InstantMesh

What is InstantMesh?

InstantMesh is a free browser demo from Tencent's ARC Lab that turns a single photo of an object into a colored 3D mesh. You upload one picture, leave background removal on and press Generate. The demo first draws six views of your object from different angles and shows them as a grid, then builds the mesh from those views.

There are only two settings: a seed number and a sample steps slider from 30 to 75. If the shape comes out wrong, the page suggests trying another seed, which gives you a fresh set of views to build from. The mesh carries vertex colors and downloads as OBJ or GLB. The page warns that the OBJ comes out flipped, so the GLB is the safer download.

The model dates from spring 2024, so it is older than TRELLIS.2 or Hunyuan3D, but the demo costs nothing and the InstantMesh code and weights are Apache 2.0, so you can also run it on your own GPU. Before printing, convert the file to STL, scale it and check for thin or open areas in your slicer. It suits makers who want a free second opinion on an image-to-3D idea.

What you can make

• Figurines and toys from a photo
• Small props and objects
• Vertex-colored OBJ and GLB meshes

How to use InstantMesh

1. Open the InstantMesh Space on Hugging Face
2. Upload a clear image of one object and keep Remove Background ticked
3. Press Generate and check the six generated views
4. Download the GLB, or try another seed if the shape looks off
5. Convert it to STL, scale it and check it in your slicer