LevelOfDetail

A Level of Detail model (LOD) is a lower-resolution version of a game model. The lower-res version is used to improve performance by being swapped in whenever the higher-resolution of the game model is not apparent anymore, for example when it is a certain distance from the player. Usually LODs have a lower vertex count (50% or so) and simpler shader (diffuse only, for example).

LOD Metrics

There are many methods for determining when to swap; the most common is based on distance. Another method is to swap depending on how fast the player is moving, because a player typically won't notice the drop in quality for a fast-moving object. Yet another method is to drop to lower LODs when the framerate drops below a certain number.

Links

• Polygon Count on the Polycount Wiki
• LOD resources/information anyone? on the Polycount Forum
• LoDs: From how many tris does it make sense? on the Polycount Forum

---