Skinned Mesh Combiner is a tool that combines all of your character's Skinned Meshes into just one Mesh, drastically reducing the Draw Calls generated by 3D models. This type of optimization is ideal for Mobile/VR Games. You can combine meshes in the Editor or at Runtime! Your game deserves great optimization! All of this can be done while your character is animated and moving. After merging, your character can still be fully animated by your Animator, and all animations are kept INTACT!
It is very easy to use the Skinned Mesh Combiner. All you have to do is add the "Skinned Mesh Combiner" component to the GameObject root of your character (watch the video above to see everything in action!), easily choose the Merge Method (see details about the methods below) and combine the meshes using the component's intuitive interface (in the Editor), or you can combine it at runtime using the easy Component API! If you are an user of the Anima2D tool, you can also merge meshes generated from sprites using this tool.
If you have a character customization system, this tool can serve you very well. After customization, you can combine meshes quickly without FPS drops. If you need to re-customize the character, simply use the Skinned Mesh Combiner component API to undo the merge (the original meshes will go back to the before), later you can merge again if you prefer. You can also create prefabs of the merges, keep reading!
- Tool features
* Very easy to use
* Does not modify original UVs, Textures, Materials or Meshes
* Completely non-destructive workflow
* Combined meshes CAN exceed the limit of 65,000 vertices without any limitation! Just combine your meshes without worrying about limits.
* Supports tiled textures and negative UV values.
* Fully compatible with Blendshapes. All Blendshapes in your character's mesh will go to the mesh resulting from the merge and will work normally.
* Reduces Draw Calls by up to 90%
* Fully compatible with HDRP, Lightweight, URP and the Built In Render Pipeline!
* Can be used while running animations
* After merge, animations remain intact
* Supports all Materials, Shaders, UVs or Meshes
* Normal Maps, Height Maps and other effects are supported
* Supports meshes with various materials
* Supports Legacy Animation System (with "Animation" component)
* Can be used in Editor and Runtime
* You can save the merged mesh in your project files
* You can undo the merge easily, either at the Editor or at Runtime
* When you undo the merge, the original meshes return to their original state
* It supports the creation of prefabs
* You can still add or modify things in your character's bones (such as swords, weapons, and other objects) even after the merge.
* Reduces Draw Calls, Meshes, Textures and Materials to one 1
* Combine all textures in one atlas (auto-generated in PNG)
* The combined material can be customized
* After merge, colliders and other important components remain active. If you prefer, you can choose to disable them
* You easily select the objects you want to merge or not. No need to change the structure of GameObjects
* Increases real time shadows performance
* Reduces CPU usage caused by Dynamic Batching
* Great documentation
* It's easy to manage your merged meshes after merge
* You can convert the mesh resulting from the merge into a static mesh, and undo this conversion if you want. It is very useful for making optimizations!
* Full multiple materials support
* UVs, Normals, Tangents will are automatically adjusted
* The original, source assets will never be modified or touched
* Extremely easy to use and easy to learn. Start combining your meshes in up to 5 minutes!
* Complete API for combining runtime meshes.
* Merge your character's accessories, too! Convert static meshes (Mesh Filter + Mesh Renderers) to Skinned Meshes and then combine everything! This is very useful for characters who use accessories made of static mesh (such as swords, hats, glasses, etc.).
- The Skinned Mesh Combiner currently has 4 mesh Merge Methods. Each method combines in a different way and has its own characteristics. See below.
- About "One Mesh Per Material" (Merge Method)
This merge method only merges all meshes that share the same material. For example, if you have 3 meshes that use the same material, they will be merged into only 1 mesh and this mesh will use the same original material. So you'll still have control over the material, and you'll still get performance! This method of merging is the fastest and optimized, you can use it at run time, normally, without worrying about bottlenecks or crashes.
- About "All In One" (Merge Method)
This merge method will combine all your meshes in just 1 mesh, all your textures in just 1 atlas and all your materials in 1 single material. This method will always reduce your draw calls count to 1 only. This blending method offers EXTREMELY strong optimization, but it has slightly longer processing time when compared to other blending methods, as this method works by generating atlases and reading textures.
- About "Just Material Colors" (Merge Method)
This merge method collects the main color of each material of your character, then combines all the colors of the materials in a single atlas texture, then combines all the meshes of your character in just one. Then insert the color atlas into the matched mesh. It is an ideal blending method for those who only use colors in materials. This merge method works only with color, and does not support textures or effects like normal maps.
- About "Only Anima2D Meshes" features (Merge Method)
This merge method was developed exclusively for users of the Anima2D tool from Unity Technologies! The Skinned Mesh Combiner MT detects your 2D character's "Sprite Mesh Instance" components and combines all skinned meshes generated and sprites in just one mesh and one atlas. In the end, only 1 mesh and atlas remains and only 1 draw call is generated. Take advantage of the blended features of the Skinned Mesh Combiner MT, with the convenience of the Anima2D tool, and enjoy the extra peformance!