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Wait! – That’s not what it looks like! (Tips for getting good results)

rdLODtools strives to be able to create LODs from any mesh – if you find any that have problems, you can go check these things first, if nothing seems to help – please contact me and let me know, preferably email me with a link to download the mesh.

1. Is it invisible or are parts missing?
If so it could be that your mesh is using translucency – switch it to masked and try again.
Another reason could be you are using “Forward Rendering” – you will need to create the LODs with FB Rendering then switch it back.

2. Are materials looking much different from the LOD 0 materials?
This could well be the materials are using Optical effects – this can be fixed by hard-coding fixed values for those material nodes – see Here for a tutorial on how to do this.

3. Is the Emissive lighting missing from the Billboard?
Yes, these are work-a-rounds though – see Here for a tutorial on how to do this .

4. Does the Billboard spin around with an incorrect pivot?
If you’ve already tried using the “Centre Pivot” option and it hasn’t helped – you can use a tool such as “Pivot Tool” on the Unreal marketplace to change the pivot point.

5. Are you getting seemingly random colors in your LOD?
It sounds like there is “Random Foliage Color Tinting” going on – when creating the Billboard LOD you will need to turn that off while creating the Billboard – see Here for a Tutorial on doing this.

6. Does the Normal map not render?
It sounds like you have the “Forward Renderer” enabled. Unfortunately rdLODtools cannot create some of the maps needed for the Billboard in this mode. You will need to create the Billboards with the “Deferred Renderer” enabled.

7. I’ve re-installed the Plugin, but now my billboard materials have errors!
You can follow This Tutorial to fix any issues to material errors.

8. OK, I’ve run out of issues I’ve been able to find so far – please do let me know if you have any
– The goal is to have rdLODtools support all meshes.

9. I’ve seen an rdLODtools folder with all the materials in it in a project, but don’t see them in mine…
– This folder and it’s contents get copied automatically when you create a LOD – they will appear.