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Lumion 3D Cookbook

Lumion 3D Cookbook

By : Ciro Cardoso
4.2 (6)
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Lumion 3D Cookbook

Lumion 3D Cookbook

4.2 (6)
By: Ciro Cardoso

Overview of this book

This book offers uses practical applications using recipes with step-by-step instructions and useful information to help you master how to produce professional architectural visualizations in Lumion. The cookbook approach means you need to think and explore how a particular feature can be applied in your project and perform the intended task. This book is written to be accessible to all Lumion users and is a useful guide to follow when becoming familiar with this cutting-edge real-time technology.This practical guide is designed for all levels of Lumion users who know how to model buildings in 3D and a basic understanding of Lumion, who want to enhance their skills to the next level.
Table of Contents (15 chapters)
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Preface
Preface
What this book covers
What you need for this book
Who this book is for
Sections
Conventions
Reader feedback
Customer support
Downloading the color images of this book
Free Chapter
1
1. Importing in Lumion
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1. Importing in Lumion
Introduction
Importing your own 3D models
Importing animations from 3ds Max
Navigating in Lumion
Relocating your imported 3D models
Reverting your last action
Locking your 3D model's position
Organizing your 3D world with layers
Updating your imported 3D models
Replacing an imported 3D model
2
2. Placing the Content
2. Placing the Content
Introduction
Placing 3D models
Copying 3D models
Removing 3D models
Placing models on the terrain
Placing multiple 3D models
Randomizing the size of 3D models
Configuring 3D models
Placing 3D models accurately
3
3. Manipulating and Controlling 3D Models
3. Manipulating and Controlling 3D Models
Introduction
Selecting multiple 3D models
Selecting different categories
Transforming and selecting any 3D model
Spacing multiple 3D models
Aligning different 3D models' orientations
Snapping multiple 3D models
Randomizing 3D models' orientation
Rotate on model
Constraining the 3D model's rotation
4
4. Constructing Your World
4. Constructing Your World
Introduction
Shaping the terrain
Configuring the terrain brushes
Working with the Terrain menu
Changing the landscape
Painting the landscape
Blending the 3D model with the terrain
Working with heightmaps
Adding water in Lumion
Creating a seashore
5
5. Controlling the Weather
5. Controlling the Weather
Introduction
Defining the sun's direction
Modifying the sun's settings
Tweaking the shadows
Tuning the skylight
Adding soft shadows
Configuring the global illumination
Modifying and animating the clouds
Setting up fog
Making it rain and snow
Controlling the wind
Using the Sun study effect
6
6. Working with Lumion Materials
6. Working with Lumion Materials
Introduction
Rolling back materials
Configuring materials
Making the 3D model invisible
Creating a realistic glass
Saving materials
Streaming water
Glowing materials
Adding realistic grass
Improving reflections
Correcting flickering
7
7. Special Features
7. Special Features
Introduction
Creating fire
Adding fumes and vapors
Placing fountains
Falling leaves
Adding text
Using the clip plane
Controlling effects in the Movie and Photo modes
Checking effects in real time
8
8. Getting Realism with Camera Effects
8. Getting Realism with Camera Effects
Introduction
Using the Bloom effect
Adding lens' errors
Correcting the color
Separating objects with DOF
Simulating the Lens flare effects
Using God rays
Adding noise
Isolating colors with Lumion
Using the Vignette effect
Sharpening your image
9
9. Non-photorealistic Effects
9. Non-photorealistic Effects
Introduction
Adding a Manga effect
Using toon shading
Painting your image
Drawing with a pencil
Painting with Watercolor
Creating stills
Using special formats
Creating and combining different NPR effects
10
10. Bringing Your World to Life
10. Bringing Your World to Life
Introduction
Creating a camera path
Changing clips
Animating the 3D models
Bringing people to life
Controlling the camera
Animating curved paths
Animating the camera's focus
Using motion blur
Animating the layers
Configuring the Near Clip Distance effect
Animating effects
11
11. Creating Videos
11. Creating Videos
Introduction
Affecting individual clips
Affecting the entire video
Handling the clips
Creating transitions
Camera effects
Using the Titles effect
Framing and composition
Adding sound
12
12. Rendering
12. Rendering
Introduction
Exporting videos
Rendering individual clips
Rendering stills
Rendering an image sequence
Broadcasting on TV
Working with perspectives
Rendering passes
13
13. Lighting
13. Lighting
Introduction
Using spotlights
Previewing spotlights
Configuring the properties of light
Setting up shadows
Tweaking the Global Illumination effect
Using the Exposure effect
Working with reflection control
14
Index
Index

Importing animations from 3ds Max

In particular situations, we may need to use our own animations. You may be aware that we can import basic animations in Lumion from 3D modeling packages such as 3ds Max. This recipe is going to help us to understand how we can import such animations and the limitations associated with these external animations.

Getting ready

Prior to importing an animation into Lumion, we need to check a few things first. Lumion doesn't support vertex, morph, and bone animations, and we can only bring in basic animations on the move, rotate, and scale values. The frames per second (FPS) rate needs to be set to 25, and you can export your animation as an FBX file or DAE file, although with the last option, the interpolation between key frames will be linear, so bear that in mind.

How to do it…

With Lumion launched, perform the following steps:

  1. On the left-hand side of the screen, select the Import menu and click on the Add a new model button.
  2. In the new window, navigate to where you have your 3D model, select it, and click on the Open button.
  3. Give a specific name to your imported model, or you can just leave the default name, and select the Import animations checkbox, as you can see in the following screenshot:
    How to do it…
  4. Click on the Add to library button to import your 3D model.
  5. Use your mouse and the keyboard shortcuts to navigate around your scene, and left-click to place the 3D model inside Lumion.
  6. After placing the 3D model, you can see the animation going in a loop, which means that you will need to use some Layers effects in order to control these external animations.

There's more…

It's true that Lumion allows you to import simple animations, but most of the time, this is not the best solution. Why? First, once the animation is in Lumion, you have little control over it, and second, only basic animations with the move, rotate, and scale values are possible in Lumion. It's true that we can use a specific layer to switch the animation on and off when required or use the Objects effect to control the position of the animation, but we still have limited control.

However, there is one particular situation when we may import an animation from Maya or 3ds Max. It's when we have a walk cycle of a person that we want to use in Lumion, and in this circumstance, we import this object along with the walk cycle and use the Advance move effect or the Move effect to control it.

Note

In animation, a walk cycle is a series of frames or illustrations drawn in a sequence that loops to create an animation of a walking character. The walk cycle is looped over and over, thus having to avoid animating each step again.

End of Section 4
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