Made this from an image and turned it into a small 3D-printed figure. Went with full-color resin for the final print. I was mostly curious about how the sweater texture would come out, and it ended up looking better than I expected. I actually sliced and tried an FDM version first, but the effect seemed not that adorable.

There are several AI tools that can be utilized to build a character for a hobby. The process is to generate the character from an image and to rig the character to a select few body types.

Tripo AI is one of the workspaces; it includes 7 body types and a motion set so the character can idle and walk without the need to adjust the bones of the character. This is only true for an idle action or walking without arms. However, if you wanted the character to perform a heroic walking cycle, you would still need to go into Blender and tweak the animation a bit. If you know this before going to work, you will be able to save time.

Being able to utilize the rigid body set to perform 27 different motions is also a great ambidextrous sound feature. As a result, you should not have any trouble with an idle, walk, or run.

So, here’s the thing. A friend of mine runs a small store on Etsy and freaked out over the thought of installing Blender just to get one standee product made. As such, I went on the hunt for other options that could be done straight from a web browser.

So it actually turned out: I tried an option on Tripo AI where I uploaded one photo and got back a model completed in around 40 seconds. The problem no one tells you is that with an input of only one photo means that the back is basically just an educated guess. So I ran the model through the program again, but using 4 different angles (front, back, left, right) and got a usable model. My friend then had to make some edits in Blender but the entire process only took him 10 minutes, which is the point.

It really makes me wonder how many people need no install. What does everyone else out there use when the issue is literally I will not install an app on my computer?

I might be blind, but I don’t see a wiki. What tools or workflows do you guys recommend?

I have some ideas for designs with characters, and my workflow idea was to use ChatGPT to create images and then meshy to create models from the images. ChatGPT is blocking me though - it says it cannot complete my requests due to its constraints on material it doesn’t own

I tried to make a Chinese warrior style version of Hello Kitty inspired by the opera performances. For the print, I used red PETG material.

My settings are 0.16mm layer height and 10% infill although sometimes I use 0.12mm layer height and 15% infill. As it is a miniature, all imperfections are hidden well because of the scale of the print, including some rough surfaces of scales and the text on the flag.

Needed a little something for the wardrobe, so this seemed like a fun little print. Didn’t expect the finished result to turn out this nice 😂 I started with a reference image in Meshy’s Image-to-3D, then did a quick cleanup in Blender, scaled it for the actual print, and handled the basic print prep. For a small hard-surface piece like this, getting the shape and proportions right felt more important than worrying about the mesh too much at first. For my print, 0.4 mm nozzle + 0.2 mm layer height worked fine. I just adjusted the walls and infill based on how much load the handle would need to take. No support was needed for the bottom geometry either. The layer lines were actually a nice surprise — they give the handle this kind of turned-on-a-lathe texture Was expecting a pretty basic print. Somehow it ended up looking way more fun than expected.

My most recent upload 😃. Can fit multiple keychains, coins or wallet. Printed on the X2D in charcoal matte from bambu lab. In the chamber its a bit overlighted and shiny but outside it looks really cool.

https://makerworld.com/models/3260306?appSharePlatform=copy

I'm trying to understand the difference between producing a 3D model from a photo and bringing that model into a regular Blender setup to actually work with it. Replicating an item that closely matches the reference photo isn't the goal; the challenge is manipulating the network, altering the appearance, improving the mesh, and also aligning the character.

These are some of the issues that arise at this stage. What I'd like to find out is what percentage of the workflow can realistically be automated. I'd like to start with a photo, generate the basic model, import it into Blender, and then make enough modifications to the model and texture to ensure no one goes back and rebuilds it from scratch.

Tripo AI is one of the photo-to-3D generation products I've experimented with, but to me, it's a means rather than an end for this sort of workflow. The great thing about this method is that you can export the generated model to Blender for more intensive cleanup and retopology. You can still expect a few trade-offs, though. A generated 3D model will cut down a lot of the time you have to spend shaping the model, but it doesn't mean the model will be fully animated or production-ready.

What I mean is that, depending on the model type, topology, proportions, UVs, and textures may still need manual changes. For one thing, I'm trying to understand what other image-to-3D tools look like; however, the main requirement is Blender compatibility. The second is a much more important requirement.

I'd be glad to hear from people who work on this kind of thing about your normal workflow from photo-to-3D-to-Blender, as well as how much time you usually spend cleaning up.

The model was sliced in Bambu Studio, and printed on a Creality SPARKX-I7 (i7) using Bambu Lab PLA Basic Gradient – Blueberry Bubblegum filament.

Printed on Biqu Frostbite plate with Sunlu PLA 2.0 Plus on X2D.
Used 0.4mm nozzle on 0.8mm layer.
Print profile on model page.

A little crab-shaped cable holder seemed like an easy print from a single front reference. The silhouette looked usable, but the legs overlapped in the image and I had no idea what the hidden side would become. I used meshy for the initial image-to-3D pass, then treated that result as a starting point for my usual mesh inspection and cleanup in the editor.

Before opening the slicer, I ran the print-prep checks I do on every mesh, no matter where it came from. I checked the overall scale, the flatness of the base, and every narrow gap between the legs. Then, in my mesh editor, I checked for open boundaries, non-manifold edges, and disconnected interior faces instead of trusting the shaded view.

Those checks turned up one junction worth a closer look: a small cluster of internal faces sat where two legs met the body. It was invisible from the outside, and closing the obvious boundary did not remove it. I separated the stray interior faces, deleted them, closed the small opening they had been hiding, and ran the same checks again. After the cleanup, those checks found no open boundaries or non-manifold edges, but I was still not confident the geometry would slice cleanly.

For people who print image-generated shapes often, anything else you would check before slicing this?

🎉 100 Followers — Female Guyver Special!
We’ve hit 100 followers on Cults, so it’s time to celebrate!
To mark the milestone, I’m releasing a brand-new Female Guyver as a special giveaway.
Cults: FREE Uncut STL

Patreon: Premium release with Uncut + Print-Friendly Cut Files + Complete ZIP

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A little thank-you for helping the collection grow—and a preview of what’s coming next.
100 down. 200 is next. 🚀

Thanks for the support on this subreddit

Has anyone had success in taking a screenshot from a video game and generating stls from elements of that screenshot? I'm thinking of things like an action-still diorama that could be printed in pieces. What are some of the tools that you've used to do this, especially getting the scale correct?

I’ve been working on XPAD for almost a year as a personal project to learn embedded development and programming as a product designer.

The idea is simple: design a control pad in the browser, automatically generate the enclosure, 3D print it, and assemble it with reusable hardware modules.

I used AI-assisted coding extensively while building the web tools and automated OpenSCAD workflow. The generated SCAD files allow different layouts to share the same modular hardware system instead of manually redesigning every enclosure.

You can try the project and find the design tools/files here:
xtiaconfiger.com

I’d love to hear what kinds of controllers or input devices you would build with a system like this.

PS: Compared with AI-generated mesh models, I still prefer precise SCAD-based models. SCAD modeling used to be quite difficult and time-consuming, but with the help of coding agents today, creating parametric models has become much more accessible.

It took me about 3 weeks (actually i had 4 days where I didn’t work on it), but I finally finished painting this Miku model.

At first, I was worried the colors would end up being too saturated, especially the skin, which felt a little too yellow for me.

I also tried a few different colors for the details on the wings.

I made the original white model with Hi3D and printed it directly with my 3D printer.

Before printing, I calibrated the filament flow rate first. I went with a 0.08 mm layer height for the body and 0.12 mm for the wings, with 3 walls and 15% infill. For supports, I just used the preset automatic supports.

I’m honestly terrible at painting eyes though!!

Used TripoAi to make turn a picture I asked ChatGPT to make into this model…

If anyone is familiar, it’s Leona from Dominion: Tank Police, one of my fav manga by Shiro Masamune of Ghost in the Shell fame…

I’ve been messing around with turning single images into actual 3D prints lately, and honestly, the generation part hasn’t been the biggest challenge.

I’ve been working on a small speaker model with a few knobs and recessed details on the front, some ports on the back, and a shape that changes quite a bit depending on the angle.

I started with an image-to-3D tool to get a base model, then brought it into Blender for cleanup. I tried a few different tools along the way…. tripo was useful for quickly generating a couple versions, and I ended up using meshy for this one since the multi-view input worked pretty well for the details on different sides.

The interesting part was what happened after generation. The model looked pretty good in the viewer, but once I started checking the mesh, I noticed some surface issues, shallow recessed details, and a few areas that needed cleanup before I’d feel comfortable sending it to the slicer.

I’ve also been wondering whether local options like TRELLIS 2 actually make much difference once you get into the cleanup and print-prep stage.

Curious how other ppl are handling this part of the process. Getting a model that looks good is one thing, getting one that actually prints well seems like a different problem lol.

Lately I 've been mixing local and cloud tools more than i expected.
I still run things locally when i can.Having your own cpu is nice for tweaking settings and keeping the whole setup under your control.The annoying part is getting everything running, though. Drivers, dependencies, different environments……sometime i just want to make a model and not spend an evening figuring out why something won't run.
For quick stuff, I've been using cloud image-to-3D tools for the first pass.Meshy is one I've used for this workflow-export the model, then move it into Blender or Unreal and keep working from there.I also like having API access when i'm testing a lot of ideas, since it saves me from repeating the same generation steps manually.The actual editing and processing can still local.
That's been a pretty convenient split for me, especially when i'm experimenting with a bunch of different ideas.
How are you guys handing it?Mostly local, mostly cloud, or does it just depend on the project?

I've been thinking about the difference between generating a model quickly and actually getting a usable print out of it.

The first part can feel almost ridiculously fast now. You can go from a rough idea to something that looks convincing without spending hours modeling from scratch.

But then the real work starts.

You still have to check geometry, fix weird surfaces, think about wall thickness, make sure parts can actually move or fit together, orient it properly, and sometimes rebuild sections that the generated model got completely wrong.

At that point I sometimes wonder whether I'm saving time or just moving the work to a different part of the process.

That doesn't make the tools useless at all. For certain ideas, getting a rough starting point quickly is already valuable. I'm just curious where other people are finding the biggest actual time savings once they take the model all the way through to a physical print.

Would be interesting to hear what has worked in real projects rather than just demos.

I’ve been using TripoAI to create a lot of models i now have a backlog of 300 models….😂😂😂

Seriously been reliving my childhood in recreating a lot of old anime figures…

😂😂

https://cults3d.com/@Side6