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ArtEngine introduces new feature to synthesise PBR materials direct on-mesh, cuts texturing time by 90%

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Artomatix has announced a new application of its ArtEngine product for studios that is set to fundamentally change how 3D content is being created, with the news that they now support the synthesis of full PBR materials directly on the surface of a 3D mesh. This allows ArtEngine from Artomatix to cut model texture time by as much as 90% and enables 3D artists to mass produce unique variations of textured models.

Artomatix CTO Dr. Eric Risser said:

“This innovation is fundamentally different from the way texture artists apply materials onto their 3D models today. On-model synthesis allows the artist to direct the high level properties of the material. Any desired material can be processed using the ArtEngine AI to generate a full PBR material over the surface of the mesh, taking UV space into account to create a new unique texture that looks organic, while avoiding seams, even on very sophisticated materials and shapes.”

Risser, whose PhD was earned on this topic, continues:

“On-model synthesis is radically different. There are two main benefits. First, this feature reduces the time it would take an artist to texture a model by 80-90%. Second, it isn’t limited to one-offs, it can mass produce infinite unique variations of the textured model. This dramatically speeds up workflows, and allows artists to easily bring the richness and variety of the real world into their digital spaces.”

Artomatix has been working with a number of AAA studios over the past 6 months seeking ways to fundamentally update the way they texture their models. Their aim has been to help automate digital creations with minimal overhead or disruption to the artistic workflow. Using AI powered by NVIDIA GPUs, Artomatix’s on-model material synthesis has achieved a fast and flexible way to speed-up the creative 3D artist toolkit without taking control away from the artist.

Current workflows are dominated by manual painting which is powerful but labor intensive. While there are a few planar projection techniques that can help speed things up, such as tri-planar, they can lead to repetitious features, seam artifacts, stretching and don’t really lend themselves to artistic controls. On-model synthesis, which is just one of the many AI driven features of the ArtEngine Studio product, makes painting in 3D space quick and easy.

John Ison, Director of Media & Entertainment Partnerships at NVIDIA concluded:

“We are excited to see this latest application of Artomatix intelligence, which truly harnesses the speed of NVIDIA GPUs for AI inferencing. On-model material synthesis is the next step for game design and Artomatix is transforming 3D artistic workflows.”