Lumion for Beginner Architects (Part 1)
Lumion (www.lumion.com) is an amazing rendering software for Architects. It imports models from Sketchup (www.sketchup.com) and lets you play about with the designs, materials, objects and weather conditions as much as you like! Indeed, many people I know have compared it to a high-def Minecraft in Creative Mode.
Lumion can tend to be a bit pricy, but there are always discounts (and it’s free for students).
This article will be an introduction to Lumion for someone who has never used it before. Hope you find it useful :)
The Software — Introduction
I first happened upon Lumion when I was looking for a software to make my Sketchup model look realistic and cool, because V-Ray just wasn’t cutting it anymore.
It basically sets your building into an open world, where you can control the terrain, weather, solar azimuth, plant growth, whatever you name.
I will be going over the basic functions of the software, and there will be a list of tips and tricks I’ve picked up so far.
Welcome Page
This is what you first see when you open Lumion.
New: Lets you start working on a new model
Examples: Allows you to access some pre-made designs, including the famous Farnsworth House in stunning detail.
Computer Speed: Lets you know how efficiently Lumion runs on your PC. As you can see, mine is only 51% because my GPU (NVidea Ge-Force GTX 1050Ti) is barely enough to run it.
Load: Open a pre-existing Lumion file.
Save and Save As: Saves your work. You have to return to this menu to save your work, there is no Ctrl + S shortcut on this software.
New
As you can see, there are already several pre-set environments. I tend to go for the first one, since it’s literally a flat grassland with nothing in the background. This allows me to create valleys, hills, lakes, whatever I want.
But if you’re pressed on time, you can use the tropical climate, woodland, mountain area,etc.
When you click “Select Model” you can choose which Sketchup Model you’re going to import. For this example I will be importing my model that I used for my assignment at university, and placed it in the Tropical Environment.
Now clearly this is a mess, the buildings are mixed up in the trees and the ground is creeping over the concrete ground. But this will all be fixed later on.
Navigation
To navigate, it’s the usual WASD keys, just like in a game. In addition, pressing Q allows you to elevate yourself and pressing E lets you lower yourself, basically giving you flying powers.
You can also zoom in using the scroller on your mouse, and you can look around using the right mouse button. The left mouse button is used for panning around the frame.
The Control Panel
This panel is what we will spend the rest of Part 1 discussing. The Control Panel can be used for anything from importing more models, adding furniture, editing textures and materials, moving, rotating and scaling objects, etc.
Import: Can be used to import more Sketchup Models.
From left to right, the icons in the first group are:
“Imported Models” (Wireframe of the House) — Editing of any models you’ve imported.
“Nature” (Tree) — Placing literally anything from trees to rocks to shrubs.
“Fine-Detail Nature” (Tree with a Plus) — More detailed trees and shrubs, but they’re heavier and might slow your PC down.
“People and Animals” (Walking Dude) — Placing 3D and 2D people, animals, fish, birds, etc.
“Indoor” (Chair) — All indoor fixtures ranging from furniture, light shades, electrical appliances, books, phones, etc.
“Outdoor” (Fence) — Anything from a fence to a bus stop to a garbage dump.
“Transport” (Car) — Anything from cars, to jeeps, to boats, trains, hot air balloons, entire airplanes, etc.
“Lighting” (Lightbulb) — A library of various lighting styles, including spotlights, tubelights etc. They are merely sources of light, so any lamp shades or lightbulbs have to be added using the “indoor” tab.
I will be delving deeper into the interface in the next article, to be released on the 10th of June 2020, so make sure to follow this page for more updates!
