by Fondant·Workflow
Images © Fondant. Used for product review; image policy.
Fondant offers a base tier with the Laplacian Smooth + Weighted Normals modifier and a Pro tier adding the Anime Face Proxy System; buying the current Pro tier includes access to future Character Face Normals tool updates.
Easy Custom Normals by Fondant is an add-on for authoring custom vertex normals in Blender, built around Geometry Nodes modifiers aimed at toon and anime shading. The base toolset launches with a Laplacian Smooth + Weighted Normals modifier that improves toon shading on imperfect topology, letting you get results on uneven triangulated meshes comparable to clean quad topology — often allowing you to author directly on game production meshes without retopology or proxy meshes just to avoid problems from a few triangles.
The Pro tier adds the Anime Face Proxy System: a set of rigged curves that feed into Geometry Nodes to calculate smooth normals. Align the proxy to a character's face, set the normals using the bones, and preview, adjust and mask with settings in the modifier. Attach the setup to your character's rig to adjust shading shapes per pose and save poses as shapekeys, and it feeds into the Laplacian Smooth modifier.
Built with Geometry Nodes, the workflow is non-destructive with live preview, so you see results without manually wiring materials or baking. You can keep the setup live and adjustable in Blender, or apply and export custom normals for game engines.
Easy Custom Normals - Simplify Stylized Shading Workflows is best for blender artists working on anime and stylized character shading who need clean custom normals on triangulated or game production meshes.
Easy Custom Normals - Simplify Stylized Shading Workflows is completely free to download and use.
Easy Custom Normals supports Blender 4.3 and 4.4, and it is listed as Blender Extension compatible with an extension type of add-on. The developer notes potential stability issues with Blender 4.4 and directs users to the documentation for details on those, so reviewing the documentation before working in Blender 4.4 is advised. Documentation is provided with the add-on and worth consulting for those version notes.
Easy Custom Normals includes a Laplacian Smooth + Weighted Normals modifier, available in all versions, that produces clean normals even on imperfect topology. Combining weighted normals with Laplacian normal smoothing, it aims to deliver the same results on uneven triangulated meshes as on clean quad topology. This often lets you author directly on game production meshes without retopology or proxy meshes added just to avoid problems from a few triangles.
The Pro tier of Easy Custom Normals adds the Anime Face Proxy System, a set of rigged curves that feed into Geometry Nodes to calculate smooth normals for anime face shading. You align the proxy to your character's face and set normals using the bones, then preview, adjust and mask with settings in the modifier. Buying the current Pro tier also grants access to all future Character Face Normals tool updates.
Easy Custom Normals is built with Geometry Nodes, offering a live preview and a non-destructive workflow. You can see results live without manually wiring up materials or baking. The setup can be kept live and adjustable within Blender, or you can apply and export the custom normals for game engines as usual, so the same tool covers both real-time prep and in-Blender shading control.
Easy Custom Normals is listed as free in this catalog. It is distributed under the GPL license and is available as a base tier with the Laplacian Smooth + Weighted Normals modifier and a Pro tier that adds the Anime Face Proxy System. For current licensing terms and tier details, check Fondant's developer page before downloading so you know exactly what each tier includes.
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