3D Artist – Clean, Optimize & Texture AI-Generated Architectural Models for Flight Simulation

About the project

Skydom Digital Solutions is looking for an experienced 3D artist / Blender specialist to clean, optimize and realistically texture an initial batch of approximately five (5) architectural models generated using Meshy AI. These assets will ultimately be used in an X-Plane 12 flight-simulation scenery project. The AI-generated models already capture the general architecture and form of the real-world buildings. The objective is not to remodel them from scratch, but to transform them into clean, efficient, realistically textured and production-ready Blender assets suitable for real-time flight simulation. We will provide the original models, real-world photographic references and a table specifying the target triangle count for each building. 1. Geometry Cleanup & Retopology Each AI-generated mesh must be reviewed and properly cleaned. This includes correcting AI reconstruction artifacts, removing unnecessary or hidden/internal geometry, eliminating isolated or duplicate vertices/faces, correcting flipped faces and resolving malformed geometry. Optimization must not consist solely of automated decimation or polygon reduction. Meshy models may contain unnecessarily triangulated planar surfaces, subtle waviness, distortions, random diagonal edges and inefficient topology. These issues should be properly corrected or retopologized where appropriate. Architectural surfaces that should be flat—particularly walls, roofs and slabs—should be genuinely planar, with clean straight edges. Topology and edge flow should be clean and logical, using quads where appropriate and avoiding unnecessary triangles, n-gons and long/stretched polygons. This follows Skydom’s existing modeling standards for efficient geometry and clean shading. 2. Polygon / Triangle Optimization Each building will have an individual target triangle count specified in a project table. These targets should be considered acceptance criteria, rather than general recommendations. Optimization must preserve the building’s: * Overall silhouette and proportions * Recognizable architectural character * Important façade and roof forms * Features that remain visually important from the air or reasonable ground-level viewing distances Geometry that contributes little visually should be simplified or removed. Fine surface details such as roof tiles, masonry, façade patterns and similar features should preferably be represented through textures/materials rather than excessive geometry. The objective is to use fewer, smarter polygons rather than simply producing a lower-resolution version of the original AI mesh. 3. Scale, Geometry & Model Integrity All final models should: * Maintain correct proportions and approximate real-world scale * Be correctly oriented and consistently positioned * Have transforms properly applied/reset * Contain no isolated/coincident vertices or duplicate/coincident faces * Contain no significant flipped faces or visible mesh gaps * Produce clean shading without unwanted reflections or topology-related artifacts * Use clean and consistent naming for objects, materials and textures These requirements are consistent with Skydom’s existing modeling and QA standards. 3D Modeling Checklist. 4. UV Mapping & Realistic Day Texturing Each model must receive clean and efficiently packed UV mapping. Materials, colors, façade patterns, roof finishes, masonry and other architectural characteristics should reasonably match the real-world building, based on photographic/reference imagery supplied by Skydom. The objective is realistic representation, not exaggerated or stylized/game-like materials. Textures should be efficiently produced for real-time simulation. PNG/DDS should be used as appropriate, with 1024/2048 textures as the normal Skydom reference range, adjusted where justified by the size and visual importance of the asset. 5. Night Textures Each building should include simple, realistic night illumination where appropriate. Night lighting should be: * Subtle and generally dim * Natural rather than bright or game-like * Irregularly distributed across windows * Varied between illuminated, partially illuminated and completely dark areas * Free from repetitive or obviously generated lighting patterns Not every window should be illuminated. Exterior architectural lighting should only be represented where appropriate or supported by the supplied real-world references. The objective is for the buildings to blend naturally into a realistic night-time urban environment, rather than appearing artificially illuminated for visual effect. Night illumination should be texture-driven wherever practical and should not introduce unnecessary geometry or excessive lighting elements. 6. Required Deliverables For each building, the Freelancer will provide: 1. Clean and optimized final geometry meeting the agreed triangle target. 2. Corrected planar architectural surfaces and removal of significant AI-generated artifacts. 3. Clean topology and edge flow. 4. Clean and efficiently packed UV mapping. 5. Realistic daytime textures/materials matching supplied references. 6. Simple, realistic and irregular night textures. 7. Clearly organized texture files with no missing dependencies. 8. Clean object, material and texture naming. 9. Editable Blender (.blend) source file. 10. FBX/OBJ interchange version where appropriate. 11. A wireframe preview/screenshot allowing Skydom to review topology and optimization before final acceptance. The Skydom modeling guide already establishes .blend, OBJ/FBX, properly mapped textures, consistent naming and wireframe review as part of its deliverable standards. 7. X-Plane Handover The Freelancer is not required to export or integrate the buildings into X-Plane 12. The final deliverable should instead be a production-ready Blender asset requiring no further geometry cleanup, optimization, UV work or texturing. Our existing X-Plane developer will receive these completed assets and handle: X-Plane-specific preparation → X-Plane Blender exporter → simulator integration → final in-simulator QA. This division of responsibilities is important. The Freelancer’s responsibility ends with a clean, optimized and completely textured master asset, rather than an unfinished model requiring additional artistic work from our X-Plane developer. Potential Ongoing Work This project represents an initial batch of approximately five buildings. Successful completion may lead to a considerably larger number of architectural assets for this and future Skydom destinations. Applicants should provide examples demonstrating experience with AI-generated mesh cleanup, architectural retopology, real-time optimization, UV mapping and realistic architectural texturing. Experience with Blender and game/simulation-ready asset production is highly desirable. Previous X-Plane experience is not required.

Skills required