Working with Levels of Detail (LOD)

In Foxel, voxel grids support four Levels of Detail (LOD), allowing for efficient rendering of 3D environments. Understanding how to work with LOD can significantly enhance performance and visual quality in your voxel projects.

Levels of Detail Overview

• LOD0: The highest level of detail, representing the full resolution of the voxel grid.
• LOD1: Has half the dimensions of LOD0, providing a lower resolution while maintaining visual fidelity.
• LOD2: Further reduces the dimensions to one-quarter of LOD0.
• LOD3: The lowest level of detail, with dimensions reduced to one-eighth of LOD0.

LOD levels are automatically generated using a downsampling algorithm. This algorithm determines the delta color and material from eight voxels and selects the best-fitting color from the project's Color Palette and Material Set based on color and material matching.

Manual LOD Editing

You have the option to manually draw LODs for greater control over your voxel objects. To enable manual LOD editing:

1. Select a Voxel Layer.
2. Check the Manual LOD option in the Inspector.

When manual LOD is enabled, the last auto-generated LODs will remain available for editing. You can choose to:

• Fine-tune the auto-generated versions.
• Start from LOD0 and manually apply the Downsample operation for each lower LOD.
• Begin with LOD3 and use the Upsample operation to work on the next higher resolution.

Voxel References and LOD

Voxel References also support LOD. If a reference points to a Voxel Scene, it will attempt to use the manual LODs of the contained Voxel Layers, if applicable.

Changing Displayed LOD

You can change the displayed LOD using the corresponding view option in the View Options Bar. For example, if you select LOD1, all objects will display their LOD1 version at maximum resolution. If objects are too far from the camera, smaller LODs will be displayed instead. The thresholds for LOD distances can be adjusted in the Advanced View Options Panel.

Quick LOD Adjustments

For faster LOD adjustments, you can use keyboard shortcuts:

• Page Down (PgDn): Decreases the LOD.
• Page Up (PgUp): Increases the LOD.