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Optimising 3D Lowpoly Meshes & Land Impact for Second Life

AL
aley.vortex Published on 22 September 2026, 12:11 UTC
Optimising 3D Lowpoly Meshes & Land Impact for Second Life

Master the art of physics bounding boxes, level of detail (LOD) generators, and triangle weighting to achieve sub-1 Land Impact in Second Life.

Introduction to Lowpoly Mastery

Second Life calculates Land Impact (LI) based on the highest of three costs: Download, Physics, and Server. To maximise visual fidelity while keeping your prim count minimal, follow these core principles:

1. Physics Simplification

Never upload your high-polygon visual mesh as the physics model. Always model a simplified hull or use bounding box primitives.

2. Custom LOD Generation

Generate custom Low and Lowest LODs rather than relying on automatic decimation. This prevents avatar pop-in and maintains visual integrity across distance.

3. PBR Material Integration

Leverage modern 2K PBR materials (Roughness, Metallic, Normal) to add tactile depth without geometry bloat.