Rendering made simple
Rendering with Lumion brings a refreshing simplicity to the task
Simplicity rules
Mies van der Rohe coined the household phrase, “Less is more.”
Leonardo da Vinci was behind the mantra, “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”
And Frank Lloyd Wright famously said, “Simplicity and repose are the qualities that measure the true value of any work of art.”
Lumion architectural rendering software follows this same principle. Simplicity rules.
Software should help you and not stand in your way. By adding simplicity and speed to the rendering equation, Lumion helps architects create with ease and clarity. In this article, we’ll open up the hood and take a closer look at Lumion’s philosophy of speed and ease and how they permeate throughout the software, allowing you to bring your designs to life in a way that’s efficient, effortless and elegant.
Practice render of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater, rendered in Lumion by Fahmi Aliyudin Khairi.
The idea at the heart of Lumion
Have you ever visited a modern art museum and, looking at a minimalist, single-color painting worth millions of dollars, wondered, ‘Why didn’t I make that’? ‘It looks so…easy.’ Or, the best one of all… ‘I could do better.’
Most architects and designers understand that complexity is easy and simplicity is hard. It takes the pinnacle of excellence to arrive at the clean, minimal lines of a Mies van der Rohe building. Attempting to simplify forms like Tadao Ando, which capture the complexity and richness of the world, can easily demand a decade of dedication to craft.
The front-end only looks simple because the back end is complex.
Yutaka House, rendered by Gui Felix. Project by Roberto Yutaka (@studioie.arq)
Over the past decade, Lumion has eliminated the idea that ‘rendering is difficult.’ Creating beautiful images and animations is now effortless, and there is a minimized and uncomplicated flow to every action you take within the software, a sort of logic and intuition that feels easy.
But behind the scenes, Lumion has been revolutionizing the concept of architectural rendering since 2010.
Opening the door to new possibilities in architectural rendering. Image by Ark Visuals from their project ‘Scorpia.’
When speed meets ease of use
Before Lumion, most render times were measured in hours, not seconds. The changes in speed and ease that came with Lumion’s arrival fundamentally altered the relationship between rendering and the design process.
You can now visualize every iteration, every step on your journey to design perfection, faster than it takes to brew a cup of coffee. Images and animations are available at a moment’s notice for stakeholders, team members, clients and others, whenever they want them.
Lumion is able to move at the speed of your imagination. It works as an extension of your thought process, responding to any visualization or design-related questions you may have in real-time.
Total render time: 21 seconds. The same amount of time it takes for a good stretch while you’re waiting.
Fully compatible
Since Lumion is fully compatible with all major 3D or CAD program, you won’t have any problem importing your 3D model into a Lumion project.
With Lumion LiveSync, the free real-time rendering plugin for CAD software, you can even update your model in CAD and instantly see these changes in Lumion's project editor, saving you precious time as you perfect your design.
A simplified experience
Complexity, buttons, dropdowns and sliders used to be the norm. The idea of the time — give users everything, so they can do anything.
This turned out to be wrong on many levels.
To add an interior light to your render, for instance, you would have needed at least some understanding of digital lighting diffusion and specular contribution. UV noise. Penumbra falloff. Caustics…
Did you stop reading after ‘lighting diffusion’? Exactly. It’s overly elaborate and perhaps unnecessary for your design goals. Lumion removes this complexity, as simplicity is the key to tapping into the potential of rendering — to enhance your design process.
Instead of offering everything at once, Lumion took the other route. Lumion only shows you the most relevant buttons and sliders when you need them, effectively guiding you through a process that’s direct, straightforward and logical.
Create context
If you want to shape and sculpt the surrounding landscape, simply click on the Landscape tab and you’ll find only the most relevant features: OpenStreetMaps for importing real-life topography, oceans you can make in a click, water planes for ponds and lakes, a ground sculpting tool to build the tallest mountains and the deepest ravines.
Model provided by Marco Caccini.
Explore materials
To apply materials to your building and make it come alive, simply click on the Materials tab and you’ll find an easy-to-navigate and searchable catalog of thousands of materials, including bricks, metals, plaster, fabric, wood, leather and more.
After applying a material you can easily modify its properties, such as making it look old with weathering or textured with displacement.
Model provided by Angular Lab.
Complete, not complex
As a complete 3D rendering solution, Lumion comes with a wealth of content and time-saving tools. Discover some of the features in Lumion that take minimal effort to use, making the entire process simple and intuitive.
Foliage for materials
Reflections
Soft edges
Displacement
Move objects
Style presets
Animate characters
Rain streaks
Through simplicity, rendering is a living, breathing experience
Lumion has set a new standard for accessibility and usability in architectural rendering, changing the conversation of what’s possible when rendering becomes an enjoyable part of the design process. Because Lumion renders images, animations and 360 panoramas in record times, there are endless possibilities for you to include any type of rendering in your architectural communications, at any point in time, without breaking a sweat.
No matter if you’re an architect in the jungle, communicating with locals using only your renders, or a designer with a disability, sparking a career in visualization, Lumion gives you the power to master high-end rendering without wasting a minute of your time.
The best way to understand how Lumion’s simplicity fuels creativity is to try it for yourself. Even if you don’t have a model, you’ll find templates and example scenes in the software that will help get you started.
