Meshy, a company whose AI makes 3D models from a typed description or a picture, launched Meshy Edit on Oct. 16. Instead of starting over when a model comes out almost right, a user circles the part that is wrong, describes the change in a sentence, such as asking for a hat to be removed, and gets back a new version in which only that part is different. Meshy says it is open now to everyone with a Meshy account.
Meshy says that solves a common annoyance with AI-made 3D models. Asking the AI again makes the whole model from scratch, so the pose, the proportions and the small details the user liked can all change too. The other choice has been to fix the part by hand in a 3D design program such as Blender, which takes modeling skills and, Meshy says, can take hours for a single detail. With Meshy Edit, the company says, it takes a few minutes, and the original model is always kept alongside the new one.
Users circle the part with a lasso tool, which selects all of it, back and sides included, then tidy the edge with a brush if needed. They can add, remove or swap a part and attach reference pictures to show what they want. Meshy says it helps most with models for 3D printing, and for game makers who want several versions of one character, such as the same hero with a different weapon or accessory. An edited model can be edited again, downloaded or sent straight to Meshy's own tools for preparing a 3D print.
Meshy Edit has clear limits. For now it works only on early, uncolored drafts made with Meshy, not on models brought in from elsewhere or ones already colored or set up to move in animation. This first version changes a model's shape, not its colors or surface finish, which Meshy says will come later. Results vary from one try to the next: Meshy says hats, glasses and other things worn on the body come out most reliably, and that removing a part can take several attempts. Each edit uses up credits, the units Meshy charges in for its tools, and Meshy refunds them automatically when an edit fails.
So far only Meshy's own examples show how well it works, and the company hasn't published figures on how often an edit comes out right the first time. Meshy says more editing tools are on the way, and that a version developers can build into their own software is expected in early December.