3D meshes are widely used in computer graphics applications for approximating 3D models. When representing complex shapes in raw data format, meshes consume a large amount of space. Applications calling for compact and fast processing of large 3D meshes have motivated a multitude of algorithms developped to process these datasets efficiently. The concept of multiresolution analysis proposes an efficient and versatile tool for digital geometric processing allowing for numerous applications. In this paper, we survey recent developments in multiresolution methods for 3D triangle meshes. We also show some results of these methods through various applications.