Whether you're looking to create compelling 360 panoramas, videos, or images, Lumion 10 is the right 3D visualization software for the job. With a range of intuitive rendering effects and tools included in the software, Lumion 10 is the latest state of the art rendering tool that allows architects and 3D artists to breathe life into their 3D visualizations.

The program is essentially a 3D modeling tool designed to help professionals visualize CAD models. It's a user-friendly tool that allows you to render models in the most realistic ways. Thus, it is perfect for creating 360 panoramas and videos and adding materials and objects from a huge library.

By integrating this tool with your sketching software and CAD, you can create the most realistic 3D visualization models. Professional 3D artists use Lumion 10 plugins to enhance their CAD software by adding additional functionalities.

There are two versions of Lumion 10: free software with a free 7-day trial and Lumion Pro. The free version allows you to tap into the older software version while the Pro version is more suitable for business needs.

The developer

Lumion 10 is 3D visualization and rendering software designed especially for designers and architects. With it, you can take any 3D model of your design and turn it into the most beautiful 3D render or visualization.

Professional 3D artists use this tool to unleash the full potential of their creativity and showcase their expertise. They can present designs complete with conceptual or photorealistic effects, animated with vibrant lighting and shadows.

Today, Lumion 10 is one of the most used 3D visualization software tools in the world, attracting both individual professionals and top architecture firms from all over the world.

In the ever-evolving fields of modern construction, engineering, and architecture, architectural visualization and 3D rendering have become vital tools for communicating design ideas with third parties, clients, and others.

Lumion 10 has simple goals to turn the process of creating 3D visualization into a streamlined experience, significantly reducing the resources, time, and effort needed to create the most stunning results.

To additionally spice things up, Lumion 10 fits seamlessly into any ongoing workflow and is quite intuitive.

Short History

In 1998, two Dutch programmers from Leiden, Netherlands, were thinking about starting their own software company. Their main goal was to explore the vast field of 3D computer graphics. This was the inception of Act-3D.

It wasn’t before long that Act-3D became quite successful by providing the very first 3D graphics acceleration solutions. It was about that time that the duo behind Act-3D started developing a top-of-the-line 3D engine, Quest 3D.

This engine was the crucial point where the majority of architects of that time became aware that their practices were, in fact, imperfect and missing an essential ingredient. That missing ingredient was the most advanced visualization tool that required no technical knowledge in 3D graphics and was able to provide the wanted results fast.

It was not before 2007 that Act-3D shifted their focus toward architecture. Intending to harness the full potential of real-time 3D visualization software in mind, it took three years to develop the original design. Hence, the very first version of Lumion was born in 2010.

The current iteration of Lumion

Lumion developers are continually working on enhancing this already amazing 3D rendering and visualization software. The current iteration of Lumion, Lumion 10.5, brings new tools and features that will make any architectural workflow completely stress-free.

With these new features, communicating both commercial and residential design ideas in the most detailed environments ever is easier than ever before. The most incredible interior and exterior design and landscaping concepts can finally come to life.

Thanks to software tools like Lumion, professionals can finally develop living environments for cityscapes and landscapes. The latest software versions allow you to choose from 67 new top-quality models for outdoor spaces, landscape designs, backyards, and gardens.

It also gives you access to over 1,200 materials and 5,600 models. This is pretty much everything an architect needs to create a seamless flow from architecture to nature, and interior to exterior.

Features

Lumion 10 has a long list of amazing features, but we're going to stick to the top new ones:

●       Top-quality preview – preview your project in the highest quality possible before you start rendering and save time when making changes to camera angles, materials, shadows, and lighting.

●       Fine-detail nature – breathe real life to your models by using real-life models available in the Lumion 10 library.

●       Displacement mapping – choose from 167 materials in Lumion 10 to make your design look photorealistic.

●       Import displacement maps – import your own custom or built-in materials to add emotion and real-life feeling to your design.

●       Real Skies at night – enrich any design by providing a view into the starry night to additionally wow your clients.

●       Aurora Borealis – just like in real life, Aurora Borealis gives that real-life feel to your creation.

●       Photo matching – provide a real-life photo context with your 3D model to show the functionality of your design by using a real-life example of a neighborhood, and so on.

●       Height-maps for OSM – get access to a range of actual real-life elevations to increase the photorealism of your project.

●       AI artist styles – add a decent dosage of impressionism to your designs and harness the power of an experimental neural network feature to enrich your design with the original painting style.

●       New objects – Lumion 10 Pro gives you access to 364 new objects in the content library to fine-tune your nature models and create visually stunning environments.

●       New materials – 3 new indoor tiles, 10 exterior materials, 9 various rocks, and 12 new soil materials will ensure your exterior views look more than captivating.

●       Paint placement – turn your design into a real wonder of nature by adding natural realism to your models.

●       LiveSync for AutoCAD – make 3D modeling changes in real-time and observe as they take effect on your living environments to explore different real-life contexts.

●       Custom materials library – find materials to your liking and keep them easily accessible from one convenient place.

●       Landscape cutter – Lumion editor landscape is a fantastic feature that allows you to place the landscape cutter over the surrounding you want to remove to create a perfect surface for your 3D model.

●       In/out control for movie clips – bring all details closer to the eye of the beholder by gaining complete control over the camera work.

●       Improved object library – Lumion is one of the rare 3D rendering software tools that continuously keeps expanding its library with each new version.

●       Improved DWG import – Lumion 10 is fully integrated with an updated DWG import support.

User experience

If we take the developer's tagline that says: “Before Lumion, rendering used to be really hard” into consideration, it's safe to say that Lumion 10 is a very user-friendly 3D visualization software.

It doesn't require any specific skill, IT knowledge, or technical expertise to use it. Of course, the more you're skilled, the more you can make this stunning tool for 3D rendering work to your advantage.

The most significant UX advantage of Lumion 10 is that it doesn't require a massive learning curve. Because of that, this software tool is an excellent way to bridge the gap between artists and architects, making communication and understanding much more natural and timely.

Since the program offers such a wide range of most amazing features, you can manipulate your design any way you want, with absolute ease and full transparency. The program pretty much does everything by itself, and you're just there to make sure the work goes according to the plan and requirements.

Besides an easy-to-use interface, Lumion 10 allows you to tap into different options before you wrap your project up. There's a reason why so many top-class architecture firms and 3D artists choose this software tool over an array of others. It gives you full control over your work, a rare quality that only a few other 3D rendering software possess.

Pros & Cons

Pros:

●       Amazing range of features

●       Easy to use

●       User-friendly interface

●       Affordable solution for an array of professionals

●       Capable of creating the most realistic interiors, exteriors, landscapes, etc.

●       Fast render time

●       Option to automatically create amazing design outcomes

●       A perfect tool for saving time and effort

●       Top-quality 3D visualizations

●       Fantastic range of objects and materials in the library

●       Real-time animation

●       Allows you to make changes and add new effects without interrupting your 3D model

●       The ultimate software for animation and 3D visualization

Cons:

●       No edit feature

●       Limited working area

●       Troubles with navigating different features within the same model

●       Minimalist interface makes locating tools a bit troublesome

●       Expensive full version

●       Processing power-intensive

●       The program tends to crash

●       The interface can be confusing at times

Pricing

Lumion 10 comes in two different versions:

1. Lumion 10.5 – € 1499, the version includes 1/3 of the content library and limited rendering effects.
2. Lumion 10.5 PRO – € 2999, the PRO version includes a full content library and all rendering effects.

Lumion 10 upgrade prices:

●       Lumion 10 to Lumion 10 Pro – € 1,499.00

●       Lumion 9 Pro to Lumion 10 Pro – € 999.00

●       Lumion 9 to Lumion 10 Pro – € 1,998.00

●       Lumion 9 to Lumion 10 – € 499.00

●       Lumion 8 Pro to Lumion 10 Pro – €1,998.00

●       Lumion 8 to Lumion 10 Pro – € 2,497.00

●       Lumion 8 to Lumion 10 – € 998.00

●       Lumion 7 Pro to Lumion 10 Pro – € 2,399.00

●       Lumion 7 to Lumion 10 Pro – € 2,697.00

●       Lumion 7 to Lumion 10 – € 1,198.00

●       Lumion 6 Pro and older to Lumion 10 Pro – € 2,699.00

●       Lumion 6 and older to Lumion 10 Pro 0 € 2,848.00

●       Lumion 6 and older to Lumion 10 – € 1,349.00

System requirements

Recommended system requirements include:

●       10,000 G3DMark or higher graphics card

●       6GB or more of graphics card memory

●       Windows 10 64-bit OS

●       CPUMark of 2000 or higher CPU (Intel or AMD processor)

●       1920 x 1080 screen resolution

●       16GB or more of RAM

●       Minimum 30 GB of free hard drive space

●       Any minimum 80+ gold-rated power supply

The program can work on minimum requirements; however, some of the high-end features may not work. The most important components are the CPU and the graphics card. Since Lumion 10 isn't your average CAD software, it requires a top of the line graphics card to unleash its full potential.

The best way to ensure maximum performance on your current PC/laptop configuration is to download the free trial and subject your device to the in-program speed test.

The test will show you all the strengths and weaknesses of your current system. To ensure the ultimate Lumion 10 experience, we warmly recommend upgrading all components with a red score.

Conclusion

With such a wide range of amazing features, user-friendly interface, and mind-bending rendering speeds, Lumion 10 has been recognized as the ultimate tool for 3D visualization and rendering. It helps you take your design to a whole new level of photorealism.

The most significant advantage of this amazingly intuitive software is that you can integrate it with your current workflows completely seamlessly. If your 3D design lacks the highest photorealism level, this software is a solution to your problems.

Although the price might seem steep, ease of use and the range of options make Lumion 10 simply too irresistible. Join an army of 3D artists, designers, architects, and professionals who take pride in using this cutting edge 3D visualization software to get ahead of the competition curve.