Annie, the R&D Director of Xinghuan Laboratory under Chongqing North Shore Star Interaction, is a seasoned professional in the exhibition and cultural heritage sector with 18 years of experience. A graduate of Southwest University, she is also a KOL in the exhibition AI interaction field, dedicated to the innovative research of "culture + technology + digital art."
Over the years, she has participated in more than 400 projects covering exhibition halls, museums, art exhibitions, cultural tourism, education, and commercial exhibitions.
For Annie, "cultural revival and cultural confidence" is not just a slogan—it has become a deep-seated mission after years of immersion in the cultural heritage industry. As AI modeling technology continues to evolve, she began to wonder: Could this advanced technology be combined with traditional culture and intangible cultural heritage (ICH) to create new forms of expression?
In her daily work, Annie is responsible for the AI interaction and digital art segment. She often visualizes complex new AI technologies through demos, making it easier for curators and designers to understand and further integrate them into exhibition projects.
When AI modeling technology matured—with excellent wireframe performance but still room for improvement in materials — she decided to adopt point cloud art processing to create the "Intangible Cultural Heritage Creation" Colorful Weaving Threads project.
This choice aimed to attract audiences visually, spark their curiosity, and let them feel the charm of the combination of technology and traditional culture. It was during this creative journey that Meshy became a key partner in her digital heritage exploration.
Challenges: Technical Barriers Block the Fusion of Culture and Technology
Annie's creative vision was clear: to bridge AI technology and intangible cultural heritage. However, technical limitations stood firmly in her way. The biggest obstacle was her lack of proficiency in 3D modeling.
"I don't do modeling. It's such a time-consuming process, and I avoid it whenever I can. So anything that relies on 3D assets has to either involve our modeling teammates or use pre-made assets.Now with AI modeling, it's much more convenient."
Annie
the R&D Director of Xinghuan Laboratory
In the past, any project relying on 3D model assets required collaboration with colleagues in the modeling team or the use of pre-existing material assets. This dependency not only slowed down her creative process but also limited the flexibility of her ideas—when a new inspiration struck, she couldn't turn it into a tangible model immediately.
Beyond modeling, other tasks like rigging and level design were equally time-consuming and frustrating. These technical barriers not only wasted valuable time but also constrained her creative freedom, making it difficult to quickly translate her visions of "ICH + AI" into demo projects or formal exhibition content. For Annie, who valued efficiency and creative agility, this status quo was far from ideal.
How Meshy Solved the Problem: A Tool Tailored for Creative Efficiency
Annie first encountered Meshy in early November 2023—she couldn't recall exactly if it was on Twitter or a WeChat official account, but the tool quickly caught her attention. When she decided to integrate Meshy into the "Colorful Weaving Threads" project, two core factors drove her choice: excellent material restoration and complete output formats with comprehensive textures.
These features directly addressed her pain points. Meshy's ability to restore materials meant it could handle the delicate textures of ICH-related works, while its complete output formats ensured the models could be smoothly imported into other tools she used, such as TouchDesigner (TD).
Annie had three clear goals for Meshy:
- To assist in creating the models needed for exhibition demos during the project proposal phase;
- To explore prototypes for ICH and cultural and creative product designs;
- To test the possibilities of combining digital art with AI interaction and spatial interaction, with future plans to integrate AR, VR, and XR technologies.
As a creator with a niche audience, Annie also values key factors when choosing tools: asset generation speed, restoration accuracy, material texture differentiation, and the diversity of bones and default animations. Meshy met all these requirements, even sparking her vision for future use—she hopes Meshy will support glass materials, hair, and physical simulation in the future, and even be used as a 3D editor by connecting with open-source Blender.
Workflow: From AI-Generated Images to Interactive Point Cloud Art
Annie's workflow for the "Colorful Weaving Threads" project is a precise combination of AI tools, 3D processing, and interactive design—every step strictly follows her practical operations, with no modifications or omissions:
1. Defining the Theme and Generating Initial Visuals
The project takes "headdresses" as its core theme. Annie first uses AI to generate images of headdresses—these images serve as the visual foundation for the subsequent 3D models, ensuring the final work aligns with the aesthetic characteristics of traditional ICH.
2. Converting 2D Images to White Models
Next, she converts the AI-generated headdress images into white models. This step transforms 2D visual concepts into preliminary 3D structures, laying the groundwork for material refinement.
3. Material Creation with Meshy's Texture Function
Annie loads the white models into Meshy, where she leverages Meshy's texture mapping capabilities to create the material part of the models. Meshy's strengths shine here: it restores colors extremely well, and the material details on the back of the models are rich and accurate—two key points that ensure the woven texture of the headdresses is vivid and true to traditional craftsmanship.
4. Exporting and Importing to TouchDesigner (TD)
After completing the material work in Meshy, Annie exports the models in FBX format—a format widely compatible with professional design tools. She then imports the FBX models into TouchDesigner (TD), a tool she is highly proficient in (she is one of the earliest domestic users to combine AI interaction with TD; back in 2022, when TD's ecosystem was underdeveloped and there was little information about it on Baidu, she had already started using it for AI interaction projects).
5. Point Cloud Processing and Thread Effect Design
In TD, Annie performs point cloud processing on the imported models. She uses Python to design the distance between the model's vertices, setting a threshold where 20% of the vertices (based on distance) are connected by lines. To enhance the "colorful weaving" effect, she uses the colors of adjacent vertices to map textures onto these connecting lines—this step turns the 3D model into the signature point cloud and thread visual style of the "Colorful Weaving Threads" project.
6. Implementing Interactive Functions
The interactive part of the work is also completed in TD. Annie designs a real-time interaction mechanism: users can switch between different headdress forms by pressing keyboard keys, making the digital ICH work not just a static display, but an engaging interactive experience accessible to all age groups.
7. Tool Selection for Different Project Stages
It's worth noting that while Annie uses Python and TouchDesigner for demo development, she typically switches to Unity and Unreal Engine (UE) for formal commercial projects to meet higher production standards—though Meshy remains a core tool for early-stage model and material creation across both demo and commercial phases.
Results: Efficiency Boosts, Audience Love, and Industry Recognition
Thanks to Meshy, Annie's creative process underwent a dramatic transformation, and the "Colorful Weaving Threads" project achieved impressive results on multiple fronts:
1. Significant Time and Efficiency Savings
The most tangible change was in time consumption: what used to take several days of modeling work now takes only a few minutes—and Annie can complete it independently. Meshy gave her the autonomy to turn ideas into models quickly, greatly improving the efficiency of demo development and project proposal.
"For an introvert like me, it's basically: better to rely on yourself than on others, and even better to rely on AI than on yourself."
Annie
the R&D Director of Xinghuan Laboratory
2. Positive Audience and Community Feedback
Annie shared multiple works from the "Intangible Cultural Heritage Creation" series on Xiaohongshu. Despite her audience being niche (focused on the exhibition industry, designers, art students, art circles, and AI enthusiasts), each work received high views, likes, and collections. The most popular piece even garnered over 9,500 likes, proving that the new form of "AI + ICH digital art" resonates strongly with the public.
3. Industry and Academic Influence
Beyond audience recognition, the project also caught the attention of ICH research institutions and academic organizations. These institutions reached out to Annie, sharing that her work had given them new inspiration and insights for their own research—this feedback made Annie particularly happy, as it meant her efforts to promote cultural revival through technology were truly making an impact.
4. Expanded Creative Horizons
For Annie, Meshy didn't just solve technical problems—it broadened her creative landscape. She realized that as the public grows tired of 2D images and craves 3D visuals, and with the advent of the spatial computing era, 3D assets will become a universal need. Meshy let her imagine a future where digital assets are as common as daily purchases, further fueling her passion for combining technology and culture.
Expectations and Outlook: Future Plans for Meshy and ICH Innovation
Annie's exploration with Meshy and "Intangible Cultural Heritage Creation" is far from over—she has clear plans for the future and high expectations for Meshy's development:
1. Waiting for 3D Printing Advancements to Expand Project Scope
Annie has a bold vision for the next phase of her ICH project: letting audiences draw lines themselves, then using AI to generate images in real time, connecting to 3D platform APIs or open-source offline 3D models to generate assets, and finally using 3D printers to turn these digital creations into physical objects. However, current 3D printing speeds are too slow to support real-time interaction, so she is waiting for advancements in 3D printing technology to make this vision a reality.
2. Focusing on Meshy's Technological Evolution
Annie will continue to pay close attention to Meshy's updates, particularly in three key areas: material restoration accuracy, model restoration degree, and generation speed. These are the core needs for her future ICH and digital art projects—she hopes Meshy will further improve in these aspects to handle more complex traditional craft textures.
3. Suggestions for Fellow Creators
As someone who describes herself as a "3D novice," Annie doesn't focus on technical tips.
"I'd suggest drawing inspiration from cross-disciplinary fields to enhance creativity, rather than limiting yourself to creating only within the boundaries of your own traditional industry."
Annie
the R&D Director of Xinghuan Laboratory
She believes that limiting oneself to traditional industries will hinder innovation, and that the combination of different fields (like culture, technology, and art) is where true creativity lies.
4. Recommending Meshy to All Creators
Annie wholeheartedly recommends Meshy to anyone interested in 3D creation. She emphasizes that Meshy has no steep learning curve, doesn't require high-end computers, and supports online creation—making it accessible to everyone, regardless of their technical background. For her, Meshy is more than a tool; it's her "3D alter ego" that helps her turn cultural heritage into vivid digital art.
In Annie's story, Meshy is not just a 3D modeling tool—it's a bridge between traditional culture and modern technology, a catalyst for creative autonomy, and a partner in promoting cultural revival. As she continues to explore the intersection of AI and ICH, Meshy will undoubtedly remain a key part of her journey, helping her turn more "culture + technology" visions into reality.
If you've ever hesitated to start your 3D creative journey because of complex modeling, time-consuming asset production, or a lack of technical skills—now is the time to try Meshy. You don't need to be a professional 3D artist, nor do you need a high-performance computer; whether you want to bring traditional culture to life like Annie, design unique digital art, or turn random creative sparks into tangible 3D models, Meshy can be your reliable partner.
Let Meshy take care of the technical heavy lifting, so you can focus on what truly matters: your imagination and creativity. Head to Meshy today, type in your first prompt, and watch your ideas bloom into vivid 3D art—just like Annie did with her "Colorful Weaving Threads" project. The next amazing 3D creation could be yours.
