LOD (level of detail)
LOD is the technique of showing a simpler version of a model as it gets further from the camera.
Also known as: level of detail · detail levels
An object twenty metres away does not need the detail it has at arm’s length; the difference is not visible but the cost is real. LOD keeps several versions of the same model and swaps them by distance.
It is one of the main reasons a scene with many objects stays usable on a phone. The swap has to be gradual: a visible jump is worse than the cost it saves.
Common questions
Do we have to model everything several times?
No. Simplified versions are generated automatically from the original and corrected by hand where needed.
Does it work for textures as well?
Yes — the same idea applies to textures through mipmaps, and the browser handles that automatically.
How does this term apply to your work? Let us talk.
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