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Lumion 2023: Update to 23.1.0 - Release Notes

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Dimitris S
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June 27, 2023

Lumion 2023.1 addresses some usability issues and introduces several new features and improvements.

Important: To install the changes, Lumion 2023 needs to be updated. Please follow the instructions in the Lumion pop-up window and see the article below for additional information: 

For background information, also consult:

 

1. New functionality:

Build Mode

1.1 Layers and Layer Manager:

Layer management received an overhaul and it has an updated custom interface. The Layer Manager is accessible by double-clicking a Layer name and has the following features:

  • Layers can now be deleted when empty.
  • The number of objects in a Layer is now displayed.
  • New button to select all objects on a Layer.
  • New button to move all objects on a Layer to a different Layer.

Note: A minimum of 1 Layer is required per given Project. The maximum number of Layers is 32.

See Also:

 

1.2: LiveSync Panel:

When starting LiveSync, a message will be displayed when one or more models are detected in the Project as suitable for reconnecting:

A Status Panel is now displayed when a model has been LiveSynced during a session allowing for:

  • Stopping the connection.
  • Seeing if the connection to the 3D modeling software is still active.



  • Zooming to the model selected from the dropdown menu.
  • Browsing/selecting from the Imported Models list for a suitable to sync.
  • A duplicate of the currently Imported Model can now be created when selecting the Create new model option.

See Also:

 

1.3: Materials Sets:

The interface for loading a Material Set  has been re-introduced in Lumion 2023.1 with added functionality:

1.3.1: New Load Material Sets window.

All Materials are selected by default when loading a Material Set :

1.3.2: Material highlighting has been improved to clearly display when selected:

1.3.3: Select All  and Deselect All buttons are included:

There is pagination for more than 10 materials per screen.

See Also:

 

2. Improvements:

2.1: Build Mode

2.1.1: Object Library -> Imported Models:

  • UI buttons have been rearranged
  • On hover, the (I) button will display the location of the source model:

2.1.2: Materials:

  • Glass Material: The maximum value of the Reflectivity Slider is now set to 200% allowing for more flexibility in the result.
  • Billboard Materials: slider values of a Standard Material applied prior to assigning the Billboard Material will be retained if chosen to revert to the Standard Material .
  • Standard Materials: assigning a  Color or Normal Map in an empty Slot now automatically sets the slider value to 100%.
  • Standard Material with Foliage: The Leaves are now displayed as thumbnails instead of a slider:

2.1.3: Custom Materials:

The Custom Materials Library has been restored to Lumion 2023.1.

Custom Materials: saved in previous versions of Lumion are now converted at startup when placed in the Lumion 2023\Library\Materials\Custom folders.

Also available are Material Library Folders that allow for better organization of the saved Materials.

A Material can now be saved to the Custom Material Category (folder):

Materials can now be organized in folders within the Custom Material Category (folder):

Saved Custom Materials also display a thumbnail showing their appearance in Build Mode:

 

Deleting a Material's Imported texture can now be undone by using the 'Restore original imported texture' button:

2.1.4: Material conversion

  • Custom Materials saved in previous versions of Lumion are now converted at startup when placed in the Documents\Lumion\Library\Materials\Custom folders.
  • Material Sets saved in previous versions of Lumion (.MTT format) can now be opened when clicking the Load Material Set button and browsing via Windows File Explorer.

  • Materials saved in previous versions of Lumion (.LNM format) can now be loaded in Lumion 2023.1 via the Load Material from Disk button and browsing via Windows File Explorer.

2.1.5: Landscape Mode:

Ocean

  • The shading of the Ocean Surface has been improved.
  • The slider names have been tweaked:
    • Clearness : is the inverted value of Turbidity .
    • Water Level : is now used instead of Height .
    • Scatter color : replaces the Surface brightness .
    • Translucent color : replaces the Water brightness .

  • The  Scatter color range has been readjusted and converted to percentages to cover 100% to 10000%.
  • The  Translucent color range has been readjusted and converted to percentages to cover 1% to 100%.

 

2.2: Effects

  • Ray Tracing: Reflections for surfaces using the Glass, Ocean, or Water Material now receive Ray Traced Reflections. However, that does not yet include the Materials themselves.
  • Ray Tracing: surfaces with a Glass Material assigned now render with correct brightness levels and no longer glow in certain situations.
  • Animated Phasing Effect: The UI has been updated with a new design to allow for vertical scrolling and reordering while dragging the tracks.
  • Animated Phasing Effect: The maximum length has been set to 90 seconds.
  • Handheld Camera Effect: The value of the Focal Length displayed in the camera toolbar is now the same as the one in the Handheld Camera Effect.
  • Color Correction Effect: The UI for the Clipping buttons has been improved.

 

2.3: Loading and Saving

  • Merging -> .LS12 and older files: into Lumion 2023 will now result in the correct conversion of the Imported Models. 
  • Loading -> .LS12 and older files:
    • Resource handling has been improved.
    • Unique Material instances are no longer created and are now displayed correctly.

Performance Improvements:

2.3.1: Conversion and Importing:

  • VRAM is now flushed at constant intervals to allow for more stable Project conversion from previous versions of Lumion.

2.3.2: Material Sets:

  • The Loading/Saving routine has been heavily optimized when saving to disk and is now much faster.

 

2.4: LiveSync and Importing:

2.4.1:  Imported Model

  • File name truncation has been improved.
  • Surfaces without embedded textures are now set to Texture 50%.
  • Surfaces with embedded textures are now set to Texture 100%.
  • The Reflectivity value is now set to 0% on import instead of 30%.

 

3. Resolved issues:

3.1: Build Mode

3.1.1: Object Library:

  • Groups: The icon panel has been updated.
  • Groups: The correct name is now displayed and the last character is no longer removed.
  • Lights: Are now displayed correctly when using the Alt+Move command and the Gizmo no longer disappears.
  • Trees: Are now displayed correctly and are no longer black when placed for the first time during a Lumion session.
  • Billboard Characters: now cast shadows from both sides.

3.1.2: Place Mode:

  • Snapping: The Object Orientation is now retained after Scaling.
  • Mass Placement: The Object Placement now remains on the path when using the Randomize spacing along line option.

3.1.3: Select Mode:

  • Box Selection: will not select Objects only when their Insertion Point is highlighted.

3.1.4: Other:

  • Clipping Plane Objects: The available Layers in the “What to clip” dropdown list now resets correctly when opening a new Project.

 

3.2: Material Mode:

  • Billboard Material:
    • Assigning a Billboard Material will no longer cause a surface to use its texture.
    • Surfaces now reset to their original Material preset values after changing them back from the Billboard Material.
    • Surfaces assigned to the Billboard Material are now selectable in their original position.
  • Standard Material -> Emissive map: is no longer offset when setting the Emissive Slider to a custom value.
  • Standard Material : Loading/changing a Displacement Map value no longer creates random results. 
  • Standard Material : Color is no longer changed when using the Hexadecimal color while selecting a different surface.
  • Materials: Materials previously assigned to an animated Imported Model are now reverted as expected when cancelling the assignment.
  • Materials: More than 100 Library Materials now have the Texture value set to 100% instead of 50%.
  • Imported Materials: that were copied and pasted onto another surface during a session are now saved in the Project after reload.
  • Copy Material/Paste Material:  A material is no longer missing after loading a Project when an Imported Material was copied and pasted onto a different surface. 

 

3.3: Photo/Movie/Panorama Mode:

  • Navigation: Camera controls now reset to their default behavior after switching from 2D View to 3D View in the Orthographic View Effect.
  • Camera presets: Dolly shot capture button will also apply the current orientation and position of the camera.
  • Thumbnails: Camera positions are now identical when single-clicking and double-clicking a Thumbnail.
  • Movie Mode: the last selected Clip position is now selected when navigating back to Movie Mode .

3.3.1: Rendering:

  • Additional Output + Billboard Materials: The orientation and position of Billboard Surfaces (Billboard Material, Billboard Characters, 2D Characters) is now rendered as expected with the exception of Alpha Masks.
  • Photo Set + Render resolution: The Poster Resolution would become unavailable when rendering a Photo Set that had the Ray Tracing Effect applied on one of the Photos even when unselected for rendering. This has now been fixed.
  • Preview: The rule of thirds overlay has been adjusted to correctly display for all Aspect Ratios. 
  • Glass Material: Surfaces with the Glass Material assigned are now culled as expected while rendering a Clip.

 

3.4: Effects:

  • Ray Tracing Effect: Reflections are now rendered as expected in combination with the Orthographic view Effect.
  • Ray Tracing Effect: Certain Library Objects are no longer displayed darker than expected in Ray Traced Reflections.
  • Ray Tracing Effect: Disabled Light Sources of Light Objects  are no longer visible in Ray Traced Reflections on surfaces assigned the  Glass or Water Material .
  • Ray Tracing Effect: Surfaces with the Glass Material assigned are now displaying the expected brightness levels when rendered in interior environments.
  • Ray Tracing Effect:  Opacity Maps are now affected by shadows when shown in  Ray Traced Reflections .
  • Color Correction Effect: When animated, the Exposure is now displayed correctly.
  • Orthographic View Effect: The Pitch slider behavior has been reverted for consistency with Lumion 12.5 and earlier versions.
  • Image Overlay Effect: The Offset slider no longer occasionally resets to default when loading a Project.
  • Image Overlay Effect: The overlayed image is now fully displayed when placed next to the border in the final render.
  • Advanced Move Effect: Adjusting the Heading, Pitch, and Bank values now behaves as expected in combination with the Follow Object Camera.
  • Hyperlight Effect: is now also rendered as expected when calculated for Emissive  surfaces.

 

3.5: LiveSync and Importing:

  • LiveSync:
    • Models no longer lose textures assigned in Lumion when the material is changed in the CAD software.
    • Continuously updating a surface color in SketchUp will no longer make Lumion unresponsive.
    • Saving while the LiveSync connection is active will no longer result in missing surfaces for the ones that have 3D Grass/ Fur/Foliage Materials assigned.
  • LiveSync + 3D Grass/Fur/Foliage Materials: no longer result in missing model triangles.
  • LiveSync + 3D Grass/Fur/Foliage Materials: Surfaces assigned one of the 3D Grass/Fur/Foliage Materials now re-tesselate as expected after hiding and unhiding them in the 3D modeling software.
  • LiveSync + 3D Grass Material:  A LiveSynced surface now re-tessellates correctly if the surface was hidden and unhidden in the CAD program.  Or when a different material was applied to that surface
    and then the original material was reapplied again in the CAD program.
  • LiveSync + Standard Material with Foliage: now updates correctly the changes made in the 3D modeling software.
  • Import Model + Import edges/lines: Importing a file with the Import edges/lines toggle on no longer causes visual glitches.

  • Import Model -> Re-import model: A model with 3D Grass/  Fur / Foliage Materials assigned to surfaces no longer results in random crashes.

 

4. General:

User Interface:

  • On-screen tutorials: Various improvements.
  • User Interface: Various UI tweaks.
  • Text: Various text tweaks.

Miscellaneous:

  • Improved Benchmark reporting: The Benchmark measurements now correctly reflect the system requirements.
  • Error reporting: Improved error messages.

 

See Also:

 

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