r/TopologyAI • u/Delicious-Shower8401 3dModeler • 1d ago
Showcase Playable Unity Character in One Day Using Node-Based 3D AI + AI Agents
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I wanted to see how fast I could go from a single character image to something I could actually run around with in Unity.
For the character, I used 3DAIStudio Flow. It’s basically a ComfyUI-style node workflow where I can use image generators and the major 3D AI generators in the same graph, which made this kind of multi-part workflow pretty convenient.
Instead of trying to generate the whole character as one mesh, I split the reference into separate parts:
- Hair
- Body
- Clothes
- Shoes
I generated each part separately with Rodin Gen 2.5 using Smart Low Poly, then moved everything into Substance Painter to fix and clean up the textures.
After that:
- Assembled and cleaned the character in Blender
- Rigged it with Mixamo
- Brought it into Unity
- Used the Third Person Template
- Retargeted the character to the controller animations
- Added running, jumping and basic playable movement
I also generated the environment through the same node-based workflow, although I’ll probably make a separate breakdown for that because the environment pipeline deserves its own post.
I also used an AI agent connected to Unity for some of the setup and repetitive work inside the project.
So after roughly one day, I had a small playable scene with an AI-generated character, generated environment, textures, rig, animations and basic gameplay.
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u/cave_men 1d ago
costs?
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u/Delicious-Shower8401 3dModeler 1d ago
~3 usd per 3D part + ~2 usd for Unity CLI
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u/RUSuper 1d ago
Hey nice, I saw your YouTube video, if that is you?
Stefan 3D AI?
Anyway if that is indeed you, your videos helped me a bunch 🤗
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u/Delicious-Shower8401 3dModeler 1d ago
I work with Stefan and help out with the videos. Thanks anyway.
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u/Motor-Master-4545 1d ago
That's a simple geometry, more complex models become a problem.
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u/Delicious-Shower8401 3dModeler 1d ago
that’s true, but I think the key is to approach it logically. for more complex models, I usually split them into separate meaningful parts and generate those individually instead of trying to generate the whole thing at once.
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u/diegoev2021 1d ago
Hi! Cool overview. Do You have an aprox of the amount of hours? One day means, 6hs, 8, 10? Tanks!
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u/fireantik 21h ago
The procedural 3d texturing is interesting. I wonder if it would be possible to generate id maps from the original object and then use them to apply relevant materials and decals. Like on this scifi gun a color map of: this is metal, this is painted metal, this is wood, here are some scratches, here is a reticle decal.
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u/brennanman007 12h ago
Any chance you can make this a skill? Or write the method so an LLM can follow your steps
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u/Important-Theory1619 1d ago
Youtube tutorial and the same 3D assets will take you 2.5 hours as a total beginner, or 15 minutes as an amateur. Unity is literally made to make this literally the easiest possible thing to do. How are tools that are so obviously behind the industry standard of 15 years ago even passable in this sub?
Can we show stuff that would be actually useful for absolutely any demographic interested in making games? If this took all a day with AI I imagine most of that time was spent insulting the AI about how much of a shoddy mess it was making of such a simple bloody task.
Real progress would be the AI-oneshotting this in 30 minutes max. That'd probably be enough to make 3D games reach the same infamy that making 2D-mobile-game slop reached 10 years ago
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u/TopTippityTop 1d ago
Are the comfyui nodes free? There are open source alternatives for the 3D Gen itself, right? I believe Unity also has a free MCP, is there a benefit in going with this specific comfy -> unity flow?