Netwrck
Ship a Character With LODs and Clear Budgets
Set triangle, texture and memory budgets for mobile, web and desktop, then build a LOD chain and test animation before release.
· 5 min read
A character that looks wonderful in a modelling tool still needs to fit the device that runs your game. Budgets turn that goal into numbers your team can agree on. With a few targets and a LOD chain, the same character can run on a phone, in a browser tab and on a desktop.
Pick numbers for each platform
The Game Asset Exporter ships three profiles. Mobile allows 25,000 triangles, 1024 pixel textures, 24 MB of texture memory, 4 materials, 64 joints, 6 draw calls and an 8 MB file. WebGL allows 60,000 triangles, 2048 pixel textures, 64 MB, 8 materials, 128 joints, 12 draw calls and 20 MB. Desktop allows 150,000 triangles, 4096 pixel textures, 256 MB, 16 materials, 256 joints, 24 draw calls and 60 MB. Treat them as friendly starting points and adjust to your own project.
Read the budget bars
After you drop a GLB or VRM, each row shows your value against the limit. Bars that fit are green and bars that exceed the limit turn red. The rows show where to spend effort. A 196,000 triangle character with 1024 pixel textures, for example, needs fewer triangles for the web profile but no texture changes.
Fit to budget in one click
Fit to this budget lowers the triangle count and caps texture size for the profile you chose, then re-reads the result and shows a new budget table. The skeleton, skin weights, UVs and morph targets are preserved, and VRM data such as humanoid maps and expressions stays in the file.
Build a LOD chain
The chain produces four levels at 100, 50, 25 and 10 percent of the triangles, with texture caps of 2048, 1024, 512 and 256 pixels. The table lists triangles, largest texture and file size for each level, and the View button loads that level into the preview. Turn on wireframe to see the mesh density. On a 196,386 triangle sample, the levels measured about 11.6 MB, 5.9 MB, 3.1 MB and 1.8 MB.
The simplifier keeps original vertices and groups them by position, UV region and dominant bone. That keeps seams and joints in place, and it suits medium and far camera distances best. For hero close ups, keep LOD0.
Check animation on every level
Load a level in the VRM Animation Preview and play the shared attack and locomotion clips. The retarget report lists the bones each clip drives and whether your rig provides them. Scrub to the contact frame of an attack clip and confirm the reach looks right.
Confirm the colours survived
When a processed model replaces an original, compare the two in the VRM Texture Compare. Six matching cameras and per view scores show whether the texture still matches the source.
Prepare the reference first
Strong characters start from strong references. The Character Reference Sheet checks background, framing, pose and lighting, and builds a turnaround sheet for your team.
Download with a pass
Reports, LOD previews and size estimates are free. A 30 minute pass unlocks the LOD files, the ZIP bundle with a manifest and the fitted export. Everything runs in your browser, so your model stays on your device.
Start with a sample
Open the Game Asset Exporter, pick the rigged mage sample and press Build LOD chain to see the whole workflow in under a minute.