

[@troll_kin9456]

Human artists are perfectly capable of making soulless garbage, as demonstrated by every AAA studio. The problem may have more to do with taste than the process you use to get the final product.

[@svenrawandreloaded]

@@troll_kin9456 True, but taste is created through artistic struggle.

[@troll_kin9456]

@@svenrawandreloaded I guess I haven't really thought about where taste comes from before. But that doesn't seem true to me, since I don't think it's impossible for non-artists - people who never experienced artistic struggle - to have good taste. If anything, I think sometimes artistic struggle gets in the way of taste. I find artists can get tunnel vision in appreciating the technical skill of an artist or the clever way they solved an artistic problem or experimented in some new and interesting way. But none of those things mean they created something that's nice to look at. It's one of my frustrations with modern art is that everything is an "exploration" of this or that and I'm like "You know, the old masters kept their explorations to themselves in their journals. And they didn't explore for the sake of it. They explored, developed the skill, and applied it to something that's actually beautiful."

[@REE-Animation]

I disagree.. If you have good taste, you can re-roll your ai images/models, till you get exactly what you want... Saving a shit ton of time. No reason model a character if ai can make the character you want

[@curiousity271]

❤ blimey!!!! @Thanks smartpoly

[@peterlaanguila5098]

This is huge, i would start shitting myself if I was a character artist. Wondering when will be the turn for us environment artists. This will probably hurt more the junior artists

[@radudancoroian5169]

Im a character artist, not really worried. Dude didnt show you all the 10 times it did not work. This tech does not really have real implementation no matter how "good" is getting nor is there a market for it. Maybe used as basis for something else.

[@peterlaanguila5098]

@radudancoroian5169 yeah maybe for concept art, marketing art or mock ups. Thanks for the insight

[@OmeedNOuhadi]

Thanks for sharing!

[@ithurtsbecauseitstrue]

why make anything at all if you're not going to make anything at all?

[@AiAgeOfMagic]

Thanks really help me so much 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

[@RobsUnreal]

Bloody good stuff, gonna try this one. For a video idea how about doing one on the different type of animation styles, Pixar, Anime, Glitch, cartoons. Discuss what they are and how to render the different ones.

[@trifilosgr]

i was thinking the damn same thing

[@corgilife241]

Thats Incredible!!!

[@carlospallete3030]

that is amazing

[@snatvb]

awesome for prototyping it's incredable

[@bobby6204]

Artists be hating on this vid 😂

[@jihedbouchnak]

one of the best tutorials, could you find us some workflow on confyui that create same result on local machine ?

[@artmosphereID]

i cant download the GLB model, it says "file wasnt available on site"

[@msinclaircorp4571]

a lot of thanksss, you are the Best!!!, thanks...

[@cosmicjustice4139]

Mind blown.

[@steknika]

This is amazing. Sadly i got an error on trellis on every try. But this tool is exactly what i was looking for!

[@zomgneedarandomname]

Yeah it's giving an error to everyone, it's unreliable

[@badipaddress]

+1 with errors on trellis. Interesting sites though

[@ealdie24]

eversince midjourney came out, I switched to technical arts and vfx. I always knew its just a matter of time they'll be making 3D using AI

[@mikelshael3565]

It starts to get useful, nice

[@gorv1968]

your blender part was freaking wild - your implied knowledge is through the freaking roof. 100% not doing your course simply due to that part of the video your course is probably a freaking headache.

[@SmartPoly]

lmao, you’ve watched one part of a video on my channel, and are judging all content I have created based on that. Good for you. Now watch my UE5 beginning tutorials that have over millions of views. So I am going to judge your intelligence based on this single comment you’ve made here and assume you have a small brain.

[@seaofrage]

I wonder if that ai modeller can make a character from a scanned drawing or something like that. Def gonna try it out!

[@trifilosgr]

this is really cool for animation films and not so much for game unless you put a LOT editing time in it if someone try it please upload a vid to watch its really entertaining the least

[@Aleoni96]

Wow crazy! 🎉 but do you know if exists some methods to get better texture?

[@it6642]

How long does it take to learn blender from zero?

[@vattghern7592]

The model generator is producing some low texture outputs, is there a way to make the texture more detailed on it?

[@MotionMark]

Could you do one that goes over how to set it up as the player character as well? 🙏

[@MILANDANGAR]

next how can we turn into playble characters

[@zeshanmomin9678]

Is there a workflow that goes from ai concept image to 2d bones instead of a 3d character?

[@MMKProspects]

I'm commenting befor finishing the video. I hope that same image I seen on your Thumbnail will be the final result in game. If not I'm calling it lol

[@MMKProspects]

Okay, that's dope. Good background characters

[@SmartPoly]

got him

[@SCHOOLERstyle]

I create much better 3D models on my channel than any of this AI junk! 💪

[@kevinkev1530]

Awesome thank

[@hyperrealDirt]

more slop please!!!!

[@CRUMVIII]

Damn this is some scary tech.

[@KingBuffo]

This will most likely cause more problems than solve. AI created 3D models are not optimized at a so in real development on large titles it's not feasible.

[@MPech]

Working with 3D content for nearly 20 years now, I'd say the next years will be game changing. Integrate this into a seamless workflow and combine it with a small team of skilled artists and the possibilities will be endless. And so will be the amount of crap on Steam and the Play Store.

[@Keyb0ard82]

So would i be able to make a vtube model for me this way? 😮

[@distructed1878]

Great for prototyping and quickly getting an idea of a character, but somewhere down your development you should replace these with an actual human made model.

[@othmanearidel1fmain720]

If I could like more than once I'd destroy that button. that's amazing. Thanks!

[@lovroxyz3119]

as someone vary interested in game dev, but struggling with the artistic side(so far i mostly tried 2d games, but couldnt finish any due to my shit art skills) TY vary much xD

[@Antonwalnuts]

no dont use this website just make your own models

[@AlondraTeaganBrooklynnp]

aitutorialmaker AI fixes this. AI Image to 3D Model Tutorial

[@bagualexandrubogdan8768]

Can be used in commercial projects ?

[@hernangomar5445]

i think epic allows it, but not on steam

[@bagualexandrubogdan8768]

@@hernangomar5445 but if we are doing retopo, change it a bit how can be verified ?

[@mirage3dd]

@@bagualexandrubogdan8768 Well, they can look at model uv's at least to find out that this is AI made, you literally have to remodel everything to make it look like not ai model.

[@coachsparks4821]

Just tried to generate an image after signing up for the free account and it says my limit has been reached and I haven't generated anything?

[@napa5235]

could you teach how to do the same for Godot or unity aswell?

[@MrNiceguy-u2j]

When importing animations it just generates an error. Are you sure you what to override the standing idle animation? Doesn't allow the import of the pack. Just says Import failed.

[@siddheshzemse8710]

can we import it in godot

[@Antonwalnuts]

we live in a talentless world

[@lovroxyz3119]

Not realy... Im preety sure a human could still do it better given time, but this is good enough for an indie dev

[@Antonwalnuts]

@@lovroxyz3119 no its horrible for games the topology is horrible.

[@lovroxyz3119]

@@Antonwalnuts seemed preety deacent to me, and also its much nicer then anything i could make

[@Antonwalnuts]

@@lovroxyz3119 the reason its better than anything you could make is because youre not good at creating art. anything is the mona lisa compared to the slop you make. do you even know what topology is? the models alone would literally overheat my pc

[@GLADIEWEB2023]

I tried with a sword image in that Trellis but always got error, no model generated.

[@crazycross5501]

I'm trying to make a wrestling game how do I make a grab please

[@virtumind]

Great thanks. I wish to see how to make animation to main character because it is very hard

[@CWS_Gaming]

Hello i am coming from a video from 3 months ago that you posted about land mass world or whatever and i was wondering when you go to blueprint and select a brush type, how do you get the custom landmass brush?

[@SmartPoly]

did you enable the plugin?

[@skeletonchampion2885]

What if you use 2D style picture, character from like old HOM&M games for example and try to make something from that, will it fail? If so is there a way to give 2D art a depth of 3D one?

[@linxxm920]

@SmartPoly if we do this method. How do we know what the Tri and poly count is for mobile games regarding this method?

[@PowerLevel54872]

I made g9ku helped out a ton thanks

[@juleswombat5309]

Its all getting Bonkers

[@KDKEVlN]

Very interesting. Btw though you could have just said game Dev in general this really isn't a unreal engine only. 90% works for Unity ot Godot too.

[@HIvvjfj]

Anytime i download the GLB it says downloading sample

[@Reksaurian]

Hey, I just tried to follow this tutorial and the 3D model generation isn't working. It just comes back with an error. Timestamp: 13/12/2024, 01:34 GMT. Might want to try Meshy or something similar.

[@hristozafirov7110]

Is there a way to bypass the limited amount of generations you can pass on the Trellis model in Huggingface? I've been trying to create an anime male character model(I know it's a long shot) using your tutorial and I couldn't get a good result for the face while I ran out of generation tries.

[@FPChris]

AccuRig may be a better rigging result.

[@IAmMixT]

This is amazing. There is also ronin. Together creating this base model with character creator 4 or daz3d and fully animating with iclone or other tools would be amazing.

[@dhstudios7438]

Is this free for commercial use

[@FPChris]

So far no Ai is copyrightable

[@dhstudios7438]

@@FPChris K Thanks!