What This Tutorial Covers
TRELLIS.2 is Microsoft's current 4B image-to-3D release. This tutorial focuses on the independent trellis-2.com hosted workflow: upload one image, submit a tracked task, inspect the result, and download a GLB.
The upstream project and hosted service are different products. For model architecture, license, self-hosting, and official hardware notes, use the Microsoft TRELLIS.2 repository. For hosted cost and behavior, use the live generator and pricing page.
Step 1: Choose a Useful Input
Start with:
- One object, fully visible and centered
- A clear silhouette
- Even lighting
- A background that does not compete with the subject
- Enough image detail to inspect the intended surface
Avoid a first test with multiple objects, severe cropping, motion blur, heavy occlusion, glass, mirrors, or transparent parts. A single image does not contain the real back, underside, dimensions, or internal structure; the model must infer them.
Step 2: Sign In and Preserve the Draft
An account is required because the service attaches credits, provider task state, and downloads to the correct user. If sign-in interrupts the workflow, the browser restores a short-lived, validated draft rather than sending the image or purchase intent to an external callback.
Never upload an image you lack the right to process.
Step 3: Start at 512
The current hosted credit schedule is:
| Resolution | Credits per task | Best first decision |
|---|---|---|
| 512 | 150 | Evaluate shape, hidden surfaces, and overall material direction |
| 1024 | 300 | Continue only when the 512 draft is directionally correct |
| 1536 | 500 | Use when the workflow can justify the highest cost and file complexity |
Generation is funded from spendable credits: purchased credits, an active subscription or its renewal grant, and the one-time first-512³ trial grant. An account with no prior 3D task can receive up to 150 trial credits once, valid for 7 days; that grant covers a 512³ job and nothing larger. Signup rewards and daily claims are currently switched off, so neither can start a provider job on its own.
Higher resolution cannot recover information that is absent from the image.
Step 4: Submit a Tracked Task
The service reserves credits and a concurrency slot before calling the paid provider. This prevents parallel requests from starting untracked provider work.
The UI then shows the task state. A hosted job often completes in roughly one to three minutes, but queue load, input complexity, and settings can make it slower. The page does not declare success until the provider reports success.
If a recorded task fails or is canceled, the credit-consumption row is claimed once and the reserved credits are returned to their original grant rows. Repeated callbacks cannot refund the same consumption twice.
Step 5: Inspect Before Downloading
Rotate the result and check:
- Back and underside plausibility
- Thin, disconnected, or missing components
- Holes, intersections, and normal direction
- Texture seams and material response
- Orientation and scale assumptions
Download marks a successful task with an auditable first/latest download record. The result is GLB; the hosted generator does not promise every output mode documented by Microsoft's earlier TRELLIS project.
Step 6: Import into the Destination Tool
Blender
Use File → Import → glTF 2.0, then check transforms, normals, material nodes, UVs, and texture paths. Keep an untouched copy before modifying geometry.
Game engines
Validate polygon/texture budgets, pivots, scale, collision, LODs, material conversion, rigging, and animation topology. A generated GLB is not automatically game-ready.
3D printing
Convert GLB to STL only after inspection, then check manifoldness, holes, normals, wall thickness, real dimensions, supports, and slicer warnings. Functional parts should be rebuilt or validated in CAD from measurements.
VFX and visualization
Validate topology, UVs, material channels, naming, scale, color management, and render-engine compatibility before pipeline handoff.
Troubleshooting
“The hidden side is wrong”
The source image did not contain that view. Use a more informative image, simplify the subject, or plan manual reconstruction. Higher resolution alone is not a reliable fix.
“The task failed”
Confirm the task reaches a failed/canceled state and that the credit balance is restored. Record the local task ID when contacting support; do not email a password or full payment-card number.
“The texture looks soft or has seams”
Check input sharpness, occlusion, and reflections. Inspect the PBR channels after import. Texture upscaling cannot create a physically correct hidden surface.
“The model is too heavy”
Use a copy for decimation or retopology, preserve the source, and compare silhouettes and material mapping after optimization.
Acceptance Checklist
- Task reached provider-confirmed success.
- GLB downloads and opens in the target tool.
- Hidden surfaces are acceptable for the use case.
- Geometry and materials pass the destination checklist.
- Cleanup time is recorded.
- Input rights and target-platform terms are reviewed.
- A higher resolution is justified by the accepted 512 result.
