LODinize Helpv1.0

Workflows & guides

Worked examples of using LODinize. They show one way to reach a goal on a sample character — a starting point, not a prescription. Characters, animations and platforms differ, and the best combination of tools for your asset is usually found by trying a few.

Workflows — end to end

From a file on disk to a result you can ship or show.

Reviewing and exporting an existing project
Open a project, generate, inspect the error, refine, export.
A new character from scratch
Load a walking character, add a dance from another file, refine for both, export and save.
Checking a LOD set in a crowd
Run the benchmark with many instances and see which levels are used and what they cost.
Guides — one problem each

Focused examples of solving a specific issue. Each shows a possible approach and what it achieved on the sample character.

Finding where a LOD breaks
From a peak in the timeline to the frame and body part that cause it.
Reducing error in extreme poses
Three refinement strategies — automatic, uniform, and marking peaks by hand — compared.
Removing geometry that is never visible
Select the inner mouth through the atlas, turn it into a Remove mask, repair the visible lips.
Filling texture gaps on low LODs
Find where LOD triangles sample background and fill it with either algorithm.

Choosing an approach

Some questions that help decide where to spend effort:

If……things worth trying
the LOD looks fine at rest but breaks in motionFind the frame, then refine with different frame sources.
one pose matters most (a signature move, a cut-scene)Mark it as a range and use From marked ranges.
the error curve is fairly flatCompare Auto with Uniform across clip.
parts of the mesh are never seenRemove them so their triangles go elsewhere.
face or hands lose too muchPaint a Geometry importance or Protect mask.
low LODs show wrong-coloured seamsSolve the texture gaps.
you need to know the runtime costRun the crowd benchmark.

Measured numbers from these examples are collected in Examples & measurements.