Model Viewer

The model viewer shows properties of loaded models, like model height, for Flora3d models the polygon count of the first four lod levels and for all active models in the current scene the overall polygon count in a table. If the model file was changed in the file system, it can be reloaded by the reload button that the line for each model shows.

The models are sorted by size, tables are shown for small, middle and large models and for models that aren’t loaded for the current scene. The size up to which a model is small or middle can be changed in the first line of the viewer. With the minus button, each table can be folded.

By default, models are rendered single sided, that means that faces that are directed away from the viewer are omitted for a faster rendering. That doesn’t work for some models. In that cases, the option "force double sided rendering" can be used.

By default, the distances for the usage of model lods is only controlled by the plant lod slider from the [Preferences]. The model viewer allows to set custom distances for each model by disabling the "global lod" checkbox. Three lod levels are available that can be enabled or disabled and a distance can be set, from which distance this lod should be used. If none of the three options is checked, the model shows always the highest possible quality.

The available lod levels are:

• Billboards: they are available for Flora3d models and use a coarser mesh with viewer polygons
• Fast Billboards: the model is rendered onto a 2d texture quad, that quad is then displayed instead of the original model
• Polygons: the model is rendered flat onto the terrain and no more polygons are rendered, this works well for small models in a dense distribution, e.g. a meadow in the distance

To change all models in one table at once, the button to the left of the table name can be clicked which opens a dialog for that purpose.