__What is LoD / Level-of-Detail, well Wikipedia says:__* In computer graphics, accounting for level of detail involves decreasing the complexity of a 3D object representation as it moves away from the viewer or according other metrics such as object importance, viewpoint-relative speed or position.*

__When/Why to use it? __This technique is usually used in games to increase the performance obviously. However, I was working on an old project where I had a particle system with millions of objects, though it rendered quite well I wanted to keep the render time low and inspired by [this video](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9bGr3HWqLg) I made a simple* system.*

__How does it work? __The target object gets a Decimate-modifier. The ratio of that modifier is triggered with a driver related to the camera distance. The actual minimum/maximum-distance [[(10/(x-1)](http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=10%2F%28x-1%29)] can be modified by changing the multiplicator eg. [[(25/(x-1)](http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=25%2F%28x-1%29)]. Actually it's simply an influence curve like you know it from the Graph-Editor. I wouldn't have figured this out without the help of a good friend, kudos to him! If you want to try it, just press ALT-A to enjoy that cinematic animation I prepared for you! :)

__Technical Support__ If it doesn't work in first place click "[Reload trusted](http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Doc:2.6/Manual/Extensions/Python/Security)" in the info-panel to gain python support.