InstaLOD for Blender enables you to optimize 3D meshes without having to leave your favorite DCC tool. The integration features a graphical user interface and supports complex batch operations. Great care has been taken to ensure a high degree of usability and productivity, even when using InstaLOD for Blender for the first time.
Please refer to the InstaLOD Pipeline documentation for an overview of all features.
InstaLOD for Blender runs on both MacOS and Windows.
The following versions of Blender are supported: 3.0, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3 and later.
InstaLOD for Blender uses InstaLOD Pipeline as backend for optimization operations. InstaLOD Pipeline must be installed before you can start using InstaLOD for Blender. Please refer to the InstaLOD Pipeline documentation on how to install InstaLOD Pipeline on your workstation.
InstaLOD for Blender supports authorizing licenses and displaying license info from within Blender.
The latest version of InstaLOD for Blender and InstaLOD Pipeline can be found in the InstaLOD License Management Web App under the Your Files
section of the home page.
To install InstaLOD for Blender we can use the Add-ons
section in Blender's Preferences panel.
InstaLOD for Blender (Windows _ MacOS).zip
file.Edit
> Preferences
and select the Add-ons
tab.Install
and select the InstaLOD for Blender (Windows _ MacOS).zip
file.Note: Do not unzip the add-on prior to installation with this method.
Blender will copy the add-on into the correct folder automatically.
Alternatively, a manual installation can be done by doing the following:
InstaLOD for Blender (Windows _ MacOS).zip
file.instalod
folder, with the plugin files inside, into Blender's addons
directory.Blender's addons
directory is typically found in the following locations:
Platform | Path |
---|---|
Windows | C:\Users\ <Username> \AppData\Roaming\Blender Foundation\Blender\ <BlenderVersion> \config\scripts\addons |
MacOS | Users/ <Username> /Library/Application Support/Blender/ <BlenderVersion> /scripts/addons |
Note for MacOS: The Library folder is hidden by default. You can use Cmd + Shift + . to show hidden files in the Finder. Alternatively, you can use the
Go To Folder
feature using Cmd + Shift + G to naviagte to the folder directly.
Please ensure to copy the entire
instalod
folder keeping all plugin files inside for a successful installation.
If your machine has already been authorized for InstaLOD you can start using InstaLOD for Blender without further action.
If your machine has not yet been authorized, you will be required to enter your license information in the dialog box to authorize your workstation.
Once the integration's script folder is copied to your Blender addon folder, you can start Blender.
To open the InstaLOD window go to the preferences panel and select 'Add-ons'. Inside the add-ons panel search for InstaLOD and enable it. InstaLOD for Blender will now spawn inside the viewport in the properties panel (default keyboard shortcut 'n').
If you want to automatically initialize InstaLOD whenever Blender starts, go to the menu entry File
> Defaults
> Save Startup File
.
On the first start of InstaLOD, it is necessary to point InstaLOD for Blender to the installation directory of InstaLOD Pipeline. Click the folder button, browse to the InstaLOD Pipeline installation directory on your workstation, and click Accept without choosing any file within the folder.
If InstaLOD Pipeline was found in the specified directory, the window contents will change. If your machine has already been authorized for InstaLOD you can start using InstaLOD for Blender now. If your machine has not been authorized for InstaLOD yet you can enter your license information in the dialog to authorize your workstation.
Please refer to the InstaLOD Pipeline documentation for an overview of all features.
To optimize a mesh select the mesh in the viewport or hierarchy. Select the OP
tab in the InstaLOD window and enter the percentage of triangles for the output mesh in the Percent Triangles
text field.
Click the Optimize Selected Meshes
button to optimize the mesh. Blender will export the geometry for InstaLOD and start the optimization.
Once the geometry has been exported, InstaLOD will execute the mesh operation asynchronously.
Both skeletal and static meshes are supported by InstaLOD for Blender.
The image above shows the UI of InstaLOD for Blender docked in the properties panel in the viewport.
Optimizing multiple meshes in a single operation with global optimization enabled allows the optimizer to consider all input meshes when executing the operation. This results in the lowest visual deviation for the input meshes as a whole.
Global optimization is enabled by default, but can be disabled by unchecking the checkbox in the Advanced Settings
found on the OP
tab.
Optimizing multiple meshes works identical to the optimization of a single mesh.
Select all meshes to be optimized in the viewport or hierarchy, enter the optimization target value, and click the Optimize Selected Meshes
button to optimize all currently selected and visible meshes.
By clicking the Save as Batch-Profile
button right of the mesh operation execution button, the current mesh operation settings will be saved as batch profile inside the directory of your InstaLOD Pipeline installation. On the Batch
tab saved profiles can be selected and executed on the current mesh selection in parallel. This is a great way to create a complete LOD chain with a single click.
To delete a saved batch profile, open the Batch
tab. Click the Delete Selected Batch Profiles
button to delete all selected profiles.
To export a profile that can be used with InstaLOD Pipeline without modification, configure your mesh operation and click the mesh Export As InstaLOD Pipeline Profile...
button next to the operation execution button.
Another great feature of InstaLOD for Blender is the ability to create and export multi operation batch profiles for InstaLOD Pipeline.
To export a multi operation batch profile, open then Batch
tab and select all saved batch profiles that will be included in the multi operation.
Click the Export As InstaLOD Pipeline Profile...
button and export the profile for InstaLOD Pipeline.
Profiles exported with InstaLOD for Blender have a hard-coded profile name of Blender
. When queuing files with InstaLOD Pipeline, the profile needs to be specified:
InstaLODCmd -profile ExportedWithBlender.json -file Data/SM_Zetsuda_130k.fbx Build/SM_Zetsuda_Optimize.fbx Blender
To import mesh operation settings from a saved InstaLOD profile, navigate to the Setup
tab and select Open Profile
.
The integration will apply the settings from the profile to the dedicated tab for the loaded mesh operation.
To successfully load a profile into the integration, the profile must contain a single mesh operation entry. Profiles containing multiple mesh operations are currently not supported.
InstaLOD for Blender can execute a saved InstaLOD profile externally using InstaLOD Pipeline. The processed results are then automatically imported into Blender. This feature allows for the simultaneous processing of multiple mesh operations and execution of Scene Rules and Mesh Match Rules from a profile created in InstaLOD Studio.
To execute an external profile:
Setup
tab.Execute External Profile
section, click the to input the path to the profile.Execute External Profile
.The selection will be processed with the chosen profile, and the results will then be imported into Blender.
For mesh operations that utilize InstaLOD's baker such as Remesh (RE)
, Imposterize (IM)
, Material Merge (MM)
, and Bake (BA)
, an Output Path
must be specified. The Output Path
can be set in the Bake Output (BO)
tab under the Output Folder and File Names
section.
InstaLOD for Blender is using InstaLOD Pipeline as a processing backend. Meshes between Blender and InstaLOD Pipeline are exchanged through the FBX file format. Unfortunately, the Blender shading graph does not translate fully to the FBX format. Please ensure that all textures are directly fed into the Principled BSDF shader, without being modulated through other operations. Additionally, if Blender's FBX import is not importing all textures correctly, missing textures can be found in your InstaLOD Pipeline directory.
Please visit http://www.InstaLOD.com to stay up to date!
Thank you for using InstaLOD.