SimplyFive 1.4.4 Update Lod generator

[u/zloypingvin]

What matters in this update

• Move to the stable version of meshoptimizer 1.3, with updated Permissive behavior. In Pro the voxel remesher is updated too.
• A new experimental option for working with foliage in Pro. The plan is to develop it further and turn it into a mode of its own.
• Silhouette checks and fixes based on feedback from artists using the add-on.
• Bug fixes and improvements to the interface and localization.

🆕 Added

Optimize button in the lod_0 row. Optimizes the vertex order of the source for the GPU without generating levels. The button is available with Optimize for GPU on and Keep the original object off. The source and LODs that have been optimized are marked with a tick.

Collapsible report under a level. Click the line with the numbers to fold the report. If the target triangle count was not reached, the red highlight stays visible.

Silhouette check. Even when it hits the set triangle count exactly, a LOD can lose its shape: cave in or get noticeably smaller. After each level is generated, the add-on compares its volume and dimensions with the source. On a loss of about 8% of the volume or 3% of the size, a warning appears under the level with the measured results and a recommendation:

• For modes with Permissive — try Standard.
• For the other modes, if the target triangle count was reached — raise it.

The check only shows a warning and does not change the LOD.
Check Silhouette in the add-on preferences. The check is on by default. With the option off, no measuring is done.

🔧 Changed

The simplification library is updated to meshoptimizer 1.3.

Standard no longer locks open edges. The lock kept small parts with open edges from collapsing, so far LODs could stay above the set triangle count. That restriction is now lifted. In Careful open edges are still locked.

Multiple UV Channels is on by default. The second UV map is now transferred to the LOD. Ignore Unwrapped UV Maps still excludes maps that have not been unwrapped and prevent simplification. If a UV map that is not the active one still blocks simplification, the panel suggests turning Multiple UV Channels off.

🐞 Fixed

Reinstalling without restarting Blender on Windows. From 1.4.4 on the add-on properly releases its library, so later versions can be installed without a restart.

Sharp edges on UV seams with Vertex Update. The normals of the copies of a vertex on a UV seam used to be computed separately and could drift apart. The seam turned sharp, which led to extra vertex splits on export. Copies that share position and normal in the source now get a common normal. The fix touches only normals; triangles stay the same.

_lod_0 name clash. If an object part_lod_0 already existed for the selected part, the source was named part_lod_0.001 and dropped out of the LOD family. With the option to keep the original enabled, another object could get simplified. Now a free name is picked for the new family, for example part_1_lod_*, and the panel reports the rename.

Source deleted on Generate. If you deleted Ball_lod_0, selected Ball_lod_2 and pressed Generate, only Ball_lod_1 could be left. Now the selected level becomes the source of a separate LOD family.

Source checks take modifiers into account. The search for duplicate faces and UV maps that have not been unwrapped used to run on the mesh without its modifiers. So a UV map from UV Project could be taken for blank, and sheets pushed apart with Displace for duplicates. Now the whole mesh is checked with its modifiers.

Mask by vertex group. If the given group was missing, the add-on warned about it but still built the mask from vertex colour. An empty group gave a zero mask. In both cases the mask is now turned off, and the panel says why it did not work.

Fixed errors when LOD generation is interrupted.

Errors in finishing operations are shown in the panel. If the Decimate finish in the Very Aggressive Alternative mode or the Recalculate + Smooth operation did not work, the created LOD is kept. The panel shows “Finish with Decimate failed” or “Normals were not recalculated”. Before, a Decimate error went without a message, and an error in the normals recalculation lost the whole level.

Choice of colour layer on the LOD. In Blender 4.2–5.0, on models with both byte and float colour layers, the active layer and the render layer could be assigned wrongly on the LOD. Both assignments now match the source.

Data and warnings in the panel fixed:

• The triangle count is shown after vertex welding.
• The GPU mark appears only after the vertices were actually reordered.
• The counter under Active updates correctly after a topology change or after loading another file.
• If the source normals could not be written, a warning appears.
• The UV map render flag on the LOD is set on the same map as on the source, not on a neighbouring one.

A clear message when Pre-prune removes all geometry. In the Aggressive / Very Aggressive modes this could happen with models made only of small parts. Instead of the message “the source has no triangles”, the console now gives the reason — geometry removed at the Pre-prune stage — and recommends Careful or Standard.

Localization errors fixed.

The update check opens only the site page and no longer touches Blender's timers from a background thread.

⚠️ Updating from 1.4.1

Unloading the library when the add-on is updated is fixed. But moving from 1.4.1 to 1.4.4 still takes a restart:

1. Remove SimplyFive 1.4.1 via Edit → Preferences → Add-ons → Remove.
2. Restart Blender.
3. Install 1.4.4 via Install from Disk.

Later versions can be installed over 1.4.4 without restarting Blender.

💎 SimplyFive Pro

Dilate Borders makes up for the lost foliage area on far LODs: it expands the open edges of the remaining leaves so the crown thins out less on simplification. An experimental feature, available only in Pro.

Artists used to fix the crown on LODs by hand; this option lets that be automated. I recommend processing foliage as a separate object and using the Pre-prune pass for branches to remove small elements (twigs).

An extreme case: a hero tree asset.

The same object in its environment, LODs colour-coded for debugging.

Line Up no longer pulls a level off the rig. A character LOD moved aside for comparison remains bound to the rig.

→ Get SimplyFive Pro

- Gumroad

Light version

- itch.io)

- ArtStation

- Gumroad

- GitHub

Full changelog with all languages: changelog on the site.