Polyhive
Polyhive is a digital asset management platform that provides an AI texture generation tool for game developers and artists. With the help ...
Last verified:
What is Polyhive?
Polyhive is an AI-powered texturing tool designed specifically for 3D professionals including game developers, 3D artists, animators, and designers. It enables users to texture 3D meshes by describing what they want in natural language, using generative AI to create unique, high-quality textures. The platform uses a mesh-aware texturing process with 360° consistency that produces production-ready, game-ready assets while preserving mesh and UV structure.
Key features include AI-powered texturing through text prompts, automatic material map generation (normal, metallic, and roughness maps), symmetry preservation along the ZY plane, and the ability to preserve existing UV maps. Polyhive offers collaborative asset management with automatic thumbnail generation, a browser-based model viewer, and deep game engine integration through Unity and Unreal SDKs. The tool supports tileable physically based rendering (PBR) materials and allows users to create infinite asset variations quickly.
Polyhive significantly reduces 3D content creation time by over 90%, enabling users to produce production-quality assets in minutes instead of hours. It is versatile across industries including game development, animation, architecture, product design, and visual effects. The platform integrates seamlessly into existing creative pipelines and supports runtime delivery of new content without deploying new game builds.
Polyhive pricing
Pricing model: Free
Polyhive offers a free tier with 200 texture-generation credits and support for models up to 20,000 polygons. Free tier assets are publicly visible to other users. Polyhive Plus costs $19.99 per month or $5.99 per week, providing 2,000 credits monthly, raising the polygon limit to 40,000, enabling private textures, and allowing download of textured models and texture maps. A free trial period is available for users to explore features before subscribing.
Polyhive pros
- Saves up to 90% time on texturing 3D assets
- Creates production-quality assets in minutes
- Texturing via simple natural language text prompts
- 360° texture consistency across all angles
- Preserves mesh structure and UV maps automatically
- Generates material maps (normal, metallic, roughness)
- Supports symmetry along ZY plane
- Game engine integration with Unity SDK
- Game engine integration with Unreal SDK
- Automatic thumbnail generation for assets
- Browser-based 3D model viewer included
- Collaborative asset management for teams
- Creates infinite asset variations from one model
- Tileable physically based rendering (PBR) materials
- Easy integration into existing creative pipelines
- Supports mesh uploads up to 25k faces
- File size limit up to 20 MB for uploads
- Version management eliminates manual file searching
Polyhive cons
- Free tier makes uploaded assets publicly visible
- Meshes must have no submeshes
- Free tier limited to 20,000 polygon meshes
- Plus plan required for private textures
- File size restricted to under 20 MB
- No offline functionality available
- Limited to texturing only, not full 3D modeling
- Requires account creation for basic use
Frequently asked questions about Polyhive
How do I create a Polyhive account?
Visit the sign-in page and register using either a magic link or Google OAuth. For the magic link method, enter your email and press SIGN IN. If it's your first time, an email will be sent to complete registration. For Google OAuth, press the Google logo on the login page and follow Google's login procedure. First-time users will be prompted to set up their account by choosing a username and adding a profile photo.
What are the file requirements for uploading 3D meshes?
Uploaded mesh files must have no submeshes, have fewer than 25k faces (20,000 polygons for free tier, 40,000 for Plus), and be less than 20 MB in size. The free tier supports models up to 20,000 polygons while Plus accounts support up to 40,000 polygons.
How do I keep my textured assets private?
By default, free tier assets are publicly visible and may be used by Polyhive for system improvement and marketing. To keep results private, subscribe to Polyhive Plus ($19.99/month) or contact [email protected] directly.
What material maps does Polyhive generate?
Polyhive can generate material maps including normal maps, metallic maps, and roughness maps along with the main texture. These maps provide additional control over the final appearance of the 3D model for realistic rendering.
Can I preserve my existing UV maps?
Yes, Polyhive allows you to preserve existing UV maps during the texturing process. This option is available when going through the 3-step preview process after describing your object.
How does the Unity integration work?
Polyhive offers a free Unity AI Texturing SDK add-on. To generate textures, you need an account on the Polyhive website. The Unity add-on allows you to generate PBR textures and sprites directly inside the Unity Editor, with textured assets exportable directly into game projects.
What is the 3-step preview process?
After selecting or uploading a mesh and describing your object with a text prompt, Polyhive guides you through a 3-step preview process where you can specify options like symmetry along the ZY plane, preserve existing UV maps, and generate material maps before the final texture is generated.
Where can I find free 3D assets if I don't have any?
If you don't have 3D files to texture, you can find free assets at Sketchfab, CGTrader, and TurboSquid. Polyhive also provides default assets in the platform that you can use to practice texturing.
What industries can use Polyhive?
Polyhive is versatile and can be used in game development, animation, architecture, product design, visual effects, and any field requiring 3D asset creation. It supports a wide range of 3D applications making it suitable for visual artists, engineers, and designers.
How long does texture generation take?
Polyhive produces high-quality game assets in minutes, texturing and reskinning 3D assets within minutes rather than hours. Users wait for the job to complete in the background, and when finished, the textured asset appears in their dashboard automatically.