Unreal animation tool
Squarebit Subdivs
Squarebit Subdivs is a real-time subdivision plugin for Unreal Engine by Squarebit Studios. Built on Pixar's OpenSubdiv, it runs Catmull-Clark subdivision live in the engine after skinning and blendshape deformation, so you import a light base cage and your animated characters stay smooth at any distance, with no pre-subdivided meshes to bake. Free for personal projects; commercial seats are a one-time purchase.
Free
v1.7
Free
Free
personal use
The full plugin for personal, non-commercial work. Your key arrives by email.
Get it free
Commercial
£74.00
per seat, one-time
Pay once, own it outright. One licence per seat for commercial work.
Buy commercial
One-time commercial licence, per seat
- Personal, non-commercial use is free.
- The commercial licence is a one-time purchase: pay once, no subscription, no expiry.
- Per seat: one licence for each artist using it commercially.
- Your licence key arrives by email and always lives in your dashboard.
- Includes updates and activation support.
- Studios and larger teams: volume seats and invoice billing, get in touch.
- v1.7.69
- Version
- 65
- Downloads
- 30 Jul 2026
- Last updated
- 21 Jul 2026
- Released
- Works with
- Unreal Engine
- Licence
- Free personal, paid commercial
- File size
- 8.5 MB
- Built on
- Pixar OpenSubdiv, Catmull-Clark
Unreal
Instant download Vetted creator
What it does
Why characters turn faceted in Unreal, and what Subdivs does about it
The problem
Smooth in Maya, faceted in Unreal
Offline renderers subdivide at render time, real-time engines never could. Subdivs runs Catmull-Clark subdivision live in Unreal, so surfaces and silhouettes stay smooth at any distance.
The problem
Baked, dense meshes
The usual workaround is baking subdivision in before import: a heavy, static mesh that bloats memory and locks your topology. Ship the base cage instead and let the plugin subdivide it at runtime.
The problem
Every pose baked out
Subdivision applies after skinning and blendshape deformation, so skinned and morph target characters stay smooth in every pose without baking each one.
Inside the tool
Inside Squarebit Subdivs
Export the base cage from your DCC at whatever density suits iteration, import it into Unreal as normal, and Subdivs subdivides it at runtime. Adaptive levels subdivide more when the camera is close and pull back when it is far, so distant assets do not eat your frame budget. Change the cage, re-export, done: no re-baking.
Built by Squarebit LLC in Charlotte, North Carolina, led by Matthew Schiller and Walt Yoder.
SMOOTHING
Catmull-Clark subdivision
The approach offline renderers use, running live in the engine.
LIBRARY
Built on Pixar OpenSubdiv
Pixar's open-source subdivision library, used across film and VFX production.
RUNTIME
No baking
Ship the base cage and subdivide at runtime, so source assets stay light and easy to change.
GPU
Adaptive levels
GPU-driven subdivision tuned for Unreal, scaling to camera distance and frame budget.
ANIMATION
Applies after deformation
Skeletal meshes and blendshape or morph target characters get the same smoothing as static assets.
CACHES
Alembic and USD
Alembic and USD geometry cache workflows are supported.
PIPELINE
Maya-friendly workflow
Author the base cage in Maya and export it to Unreal cleanly.
Will it run for you
Compatibility
- Engine
- Unreal Engine, real-time GPU pipeline
- Meshes
- Skeletal meshes, blendshapes and morph targets
- Geometry caches
- Alembic and USD
- Authoring
- Base cage from Maya or your DCC
- Licence
- Free personal, one-time commercial seat
What animators say
No reviews yet
No reviews yet. If you have used it, you would be the first to say so.
Used this in a shot? Your notes help the next animator decide.
Sign in to reviewWhy you can trust this plugin
Vetted
Every plugin on Animworks is checked by our team before it goes live.
Supported
Bug or feature request? Get support from Squarebit.
Yours to keep
It lands in your downloads the moment you check out, and stays there.
More Unreal tools
