Trips and Tricks Lumion 3.2.1

Tips and tricks Trucos y consejos de Lumion 3.2.1

LUMIONSPAINWWW.LUMION.ES

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These Tips, Tricks and Shortcuts apply to the latest version of Lumion (3.2.1).

Please note that scenes and LS3 files saved in 3.2.1 are NOT backwards compatible with

earlier versions.

If you try to load 3.2 scenes or LS3 files in an earlier version of Lumion, models will be

missing, i.e. replaced by red questionmarks.

NAVIGATION

(W) / (Up arrow): Move camera forward

(S) / (Down arrow): Move camera backward

(A) / (Left arrow): Move camera left

(D) / (Right arrow): Move camera right

(Q): Move camera up

(E): Move camera down

(Spacebar) + (W/S/A/D/Q/E): Very slow camera

(Shift) + (W/S/A/D/Q/E): Fast camera

(Shift) + (Spacebar) + (W/S/A/D/Q/E): Very fast camera

Right mouse button + Move mouse: Look around

Middle mouse button + Move mouse: Pan

Mousewheel up/down: Move camera forward

(CTRL) + (H): Reset camera pitch to horizontal viewpoint

(O) + Right mouse button: Orbit camera.

Double-click with right mouse button on models: Instant 'teleport' to the position that was

clicked on.

MISCELLANEOUS

(F1): Editor quality: 1 Star




(F5): Quick save (Saves a file called QuickSave)

(F7): View the Lumion terrain at the maximum level of detail.

(F9): If you press F9, all trees and plants in the viewport will be rendered at their best level of

detail, so that it's easier to see where you need to add more trees and plants in a scene.

Home -> (CTRL) + (F11): Fullscreen.

Home -> (F11): Maximize window with/without taskbar (press twice to toggle).

Sliders: You can double-click on all sliders in Lumion to manually type in values. Press Shift

while adjusting slider values to fine-tune them (more digits after the decimal point will be

displayed).


SAVE & LOAD CAMERA VIEWPOINTS

(CTRL) + (1) (2) (9) (0): Use this function to save up to 10 camera positions.

(SHIFT) + (1) (2) (9) (0): Load previously saved camera viewpoints. The saved slots are also

available as easily accessible thumbnail images in Photo mode.

BACKGROUND RENDERING

Lumion always renders movies and image sequences in the background, so that you can

check your emails etc while it is rendering.

IMPORTANT: You need to wait for the first frame to finish before you switch to other

windows. Avoid moving/re-sizing/minimizing the Lumion window while it is rendering, and do

not click on the Show Desktop button in the lower right corner of Windows. This will reset the

exposure in Lumion which means that the video has to be rendered from scratch again.

IMPORTING & UPDATING MODELS

Edit Materials -> (CTRL) + Reload Model and re-apply materials (new file) button: If the

name or location of an exported object file (DAE, FBX etc) has changed, this button allows you

to manually select the location/name of the file:

Edit Materials -> (ALT) + Reload Model button: If you import a model that uses over 100mb

of texture memory, Lumion will cap the maximum texture resolution at 2048x2048 pixels.

However, you can bypass this limit by pressing ALT while you click on the Reload model

button. If you apply a Standard or Lightmap material to your imported model, any texture you

load will be loaded at whatever resolution your graphics card is capable of displaying (up to a

maximum of 16384x16384 pixels).


Import model -> Animation on/off button: This function lets you import move/rotate/scale

animations via FBX/DAE, for example from 3D Studio Max (FBX is the recommended format

for animated models).

Imported material scale: If you apply a Standard material to an object, a Scale slider value of

0 means that the imported texture coordinates are used. If you set the Scale slider to 1.0 in

Lumion, and the surface is aligned with the world axes, each texture "tile" will cover an area of

1x1m in Lumion. Rectangular textures will be re-scaled so that they are square in Lumion.

Load/Save material set function: You can now save materials in a scene to a file, and

automatically apply those materials to another imported model provided that they use the

same material names in your 3D modelling application (Edit materials -> Load/Save material

set buttons):

SELECTING, COPYING, MOVING AND ALIGNING OBJECTS

(CTRL) + Drag with Left mouse button: Rectangular selection tool for selecting multiple

objects.

(CTRL) + (SHIFT) + Drag with Left mouse button: Add new rectangular selection to existing

selection.

(ALT) + Move selected object(s): Copy-paste selected object(s) by pressing ALT while

dragging one of the selected objects.

Place object mode -> (CTRL) + Left-click: Randomly place 10 copies of the currently active

object library model.

Place object mode -> (Z) + Left-click: Place a new object with +/-0 to 50% random scale.

Place object mode -> (CTRL) + (Z) + Left-click: Combined operation of above mentioned

Place Object Modes. Randomly place 10 copies of the currently active object library

model with +/-0 to 50% random scale.

(F12): Drag Model mode lets you move objects by clicking directly on them and dragging the

mouse to move them. In addition, (H) lets you move objects up and down while (R) allows you

to rotate them.

(G): This function will make objects that you are moving or placing in your scene snap to the

Lumion terrain while ignoring all other object types.

(F): The orientation of all objects (apart from Trees/plants) can be made to adapt to the

surface angles of other objects. Move object button -> Press (F) for "Flatten" -> Move the

object(s) to make them adapt to the surface angles of other objects. This function only works

on surfaces that are facing the sky, i.e. less than 90 degree angles.


(SHIFT) + Move selected object(s): Press shift while dragging selected objects to move them

horizontally with snapping turned off.

(SHIFT) + Rotate/Rotate Pitch/Rotate Bank selected object(s): Press shift while rotating

objects to temporarily turn the 45 degree angle snapping off.

(K) + Rotate/Rotate Pitch/Rotate Bank selected object(s): Press K while rotating objects to

make all of the objects face the mouse cursor.

(CTRL) + "Same height" command: The selected objects will be placed at the same height as

the object you clicked on. (CTRL)-select objects -> Context menu -> (Click on the icon of the

object that has the height you want the other objects to inherit -> Transformation -> Same

height.

(CTRL) + "Space" command: The selected objects will be placed in a straight line as defined

by the object that you clicked on to execute the command and the object that is furthest

away from that object. (CTRL)-select objects -> Context menu -> Click on the selection icon

of one of the selected objects -> Transformation -> Space)

"Align" command: This command lets you centre selected objects so that their pivot points

are at the same position (CTRL-select objects -> Context menu -> Transformation -> Align). If

you need to move or manipulate one of the overlapping objects, place the mouse cursor over

the small overlapping object selection icons and use the mouse wheel (or the Arrow

Up/Down keys) to toggle between the objects.

(L): Scale model.

(R): Rotate Heading.

(P): Rotate Pitch.

(B): Rotate Bank.

SPOTLIGHTS


To preview shadows from spotlights in Build mode:

1) Select the spotlights in Build mode to temporarilly turn on real-time shadows.

To preview shadows from spotlights in Movie/Photo mode:

1) Go to the Photo or Movie section.

2) Apply a Global Illumination effect (New effect -> World tab -> Global Illumination).

3) Click on Preview spotlight GI and shadows in the effect panel.

4) If you want to view the shadows in Build mode, click on the Build with effect button in the

top left corner.

In Light Properties -> Optimize for, choose what is most important for each light:

Accuracy: The shadows are updated every frame (Slow!). Every time you add a light with Accuracy turned on, the entire scene has to be rendered once more. Add 10

lights and the scene has to be rendered 10 times more every frame. Each light uses a

2048x2048 pixel shadow texture.

Memory: The shadow from the light uses a static 128x128 pixel texture which is not updated (Fast, very low memory usage)

Speed: The shadow from the light uses a static 512x512 pixel texture which is not updated (Fast, moderate memory usage)

To reduce render times, we recommend that distant lights (e.g. street lights) in your scene use

either the Memory or the Speed option, so that the shadows are not updated every frame. If

your graphics card has enough memory, the best option is Speed.

You would only ever use Accuracy for your lights if something that casts shadows is moving

near the light (a car driving past a street light for example). Or if the light itself moves/rotates

(stage lighting for concerts for example). Or if you need high-resolution shadows in certain

areas (typically close-ups of interiors).

SHADOW ARTIFACTS (BANDING, FLICKERING, LIGHT LEAKAGE)

Shadows in Lumion are added on top of all surfaces with an offset. The reason an offset is

needed is that the shadows will otherwise flicker (or display banding artifacts) when the

shadows are very close to surface. If the offset is set too high, furniture (as an example) will

appear to hover above the floor. In reality the furniture is not hovering of course, but the offset

shadows give the illusion of it.


It's difficult to get the offset right as the optimal offset varies from scene to scene, depending

on the sun position and the camera position. For that reason, you have to add the Shadow

effect to your clip and experiment with the Shadow correction and Shadow Slope sliders until

the artifacts are gone.

The Shadow correction slider controls the offset directly whereas the Shadow Slope slider is

used to prevent light leakage through models.

UPDATE SUN, SKY, LIGHTING, CLOUDS AND REFLECTIONS

(U): If you press the U key, the sun, sky, lighting, clouds and 360 degree reflection texture will

be updated. This is often necessary if you switch between Build/Movie/Photo mode and the

sun is in different positions. If you keep the U key pressed in Photo/Movie mode, the Cloud

effect will be rendered in (almost) final render quality. This is useful if you want to see what the

clouds will look like while adjusting the cloud sliders. Bear in mind that the Volume Clouds

effect has to be rendered in 3 star quality to see what these clouds will look like in final render

quality.

GLOBAL ILLUMINATION

You must render images/videos with the Global Illumination effect in 3 star quality. If you

render it in 1 or 2 star quality, the lighting will appear to flicker and you will only see a pixelated

preview of the global illumination lighting on your renderings.

VOLUME CLOUDS

You must render images/videos with the Volume Clouds effect in 3 star quality. If you render it

in 1 or 2 star quality, you will only see a pixelated preview on your renderings, and the clouds

will appear to move and change shape as the camera moves.


REFLECTIONS IN LUMION

There are 2 types of reflections in Lumion:

1) Planar reflections (New effect -> World -> Reflection):

This Movie effect allows you to specify up to 10 reflection planes in your scene. Any model

surface which is co-planar with a specified reflection plane in your scene will have accurate

reflections. This is ideal for mirrors, marble floors etc. The effect includes a Threshold slider

which allows you to adjust the distance at which nearly-co-planar surfaces will be included in

the reflection plane. The tradeoff is accuracy but it's usually not noticeable. Please note that if

you have some nearly co-planar surfaces that you want to assign a single reflection plane to,

you need to assign the plane to the surface which is closest to the camera so to speak.

Every time you add 1 reflection plane, Lumion has to mirror all models & render the entire

scene once more. For that reason, try to use as few reflection planes as possible:

2) Projected reflections:

Projected reflections in Lumion rely on a single 360 degree panoramic reflection texture

which is projected onto any reflective materials that are not using planar reflections. The

projected reflection method is only an approximation and will never provide as realistic

reflections as the planar reflection effect above. In Lumion 3, add the Lights -> Utilities ->

Reflection control object to your scene to specify the position where the 360 degree

panoramic reflection texture should be rendered at.


If you do not add this object to your scene it will be placed a few hundred meters above the

terrain. If you are rendering interiors, the best position for the Reflection Control object is

often near the camera position. Bear in mind that you can also animate this object with the

Move/Advanced Move effects in the Movie section.

HOW TO PREVENT SURFACES FROM FLICKERING/DISAPPEARING

If you notice that surfaces flicker or disappear when moving the camera, add a Standard

material to the surface that you want to be on top. Then adjust the Depth Offset slider in that

material but avoid extreme Depth Offset values - you should only adjust it a little bit, until the

flickering stops (The best method is of course to make sure that your surfaces are offset a bit

in your 3D modelling application, so that the flickering is less likely to occur in the first place).


OBJECT COLOURS

Objects -> Edit properties -> Object Color allows you to change the colours of many of the

Transport, Indoor and Outdoor models, e.g. furniture and vehicles. Note that you can also

copy-paste a colour from outside Lumion to any color selection window in Lumion. Simply

press CTRL + C to copy a highlighted hexadecimal colour in text format, eg, "ff0000" (red),

and press CTRL + V to paste this colour onto the solid bar on the right side of the color

selection window.

TERRAINS IN LUMION

The editable part of the terrain in Lumion occupies a 2048x2048m square. Beyond this, you

will not be able to change the height or paint the landscape. When you load a heightmap

texture it will stretch to the full extent of the 2048x2048m square, but will 'fade out' to 0m

along the edges to blend with the endless terrain outside the editable area.

If you load a standard JPG file, 100% black equates to a terrain height of 0m and 100% white is

equal to a terrain height of 200m. In other words, each greyscale step (from 0 to 255) is equal

to 0.78125m.

As for the height scale of imported heightmap textures, the RGB values normally range from 0

to 1.0, but if you create a 32-bit image in Photoshop (Image -> Mode -> 32-bits per channel),

you can boost the whiteness (and the terrain height range) by up to x20. In other words:

RGB 0 to 1.0 in Photoshop = 0m to 200m in Lumion



Once you've created your heightmap, you'll need to save it as a 32-bit DDS heightmap in "32f"

format using Nvidia's DDS plugin for Photoshop:

http://developer.nvidia.com/nvidia-texture-tools-adobe-photoshop

TIP: You can also import your own terrain as a DAE/FBX object and apply a Landscape

material to it. This allows you paint on it just like the "native" terrain in Lumion:


MATERIAL SLIDERS

Try to experiment with each material slider to find out what the various values do.


Reflection/Clip/Bright: An important slider is the Reflection/Clip/Bright slider in Lumion 3

(Reflection or Clip slider in Lumion 2.5). This slider allows you to specify whether an alpha

channel in your diffuse texture is used as a reflection mask (= Reflection), alpha clip mask (=

Clip) or as an emmissive mask (= Bright).

Scale: Material size. Set this to 0 if you want to use imported texture coordinates instead of

automatically applied texture coordinates.

Reflection colorize: Tint reflections with overall material colour.

Reflection Falloff: Reflection amount vs viewing angle.

Brightness: Material darkness vs brightness.

Glossiness: Reflection blurriness vs sharpness.

Bump: Material roughness (provided that you use a blue/purple normalmap).

Reflectivity: Reflection amount. Can be combined with a specular/reflection mask in the

alpha channel of the Diffuse texture.

Saturation: Black& white versus colour.

Emissiveness: Material glow.

MOVIE SECTION TIPS

Entire Movie versus Clips: You can apply a Movie effect to a single clip or to the 'Entire

Movie'.

'Entire Movie' is selected by clicking on the large button in the lower left corner of the screen

in Movie mode. If a new Movie effect is applied while 'Entire Movie' is selected, this effect will

affect all clips in your movie.

The exception to this rule is if you have also applied the same Movie effect to one of your

clips. In this case, the Movie effect in the clip will override the Movie effect that is applied to

'Entire Movie'.


Double-clicking on a clip thumbnail: This allows you to edit the clip without having to click

on the Edit clip button in the top-left corner.

Create Movie Effect keyframes: The small circular button to the right of the effect sliders

allows you to set keyframes:

Build with effects: This button in Photo/Movie mode allows you to preview effects in Build

mode:

Save Movie (or Create movie from clip) -> Images tab -> Frame range -> Custom ->

Shots: This allows you to render each camera keyframe in a clip or in the entire movie as still

images.


USING LAYERS

About Layers: Layers are useful for organising large projects. The Layer buttons in Build mode

allow you to show or hide models. You can also animate the visibility of Layers in your clips

with the Show Layer and Hide Layer effects.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

WHERE ARE MY LUMION SCENES AND IMPORTED MODELS SAVED?

Your Lumion scenes and imported models are saved in these folders:

Documents/Lumion 3/Scenes: All scenes saved in Lumion 3 (2 files per scene) Documents/Lumion 3/Library: Models imported in Lumion 3 (up to 4 files per

model)

The Documents/Lumion 3/ folder is on the C: drive by default.

If you would like to move the Documents/Lumion 3/ folder to a different location, please

follow these instructions on the Microsoft website:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310147

As with any other important data on your harddrive, we recommend regular backups of the

Documents/Lumion 3/ folder.

HOW DO I LOAD A LUMION SCENE ON ANOTHER PC?

If you need to load a Lumion scene on another PC, you need to copy the Documents/Lumion

3/ folder to that PC. Remember to restart Lumion after copying the folders.

Alternatively, if you have Lumion Pro, you can also export the scene as an LS3 file which

includes imported models. This makes it easier to move scenes between PCs.

HOW DO I LOAD A LUMION 2 SCENE IN LUMION 3?

If you need to load a Lumion 2 scene in Lumion 3, you need to copy the Scenes & Library

folders in Documents/Lumion 2/ folder to Documents/Lumion 3/. Remember to restart

Lumion after copying the folders.


Alternatively, if you have Lumion Pro, you can also export a Lumion 2 scene as an LS2 file

which includes imported models. The LS2 file can then be imported in Lumion 3.

WARNING: Lumion is not backwards compatible, so if you save a scene or an imported

model in Lumion 3 you can't load them in Lumion 1 & 2.

RED QUESTIONMARKS

If you notice a red questionmark in one of your scenes, it means that the files for that model

are missing in the Documents/Lumion 3/Library folder. It is currently not possible to display

the file name of missing models.

Here's how to delete questionmarks in your scene:

1) Lights & Special objects category -> Context menu -> Selection -> Select all similar

2) Trash object -> Click on one of the questionmarks to delete them

HOW DO I LOCK MODELS SO THAT THEY DON'T MOVE WHEN I MODIFY THE TERRAIN?

Select models -> Context menu -> Transformation -> Lock Position -> On

HOW DO I MAKE MY OWN THUMBNAILS FOR MY MODELS?

CTRL-select the object and make sure that its thumbnail is displayed in the lower left corner.

Move the camera until you're happy with the way the model appears on the screen, and press

and hold CTRL. Then left-click on the thumbnail to update it.

HOW DO I IMPORT ANIMATIONS?

It is possible to import move/rotate/scale animations from some 3rd party modelling 3D

applications, e.g. 3DS Max and Maya. The frame rate has to be set to 25 frames per second

and the preferred export format is FBX file. Collada format (DAE) also works but the

interpolation between keyframes will be linear.

It is not possible to import vertex animations, morph animations or bone animations in

Lumion.

HOW DO I ORGANISE MY IMPORTED MODELS IN FOLDERS?

You can create a maximum of 14 custom folders in the Documents/Lumion 3/Library folder.

The folders and any model files that you have moved to the custom folders will appear in the

Imported Model browser after restarting Lumion: