What is the difference between Nanite and Static Mesh?

Nanite and Static Mesh are both mesh types used in Unreal Engine, but they differ significantly in performance and rendering capabilities. A Nanite mesh is essentially a Static Mesh with Nanite enabled, unlocking a powerful system for rendering complex geometry with high efficiency.

At its core, a Nanite mesh is still made of triangles, but it adds automatic level-of-detail (LOD) control and advanced compression. Nanite introduces a completely new rendering method that makes it possible to use models with millions of triangles without impacting performance.

To use Nanite, all that’s needed is to enable a simple flag on a Static Mesh, no special modeling workflow is required. Unlike traditional Static Meshes, Nanite can handle vastly more triangles and instances, dynamically adjusting detail based on the camera’s distance. Move in close, and Nanite renders the original imported geometry without popping or LOD artifacts.

Nanite meshes also support multiple UV sets, vertex colors, and dynamic material assignments. You can use different shading models and effects in the materials without baking, just like with any Static Mesh. Material swapping is supported in real time.

While not required, Virtual Textures are highly recommended when working with Nanite. Like Nanite does for mesh data, Virtual Textures efficiently manage texture streaming and memory usage, helping deliver optimal performance and visual fidelity.