January 06, 2011, 04:02:58 am
Phill,
1.) We used Sketchup for all of the models as this is part of our workflow.  We exported to Collada fies and 3ds files (we were experimenting with workflow for future projects as this was our first attempt.)  Clean model with diligently checking back faces is important.
2.) The exterior was 3 separate models, only due to us adding data as we found how well Lumion handled the geometry.  The building and site were all one model, the fields at the bottom of the hill (football and baseball), and the buss and cars other than the ones supplied with Lumion were the other two for exterior.  The main interior is one file, the gym, cafeteria, and auditorium were all separate (more on the separate files below).
3.)  All of the trees and landcape elements were placed onsite in Lumion.  Did not take that long, and gave me more control over placement in lieu of "painting" them like Cryengine and Farcry type gaming engines…although that would be nice for some areas (nudge to Lumion staffÂ

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4.) The exterior with site and building was approximately 40 mb.  Interiors ranged from 10-40 mb depending on the view.
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The only reason we used the separate files was because we were developing the model as we were trying out Lumion.  If i had all of the information at the start, i would not hesitate to put everything in one model as it seemed to handle anything i threw at it brilliantly.  Let me know if this helps or if you have any additional questions.  Thanks for the kind words and i look forward to comments as i update to the final movie (hopefully tomorrow).
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Brian