The market for AI tools for 3D is growing at an explosive rate. Let’s take a look at some of the key players that already allow you to create PBR materials from text.
WithPoly (formerly Poly)
The specialized king. This is perhaps the most well-known and powerful service today, tailored specifically for generating PBR textures.
How it works: You enter a text prompt, and the service generates 4 texture options for you with a full set of PBR maps (Albedo, Normal, Roughness, Metallic, Height, AO).
Advantages:
- High quality: The model is trained specifically on PBR materials, so the results are often very accurate and physically correct.
- Convenient interface: Everything is intuitive. It is possible to “upsample” (increase the resolution), create variations of the desired result, and fine-tune the parameters.
- Seamless “out of the box”: Most of the generated textures are initially seamless (tiled), which is critically important for 3D.
Disadvantages:
- Paid service (there is a free trial with limitations).
- Sometimes it can “get creative” and create illogical things that require manual refinement.
Who it’s for: Anyone who is serious about 3D and wants the fastest and highest quality results. Ideal for indie developers, freelancers, and studios.
Midjourney
Concept artist. Midjourney is primarily known as a generator of stunning images, but with a little ingenuity, it can also be made to work for the needs of 3D artists.
How it works: Midjourney does not generate PBR maps directly. Your task is to generate a perfectly seamless Albedo map in it, and then use other tools (such as Materialize or Substance Sampler) to create the rest of the maps (Normal, Roughness, etc.) from it.
Advantages:
- Incredible creativity: Midjourney is capable of creating the most fantastic and artistic surfaces that are difficult to obtain in other generators.
Stylization: Ideal for creating stylized textures for games or animations.
Disadvantages:
- Complex workflow: Requires additional steps and programs to obtain a complete PBR set.
- Seamlessness issues: You need to use special parameters in the prompt (–tile) and often refine the result manually in Photoshop to achieve a perfect match.
Who it’s for: Artists who need unique, stylized art and are willing to spend extra time on technical refinement.