I was pretty skeptical about Meshy's auto-rigging when it launched. Tried it early on and the results were bad enough that I went back to doing it manually in Blender.

Tried it again recently and it's noticeably better. Wanted to share what changed my mind.

The improvement is mostly in weight painting. Early versions had hard transitions at joints, especially elbows and knees. Looked robotic. Current version handles the blending much better. Bending an elbow looks like an elbow bending, not a hinge.

Humanoid characters work well. Quadrupeds are hit or miss. Anything with unusual anatomy (extra limbs, non-standard proportions) still needs manual cleanup.

The animation library integration is the real value. Generate a character, auto-rig it, apply a walk cycle from the library, export to Unity. That whole pipeline takes maybe 20 minutes. Doing it manually would take hours.

Limitations I've hit: the rig doesn't always place the spine correctly on characters with unusual proportions. Chunky cartoon characters especially. The spine ends up too short and the torso bends weird. Fixable in Blender but adds time.

For background NPCs and secondary characters in a game, auto-rigging is now good enough that I don't think twice about it. For a main character I'd still do it manually.

The Story

A few months ago, my mom discovered I could create 3D models. She wasted no time bragging to her friends, which led to a very special request from her close friend, Terri.

Terri recently lost a cousin and wanted a custom statuette based on an angel carving from the tombstone. My mom asked if I could make it as a gift for her. I was hesitant because memorial pieces are so emotional, but I wanted to help her preserve that memory.

Original photo I received from my mom

The Workflow

I only had one photo of the front of the headstone to work with, so I had to get creative with my process:

1. Image Isolation: I used Gemini to isolate the angel carving and remove the background text, which gave the AI a clear subject to focus on.
2. AI Generation: I uploaded that single, one-sided photo into Meshy AI. Even though I did not have views of the back or sides, the Image to 3D feature automatically assumed and filled in the rest of the angel to create a complete model.
3. Review: To verify the model before printing, I used the auto-rotate feature in the web app. I captured the movement with the Microsoft Windows Record feature and texted the clip to my mom, who loved it immediately.
4. The Print: I printed the model on my new Heygears RS Turbo using their PAP10 resin, which is an ABS-like material. After printing, I washed and cured the piece, giving it just a little bit of extra time in the curing station to ensure it reached its full strength. I finished it by hand-sanding for a smooth, stone-like feel.

Angel model auto-rotating

The Result

Terri was so moved by the gift that she has already requested a second one for her cousin’s husband, featuring the same angel but with updated text on the base.

It is easy to get lost in the technical side of this hobby, but seeing how much this meant to her was a great reminder of why we create. These tools saved me so much time on such a sentimental piece.

Front of model

Right-side of model

Left of model

Back of second model

Front of second model

>Quick Tip: If your reference photo has a busy background or text, use an AI tool to isolate just the object you want first. This gives the 3D generator a much cleaner starting point and prevents it from trying to turn background clutter into 3D geometry.

Does this software allow generation of nude nsfw models? Are there guardrails / censorship?

I am asking because the figurines we want to 3d print will be painted to have clothes but the actual base model needs to be nude / smooth. We also want to print figurines that will be like dolls and we will create custom made clothing for it that can be changed.

We still need the "nipple point" for the style we are looking for.

Heya, does meshy also generate colour data that is exportable to a slicer? I see on ads it creates colour but on other model generators that colour isnt exportable to printer slicers.
I run a multi toolhead printer and it takes a lot of time to colour in models. Being able to import it from an ai would be perfect.