LOD Tailor

Version 1.1.0 Unreal Engine 5.0 – 5.8 Personal $9.99 Professional $29.99 on Fab

LOD Tailor is an Unreal Engine editor plugin that fits the LODs of your static and skeletal meshes to every platform you ship on. It shows which meshes are over the triangle budget of a Steam Deck, a Switch 2, a Meta Quest or a phone, which of them need LODs there, what Nanite meshes draw on platforms without Nanite, and whether Nanite or a classic LOD chain fits each mesh better. Then it builds LOD chains for many meshes at once, with switch distances in metres instead of screen sizes, and writes per-platform screen sizes and Min LOD. You preview every change first, and every run is backed up so it can be restored.

Everything runs inside the editor on your machine. LOD Tailor uses Unreal’s own mesh reduction, no AI service and no online account.

Who it is for

• Projects for hardware without Nanite or with tight budgets: Steam Deck, Switch 2, standalone VR headsets such as Meta Quest, phones and tablets.
• Projects built from Fab packs that ship Nanite-only meshes. Without LODs, a platform without Nanite draws the mesh’s fallback mesh at every distance. LOD Tailor shows where that happens and adds a LOD chain in one run.
• Games with many characters and creatures. Skeletal meshes get their own budgets, presets with bone influences per LOD, and far LODs without the bones no vertex is skinned to.
• Teams that want LOD budgets checked when assets are validated and saved, and in CI, with targets, presets and folder rules everyone shares.

Features

• Targets instead of guesswork. PC, Steam Deck, Switch 2, Meta Quest and Mobile come preset. Each target has a triangle budget per mesh and one per skeletal mesh, a threshold above which a mesh needs LODs, Nanite on or off, a distance scale, its own camera (field of view and aspect ratio, per eye for VR) and the platform key its settings are written to. Add and change targets in Project Settings. See Targets and readiness.
• Readiness per target. Every target chip shows how many meshes are ready for that device. Click a target to see the triangles it actually renders (its first loaded LOD), the share of its budget that uses and where LOD 1 takes over on that device.
• Static and skeletal meshes. Characters and creatures get their own triangle budgets and presets (Characters, Characters (mobile and VR)) with bone influences per LOD, built with Unreal’s skeletal mesh reduction. See Skeletal meshes.
• Eight checks in the panel, in Data Validation and in the commandlet. See Checks.
• Nanite or LODs. A verdict for every mesh and target with a plain reason, the size of the Nanite data next to the memory of a LOD chain, and notes on translucent, masked and World Position Offset materials. See Nanite or LODs.
• LOD chains in batch. Pick a preset (Standard, Small props, Hero / large, Mobile aggressive, the two skeletal presets or your own) and adjust it: a triangle share and a switch distance in metres per LOD. LOD Tailor turns the distances into screen sizes for each mesh’s size, so a pebble and a building switch at the same distance. See Batch LODs.
• Per-platform screen sizes and Min LOD. Every target with a platform key gets its own screen sizes from its camera and distance scale, so LODs switch at the intended distance in a VR headset too. Its Min LOD is either a fixed value or the first LOD within its triangle budget. See Distances and screen sizes.
• Nanite meshes for platforms without Nanite. Keep Nanite and add a LOD chain (the fallback mesh becomes LOD 0 where there is no Nanite, the new LODs follow) or turn Nanite off.
• Fewer draw calls on far LODs. From a LOD you choose, sections with the same material become one, tiny sections are dropped, and optionally everything is drawn with one material. See Fewer draw calls.
• LOD pictures. Every LOD side by side from the same camera, in the mesh details and in the HTML report. See LOD pictures.
• Hand-made LODs are safe. Meshes with imported LODs keep them and only get screen sizes and platform settings, unless you choose to replace them. When a reimport removes them, LOD Tailor puts them back. See Reimport protection.
• Preview, apply, restore. Preview changes lists every mesh’s new LOD count, expected triangles, draw calls and Min LOD before anything changes, and you can untick rows. Apply writes a backup of the old settings first, and Restore last backup puts them back.
• Settings the team shares. Targets, presets and folder rules can live in a settings asset you check in, and move to other projects as a JSON file. Folder rules give content folders their own preset, also for newly imported meshes. See Shared settings and folder rules.
• Reports as a sortable HTML page, CSV and JSON. See Reports.

Checks

Rule	Finds
Over budget	Meshes whose first rendered LOD has more triangles than a target’s budget
No LODs	Meshes with a single LOD above a target’s LOD threshold
Nanite fallback	Nanite meshes on targets without Nanite, a warning when they have no LODs
Nanite fallback materials	Nanite meshes with several materials whose fallback LODs lose material sections
Invalid Min LOD	A per-platform Min LOD beyond the mesh’s last LOD
Screen size order	Screen sizes that don’t get smaller from LOD to LOD
Weak reduction	LODs that keep almost all triangles of the LOD before them
No platform key	Targets without a platform key that start a mesh over budget although a lighter LOD fits

Quick start

1. Install the plugin and open Tools > ta LOD Tailor (in the tridiART section of the Tools menu).
2. Click Scan project, or select folders or meshes in the Content Browser and click Scan selection.
3. Click the target you care about, for example Meta Quest. Its chip shows how many meshes are ready for it, and the mesh table shows the meshes that need work, worst first.
4. Click Next: Findings to review what is wrong and on which targets.
5. Click Next: Batch LODs, choose a preset and what to do with Nanite meshes, click Preview changes, check the list and click Apply to N meshes.
6. Click Export report to share the result with your team.

See Editor panel for a tour of every part of the panel.

Ways to run it

1. Editor panel: Tools > ta LOD Tailor, Content Browser entries (Check Mesh LODs, Check LODs, Tailor LODs…) and a LOD Tailor button in the Static Mesh Editor and Skeletal Mesh Editor toolbars. See Editor panel.
2. Data Validation: the checks run when you validate assets, on save (if enabled in your project) and during changelist validation. See Checks.
3. Command line / CI: the TALODTailor commandlet checks headless, writes a report, can apply presets and returns an exit code your build system can check. See Command line & CI.
4. Python and Editor Utility Widgets: scan, plan, apply, restore and export from scripts through TALODTailorSubsystem. See Python.

Note

LOD Tailor writes standard engine settings: reduction settings, screen sizes, Min LOD and Nanite settings of your static and skeletal meshes, and the geometry of far LODs whose sections it merged. The meshes keep working the same without the plugin.

Supported versions

Unreal Engine	5.0 to 5.8. Skeletal meshes with Nanite need 5.5 or later; imported skeletal mesh LODs are put back after a reimport on 5.3 and later; removing unskinned bones uses Unreal’s bone reduction on 5.8.
Platforms	Win64, Mac and Linux editor
Module type	Editor only (not included in packaged builds)
Assets	Static meshes and skeletal meshes
Dependencies	Data Validation plugin (enabled automatically)
License	Fab Standard License: Personal $9.99, Professional $29.99
Get it	ta LOD Tailor on Fab

Known limitations

• On UE 5.1–5.4 the engine does not give the Nanite data size to plugins, so LOD Tailor estimates it and marks it with “~”; the Nanite or LODs verdicts stay the same. UE 5.0 and 5.5–5.8 measure it.
• On UE 5.2 only, a reimport through the experimental Interchange FBX importer (off by default) removes the generated LODs and screen sizes, and Protect Imported LODs on Reimport cannot bring them back: run the batch again. The legacy importer, 5.2’s default, is not affected, nor is Interchange on UE 5.3 and later.

Quick links

InstallationAdd the plugin and run your first scan.

Editor panelTargets, the mesh table and details, findings, the batch page and narrow panels.

Targets and readinessThe default targets, their budgets and cameras, and what ready means.

Batch LODsPresets, options, Nanite modes, preview, apply and restore.

Skeletal meshesBudgets, presets, bone influences and unskinned bones.

Nanite or LODsThe verdicts, their reasons and the cost estimates.

Fewer draw callsMerged and dropped sections on far static mesh LODs.

Distances and screen sizesHow metres become screen sizes on every target.

ChecksEvery rule, its severity, its message and Data Validation.

LOD picturesEvery LOD side by side, in the panel and in the report.

ReportsThe HTML, CSV and JSON reports.

Shared settings and folder rulesA settings asset for the team, JSON files and per-folder presets.

Reimport protectionImported LODs that survive a reimport.

Command line & CIParameters, console output and exit codes.

PythonScan, plan, apply and restore from scripts.

SettingsEvery option with its default value.

FAQAnswers to common questions.