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Lumion 9.0: Release notes

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Lumion 9.0: Release Notes

Compatibility

  • Please note that scenes and models saved in 9.0 are not backwards compatible with earlier versions.
  • Please click on the following link to see how to open projects from older versions of Lumion:
  •  Knowledge Base: Lumion 9.0: Everything you need to know

Note: Features, models and materials with the asterisk (*) character are only available in Lumion 9.0 Pro.

 

New Features

Movie, Photo and Panorama Mode

  • New Real Skies Effect in the Weather category: Instant, beautiful skies to take your breath away. With 39 Real Skies and their pre-configured Sky Light 2 settings in Lumion 9, it takes a single click to give your design the perfect clear blue morning, stormy afternoon or unforgettable sunset. *
  • Improved Sky Light 2 Effect in the Weather category: The Skylight Effect has been updated so that it works with the Real Skies Effect. *
  • New Precipitation Effect in the Weather category: Express the real feeling of your designs with the new Atmospheric Rain and Snow, part of the Precipitation Effect. With just a click, you can create everything from the light drizzle to a full-blown downpour, the winter flurry to a whiteout blizzard. *

         

 

Material Editor

With the new additions, the total number of materials in Lumion 9 Pro is 1,120. *

  • New 3D Grass category with 14 highly detailed 3D Grass Materials. Spice up your landscape designs and add a variety of configurable, realistic grasses to your parks, gardens, lawns and any other surfaces. *

         

  • New Fur category with 10 highly detailed Fur Materials. With a new furry material setting, you can create a lifelike rug or carpet, an ultra-comfy fleece blanket or a highly realistic object, such as a teddy bear, in seconds. *

         

  • 88 new high-definition materials from Poliigon.com in the Indoors, Outdoors and Rock category:
    • 7 new fabrics including cashmere, muslin and printed rugs.
    • 6 new curtain materials.
    • 6 new plaster materials.
    • 14 new marble stone materials.
    • 8 new brick materials.
    • 5 new concrete materials.
    • 8 new metal materials.
    • 4 new roofing materials.
    • 8 new cobblestone stone materials.
    • 15 new wood materials.
    • 7 new rock materials.

 

Model Library

  • 634 new models are available in Lumion 9 Pro. These include:
    • 91 new trees, plants and rocks from around the globe, including variations in shape and size. *
    • 459 indoor objects ranging from high-quality kitchen appliances, seating, desks, storage items and other home furnishings. *
    • 5 outdoor objects, including apartment blocks and outdoor furniture. *
    • 30 new, high-quality animated 3D people, including men, women, elderly people, bicyclists and more. *
    • 10 new vehicle models, including HD cars, sports cars and SUVs. *
  • All of the new objects are HD quality, and the new additions bring the total number of objects in the Lumion 9 Pro content library to 5,259. *
  • Lumion has approximately 33% of the models from the full Lumion Pro Model Library.

 

Importing & exporting

  • New Lumion LiveSync for Rhino plug-in for Rhino 6: With the new Lumion LiveSync for Rhino plug-in, you can simultaneously model and render, visualizing changes in real-time in Lumion 9. Sync camera perspectives and materials while continuing to develop the shape and form of the model, and experience your design in a whole new way as you’re creating it.
  • New dedicated Import edges button: Import edges from SketchUp files (.SKP format) and 2D lines from 3DS Max via .FBX format.

 

Build Mode

  • New interface for Object Mode: When it comes to forming real connections between the client and your designs, context is critical. For Lumion 9, an intelligent and more intuitive interface enables lightning-fast scene building with exceedingly beautiful context. Selecting objects now happens on-screen, letting you instantly cycle between trial-and-error options and choose the exact tree, furnishing or another object that’s perfect for your design. After selecting an object, the model is rendered in real-time so that you can correctly review, scale and place objects or groups of objects with greater ease and control.
  • Make adjustments before object placement: Rotate models to face the right way, align furniture with surfaces, set the correct height for lights and wall decorations, tweak the size and pick the color for your cars right before placing. In Lumion 9, placing objects is now more intuitive, easier and faster via easy-to-use hotkeys can help ensure the right placement while saving you valuable time and streamlining your scene building processes.
    • Use the R key to rotate before placing a model.
    • Use, the H key to change height before placing a model.
    • Use the L key to adjust the size before placing a model.
    • Use the C key to randomize the color of Transport models before placing them.
  • New Align heading with model surface function: Hold down the F key while rotating a model to make the orientation of the model match the surface that the mouse cursor is pointing at.
  • New Object Options window with an Advanced Options menu: Most Context Menu functions have been moved to the re-designed Object Options window in order to provide easier access to useful functions.
  • New Object Selection function: Easier object selection by clicking directly on models to select them, with visual feedback showing which objects and/or groups are selected. Selected objects have a blue outline and color overlay, groups have an orange outline and color overlay.
  • Instant object focus: With Lumion 9, you’re only a double-click away from virtually any object in your scene. Simply locate the blue outline or the Object Icon of an object and double-click. In an instant, you’ll whiz across the Lumion editor with a close-up focus on the object you selected. Alternatively, click on the new Focus on selection button in the Advanced Options menu of the Object Options window.
  • New Save Group and Load Group functionality: With Lumion 9, it’s now possible to save your object group arrangements as a Lumion Group file (.LSG9). After you’ve created a Group, click on the Save Group icon in the Object Options panel.To load the Group, click on the Place button and then Select all categories. Next to these icons, you should now find the Load Group option.
  • New Place item on nodes functionality: It is now possible to place any Model Library object on models with imported Nodes. This function is available in the Advanced Options menu of the Object Options window:

         

  • New Replace selection functionality: Choose and preview the model that will replace the selection.
  • New Cluster Placement button: A dedicated button has been added for the Cluster Placement function (The keyboard shortcut CTRL + V + Left Mouse-Click is still available).
    •   This function now shows a preview of where the copies of the selected object will be placed.
    • Every time you press the Shift key, the positions of the copies of the selected object will be randomized.
  • New Set eye level at 1.60m button in Build Mode: In Build Mode, place the camera 5ft 3” (1.60m) above the Lumion Terrain or the closest surface of an Imported Model.
  • New, improved OpenStreetMap functionality: Need urban context, fast? In Lumion 9, OpenStreetMap has gone through a major update to bring you higher quality city context at faster speeds than before:
    • More detailed landmark buildings and roofs.
    • Lumion now generates more types of land, e.g. a variety of industrial, urban and greenspace land types.
    • Reflection Planes can now be added to OpenStreetMap water in the Reflection Effect.

 

Loading & saving

  • New option to import Photos, Movies and Panoramas from a different Scene in the Merge Scene dialog window. Please note that existing Photos, Movies and Panoramas will be overwritten.
  • New Incremental Save button on the Save Scene tab. To save time when saving different versions of your Scene, this button will automatically add a number to the Scene name and increase the number every time you click on it.
  • New Recovery option on the Settings screen. If Lumion or your PC crashes, Lumion will offer you the option to try to recover the Scene.

 

Miscellaneous

  • The demo scenes that are included in Lumion have been updated.
  • Improved Color Selector:
    • Hold down the Shift key while moving the mouse to make small adjustments to the selected color.
    • Hold down the CTRL key while moving the mouse vertically or horizontally to lock the axis.
    • Copy the color from the solid color bar of the Color Selector with CTRL + C and use CTRL + V to paste it onto the solid color bar of any other Color Selectors in Lumion.

 

Changes & Resolved Errors

Build Mode

  • Copied objects (Alt + Move selection) now keep their height. If the selection contains models from the Nature category, they will be placed on Imported Models or on the Lumion Terrain, depending on what is closest to the models..
  • Move models along Z/X axis now use the Z and X keys instead of the N and M keys.
  • The M key will switch to Move Mode.
  • The R key will switch to Rotate Mode.
  • The L key will switch to Size Mode.
  • OpenStreetMap: OpenStreetMap data is removed from .LS7 and .LS8 Scene files due to the new, upgraded OpenStreetMap functionality. The OpenStreetMap location is transferred from .LS7 and .LS8 Scene files, so that you can download the same OpenStreetMap data in Lumion 9.
  • OpenStreetMap: The selection area is now circular instead of square and the range is currently about half of what it was older versions of Lumion. This is subject to change depending on how often the feature is used.
  • OpenStreetMap: Lumion no longer gets stuck if you cancel the model generation or the download process when the progress bar is between 50% and 99%.
  • OpenStreetMap: Hold down the Shift key while adjusting the Map range slider to fine-tune the radius of the circular selection area on the OpenStreetMap map.
  • Place item on nodes: Imported Nodes with identical positions and orientations are now merged into a single Node.
  • If you delete a Group and undo the action, the objects in the Group are no longer ungrouped.
  • A heading slider for trees and plants is now displayed in Rotation Mode.
  • The Pitch and Bank sliders are no longer displayed for models from the People and Animals category in Rotation Mode.
  • The scale of Simple text objects is now correct.
  • The empty, white Template Scene now has a uniform color across the entire Lumion Terrain.
  • Sun shadows are now fully reset every time you load a new Scene.
  • The Place on ground function has been improved. It will no longer only place models on the Lumion Terrain or on the highest point Imported Models. It will also take the closest point inside Imported Models (for example inside a building) into account.
  • Mass Placement: It is no longer possible to use objects from the Sound category.
  • Replace selection: The color of replaced Transport models now use the random color palette instead of being black by default.
  • Find selected in library: This function now locates the selected model and opens the right page in the Model Library.
  • Cluster Placement: It is no longer possible to use objects from the Sound and Lights and Utilities categories.
  • Overlapping Water planes can now be deleted in all situations.
  • Select all identical objects and Select all objects in category: These functions no longer select objects that are part of Groups.
  • If a locked Group and an unlocked Group are moved at the same time, the grouped objects now move as expected.
  • It is now possible to use the mouse to increase the Size of models up to the maximum value of the Size slider.
  • The FPS indicator (frames per second) in the top right corner now appears when the FPS drops below 12 FPS.
  • Mark as Terrain has been removed.  The collision data created by setting a model with Mark as terrain for an Imported Model is now done automatically when the model is placed in the Scene.

 

Loading & saving

  • Save Scene: If the Save Scene function fails to save a file, the reason will now be displayed.
  • Save Scene: Lumion no longer crashes if the Scene file location & file name exceed 247 characters.
  • Save Scene: It is no longer possible to use invalid characters when creating file names and sub-category names in the Imported Model Library.
  • Save renderings: When rendering multiple Photos or Panoramas with the same name, the file names will be numbered.
  • Merge Scene: Grouped objects remain grouped when being merged into a different Scene.
  • Merge Scene: Clicking on the Overwrite button will no longer accidentally overwrite the Scene file that was selected during the Merge Scene process.
  • Merge Scene: The object names, positions and Layer assignments of merged objects will be compared with existing objects in the Scene in order to avoid unwanted duplicates.
  • Merge Scene: Merged Spotlights that were part of a Group can now be selected.

 

Movie, Photo and Panorama Mode

  • Standard Materials with emissive properties that were placed behind or below a Water Material no longer exhibit artifacts on Photos and in Clips.
  • Store camera and Restore camera: Tooltips for the corresponding keyboard shortcuts are now only displayed in Photo Set 1.
  • Generic Device Panoramas (equirectangular format) now include Exiv2 tags so that they are recognized as panorama images when opening them with Oculus Go VR headsets.
  • Material ID output map: The animation frame of 3D people and animals now matches other custom output map types.
  • Material ID output map: Random black pixels no longer appear on the Lumion Terrain in certain situations.
  • Layer Visibility Effect: This Effect is no longer active in Build with Effects Mode.
  • The tonemapping when rendering Panoramas now matches the tonemapping when rendering Photos and Clips.
  • Titles Effect: The Effect options window is now centered and the background has been updated to the latest version of Lumion.
  • Motion Blur Effect: This now has a subtle effect at Print and Poster resolution. Please note that it is still not as intense as at lower resolutions.
  • Handheld Camera Effect: The Tilt slider range is now limited to -90 to +90 degrees.
  • Layer Visibility Effect: This Effect no longer loses all keyframes when you add another Effect to the Effects Stack.
  • The Effect sliders are no longer hidden when loading an Effects Stack that contains keyframes but no keyframes at frame 0.
  • Omnishadows: OmniShadows now have the same brightness in all Photo resolutions.
  • Reflection Effect: Projected Reflections are now displayed correctly on Water Materials if the Preview Quality is set to Low.
  • Reflection Effect: Planar Reflections assigned to Standard Materials are now rendered at the highest resolution when rendering Print and Poster resolution images.
  • Shadow Effect: This Effect no longer makes a part of the Waterfall Material invisible in certain situations.
  • Shadow Effect: Depth sorting now works as expected while the Shadow Correction slider value is greater than 0.
  • Shadow Effect: The preview of the Fine detail shadows option no longer results in artifacts in some situations.
  • Volume Clouds Effect: Projected Reflections are now updated as expected when this Effect is adjusted.
  • The Lumion sky is now updated every frame when rendering a Clip or a Movie in 2 Star quality.
  • The sun shadows are now updated on the small preview image in the Render Movie window in all situations.
  • While typing text in Lumion, the U key will no longer inadvertently update the Projected Reflections and the sky.
  • When pressing the F11 key to enter Theater Mode from Photo Mode, any assigned effects are now also shown in this Mode.
  • Holding down the U key will temporarily show the sky, moon and clouds in high resolution. This also works in Build with Effects Mode.
  • Advanced Move Effect: The Time offset slider is no longer active while editing this Effect.
  • The preview window in Movie Mode no longer shows extreme motion blur if the Motion Blur Effect is assigned to a Clip and you hold down one of the navigation keys.
  • The Near Clip Plane distance has been lowered for Projected Reflections, so that this reflection type no longer clips models that are close to the camera (or close to the Reflection Control Object if this object was added manually to a Scene).
  • Snow Effect: This Effect has been replaced by the Precipitation Effect in Lumion Pro and is no longer available in Lumion. Please click here if you would like to use it anyway.
  • Rain Effect: This Effect has been replaced by the Precipitation Effect in Lumion Pro and is no longer available in Lumion. Please click here if you would like to use it anyway.
  • While rendering Clips and Movies, you can now see how many seconds out of the total duration of the Clips or Movie that Lumion has finished rendering.

 

Materials

  • Standard & Color Materials: The Flicker reduction slider range in the Standard Material has been reduced to an offset of  +/-10cm at a distance of 25 meters from the camera.
  • Standard & Color Materials: It is now possible to double-click on the Flicker reduction slider in Standard and Color Materials to enter a numeric slider value.
  • Standard Materials: An error icon is displayed by the Color Map slot in Standard Materials if an .MP4 file fails to load.
  • Standard Materials: The Flicker Reduction slider in Standard Materials no longer shows the slider value from the previously selected surface.
  • Lightmap Materials: The camera angle no longer changes the exposure when using Lightmap Materials with certain settings.
  • Opening the Material Properties panel should now work better if you double-click the thumbnail image of a material in a Scene with a low framerate.
  • The correct Material Category and sub-category now opens after closing certain Material Property panels.
  • The Material Editor will no longer open the Favorites tab when you click on a surface with an Imported Material (provided that at least one Favorite Material exists).
  • Load Material Set & Save Material Set: These functions have been moved from the Context Menu to buttons in the Object Options window in order to make them more accessible.

 

Model Library

  • The reflectivity of HD cars has been reduced.
  • The color palette for random car colors has been updated in order to match the color distribution percentages of automotive industry surveys in 2017. The colors are now also less saturated, so that the cars will not stand out as much in your Scenes.
  • Big_Blue_Lily: This flower no longer has missing stems.
  • Man_Asian_0013_Walk: The Normal Map for the briefcase has been fixed.
  • The Transparency slider for trees/plants and 3D silhouette models now works the same way.
  • The Leaf small, Leaf medium and Leaf large sub-categories in the Nature category have been merged into a new Broadleaf category.
  • The rotation of flags is no longer reset when you switch to Photo, Movie and Panorama Mode.
  • The Search function has been improved. Object file names are split up and the category is taken into account.

 

Importing & exporting

  • Updated import screen:
    • .SKP: Edges can be imported from .SKP files from SketchUp.
    • .DAE: Edges can be imported from .DAE files from SketchUp. Turn on the Export edges option in the Collada .DAE export options dialog prior to exporting the .DAE file.
    • .FBX & .MAX: 2D lines from 3ds Max can be imported.
    • The Import animations option is only shown when .FBX and .DAE files are selected.
    • The Import edges option is only shown when .SKP, .DAE,. FBX and .MAX files are selected:
  • .KMZ files can no longer be imported:
    • Use Sketchup to convert .KMZ files to .SKP format.
    • Or rename .KMZ files to .ZIP and unzip them before importing the zipped .DAE file.
  • LiveSync: The LiveSync disconnected tooltip is no longer saved with models.
  • LiveSync: A Set import message no longer appears after deleting a LiveSync’ed model and resuming LiveSync for the model.
  • LiveSync: LiveSync no longer overwrites existing Imported Models with the same name if such models exist in sub-categories of the Imported Models Library.
  • LiveSync: A model with Variations no longer shows more than one Variation while the model is LiveSync’ed.
  • LiveSync: LiveSync now stops automatically if you switch from Build Mode to Photo, Movie or Panorama Mode.
  • LiveSync: The Focal Length in Build Mode and Build With Effects Mode are no longer different when LiveSync is active.
  • When an imported model includes textures with resolutions in excess of 16,384 x 16,384 pixels, Lumion will no longer crash. Instead, errors will be displayed and the texture(s) will not be imported.
  • Re-import model and Re-import model from new file are now available as a button in the Object Options panel.
  • Re-import model and Re-import model from new file no longer imports animations if the original model was imported with Import animations disabled.
  • Placed objects are no longer offset when an imported .SKP file contains Components that have been grouped and are used for Place item on nodes.
  • Importing animated models no longer results in lots of unique materials.
  • It is no longer possible to import animations via .MAX format. The recommended format for importing animations is the .FBX and .DAE format.
  • Certain non-glass materials are no longer made semi-transparent when imported via .SKP format.
  • Imported Nodes are no longer visible when imported via .SKP format.
  • The variation name and thumbnail image are now updated correctly when re-importing a variation via Re-import model and Re-import model from new file.

 

Settings

  • If the Go fullscreen option is selected on the Settings screen when closing Lumion, the option will be disabled when starting up Lumion again in order to prevent the start-up time from being longer than usual.

 

Miscellaneous

  • The Windows properties for the Lumion executable file (Lumion.exe) now includes the following information:
    • File description.
    • File version.
    • Product name.
    • Product version.
    • Copyright.
    • Language.
    • The original file name.
  • The error messages in case of problems with the License Key during start-up have been made clearer.
  • The language selection option is now also available on the User Analytics screen.
  • The error messages in case of problems when saving .LS Scene files have been made clearer.
  • The on-screen help text has been improved.
  • The tooltips text has been improved.
  • The user interface text has been improved.
  • The F10 key has been disabled and no longer activates an (empty) menu bar.
  • Mousewheel up/down + Shift + Space now moves the camera forwards/backwards much faster.
  • The Lumion installer now uses the most recent version of the Lumion logo.
  • An issue with the encoding of the End-User-License-Agreement text has been resolved.
  • The 7z.exe file is no longer distributed with Lumion.