About Creating Adaptive Trees

Create adaptive or Level of Detail (LOD) tree models that are optimized for use in InfraWorks.

InfraWorks provides an interactive experience within a rendered environment. One way to achieve this balance is to create multiple versions of the same object that considers the amount of detail, or the "level of detail," needed to render that object. These objects are referred to as adaptive or Level of Detail (LOD) objects. Progressive versions of LOD objects have a lower and lower number of polygons, more often referred to as a polycount. As the view moves away from the LOD object, InfraWorks can replace an LOD object with one of the lower polycount LOD objects to free up resources for other tasks. Creating LOD objects can be done quickly if the 3D model is created with levels of detail as a goal.

We'll be using trees as the example to show you how to use common creation techniques within a recommended workflow so you can see how to properly apply them to your InfraWorks model. While the example uses a relatively simple tree, these core techniques can be applied to many areas of 3D modeling.

You can use any 3D modeling application to create the LOD objects, such as Autodesk Maya or Autodesk 3ds Max.

Note: A few adaptive (LOD) tree styles are available in InfraWorks. They are located in the Style Palette under 3D Model Vegetation Adaptive Trees.

Visit the Have You Tried: Vegetation? article to learn how you can use vegetation to provide a more complete vision of an InfraWorks project.