Abstract: We present a preprocessing algorithm and run-time system for rendering 3D geometric models at a guaranteed frame rate. Our approach trades off space for frame rate by using images to replace distant geometry. The preprocessing algorithm automatically chooses a subset of the model to display as an image so as to render no more than a specified number of geometric primitives. We also summarize an optimized layered-depth-image warper to display images surrounded by geometry at run time. Furthermore, we show the results of applying our method to accelerate the interactive walkthrough of several complex models.