Asset Lab is quickly becoming the go-to tool for 8th Wall developers looking to generate, rig, and animate 3D characters. In a recent webinar, the team walked through some important tips and tricks on how to rapidly build animated characters and integrate them into your interactive scenes. Whether you're prototyping a WebAR experience or building a game for desktop or mobile, these five tips will help you make the most of Asset Lab.

1. Use Descriptive Prompts to Maximize Output

Generating quality characters starts with a strong input. Instead of tossing a vague description like "cute bear" into the prompt field, begin your process with an extremely detailed prompt. 

To help you do this, you can turn to AI. Use ChatGPT to help craft your prompt by giving it a similar image to what you are looking to create and ask it to describe it in the most optimal way for 3D generation. For example, uploading an image of a bear and asking ChatGPT to describe it for 3D generation can provide you with more descriptive phrases like “a fluffy brown bear with rounded ears and expressive eyes” which produces significantly better results than what you might get if just using the prompt “brown bear”. 

The bottom line is, the more detailed you are with your prompt, the better your output will be.

2. Symmetry and Proportion are Key in Multi-View

While multi-view input can improve accuracy, by giving Asset Lab left, right, and back angles, it’s not foolproof. You must ensure your views have consistent proportions, are aligned in the right direction, and the symmetry is correct. Watch those arm positions or your 3D model may come out glitched and wonky. 

Inconsistent side views, for example, can lead to distorted outputs. But interestingly, sometimes a single front view can yield better results, especially when using simple characters.

Don’t be afraid to start the process over before sending it on to the next step to become a 3D model.

3. Choose the Right Generation Model for the Job

Asset Lab offers multiple models to generate 3D assets, each with tradeoffs:

• Trellis: Great for fast prototyping, low-detail abstract characters, or testing Asset Lab’s capabilities on the free tier.
• Hunyuan 3D 2: Available in different model sizes (Base/Mini) and speeds (Standard/Turbo) to best suit your needs. Choose Base Standard for the best shape and texture quality, and Mini Turbo if you’re interested in speed and price over detail.
• Hunyuan 3D 2.1: Produces Physically Based Rendering (PBR) materials. Ideal for high-fidelity characters with complex textures like eyes, mouths, and facial features. Use this when detail, accuracy, or realism matters. 

If you are not getting the output you want, it's best to test across models as each model has its own strengths. You may even want to try to produce the same asset twice with the same model to see if you get better results seeing as each generation is unique. 

4. Iterate Before You Animate

Animation in Asset Lab uses the most amount of credits and therefore should be your final step, not your first in this workflow. Don’t rush into rigging before your model is right. 

Tweak geometry, test different generation models, adjust detail guidance, and remove problematic elements like capes or accessories that may interfere with the rig. Once you're happy, animate. Otherwise, you’ll waste credits on unusable outputs.

Bonus: Animation currently supports only bipedal, T-pose humanoid characters. Quirky creatures like “red panda on a motorcycle” are great for 3D generation, but won’t animate properly (yet).

5. Keep Modifying Assets Inside Studio

Once your character is rigged and animated, the fun doesn’t stop. 

Inside 8th Wall Studio, you can fine-tune your model’s appearance, change colors, swap textures, or apply shading, without needing to return to Asset Lab. This streamlines workflow and lets you iterate fast. You can also easily drop your characters into prebuilt sample projects, like the animated scene shared during the webinar, and instantly see them in action.

We hope these tips help you make the most out of Asset Lab! As a reminder, your Free plan comes with 50 free credits every month to use this new capability. So take those free credits and start building. Whether it’s a frog in clogs, or a bucket-hat-wearing humanoid, the only limit is your imagination.

Ready to create? Get started with 8th Wall