Next‑Gen Design Collaboration: Inside Lumion’s Evolving Ecosystem

If you work in architecture, you know the real challenge is not the render, it is the message. This session shows how Lumion’s growing ecosystem turns visual communication into a fast, clear, team sport. From early diagrams to client approvals, you can move ideas without breaking your flow, your budget, or your hardware.

This was the first partnered event between ArchVision and Lumion, and the energy was high. The session walked through tools that help teams share decisions faster and reduce rework. It wrapped with an open Q&A, so real questions shaped the takeaways.

Topics covered:

• Lumion View, Lumion Pro, and Lumion Cloud
• AI tools that save time
• Roadmap notes like 3D on the web and GIS exploration

Sold and Supported by Archvision.com.

Meet the hosts

Kelsey from ArchVision kicked things off. The session featured David Weir‑McCall, Head of Product at Lumion, who brings a decade in architecture and years in real‑time rendering.

Highlights:

• Architecture practice background
• Product leadership across AEC tools
• Former roles shaping Unreal Engine and Twinmotion

David’s journey in visualization

1. Architect at Noir and Arcadis
2. Real‑time rendering with Epic Games
3. Now leading product at Lumion

Lumion’s bold mission

Lumion’s goal is simple:  make design communication feel effortless across every stage and audience in AEC. The ecosystem expanded quickly in the past year, so it is a great time to see what changed and why. Learn more about the vision on the Lumion product overview.

The shift in Lumion’s ecosystem

Yesterday:

• Lumion Pro, the flagship storytelling tool

Today:

• Lumion View, fast diagrams and conceptual visuals
• Lumion Pro, advanced visualization and storytelling
• Lumion Cloud, visual collaboration on the web

Lumion grew beyond a single tool. It is time to reset expectations about where visualization fits in your daily workflow.

Visual communication beats more detail

Drawings, markups, diagrams, and renders each serve a different moment. The need changes with every RFI, decision, or review. A 2018 PlanGrid study found 52% rework comes from miscommunication, not missing detail, costing 177 billion euros. CAD and BIM handle data well. Lumion focuses on bridging understanding, the universal language part.

The fragmentation problem

• Fragmented: too many export and import steps
• Disconnected: the second you leave BIM, it is out of date
• Isolated: collaboration happens in email, not in context

Lumion’s answer is a connected pipeline that stays tied to your design tools.

Lumion View: simplifying early‑stage visuals

Lumion View lives inside your CAD or BIM app as a live‑synced plug‑in. It is focused, affordable, and fast on modest GPUs. It launched in beta this spring and is now on Mac for SketchUp and Revit, with Archicad in early access.

Tackling adoption barriers

1. Complexity, View is simple by design
2. Cost, priced for team rollout
3. Learning curve, three core panels, fast wins
4. Hardware, runs on low‑end GPUs

Features for diagrams and concepts

• Solid fill backdrops that let the building lead
• Conceptual styles with presets or custom versions
• Always synced to the model, no exports
• Sun study sync or custom per view
• Three buttons layout, Environment, Styles, Output

Enhance PBR materials from your CAD app, add native lights in Revit, SketchUp, or Archicad, then get ray‑traced results up to 4K with AI upscaling. Export to Lumion Cloud for sharing. Favorite move, the Control+C snapshot to paste right into email or InDesign.

Lumion Pro: power for visual storytelling

For 12 to 15 years, Lumion Pro has made visual storytelling easy for architects. It helps you carry clients from first look to final sign‑off, with mood, context, and accuracy. It now sits alongside D5 and Twinmotion as a top choice for speed and quality.

Ease of use in Pro

• LiveSync to 9+ CAD and BIM tools
• Templates and example projects
• Templated styles to go from import to first image in minutes

Optioneering and fast iteration

• Real Skies for instant environment swaps
• Effect stacks you can reorder, save, and share
• GIS, OpenStreetMap, and satellite context, with Cesium and Google Tiles under exploration
• Dedicated modes for images, videos, and panoramas to tell the right story
• 2,000+ material presets, import your own
• A growing content library for interiors, exteriors, and landscapes

Lumion Cloud: collaboration built for visuals

Launched in August as a free beta for Lumion customers, Cloud tackles review chaos. It is not a design host like Trimble Connect. It is built for the visual pipeline that involves clients, consultants, and teams.

A simple five‑step workflow

1. Upload images, videos, and panoramas from Lumion, or bring media from anywhere
2. Share public or private links
3. Annotate with markups, frames, and role‑based comments
4. Compare versions to track changes
5. Move work through Kanban stages, To‑Do, In Progress, Ready for Review, Approved

Cloud roadmap teasers

• Post‑processing on the web and client paint tools
• Specialized asset packs and auto reports
• 2D floor plan uploads and 3D on the web

One ecosystem, connected by design

There is no new Lumion file to manage. View writes lights, materials, and settings back to your CAD or BIM files. Open the same model in Pro and those settings carry over. Cloud connects from View or Pro in three clicks. That is deeply integrated.

AI in Lumion: practical and time‑saving

Lumion’s AI approach boosts your workflow, not your workload.

• AI upscaler, export faster at low settings, then scale to 4K, 8K, or 16K in minutes in Pro or Cloud
• AI PBR material generator in Cloud, create full material maps from images and build a shareable library

The team integrates best‑in‑class third‑party models through APIs, so your tools keep improving without new learning.

One shared AI layer across View, Pro, and Cloud. It is about speed, not replacing design.

Q&A highlights

• AI post‑processing on Cloud, inpainting and enhancement are in active exploration, for both teams and clients
• GIS integrations, Cesium and Google Tiles are being tested for value
• 3D on the web, interactive variations are coming, with approaches similar to pixel streaming on the table

Communication beats complexity. Lumion View, Pro, and Cloud work together to reduce rework, speed decisions, and keep teams aligned. Visual communication gets easier when your tools stay close to your model.

Try Lumion, sold and supported by ArchVision. Explore products on the Lumion overview page, read more on the ArchVision blog, and subscribe on YouTube for updates.