Dream Textures
The GitHub repository "carson-katri/dream-textures" contains a tool called "Stable Diffusion built-in to Blender." This tool is integrated into the Blender soft...
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What is Dream Textures?
Dream Textures is a free, open-source Blender add-on that integrates Stable Diffusion AI directly into Blender, allowing users to create textures, concept art, background assets, and more with simple text prompts. The add-on runs models locally on your machine, enabling iteration without slowdowns from cloud services. It supports both NVIDIA CUDA GPUs and Apple Silicon, requiring over 4GB of VRAM for optimal performance.
Key features include the 'Seamless' option for creating textures that tile perfectly with no visible seams, 'Project Dream Texture' which uses depth-to-image to texture entire scenes automatically, and the ability to re-style animations using the Cycles render pass. The add-on also offers inpainting to fix images or make existing textures seamless, outpainting to extend images beyond their original size, and AI upscaling to enlarge low-res generations 4x. Users can recall, export, and import generation history via JSON files for backup and sharing.
Dream Textures is designed for 3D artists, Blender users, game developers, and anyone working on texture creation and concept art within Blender. It includes a node system for creating complex effects in the render engine and supports custom checkpoint imports from sources like CivitAI. The project is licensed under GPL-3.0 and has over 8,100 stars on GitHub with an active community on Discord.
Dream Textures pricing
Pricing model: Free
Dream Textures is completely free and open-source under the GPL-3.0 license. The add-on is available for free download from the GitHub repository. While the Blender Market listing exists where users can purchase it to support development, the latest versions are accessible on GitHub for free. No paid tiers or subscriptions are required. Cloud processing via DreamStudio is optional for users with unsupported hardware and requires separate DreamStudio setup with its own pricing.
Dream Textures pros
- Free and open-source with GPL-3.0 license
- Runs Stable Diffusion locally on your machine
- Seamless texture option for perfect tiling
- Project Dream Texture for automatic scene texturing
- Depth-to-image technology for accurate projection
- Inpainting to fix images or make textures seamless
- Outpainting to extend images beyond original size
- AI upscaling that enlarges generations 4x
- Re-style animations with Cycles render pass
- History panel to recall, export, and import prompts
- JSON export/import for sharing exact generations
- Supports NVIDIA CUDA and Apple Silicon GPUs
- Custom checkpoint import from CivitAI and other sources
- Dream Textures node system for complex effects
- Active Discord community with common issues list
Dream Textures cons
- Requires over 4GB VRAM recommended
- Large file size (1.8GB for Windows CUDA version)
- macOS quarantine issues with PyTorch dependencies
- No official support for non-NVIDIA/Apple Silicon GPUs
- Cloud processing requires separate DreamStudio setup
- May require running Blender as administrator on Windows
- Large unbroken faces may not project well without subdividing
- Installation can be complex for development environment
Frequently asked questions about Dream Textures
What is Dream Textures?
Dream Textures is Stable Diffusion built-in to Blender. It is a free, open-source add-on that allows users to create textures, concept art, background assets, and more with simple text prompts. It runs AI models locally on your machine using NVIDIA CUDA or Apple Silicon GPUs.
How do I install Dream Textures?
Download the latest release from the GitHub releases page. For Windows with NVIDIA GPU, download dream_textures-windows-cuda.7z, extract it with 7-Zip, then in Blender go to Preferences > Add-ons > Install and select the extracted zip file. Follow the instructions in the addon preferences window to set up model weights. macOS users may need to run a quarantine workaround command in Terminal.
What GPU requirements does Dream Textures have?
Dream Textures has been tested with CUDA and Apple Silicon GPUs. Over 4GB of VRAM is recommended. If you have an unsupported GPU, you can optionally use DreamStudio for cloud processing following instructions in the release notes.
How does Project Dream Texture work?
Project Dream Texture uses depth-to-image to automatically texture entire scenes. You select objects and faces to target, choose a depth model like stabilityai/stable-diffusion-2-depth, enter a prompt, and click Project Dream Texture. The add-on generates an image that projects perfectly onto your geometry, similar to Ian Hubert's method in reverse.
How do I create seamless tileable textures?
Enable the 'Seamless' checkbox when generating textures. You can also use inpainting to make existing textures seamless by using the Mark Inpaint Area brush to remove edges, entering a prompt describing the texture, checking Seamless, enabling Source Image with Open Image source and Inpaint action, selecting Alpha Channel mask source, and clicking Generate.
What models does Dream Textures support?
Dream Textures supports Stable Diffusion models including SDXL, safetensors, and ckpt files. You can download depth models like stabilityai/stable-diffusion-2-depth for texture projection and inpainting models like stabilityai/stable-diffusion-2-inpainting for inpainting and outpainting. Custom checkpoints from CivitAI can also be imported through add-on preferences.
How do I export and import prompts?
Each generation's full configuration is saved to the History panel. To export, select a history entry row, click the export icon button, and save the JSON file. To import, click the import icon button in the header of the Dream Texture panel, open a valid prompt JSON file, and all configuration options will be loaded in.
How does AI upscaling work?
Dream Textures can upscale low-res generations 4x using AI upscaling. When using the upscaler, you can check the 'Seamless' option to ensure tileable results. The tile size can be adjusted in the AI Upscaling settings.
Can I re-style animations with Dream Textures?
Yes, Dream Textures can re-style animations using the Cycles render pass. You can control the output using depth, noise strength, and seed settings. This allows you to apply consistent styling across animation frames.
Where can I get help if I have issues?
Check Blender's system console for error messages and search the GitHub issues list. The Dream Textures Discord server has a common issues list and a strong community of helpful people. You can also add new issues to the GitHub repository for features and feedback that aren't already listed.