1. Here's how
There are two ways to work with terrains in Lumion 12:
- Use the built-in Lumion Landscape.
or...
- Import your own model.
2. Using the built-in Lumion Landscape
- The editable Lumion Landscape consists of a high-detail 2 x 2 km square surrounded by a low-detail 10 x 10 km square. The outlines of the squares are yellow and red respectively.
- You can paint the Lumion Landscape and change the shape/height of the yellow 2 x 2 km square at a higher level of detail than the surrounding 10 x 10 km square.
- Landscape Grass is only displayed inside the yellow 2 x 2 km square.
- For those reasons, we recommend that you place your Imported Models inside the yellow high-detail 2 x 2 km square.
- The squares are centered at 0,0,0. The red, green, and blue axes mark 0,0,0.
- It is not possible to change the shape/height or paint the Lumion Landscape outside the 10 x 10 km area.
2.1: To download real-world Height Maps (elevation data) for the Lumion Landscape, we recommend using the OpenStreetMap function in Lumion 10 Pro or newer:
- Knowledge Base: Guide: Working with OpenStreetMap in Lumion 12 Pro
2.2: Alternatively, you can save and load the terrain elevation data from the 2 x 2 km square as a grayscale Landscape Map (also known as a Heightmap) via the Load Landscape Map function:
2.3: If you want to load a Landscape Map (also known as a Heightmap) from a 3rd party application, please use these guidelines to prepare the texture:
- The resolution of the Landscape Map texture should be 1024x1024 pixels. The innermost 1000x1000 pixels are only used for the 2 x 2 km high-detail square. The outermost 12 pixels along the edges are not used. Each pixel of the Landscape Map texture corresponds to 2x2m on the editable part of the Lumion Landscape.
- The color black is equal to a terrain height of 0m and the color white is equal to a terrain height of 200m. Each grayscale step (from RGB = 0 to RGB = 255) is equal to a terrain height of 0.78125m.
2.4: Visit the following page to learn more about Heightmaps:
- External link: Wikipedia: Heightmap
Example of a scaled-down Landscape Map texture:
3. Importing your own model
3.1: Alternatively, import your model in Lumion and use it as a terrain. Please note the following:
- It is not possible to adjust the shape of an Imported Model.
- Imported Models and other models are only displayed within a 35 km circle as measured from the current camera position.
3.2: You can assign a Landscape Material to the Imported Model so that the model uses the same Landscape Textures as the Lumion Landscape:
3.3: When you paint your Imported Model with the 4 Landscape Textures, the Lumion Landscape below your model will also be painted - and vice versa. Please note that you can only paint your Imported Model as long as it is inside the 10 x 10 km square of the Lumion Landscape:
3.4: After assigning a Landscape Material to the Imported Model, it is possible to add Landscape Grass to the Landscape Material of the Imported Model.
Note that Landscape Grass only appears inside the 2 x2 km square of the Lumion Landscape:
