Level Of Detail (LOD) with Blender

[MANOCHVARMA RAMAN]

Hi,

I tried to create Level of Details (LOD) but it seems doesn't work in sim.

Situation:
I want my approach light look brighter at far and when moving towards the runway, it should be less bright. So, i created LOD as below:

The default model will be on LOD_100. Just the light plane size will be differ as below:

LOD 10 light plane (8.5 m):

LOD 50 light plane (5.5 m):

LOD 100 light plane (3.5 m):

Please advice me on this.

Thank you.
Manochvarma Raman

 

[MANOCHVARMA RAMAN]

After following this method:

Adding animation (at 24.34)

Only LOD 100 is working. Other LOD's not working.

 

[dave hoeffgen]

did you check "export animations" on export?
That's necessary for LODs to work, even if there's no animation in the model.

 

[MANOCHVARMA RAMAN]

did you check "export animations" on export?
That's necessary for LODs to work, even if there's no animation in the model.

Yes I have checked it when exporting.

Suppose at far it should have brighter effect since the light plane is bigger. But now when we are far from the model, none of the light appear, when moving towards only LOD100 light can be seen.

 

[dave hoeffgen]

Could you load the mdl into @arno's drawCallMonitor to verify the LODs are working?

 

[MANOCHVARMA RAMAN]

Based on the Draw Call Monitor, it seems all the LODs are working.

 

[Ronald]

Have all textures been converted into the same .dds format?
Can you post in-sim screenshots of the testresults?
What make, model flightsimulator are you using?
If you are exporting to MSFT-FSX, what are the value's of your Display settings inside your sim under the:
- [Graphics]
- [Scenery]
tabs?

 

[MANOCHVARMA RAMAN]

Hi Ronald,

Have all textures been converted into the same .dds format?

Yes, all the texture are in .dds format. Actually i am using the similar light plane and just duplicate and scale it to bigger size as in post #1.

Can you post in-sim screenshots of the testresults?

What make, model flightsimulator are you using?

MSFT-FSX:SE

If you are exporting to MSFT-FSX, what are the value's of your Display settings inside your sim under the:
- [Graphics]
- [Scenery]
tabs?

Should the LOD empty in cube or can be 'Plain Axes' empty too?

 

[MANOCHVARMA RAMAN]

Hi Ronald and Dave,

I found the problem is with the normal. It is flipped away from the original plane I duplicated. After correcting the normals, it work perfectly .
Thanks for your concern about this matter.

I have a question here. What will be the last LOD so that the light always can be seen from far? Something like it wont off at all time. Because, after LOD5, the light off and it is not the way approach light should work. Aircraft should be able to see the light from far itself.

 

[Ronald]

What will be the last LOD so that the light always can be seen from far?

According to the ESP-SDK, "Triangle Counts" table over here: ( https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc526974.aspx ) "LOD5" is used to display the object's properties, when it at the greatest distance away from the current viewpoint.

You need also to take into account that the Earth is round, so you can not see the light "forever".

 

[MANOCHVARMA RAMAN]

You need also to take into account that the Earth is round, so you can not see the light "forever".

I am aware of this Ronald. What i mean is, at least there is light shown from certain distance. What i got when using LOD 5 is, the light off after some distance (not even 1.5 km from the model).

The light is always on when i did not use any LOD at all. So, i want the smallest LOD to play the light something like when we do not use LOD at all. Any suggestion for that?

 

[Ronald]

So, i want the smallest LOD to play the light something like when we do not use LOD at all. Any suggestion for that?

Here you are giving your own answer.. LOD-lights eventually will dis-appear when you are out-of-its-visual range.

NOTE: I'n not a scenerybuilder (yet), so perhaps other individuals with scenery building experience know better solutions!
What I would try is to put a 2nd - independent - light source on about the exact location of you LOD-capable lightsource and test how that works out.
Vary with its 2nd light-source illumination strength, size and/or intensity to get desired visibility and lighting-range.

 

[MANOCHVARMA RAMAN]

Here you are giving your own answer.. LOD-lights eventually will dis-appear when you are out-of-its-visual range.

NOTE: I'n not a scenerybuilder (yet), so perhaps other individuals with scenery building experience know better solutions!
What I would try is to put a 2nd - independent - light source on about the exact location of you LOD-capable lightsource and test how that works out.
Vary with its 2nd light-source illumination strength, size and/or intensity to get desired visibility and lighting-range.

Thanks for the suggestion Ronald. That makes sense too.

 

[Ronald]

And.. did it work?

 

[MANOCHVARMA RAMAN]

And.. did it work?

I haven't try it yet Ronald. Will update to you once i tried it.

 

[MANOCHVARMA RAMAN]

Hi,
I am having similar issue now. I have my taxi light LOD working in MCX but its not working in Simulator. What might be the problem?