Nowadays, with the continuum upgrade of visualization tools and 3d systems,  and its endless capabilities, the reproduction of our projects in "Real-Life" context has been a successful, but complex journey. 

The new age of things has put pressure in almost all designer fields, to expand their knowledge and skills, in order to survive competition and complete their goals.

Plex-Earth is here for all the designers out there, that would like to make their lives easier, and the process of design more effortless. 

Lumion is a 3D rendering software, with a more architectural perspective, that allows the creation of 3D Models for better visualization.

In the following tutorial, the processes for importing your "Real-life" terrain, created with Plex-Earth 5, into your Lumion's 3D model, is described. Added to the above mentioned, better interaction with the real world is achieved, more accurate preliminary designs are created and your colleagues and clients will better grasp your proposals.

If you don't already have Plex-Earth, download your fully-functional weekly trial from here. 

Step 1: Import High-quality 3D Imagery 

Import your 2D Imagery you have previously created with Plex-Earth 5 for your project area, and then use the "Drape Image to surface" command of Plex-Earth 5 to convert it into a realistic 3D model.

Using this method you will have in seconds, detailed Real-life terrain.

Once you have done that, save the changes to your drawing.

Step 2: Import your Project's Terrain to Lumion

Open Lumion software and start a new Project.

Then, select one of Lumion's listed environments.

A simple way to import your Project's Terrain to Lumion, if you are using a Lumion 10.3 version and newer, is to download Lumion LiveSync for AutoCAD, as your draped images inserted to Lumion in a "Lumion Material" form, may disappear if you re-import a model from Autodesk AutoCAD. 

In case you are using older versions of Lumion, you can check out the Lumion's Model import guidelines for Autodesk AutoCAD, on their website, by clicking here. 

So finally, to visualize your Project's Terrain to Lumion, after you install Lumion LiveSync for AutoCAD, you will need to "Start LiveSync". This way you will directly set up a live, real-time view of your Autodesk AutoCAD model in Lumion.

Tip: It is important, before LiveSync your DWG to Lumion, to previously locate it at the 0,0,0 coordinates into AutoCAD, as the original global coordinates doesn't work well with Lumion. Otherwise you will not be a able to see the model in Lumion's workspace.

And there you have it! Your "Real-Life" Terrain imported to Lumion with the help of Plex-Earth 5.

Step 3: Add or Create your Lumion Design Based on the Imported Terrain

Go to your Lumion project, and in "Content Library", select your own design from "Imported Models library", and/or select one of the object kinds of nature, transport, indoor, etc.

So now, you can move on and place your design or Lumion's objects, in order to enhance the visualization of your Imported Terrain. 

Finally, you can have a complete visualization of your project.

Feel free to contact us at support@plexscape.com, for any questions you may have, and don’t forget to start your free trial today.

Haven’t you tried it yet? Download and start your free trial now! 

Feel free to contact us at support@plexscape.com for any questions you may have and don’t forget to start your free trial today.