Lumion

Lumion is a real-time 3D architectural visualization software developed by Act-3D B.V., a privately owned Dutch company, developer of the Quest3D engine, headquartered in Sassenheim, Netherlands.^[1] Primarily used in architecture, landscaping, urban planning and interior design, Lumion allows the creation of high-resolution renders and visualizations. It is available in 180 countries worldwide.^[2][3][4]

Lumion
Developer(s)	Act-3D B.V.
Initial release	2010
Stable release	Lumion 2023
Operating system	Windows
Type	3D visualization
License	Proprietary
Website	lumion.com

History

Act-3D, a company behind Lumion, was founded in 1998 in Leiden, Netherlands.^[5]

In September 2001, the company developed Quest3D, a proprietary 3D engine utilized in the areas of architecture, product design, computer games, training software, and simulation environments.^[6][7]

Act-3D shifted focus to architectural 3D rendering shortly after its inception. The first version of Lumion software was released in December 2010.^[2][8]

Overview

Lumion has Pro and Standard licenses for commercial use. Pro license includes the complete visualization software with access to the full content library and support. The standard license includes access to the support team and a portion of the content library. Lumion also has two educational licenses for non-commercial use only, Lumion Student and Lumion Faculty. Lumion Student is a free 1-year license designed for students. It can be renewed throughout their studies and is intended for non-commercial use only. Lumion Faculty is a free 3-year license for faculty members representing educational institutions. Lumion Faculty is restricted to use on university computer labs only.^[9]

Features

Lumion offers real-time rendering, allowing users to view changes and updates instantly.^[8]

It also has integration with popular CAD software, such as Revit, SketchUp, AutoCAD, Archicad, and many more. Lumion LiveSync was introduced for the first time in 2018 for Sketchup, enabling real-time model-to-render synchronization.^[10][8][11]

LiveSync feature allows CAD modeling and Lumion rendering integration for simultaneous work in both environments with modifications that are instantly visible within the context of a lifelike landscape, including realistic skies, vegetation, furniture, and other rendered elements.^[10][12]

Lumion’s render engine combines rasterization technology with ray tracing for realistic light behavior and automatically generates realistic indirect lighting, reflections, and shadows.^{[13][14][8][15][16]}

It is compatible with both Nvidia and AMD GPUs.^[17][18] It supports PBR material workflow, utilizing 8 material maps. Renders natural physical properties through the calculation of light conditions and gives control over the material settings.^[19]

System requirements

Lumion's system requirements vary by version, generally recommending a powerful graphics card, sufficient RAM, and a high-speed processor for optimal performance. A benchmark test is available for individual assessment (Lumion benchmarks the user's computer graphics card, graphics memory, CPU, and system memory; if any of these components have a red score, the user may need to upgrade this component for a better Lumion use).^[20][21]