Combine Meshes (Pro)

Further performance improvements. Only available with the professional version.

Combine Meshes

Introduction

After importing CAD data into a Unity scene, you often end up with a deeply nested and complex GameObject hierarchy. Meshes may be stored directly in the scene or as assets in your project, depending on the import method.

To prepare the scene for real-time applications and ensure optimal performance, it's often beneficial to reduce the number of GameObjects and minimize draw calls. This can be achieved using the Combine Meshes utility—especially when meshes share a limited and unified set of materials that already exist as assets.

Overview

The Combine Meshes utility enables you to combine multiple meshes into a single mesh, significantly reducing draw calls and improving rendering performance.

ℹ️ Note: This is particularly useful for:

• Reusable prefabs, where a simplified internal structure is desired.

• Final optimization at the end of a project, where rendering performance is critical.

⚠️ Warning: After combining, you will no longer have access to the individual mesh parts. Consider creating a backup or duplicating the original GameObjects before using this function.

Here is an example of an unoptimized scene:

Unoptimized structure after CAD Import

Kinematic and Drive Group Awareness

The Combine Meshes utility automatically respects kinematic groupings and drive mechanisms defined in the scene. This means:

• Only non-moving parts or parts that move together as a single unit are combined.

• Meshes involved in kinematics or driven motions (e.g., robotic arms, sliding doors) are not combined across movement boundaries, preserving functionality.

This ensures that performance optimizations do not interfere with the behavior of simulated machinery or driven components.

How to Use

1. Select GameObjects In the Unity Hierarchy, select the GameObjects whose meshes you want to combine.

2. Run Combine Meshes Right-click on the selection and choose: &#xNAN;realvirtual/Combine Meshes

Combine meshes in the Gameobject context menu

1. Result The selected GameObjects will have their meshes merged into a single optimized mesh, improving rendering performance.

Simplified structure after mesh combine

💡 Tip: For best results, ensure that all selected meshes use shared materials that are already available as assets in your project.

Next Step: Create Prefab

If you intend to reuse the combined mesh as a component in other scenes or projects, continue with the Create Prefab section. This will guide you through turning the optimized GameObject into a reusable, self-contained prefab.