Level of detail – or LOD in short – is a term that anyone dealing with 3D models has heard about. It describes the content of a 3D model, and most of the time people think of it as a clear definition of how a final product should look like. As such this idea of LOD plays an important role as base of any discussion – starting from the tendering phase, acquisition, processing as well as when using the models for further applications.

But is this concept of level of detail really formalized that clearly? From my own experience I have seen it many times that project leave a lot of room for personal interpretation about what the specifications of a project require. This more often than not leads to misunderstandings, different expectations… and in the end unhappy customers.

Filip Biljecki has taken up this topic in his doctoral thesis and presents a more granular approach on defining the level of detail of a 3D model. If you have been thinking about including 3D models in your next project, this is definitely worth a read!

Phd thesis – Biljecki, F.: Level of detail in 3D city models