Lumion 3D Cookbook Review

Lumion is a revolutionary new rendering software that is changing the design workflow as we know it.  Lumion is different in that it quickly renders images and animations by leveraging your graphics card and is truly easy to learn and use (click to learn more about Lumion).

We recently got our hands on an invaluable resource for Lumion users, a beautifully concise and informative eBook, “Lumion 3D Cookbook” by Ciro Cardoso. This book is excellent for beginners and seasoned Lumion users alike. It is packed full of useful shortcuts and “recipes” for maximizing Lumion’s efficiency and your overall visualization productivity.

The book is divided into 13 palatable chapters covering everything from placing your model in Lumion to combining effects to create professional animations. There is an expanse of knowledge to gain by reading this book, but below are three of our favorite take-aways.

1. Non Photorealistic Effects

Have you ever presented an unfinished design in a finished way? By that I mean maybe you hadn’t really thought out all of the materials, but your photorealistic rendering style implies that you are married to the decisions that have been made and presented. The problem is that you might see brick, but the client sees dollar signs and the presentation is derailed! Lumion’s artistic effects soften renderings to leave more of the details up to the viewer’s imagination. Below are two images, one rendered with the standard Lumion style and another with Lumion's Sketch effect applied.

Lumion Photorealistic

Lumion Sketch Effect

With the author’s encouragement, I experimented with combining non photorealistic artistic effects. The image below combines the Sketch and Cartoon effects, which offers more hand drawn punch to the image.

Lumion Sketch and Cartoon Effect

There are many other appealing visuals presented in the book that are a product of combining non photorealistic effects. The author describes the resulting images as “concise and conceptual”, I agree.

3. Fireflies

What do falling leaves and fireflies have in common?  Lumion!  This may sound strange, but if you reduce the Size and Amount setting of the leaves, then crank up the Overbright setting to a really high value you can achieve good ol’fashion Midwest lightning bugs.  It only takes a few seconds to achieve the desired look and the results are fantastic for night scenes.  These types of tricks only come from experience and are a great reason to read a book like this front to back.

Some effects seem frivolous, lightning bugs are no exception, but take a moment to think about the feelings fireflies can evoke? Peacefulness. Quiet. Calm. Can evoking these emotions out of your audience help sell your design?

Falling Leaves with Overbright Looks Like Fireflies

3. Keyboard Shortcuts

It is no secret that we thrive on efficiency over here.  If something can’t be done fast is it really worth doing at all? You can save an enormous amount of time in any program by leveraging keyboard shortcuts. There are endless shortcuts mentioned in the book, but below are a few essential hotkeys that can be used to expedite the workflow of any Lumion user.

• A quick save will bail you out of a late night if you use it before a mass import or object swap, just tap “F5”.
• Select multiple items by holding “Ctrl” and with the left mouse button pressed, drag to draw a rectangle around several objects or models.
• One of my favorites, hold “O” with a right-click and drag for a refreshing “SketchUp Orbit".  aaaaah.

In conclusion

Ultimately, I judge the value of a software book by it's usability. I ask, can this book function as a manual after I finish all of the tutorials?  The answer for “Lumion 3D Cookbook” is yes!

If you have the time to read this book cover to cover and follow all of the recipes, do it!  You will be exposed to valuable new techniques, hot keys that you did not know about, and buried functionality that you otherwise would not have known existed.

On the other hand, if time is short then just dive in and use this book as a manual. The index allows you to quickly locate key terms throughout the book and then follow clear instructions on how to accomplish the task at hand. This book was born to expedite workflow, you know I dig on that! I would recommend this book to any designer who needs to get the most out of their Lumion investment.

Start Visualizing with Lumion

Interested in learning more about Lumion, trying a demo version, or purchasing your own copy?  Visit www.brightmandesigns.com/lumionusa to access Lumion webinars, trial licenses, 3D freebies, and much more.