Nanite or LODs

Nanite draws dense meshes without LODs on the platforms that support it, but Steam Deck, Switch 2, standalone VR headsets and phones draw a Nanite mesh’s fallback mesh and its LODs instead. For every scanned mesh, LOD Tailor compares what Nanite and a classic LOD chain cost on each target and suggests one, with the reason in a plain sentence.

Note

The sizes are estimates from the mesh’s own data, not measurements on the devices.

Where you see it

• Mesh details on the Meshes page: the verdict for the mesh, its costs, for example “Nanite data 2.5 MB · LOD chain ~6.8 MB”, the reason, the material risk and notes, and under Per-target verdicts the verdict and reason for every target.
• HTML report: the Nanite or LODs section; CSV report: the verdict and cost columns; JSON report: naniteAdvice. See Reports.
• Python: advise_nanite(mesh) and nanite_advice in every scan report. See Python.

Verdicts

Verdict	Means
Keep Nanite	Nanite draws the mesh on every target that matters.
Nanite + fallback LODs	Keep Nanite where it runs, and give the targets without Nanite a fallback mesh that fits their budget, plus LODs.
Switch to LODs	Nanite doesn’t help here: use a classic LOD chain.
Keep LODs	A classic mesh that is fine with its LOD chain.
Consider Nanite	A dense opaque static mesh that Nanite could draw without LODs on the targets with Nanite.

Per target

The target	The mesh	Verdict	Example reason
Has Nanite	Nanite mesh	Keep Nanite	“PC draws it with Nanite at full detail (159,200 triangles); its LODs are not used there.”
Has Nanite	Nanite mesh with a translucent material	Switch to LODs	“A translucent material is not drawn by Nanite: PC draws the fallback mesh (1,592 triangles) instead.”
Has Nanite	Static mesh without Nanite or translucent materials, with at least Nanite Candidate Triangles	Consider Nanite	“57,120 triangles with opaque materials: on PC Nanite could draw it without LODs (Nanite data about 803 KB).”
Has Nanite	Any other mesh without Nanite	Keep LODs	“PC draws its LOD chain: 9,024 triangles up close, within the 300,000 budget.”
No Nanite	Nanite mesh, and another target draws it with Nanite	Nanite + fallback LODs	“Meta Quest has no Nanite: it draws the fallback mesh (3,213 triangles) and 2 more LODs, within the 20,000 budget.”
No Nanite	Nanite mesh, and no target can draw it with Nanite	Switch to LODs	“Steam Deck has no Nanite: it draws only the fallback mesh (1,592 triangles) at every distance, within the 100,000 budget.”
No Nanite	Mesh without Nanite	Keep LODs	“Meta Quest draws its LOD chain: 57,120 triangles up close, over the 20,000 budget.”

In the reasons, the triangles a target draws without Nanite are those of its first LOD: the mesh’s Min LOD on that target, where LOD 0 of a static Nanite mesh is the fallback mesh. For skeletal Nanite meshes the reason says “its LODs” instead of the fallback mesh.

Over all targets

The mesh	Verdict	Reason
Nanite mesh with a translucent material	Switch to LODs	“Nanite does not draw its translucent material on any target; a classic LOD chain does the work.”
Nanite mesh, no target has Nanite	Switch to LODs	“None of your targets draws Nanite: they all draw the fallback mesh and its LODs. The Nanite data (2.5 MB) is not used.”
Nanite mesh, every target has Nanite	Keep Nanite	“Every target draws it with Nanite (data 2.5 MB; a LOD chain would take about 6.8 MB).”
Nanite mesh, some targets have Nanite	Nanite + fallback LODs	“Nanite on PC; the fallback mesh and its LODs on Steam Deck, Switch 2, Meta Quest, within their budgets.” When a target is over its budget: “Nanite on PC; Steam Deck, Switch 2, Meta Quest draw the fallback mesh, over budget on Meta Quest: add fallback LODs or lower the fallback.”
Mesh without Nanite that is a candidate on a target with Nanite	Consider Nanite	“Dense opaque mesh: on targets with Nanite it could replace the LOD chain (Nanite data about 803 KB, LOD chain about 2.4 MB). Targets without Nanite keep LODs.”
Any other mesh	Keep LODs	“A classic LOD chain fits this mesh.” (“Skeletal mesh: a classic LOD chain fits it.” for skeletal meshes)

A static mesh without Nanite is a candidate when it has at least Nanite Candidate Triangles (default 20,000, in Project Settings > Plugins > ta LOD Tailor > Checks) and no translucent material. Skeletal meshes are never candidates.

Costs

Cost	What it is
Nanite data	For Nanite meshes, the size of the mesh’s Nanite data on disk (the root data and the streamed pages). For meshes without Nanite, an estimate of about 14.4 bytes per triangle of the full mesh, Epic’s documented average.
LOD chain	For meshes without Nanite that have LODs, the GPU memory of their LODs’ vertex and index buffers. Otherwise an estimate: the full mesh as LOD 0 plus the LODs of the first preset for its kind of mesh (by default Standard or Characters), at the memory per triangle of the mesh’s LOD 0.

~ in front of a size marks an estimate. On UE 5.1–5.4 the Nanite data size of Nanite meshes is estimated too; see Known limitations.

Material notes

The verdict lists the materials that Nanite handles differently:

Note	Why it matters
“Translucent material: Nanite does not draw translucent materials.”	A Nanite mesh with a translucent material gets Switch to LODs, and a mesh without Nanite is never a candidate.
“Masked material: Nanite draws it with its programmable rasterizer, which costs more than opaque.”	Nanite still works, at a higher cost.
“World Position Offset: Nanite evaluates it every frame; a WPO disable distance keeps the cost down.”	Nanite still works; set a disable distance for the offset.

Material risk on the fallback

A static Nanite mesh with several material slots can lose small material sections on its fallback mesh or on its fallback LODs, and targets without Nanite then show wrong or missing materials. When not every target has Nanite, LOD Tailor checks the material slots each LOD draws:

Risk	Text
Confirmed	“Material sections of the fallback mesh are missing on LOD 1 (slot 1): targets without Nanite show wrong or missing materials there.”
Possible	“The fallback mesh draws 2 of 3 material slots: check that the others are unused.”
Possible	“Nanite mesh with 2 materials: a coarse fallback mesh or fallback LODs can lose small material sections. Check the materials on targets without Nanite.”

The same check reports the Nanite fallback materials finding: a warning for a confirmed loss, a suggestion otherwise. LODs whose sections LOD Tailor merged on purpose (see Fewer draw calls) are not counted as a loss.

What to do with a verdict

Verdict	Batch LODs option
Nanite + fallback LODs	Nanite meshes: Keep Nanite, add LODs, with Per-platform Min LOD on. Lower Fallback when a target without a platform key draws the fallback mesh.
Switch to LODs	Nanite meshes: Turn Nanite off, with a LOD chain from the recipe.
Keep Nanite	Nothing to do; Skip Nanite meshes leaves the mesh alone.
Consider Nanite	If the targets that matter have Nanite, turn on Nanite for the mesh in its Nanite settings in the Static Mesh Editor. Keep its LODs for the targets without Nanite.
Keep LODs	Build or tune the LOD chain as usual.

See Nanite meshes for the modes.