Workflow optimization (best practices)

There are a few things that we can do in order to improve the way Lumion works. This is something directly connected to the workstation we have or, in other words, if our workstation or system is powerful enough, perhaps we will never feel the need to follow some of the suggestions mentioned here.

Configuring Editor Quality

Editor Quality is something we mentioned briefly in Chapter 1, Getting Ready for Lumion 3D. So, if you had the opportunity to read the Quick overview section, you may want to jump to the next section called Using Lumion's layers.

To configure the quality we see while working on the Build, Photo, and Movie mode, we need to open the Settings menu. As mentioned in this chapter, the Settings button is found on the right-hand side. When we click on the button, the Settings menu appears, and for this section, we will focus our attention on just a few settings, as shown in the following screenshot:

Configuring Editor Quality

Remember that we can use our own textures inside Lumion and that they are imported with the 3D model, but the size of the texture influences the time Lumion takes to render the image. The buttons of Settings are as follows:

  • The first button (1) limits all texture sizes to 512 x 512 pixels and saves a bit of memory for huge scenes or low-end graphics cards.
  • The second button (2), in the previous screenshot, was already covered in this chapter, but let's revisit it. When we click on this button, we will improve Lumion's speed by removing or adding levels of detail to the terrain. The shortcut for this setting is F7.
  • The third button (3) is one that affects trees and when we activate this setting, all the trees in the Build mode are rendered with full quality and detail. The other side of the coin is that even if the tree is far away from the camera, Lumion will still render the tree with full quality. Even if we have a powerful workstation, it is not a bad thing to have this feature turned off. The shortcut for this setting is F9.

Then, we have the Editor Quality setting that lets you define the quality of the 3D models, shadows, and materials on the Build mode. We can use this menu here to select the level of quality, but it is a better idea to use the following shortcuts:

  • F1 (for low quality): With this, we have the lowest quality possible, which is not that bad. We don't have any shadows in the scene; materials such as water and glass are not rendered properly on the viewport.
  • F2 (for medium quality): Here we begin to have some rough shadows and more detail on the 3D models.
  • F3 (for high quality): The shadow quality begins to improve and the same happens with the materials in particular water and glass.
  • F4 (for very high quality): With this setting, we have the highest quality possible.

However, remember that all of these settings will not influence the image or movie rendered by Lumion. There is another way to improve the workflow and Lumion's viewport speed.

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