I saw an ad for this here in the SCF. Has anyone tried it?

Looks like a cheap alternative to Deep Exploration for format conversion and polygon crunching.

Mouth-watering.

I bought Octane some time ago but I was disappointed by its limitation to just 32 full-color textures.

Dale, why is Indigo RT so cheap? Is there a limitation on the number of textures, too?

I just found the product comparison chart:
http://www.indigorenderer.com/product-comparison

Seems like I'll be missing SSS and IES. Is there a roadmap for future Indigo RT features?

I see you're quite organized, Adam. I wish I was like that. I'm single so I don't have to worry too much about money. And Lumion is, by far, the most expensive piece of software I "own". I mostly use Open Source or Freeware stuff.

But still, I'm waiting for the Lumion guys to get together again (one of them is on vacation) and figure this whole thing out before upgrading or switching to another software. All I want is a clear, unambiguous roadmap with a clear pricing structure for future upgrades.

This means you can test new software and write reviews for the rest of us.

The gap between L*mion and Twinmotion 2 has closed a lot, don't you think? Back in December, we had:

Twinmotion 2: $3,000 + $800 for 12 months of updates = $3,800 total cost in first year of usage
L*mion: $1,100, still no info on the price of upgrades, still no word about the current plugin system

Now we have:

Twinmotion 2: $3,000 + $800 for 12 months of updates = Still $3,800 total cost in first year of usage
L*mion Ultimate: $2,200 + $733 upgrade price when V.2 comes out: Now $2,933 total cost in less than one year of usage

(Prices slightly rounded)

Anyone here using Twinmotion?

Thanks everyone.

I'm now down to two options:
Corel VideoStudioPro X4 (32 bit)
PowerDirector 9 Ultra (64 bit)

I'm currently testing Corel, and although you can import an image sequence, it's treated as individual slides in the timeline instead of a videoclip. I found the exporting counter-intuitive, but still easier than with others I've tried, except WL Movie Maker.

Now to download PowerDirector...

Thanks, everyone.

Is there any "must have" content in the new plugins?

So far, what I know is:
New plants: Mainly for Europe
People: Seriously... Silhouettes?
Movie effects: Look fun to use once or twice.
New water: Now this is something worth having, but oddly, the new water is split between the FX pack and the Environment pack.

How's the download speed today? I'm waiting for the dust to settle and for them to fix the unavoidable kinks that come with a new update.

@thomthom said:

How is it supposed to look btw? "Falling Water"? Anything animated? I don't see anything water-ish except for a light blue surface.

At the risk of stating the obvious... "Falling Water" is the name of the house.
http://www.fallingwater.org/
A cool CG animation of the house made by a Spanish guy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CVKU3ErrGM

With the difference that Vue Infinite is $995, while Lumion Ultimate is $2,200.

At the very least I hope they're tightening up the security so no one running a pirated copy competes with paying customers.

What Lumion really needs for the next version is DirectX 11 support. This way supersampling can be done on a hardware level and rendering movies will be way faster. I had to heavily optimize the rendering of the Samanes Park video as it was taking 11 seconds per frame @720p with no overscan...

At this point I think I'll just sit and watch how the discussion develops both here and in the official forum before making any purchase... I want an official, signed document stating that all future additions to the plugins will be free for those with an Ultimate license. And I also want to know what the roadmap is for future upgrades, along with the prices of those upgrades.

I'm first trying to cool down after seeing that each package will cost around $220. I'm currently mad.

BTW, I see there's still no "buy" link for Lumion Ultimate. Maybe I can wait for it so I can be sure I really have the "Ultimate" license and not just the "Basic" one with a couple of plugins. This way, if they decide to release more plugins and add them to the Ultimate package, I should get those for free. Unless they decide to split Lumion into Basic, Ultimate and Über versions.

I started a new thread to discuss the update as this is no longer about a "test drive":
http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=80&t=37871

It's official:
Lmion now comes in "Basic" and "Ultimate" flavors. In your personal area in the forum it says Lmion basic costs 5,000 "credits" and L*mion Ultimate costs 10,000 "credits".

After entering the code they sent me, I see my Lmion license is now a "Lmion Basic" license, and I need to cough up more money to get the new features...
<sarcasm> They were kind enough to give me 1,000 free credits so I could get one of the five new features for free. </sarcasm>

I decided to open a new thread as the "Test drive" thread was going way off topic... It no longer was about testing it.

Yikes... All the house animations I make have more than 600K edges and 300+ textures. I've been using LightUp so far but I had hoped to improve them with Lumen, adding raytraced reflections and sharper sun shadows.

Looks like I'll have to wait.

How's the baking time, Rich, for a model with 600K + edges?

Other software companies allow you to download a demo to try before you buy, and you can also access the support forum so you can take a look at what kind of problems the users are facing. However, there's no demo for Lumen RT, and you can't even view its forum before buying it. Now that's a blind purchase...

Well, what I'm doing right now is take my iPod Touch everywhere loaded with a couple of my animations. Shopping Malls in Guayaquil are full of stands with sales people from house developments with huge flat screens showing promo videos and handing out brochures. I usually approach one of them, show him an interior walkthrough of a house, and he becomes so excited about it that he gives me the contact info of his boss so I can offer my services to the company. I'll tell you how this method works out, as I'm just beginning with it.

I'm also using Facebook ads targeted at Spanish speakers. So far I have gained more than 1,000 fans, but no client from this method.

@solo said:

I'm thinking that a company of that size and experience will think before acting

No matter the size, they can make mistakes and will rectify if there's enough pressure from the users. Apple, for example, used to charge iPod Touch users for iOS upgrades, but now they don't. An angry mob on the Internet is a scary thing.

@solo said:

I'm also sure that they are aware that if they price themselves out of the market and alienate the students (especially in content by having unreasonable prices) then they will face a serious pirating issue.

They have had a serious pirating issue from day one. I can't post links out of respect for the forum rules.