Convert Masked Materials to Nanite-Optimized Geometry – Instantly
Take your project’s performance to the next level with Masked Material to Nanite – a lightweight yet powerful tool, based on the GeometryScripting plugin, that converts static meshes using masked materials into fully Nanite-compatible geometry, all with just a few clicks.
Masked materials can significantly degrade performance when used with Nanite, making them unsuitable for real-time applications. This tool solves that problem by automatically transforming those assets into clean, opaque geometry – allowing you to retain the visual fidelity of foliage, decals, and other complex assets, while fully leveraging Nanite's rendering efficiency.
💡 Key Features:
One-Click Conversion – Streamline your workflow with an easy, configurable and automated process.
Boost Performance – Eliminate masked material overhead and unlock true Nanite power.
Foliage-Friendly – Perfect for converting trees, grass, and other vegetation assets.
No Manual Cleanup – Skip the tedious mesh editing and focus on your creative work.
Whether you're building vast open worlds, lush forests, or detailed environments, Masked Material to Nanite helps you get the most out of Nanite — without compromising on performance or visual quality.
🔗 Usage Instructions & Documentation
https://www.fab.com/listings/f59fbd35-f5da-4435-9a0b-af464d10a49c
1 Like
Hi, as stated in the documentation - you need to manually change the material itself. The reason is that simply changing the blend mode might not be enough for some complex materials, so the plugin leaves that to the user. I think I can add an option to do it automatically.
As for the leaves in the screenshot - your tessellation level seems to be too low. Keep increasing it until you find th result accurate. Then remember to run the conversion with optimization enabled.
1 Like
Yeah I have a i9 14900k, 64gb ram, and a 4080 super and I can create nanite meshes with higher tessellation like 128, but if I try to “optimize” that mesh my memory usage spikes to 30gb + and Unreal essentially locks up, I have been waiting over an hour to see if its processing but it doesnt seem to be the case.
@myasga @LegionGamingDev The optimization uses built-in UE method which is SLOW - MaskedMaterialToNanite/README.md at master · krojew/MaskedMaterialToNanite · GitHub talks about this issue. With big meshes and large tessellation levels the triangle count can reach many millions. In such cases, it’s better to use something that’s faster than UE for mesh optimization, e.g. Blender. Unfortunately, that’s how the engine does it at the moment and there’s nothing we can do 
I believe you can already find a lot of Blender tutorials for that. The workflow would be quite simple - make a nanite mesh with large tessellation level, export fbx to blender, optimize there and reimport to UE.
Such amazing option and plugin! Well done! Cant wait to have this in-editor for smaller meshes.
For people wondering if super high res meshes can be converted in external programs, I do recommend Vray its Opacity Cutout. It instantly converts a full tree and many high triangle assets into a fully non-masked mesh in a single click. Vray Opacity Cutout
Yeah, V-Ray can do that, but I never found it working with meshes made up of many materials, like trees. It always messes something up.