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Lods! What all this then?

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Author	Topic: Lods! What all this then?
MrBlob Pilot	posted 03-28- 11:10 AM why when I open up some of the planes and objects do I find lods that appear to be just a waste of space? I open up say lod 8 a flat wing...I then open up lod 9 and its the same wing in 3D isn't this a waste of disc space. Why is this so? Thanx ------------------ ~MrBlob~ "Born to Fly" IP: Logged
Falck Pilot	posted 03-28- 11:13 AM 3D wings have more polygon surfaces (polys) When youre close to a plane you want to use the 3D lods so that a plane looks nice. The problem is that showing a lot of polys takes a toll on the framerate. Because of this, the flat wings are used at farther distances, where high detail isnt necessary. IP: Logged
JT Pilot	posted 03-28- 11:28 AM Just to build on what Falck has said, you can create a series of meshes, each progressively simplified, for any part of the plane. You can have up to 5 LODs for any part. In general, you only need to do this for large parts like wings and fuselages since small parts can be set to simply dissappear at far distances. A part as large as a fuselage or wing should probably have 3 to 5 LODs to it. A part like a canopy or propellor should have 2 or 3. This probably seems like a lot of work, but it is of paramount importance. You have to think in multiples... Even if your plane is only 500 polys, multiple planes-- let's say eight planes-- at 500 polys each is a lot of polys to render and is a total waste if those polys are too far away to be seen. Also, the chances of having a lot of planes on screen at once is very high when those planes are far away. [This message has been edited by JT (edited 03-28-2000).] IP: Logged
Sv Pilot	posted 03-28- 11:53 AM Try this: Open up my albatros (or any plane) in OpenPlane Studio. Now set the view distance to 20 feet. See the detail? Now try 450. Still the same? Now try 501. Look! The wings are flat, and the wing also contains a now unmoving aileron. The aileron model is gone! Also at further distances you will see the struts disapear. The wheels get flat. The cockpit opening goes away.. the fuselage gets blocky. Eventualy the entire plane is hidden. Also notice that the engine goes from complex to a square at fairly close range. You can make simple shapes look complicated by using textures cleverly. The Albatros and Fokker DVIII have been optimized to help FPS as much as possible and still retain a smooth transition from one level to the next. Multiple LOD design is a large part of modeling an aircraft. ------------------ -Sv =FC= WWI in SDOE! IP: Logged

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