by Nidus·Workflow
Images © Nidus. Used for product review; image policy.
SKkeeper earns its spot for tackling a narrow but persistent Blender limitation: applying modifiers without discarding shapekeys. Version 1.8.2 incorporated community pull requests that extended the operators to multiple objects and to meshes without shapekeys.
SKkeeper automates a task Blender doesn't handle on its own: collapsing the modifier stack on a mesh while keeping its shapekeys intact. Applying modifiers normally interferes with shapekey data, and this add-on works around that.
It adds three operators to the 3D View's Object menu. Apply All Modifiers (Keep Shapekeys) applies every modifier on the object. Apply Subdivision (Keep Shapekeys) applies only the topmost subdivision modifier and leaves the others in place. Apply Chosen Modifiers (Keep Shapekeys) opens a popup listing all modifiers so you pick which ones to apply. Each operator can also be reached through the Quick Search floater (F3) by typing "shapekey".
The process doesn't work with every modifier, since Blender has no reliable way to transfer shapekey information when vertex counts change unpredictably, as with Decimate or Weld. In those cases SKkeeper returns error messages to help locate the problematic shapekey. Version 1.8.2 added processing across a selection of multiple objects and support for meshes that have no shapekeys.
SKkeeper is best for blender users who need to apply modifiers on meshes that carry shapekeys and drivers without losing that data.
SKkeeper is completely free to download and use.
SKkeeper is listed as compatible with Blender 4.2 LTS and newer, so it runs on the current LTS release and later versions. It's distributed as a Blender extension you can add through Drag and Drop into Blender or by installing from disk, and it requires no special permissions. If you're on an older Blender build, check the developer's page to confirm whether an earlier version of SKkeeper is available for your setup.
SKkeeper does not work reliably with every modifier. Blender has no dependable way to transfer shapekey information when a modifier changes vertex counts in unpredictable ways, which is the case with Decimate and Weld. When SKkeeper encounters a modifier it can't collapse, it returns error messages to help you find the problematic shapekey. For modifiers that keep vertex counts stable, the add-on applies them while keeping the shapekeys intact.
SKkeeper adds three operators to the 3D View's Object menu: Apply All Modifiers (Keep Shapekeys), Apply Subdivision (Keep Shapekeys), and Apply Chosen Modifiers (Keep Shapekeys). Select the object you want to process, then choose one of the options. You can also reach the operators through the Quick Search floater by pressing F3 and typing "shapekey" or another keyword from the operator names. The Apply Chosen option opens a popup where you select exactly which modifiers to apply.
SKkeeper is listed as free here, and it's released under the GNU General Public License v3.0 or later. That license governs how you can use, modify, and redistribute the add-on and its source. The extension also states that it requires no special permissions in Blender, so it won't ask for extra access when you install it. Pricing and licensing can change over time, so for the current terms and the latest build, check the developer's page. This catalog lists SKkeeper as free rather than quoting any specific figure.
SKkeeper gained multi-object support in version 1.8.2. The operators now work on a selection of multiple objects, processing them one after another in sequence. The same update also let the operators run on meshes that have no shapekeys, so you can use them for applying modifiers generally, not only on meshes carrying shapekey data. These changes came from community pull requests submitted to the project.
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