Topic: Lumion 7.0 released

[Morten]

Dear Lumion users,

We are very pleased to inform you that version 7.0 of Lumion and Lumion Pro has been released.

We would like to thank all of you for your support, feedback, error reports and patience since Lumion 6.0, 6.0.1, 6.3, 6.5 and 6.5.1 were released over the past year.   

Lumion 7.0 Pro takes the quality of your presentations to the next level with foliage & weathering effects, transparency, curtains, an Open Street Map city generator, many hundreds of new models and lots of other new features & improvements.

We hope this new version will save you even more time, make work easier and more fun and above all, help you get more projects and customers!

Best regards from all of us at Act-3D!

__________________________________________________

HOW TO RESOLVE CRASHES, ERRORS AND START-UP PROBLEMS IN LUMION 7
Lumion 7 and newer require that all Windows updates as well as the latest graphics card driver have been installed. Please click here and follow the instructions to ensure that your PC is ready for Lumion 7.

WHAT'S NEW?
Please click here to see what's new in Lumion & Lumion 7.0 Pro.

RELEASE NOTES
Please read the release notes below to see what has changed.

DOWNLOADING LUMION 7.0
Licensed customers should have received an email with download instructions (please check your Spam folder on your email account).

Please note that the email is being sent to the email address that was used when Lumion 7 was purchased, so if you work for a large organisation you may have to ask the person who bought Lumion to forward the email to you.

If you haven't received the email and it's not in the Spam folder, please make sure that [email protected] is whitelisted in your email software. Then forward your Lumion 7 license number and purchase receipt to [email protected], so we can send you another email.

INSTALLING LUMION 7.0

• Lumion 7.0 is a complete installation. It is not a patch for older versions of Lumion.
• You can keep older existing Lumion installations if you like - or uninstall them.
• Do not install Lumion 7.0 in the same folder as an older version of Lumion.

Please note that Lumion 7.0 uses a new Lumion 7.0 folder in Documents for scenes, imported models and other data. You will need to copy the Scenes, Library and Miscellaneous folders from Documents\Lumion 6.5 to Documents\Lumion 7.0 to be able to load your scenes and models in version 7.0.

To keep your Favourites from the Imported Model Library and Lumion Library, copy the file "settings45.ini" from Documents\Lumion 6.5 to Documents\Lumion 7.0.

LUMION VIEWER
We will update this thread when we have news about the Lumion Viewer. Please click on the 'Notify' button near the top of this thread if you would like to receive an email when Lumion Viewer is released. If you need to use the Lumion Viewer for presenting your projects, please continue to use Lumion 6.5.1 Pro and Lumion 6.5.1 Viewer.

[Morten]

LUMION 7.0: RELEASE NOTES

COMPATIBILITY

• Please note that scenes and models saved in 7.0 are not backwards compatible with earlier versions.
• Scenes and imported models in 7.0 are saved in My Documents/Lumion 7.0/Scenes & Library folders to avoid mixing them up with scenes and models saved in older versions. You will need to copy your Lumion 6.5 folders (Scenes, Library and Miscellaneous folders) to the Lumion 7.0 folder if you want to load those scenes and models in version 7.0. Make sure to restart Lumion 7.0 after doing this.

NEW FEATURES

BUILD MODE

• New OpenStreetMap import function (Lumion Pro only): This new function makes it possible to import buildings, roads, water, green spaces, and transit infrastructure as abstract 3D shapes. The imported model does not does not include satellite imagery, accurate building heights and elevation data. Please note that this is so-called beta functionality which means that it is undergoing development as an experimental new feature in Lumion, and may be altered or discontinued without advance notice in future updates of Lumion.
• New Area/Line lights (Lumion Pro only): This new rectangular light type has adjustable lengths and widths which is ideal for simulating cove lighting, large light panels and strip lights. Please note that light from this light type passes through models and does not cast shadows.

IMPORTING & EXPORTING

• New ArchiCAD to Lumion Bridge with ArchiCAD 20 support.
• SketchUp 2017 support is now available.

MOVIE MODE

• Material ID custom output renderings: Trees and plants are now rendered with transparency.
• Mass Move effect: It is now possible to move entire paths.
• YouTube upload function: Upload rendered movies directly to YouTube.

PHOTO MODE

• Still rendering upload function: Upload rendered images directly to mylumion.com.

MODEL LIBRARY

• 195 new Evermotion models (Lumion Pro only) in the Indoor & Outdoor categories.
• 136 assorted new models (Lumion Pro only) in the Indoor & Outdoor categories from Fine Co Ltd.
• 19 new vehicles (Lumion Pro only), e.g. cars, scooters, a motorhome and motorbikes from Fine Co Ltd.
• 172 new trees, bushes and plants (Lumion Pro only) in the Nature category.
• 208 new Japanese road signs (Lumion Pro only) in the Outdoor/Signs sub-category.
• 39 new animated 3D people (Lumion Pro only) in the People & Animals category. 34 are seated and 5 are standing/walking characters.

    (Note: the Lumion product has approximately one-third of the models from the Lumion Pro library)

MATERIAL EDITOR

• New Foliage slider (Lumion Pro only) for Standard materials that covers the surfaces of imported models with ivy and 8 other leaf presets.
• New Weathering slider for Standard materials that adds ageing and weathering effects, dirt, worn edges, moss and rust to materials.
• New Waxiness slider for Standard materials which simulates a sub-surface scattering effect.
• New Transparency slider for Standard materials (16 levels of transparency in 5-star render quality, 8 levels of transparency in 4-star render quality and 4 levels of transparency in 3-star render quality). This also applies to Transparency masks in Color Map textures.
• New Aged category: 20 aged/weathered material presets.
• New Curtains category: 20 curtain material presets.
• New Leaves category (Lumion Pro only): 9 ivy/climbers material presets.
• PureGlass visibility has been increased from 2 to 3 overlapping layers.
• New Favourite Material function for Standard materials (Glass, PureGlass, Water, Waterfall, Lightmap, Terrain and Color materials are not supported).
• The Standard material - and other materials based on this category - now provide easier access to settings via tabs.

CHANGES & RESOLVED ERRORS

PANORAMA MODE

• VR Panorama Settings: The tooltips have been updated.
• MyLumion: Typing in numbers in the Viewpoint titles no longer makes it switch to a different Viewpoint.
• VR Panorama: Underscore characters no longer get stripped from file names when saving panorama files.

BUILD MODE

• The overall default exposure has been reduced to avoid "overbright" errors. When you load scenes made in older versions of Lumion you may need to compensate for that by adding an Exposure effect and adjusting it as desired.
• Move Tool: The distance indicator line is now white again.
• ALT-Copy tool: Undo is now disabled after ALT-copying an object.
• Position coordinates now switch to feet when Imperial units are selected on the Settings screen.
• User interface: The altitude indicator lines for selected objects is now displayed correctly again.
• User interface: Yellow Favourite stars are now always visible if the item has been added to the Favourites tab. The grey Favourite star is now only visible if the mouse cursor is over the current item.
• Text (simple) object: The maximum values for the Visible and Fade Range sliders have been increased to 3000 meters and 4000 meters respectively.
• Siderock material: Brush Size & Speed sliders are now hidden as it's not possible to paint with this material.
• CTRL + 1/2/..0: The camera now flashes again.
• Black square shadow artifacts no longer appear when the camera is very high above the terrain.
• Spotlights: Target Light function in Build With Effects mode now picks the correct surface/position, even if the 2-Point Perspective effect is used.
• Re-import Model button: Irrelevant keyboard shortcut tooltips have been removed.

MOVIE/PHOTO MODE

• Styrofoam effect: Styrofoam models are no longer partially tinted by original surface colour when rendered with the Global Illumination effect.
• Global Illumination effect: The keyframe option has been removed from the Sun max effect distance slider.
• Bloom effect: Offset pixels are now significantly less noticeable in user-submitted scenes.
• Reflection effect: The sun is no longer visible in planar reflections when it is below the horizon.
• Reflection effect: A Spotlight is no longer incorrectly included in planar reflections in a user-submitted scene.
• Reflection effect: Planar reflections are no longer flickering at specific Focal Lengths in a user-submitted scene.
• Reflection effect: Shadows on the Lumion terrain no longer temporarily disappear in reflections while rendering the first sub-frame of an image or a movie.
• Reflection effect: SpeedRay reflections no longer cause artifacts by the horizon on a very large user-imported plane.
• Sun Study effect: It is now possible to animate the North Offset slider value.
• In/Out effect: Artifacts no longer appear in a user-submitted scene when combining this effect with the Chromatic Aberrations effect.
• Cartoon effect: Artifacts no longer appear when the Posterize slider value is set to zero and the Saturation slider value is set to a high value.
• Watercolor effect: Artifacts no longer appear when the White Out slider value is set to zero and the other sliders are set to a high value.
• Noise effect: Adding this effect no longer results in artifacts in shaded areas.
• White silhouette people (Coloring = 2.0) no longer emit light when Hyperlight is on.
• 2-Point Perspective effect: In Build With Effects mode, the Target Light function works without a small offset.
• Sun effect: If the Brightness slider is set to 0, the sun no longer turns black.
• There is no longer a difference between PureGlass reflections on Print/Poster resolution renderings and Desktop resolution renderings.
• Depth of Field effect: A black bar no longer appears along the top of the screen in Build with effects mode on a monitor set to a resolution of 1920x1200.
• Shadows from 2D (billboard) people are no longer missing on renderings when they face away from the sun.
• Shadow effect: The transitions between shadow cascade detail levels are no longer as visible in a user-submitted scene.
• Shadow effect: Super resolution shadows combined with a higher Focal Length no longer make the shadows disappear in a user-submitted scene.
• Shadow effect: Artifacts no longer appear on an imported model that uses the Landscape material in a user-submitted scene when the shadow resolution is set to High or Super.
• Pastel Sketch effect: Renderings of this effect in a user-submitted scene are no longer significantly darker than on the preview.
• Rain effect: The rain is no longer horizontal or missing when the camera is some distance away from the world center.
• There is no longer a difference between the preview of the specular highlight from a Spotlight compared to the rendering in a user-submitted scene.
• Volume Clouds effect: The position and shape no longer change while rendering sub-frames.
• Color Correction effect: The keyframe option now works as expected when animating the Brightness and Contrast sliders.

PHOTO MODE

• 360 degree projected reflection map no longer changes to the wrong colour when clicking on a Photo slot.
• Random animation offsets for identical 3D people are no longer reset when going to Photo mode.
• The Show Layer effect is now taken into account when updating thumbnail images for models.
• The Sun effect no longer displays the wrong sun position when combined with the Shadow effect while updating thumbnail images for models.

MOVIE MODE

• MP4 movies are now saved correctly if the folder/file name uses foreign (Unicode) characters.
• Advanced Move effect: The Height tool (moving 3D people vertically) now works as expected.
• Mass Move effect: Deleting paths now updates the total number of paths correctly.
• Certain materials/object types now look correct again on Lighting custom output renderings.
• The render estimate when rendering MP4 movies is now reset to 00:00:00 at the start.
• User interface: Warning message if an MP4 movie file is used in a clip is now easier to read.
• Mass Move effect: The "Found error surface" message when adding a new Path Node is no longer displayed.

MATERIAL EDITOR

• Load Material Set: Material preview images are no longer missing.
• MP4 files (and file paths) with foreign (Unicode) characters now work as expected when using Video Textures.
• Color material: The Flicker Reduction slider now matches the slider in Standard materials and works as expected.
• Imported model files that were placed in a sub-folder of Lumion\Library\ no longer end up in the root of the Library folder after using the Re-import model functions in the context menu of the Material panel.
• Lightmap material: The maximum Lightmap and Ambient slider values have been capped to prevent this material type from glowing.
• It is now possible to assign a material to a user-submitted imported model from an old version of Lumion.
• Standard material: A polygon is no longer distorted when assigning a Standard material to a user-submitted imported model.
• User interface: Sliders in the Waterfall material have been made wider.
• Animations of imported models are now paused in Material Editor mode in order to make it easier to select the models.

MODEL LIBRARY

• All model thumbnail images have been updated.
• The texture filtering method for Transport models has been improved.
• The texture filtering method for 3D people has been improved.
• Self-shadows on 3D people are now less dark in the daytime.
• Eyes of 3D people from Axyz Design now have improved specular highlights from the sun.
• Transparency masks on 3D people (e.g. on hair) is now taken into account again when rendering shadows.
• The following very old tree folders have been moved to the Trees/Legacy folder, so they can be removed in a future update: American_Beech, AmericanElm, American_Sycamore, BigLeafMaple, European_Beech, Green_Ash, Weeping_Willow, WhiteOak.

IMPORTING & EXPORTING

• 3DS & OBJ format: Scale errors in certain user-submitted .3DS and .OBJ files have been resolved.
• FBX format: Layer visibility is now respected when importing .FBX files (Animated Layer visibility is not supported).

MISCELLANEOUS

• Examples tab.Two new demo scenes are now available.
• Load scene: The last displayed line of the Description text is no longer overlapping the date stamp text.
• The Error.log is no longer updated by default (The word "No" should be changed to "Yes" in the "WriteErrorLog" file to enable logging again).
• A warning message while rendering movies is no longer partly cut-off for 1920x1080 screen resolutions in the Individual Student version of Lumion.
• The Home screen no longer briefly appears when double-clicking on an LS6 file while the Individual Student version of Lumion is installed.

[peterm]

Hi

Now that SketchUP 2017 has been released, we can also add that a New Feature to Lumion V7 is support for SKP files from SketchUp 2017.