Microsoft makes Copilot 3D available to users worldwide. The AI-powered tool allows you to convert 2D drawings and photos into usable 3D models.
Microsoft launches Copilot 3D. The tool is available for “a subset of users” worldwide. Copilot 3D does what the name suggests: it converts a 2D image into a 3D model. That 3D model is available both with texture and color as well as flat, and you can download it for further editing or printing. You download a GLB file that you can automatically open in Windows 3D Builder.
Conditions
Copilot 3D currently supports PNG and JPG images up to 10 MB. Ideally, these are drawings or photos where a single subject is clearly highlighted against a plain background. The AI tool will then analyze the subject and invent additional information to create a 3D model.
At the moment, Microsoft uses the images solely to generate the 3D model. Prints are not used internally for AI training. The AI creations are stored for 28 days, but you can download or delete them yourself. Microsoft points out that you must have the rights to every image you upload. If the system detects that you are trying to misuse Copilot 3D, your access will be interrupted.
High-quality Prompt
We tested Copilot 3D with varying success. The quality of the prompt (the image) determines (as with all AI solutions) the quality of the result. Too much information on a real photo leads to strange and somewhat eerie models. The system is more suitable for converting your own 2D drawings into 3D models than for converting photos.
Microsoft targets creatives without 3D modeling skills. It wants to give them the opportunity to get started in 3D with Copilot AI. A talented artist without 3D experience can thus draw a figure in 3D and obtain a 3D model in seconds.
On-again, Off-Again Relationship with 3d
It’s not the first time Microsoft wants to democratize 3D. The fact that Windows 11 supports 3D objects smoothly is an expression of that. Microsoft hasn’t maintained all projects equally diligently. For example, the company introduced Paint 3D: a tool that served as an extremely simple 3D modeling environment. Despite its simplicity, Redmond pulled the plug on the program in 2024. 3D Builder still exists, but Microsoft seems to be limiting its availability.
Copilot 3D is definitely the most user-friendly way to get started with 3D. The models could have worked conveniently in tandem with the company’s previously launched 3D software. In Microsoft’s on-again, off-again relationship with 3D, Copilot 3D heralds a new period of love.
As mentioned, Copilot is available worldwide, but not for everyone. You definitely need a Microsoft account. The tool is not paid at the moment. Whether you can experiment with it, find out here.