Crafting 3D Models with AI

Okay, welcome back. We want to create a space shooter game and need some 3D assets. We'll start by finding inspiration and then use Midjourney to generate our first AI-created image—the player's spaceship. Next, we'll turn this image into a 3D model. For this step, we'll need a model capable of converting images into 3D.

There are several models that can handle image-to-3D conversions, such as Trellis, Rodin, and Hyper3D. Setting up Trellis manually would require powerful hardware, including strong GPUs, and significant effort for optimization and maintenance. But instead, we can use inference platforms like fal.ai or Replicate.

Fal.ai makes it easy—you just provide your input and the platform handles the rest. These platforms are also affordable compared to manual setups, especially if you don't use them frequently. Plus, you get APIs to integrate directly into your apps.

To create our 3D model, go to fal.ai. You'll need an account and some credits. I've loaded around $12, enough for several models. Once logged in, click on "Explore" and select the "Image to 3D" category. You can choose models like Rodin or Trellis. Let's open both to compare results.

Trellis costs about two cents per generation, meaning about 50 models per dollar. Rodin is pricier at 40 cents per generation, but often gives better results. I'll generate both models for you to compare.

Let's upload our spaceship image. There are some settings here—like mesh simplification—which can be helpful for browser games. We'll keep the default settings now and handle further optimizations later in Blender. I'll run Trellis first. The generated model looks detailed and quite good.

Next, we'll try Rodin. Rodin has additional settings like different modes called "Concat" and "Fuse." Concat uses multiple angles of the same object, while Fuse can combine different images into one. This could help add accessories or gadgets to our spaceship later on. But for now, we'll use a single image.

Choose the "Shaded" material type for simpler, game-friendly models. Also, select medium quality or higher to ensure decent initial results, making later optimization easier. Now I'll run Rodin. The results look impressive—sharper textures and better lighting compared to Trellis.

Considering costs, Trellis is significantly cheaper and still good enough for less important game assets, like enemy ships. Rodin, being higher quality, fits well for the player's spaceship or critical objects. Both outputs match our original image closely, which is great.

Let's download the GLB files from both Rodin and Trellis. That's it for generating our 3D models. Now we can move to Blender and clean up the models further.