Important: 

The following are a partial and summarized collection from the release information.  No specific order of importance or preference.  When needed you should refer to the details in the full Release Notes (see below: More Details Needed?).

• Improved Scene building (see below in section User Interface and Workflow). Lumion 12. [Usability, ease of use, and Workflow Improvement].
• Surface Decals* including Custom Decals, new object type as subcategory in the main F/X-Effects Category. Lumion 12. [Detailing].
  
  
  
  
  
• License plates, Transport Category: Option to enable License Plates for pre-configured Objects in this category.  Includes custom plates. Lumion 12. [Detailing].
  
  
  
• Shadows for Omni Lights and micro-shadows for Spotlights.:  Lumion 11. [Rendering Quality/Rendering Detail.]
  
  
  
  
• OpenStreetMap: satellite imagery and Satellite maps in OpenStreetMap*.  Lumion 11. [Detailing.]
  
  
  
  
• Custom IES Spotlights.  Lumion 11. [Usability, ease of use, and Workflow Improvement].
  
  
  
  
• Fine-detail Nature *.  Lumion 10. [Detailing].
  
  
  
  
• Displacement Maps: Materials Library and custom displacements maps.  Lumion 10. [Detailing].
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Paint Placement.  Lumion 10. [Usability, ease of use, and Workflow Improvement].
  
  
  
• New Group function which lets you group certain Object types an easy-to-use custom Group Library. (significantly enhanced in later versions 11 and 12).  Lumion 8.   [Usability, ease of use, and Workflow Improvement].
  
  
  
  
  
• New Variations function lets you import different versions of a model and switch between those Variations.  Lumion 8.
  
  

• High-quality Preview: lets you see the highest available quality preview of your project before you render.  Lumion 10. [Rendering Quality.]
  
  
  
  
• Additional outputs for Photos: It is now possible to render additional outputs directly from Photo Mode, for example Depth Map, Normal Map, Sky Map,, Lighting Map, Alpha Map, MaterialID Map.  Lumion 8.
  
  

• See Improved Scene building (below in section User Interface and Workflow).
• New 4K movie resolution option (3860x2160) when rendering Image Sequences and MP4 movies.  Lumion 8.
• High-quality Preview: see Photo Mode.
• Ease in/out control for Movie Clips(Movie Clip Editor) Lumion 10.0.
  
  

• See Improved Scene building (below in section User Interface and Workflow).
• Orthographic View Effect: Plan views. Section views. From elevations to isometric. Lumion 11.  [Storytelling/communication of the Space.]
  
  
  
  
• Animated Phasing Effect*.  Lumion 11. [Storytelling/communication of the Space.]
  
  
  
  
• Photo Matching Effect *.  Lumion 10. [Storytelling/communication of the Space.]
  
  
  
  
• Real Skies Effect. Lumion 9.  [Rendering Detail.]
  
  
  
  
• Volumetric Lights Effect* for Spotlights and Omni Lights:  Lumion 12. [Rendering Detail.]
  
  
  
  
• Sky Light Effect.  Lumion 8 and improved Sky Light 2 Effect. Lumion 9. [Rendering Quality.]
  
  
  
  
• Precipitation Effect.  Lumion 9, replaced the Rain and Snow Effect.  [Rendering Detail.] and Rain Streaks*:  Lumion 11. [Storytelling/communication of the Space.]
  
  

• Soft Shadows function in the Shadow Effect that will blur shadows, the farther away from the shadow-casting objects they are.  And, new Fine Detail Shadows function in the Shadow Effect that will add micro-shadows to objects, for example to grass and leaves.  Lumion 8.
  
  
  
  
• Variation Control Effect lets you switch between different versions of an Imported Model to show different materials and designs.  Lumion 8. Rendering Detail.] [Storytelling/communication of the Space.]
  
  

• Improved Scene building (massive UI update to continue the enhancements in the UI over the last few versions).  [Usability, ease of use, and Workflow Improvement.]
  Lumion 12 has undergone a major facelift, making it even easier and more enjoyable. These include:

  • 1.5: Improved Objects Library - Lumion Library and Imported Models Library:
    
    

  • 1.5.3: Improved Imported Models Library.

  • 1.5.4: Improved Materials workflow:
    
    

  • 1.5.5 Improved Groups and Groups Library:
    
    

  • 1.5.6: Improved Object animation functionality making it much easier and simpler to create animations.
    
    
     

    • 1.5.6.1: Advanced Move Effect.

    • 1.5.6.2: Move Effect.

    • 1.5.6.3: Mass Move Effect.

    • 1.5.6.4: Movie Editor and Clip Editor.

  • 1.5.7: New Context Menu (important for workflows): for all Modes: 
    
    
    

     

• Foundation change (all Modes).  The core engine.  Lumion 11. [Rendering Performance and options.]
• Anti-aliasing has been significantly improved when rendering images and movies.  Lumion 8.
• Support:  In-built interactive learning tutorials:
  
  
  
  

• Proxies setting that automatically swaps Objects with proxy boxes to greatly improve Build Mode performance and maintain a high and steady FPS.
  
  
  
  
• Switching between Modes is now faster.
• Textures are imported faster, resulting in less time in importing your models.
• Improved video memory management and overall stability which results in better performance in the editor and a decrease in render times.
• Textures are now automatically converted internally to .DDS format with BC7 compression for better performance and more efficient graphics card memory utilization.
• Improved performance for Build Mode: new real-time GPU up-sampling technology that can be used instead of the old editor settings.
  
  
  
  

The total number of Library assets in the Lumion 12 (including to 12.5) Pro Content Library to 6,903*.

2229 objects are now available in Lumion (Normal).

The total number of materials in Lumion 12 Pro is 1,357*.

* Lumion Standard contains approximately one-third of the Library (Objects and Materials) content of Lumion Pro.

Lumion LiveSync for Revit, SketchUp, AutoCAD, ArchiCAD, Rhino, AllPlan, Vectorworks, FormIt, BricsCAD.

Version 2 importer in Lumion for common file formats when not using LiveSync: FBX, DAE, SketchUp Skp, 3ds, Obj.  Improved .DWG model importer.

• This improves importing performance and decreases importing time in comparison with older versions.
• Optimization of Imported Model file sizes. Model files are now lighter and easier to process than before.

For a fuller list of main changes, see

• Knowledge Base:  What are the changes in Lumion since my version? Key changes

For the full details we recommend looking at these Release Note articles (main updates/upgrades listed here):

• Knowledge Base:  Lumion 12.5: Release Notes
• Knowledge Base:  Lumion 12.3: Release Notes
• Knowledge Base:  Lumion 12.0: Release Notes
• Knowledge Base:  Lumion 11.5: Release Notes
• Knowledge Base:  Lumion 11.3: Release Notes
• Knowledge Base:  Lumion 11.0: Release Notes
• Knowledge Base:  Lumion 10.5: Release Notes
• Knowledge Base:  Lumion 10.3 Release Notes
• Knowledge Base:  Lumion 10.0: Release Notes
• Knowledge Base:  Lumion 9.5: Release Notes
• Knowledge Base:  Lumion 9.3: Release Notes
• Knowledge Base:  Lumion 9.0: Release Notes
• Knowledge Base:  Lumion 8.0: Release Notes

See any of the upgrades and updates (v8 to v12.5) in our News section:

• Knowledge Base:  Latest News

See also our Video Tutorials:

• Video Tutorials:  Lumion 12: Video Tutorials
  Twenty three (23) tutorials covering: an introduction, importing, materials, reflections, lighting and some of the new features in V12.

• Video Tutorials:  Lumion 11: Video Tutorials
  Seven (7) videos: overview, new features such as the Orthographic View Effect, Animated Phasing and an in-depth on Photo Matching.