Shader Level of Detail

Shader Level of DetailThe Level Of Detail (LOD) technique is an optimization that reduces the number of triangles that Unity has to render for a GameObject when its distance from the Camera increases. Each LOD level has either a Mesh with a Mesh RendererA mesh component that takes the geometry from the Mesh Filter and renders it at the position defined by the object’s Transform component. More info
See in Glossary component (Mesh LOD level) or a Billboard AssetAn asset that is a collection of pre-rendered images of a more complicated Mesh intended for use with the Billboard Renderer, in order to render an object at some distance from a Camera at a lower level of detail (LOD) to save on rendering time. More info
See in Glossary with a Billboard RendererRenders Billboard Assets, either from a pre-made Asset (exported from SpeedTree) or from a custom-created file that you create using a script at runtime or from a custom editor, for example. More info
See in Glossary component (Billboard LOD level). Typically a single GameObject has three or four Mesh LOD levels and one optional Billboard LOD level to represent the same GameObject with decreasing detail in the geometry. More info
See in Glossary (LOD) works by only using shadersA small script that contains the mathematical calculations and algorithms for calculating the Color of each pixel rendered, based on the lighting input and the Material configuration. More info
See in Glossary or subshadersEach shader in Unity consists of a list of subshaders. When Unity has to display a mesh, it will find the shader to use, and pick the first subshader that runs on the user’s graphics card. More info
See in Glossary that have their LOD value less than a given number.

By default, allowed LOD level is infinite, that is, all shaders that are supported by the user’s hardware can be used. However, in some cases you might want to drop shader details, even if the hardware can support them. For example, some cheap graphics cards might support all the features, but are too slow to use them. So you may want to not use parallax normal mapping on them.

Shader LOD can be either set per individual shader (using Shader.maximumLOD), or globally for all shaders (using Shader.globalMaximumLOD).

In your custom shaders, use LODSee level of detail More info
See in Glossary command to set up LOD value for any subshader.

Built-in shaders in Unity have their LODs set up this way:

• VertexLit kind of shaders = 100
• Decal, Reflective VertexLit = 150
• Diffuse = 200
• Diffuse Detail, Reflective Bumped Unlit, Reflective Bumped VertexLit = 250
• Bumped, Specular = 300
• Bumped Specular = 400
• Parallax = 500
• Parallax Specular = 600