Still early times, but very promising technology. Reminds me a lot of Octane's and Thea's preview mode.
[flash=853,505:62qv1shv]http://www.youtube.com/v/gZlCWLbwC-0&fs=1[/flash:62qv1shv]
[flash=853,505:62qv1shv]http://www.youtube.com/v/Qdw1HvzKt1M&fs=1[/flash:62qv1shv]

Jeff, I've spent some time trying to fully understand the ussage of as* by Americans. I've reached this conclusion:

-It can be a postposition more or less meaning "very", with the difference that "very" is a preposition. Example: "Big as*" = "Very big", "Cheap as*" = "Very cheap". Also, combinations of an adjective+as* can be used as a noun. Example: "Don't be a cheap as*"

-It can represent the person itself, similar to the ancient usage of "soul". Example: "Bring your as* over here right now", "I own your as*", "Hide my as*".

Update: the new top version will be called "Lumion Pro". Still no word about pricing, only that current Ultimate 2 users will have a 66% discount in their upgrade to Pro.

Also, version 2.2 is now available for Lumion 2 Ultimate users. At least the Lumion guys are throwing Ultimate 2 users a bone: A few useful new features and lots of new vegetation.

However, some key things will be reserved for "Lumion Pro", among this, 4 new detailed people models and the ability to save and load self-contained Lumion scene files to and from any location on your PC or on the network. These files can be opened and explored with the Free Version. This is, in my opinion, something so basic to any software that it should have been part of the original release. About the new detailed people, they say "For now it is only 4 we will add more in future 2.x releases." Let's hope this time they actually keep their word and not wait until 3.x to release more detailed people models. This time they know there will be someone reminding them of their old promises.

Here's the relevant thread:
http://lumion3d.com/forum/announcements/lumion-2-2-available-for-download/

Thanks, purchased and downloaded.

Just a little comment about the process. After paying with Paypal, I saw this:

I did find the download link in my email inbox and it worked. I just think that the process could be streamlined a little bit.

Anyway, congratulations on the online store. This is the first time I've actually paid attention to it. I've been following Majid's watercolor-style methods for some time, and this one is more streamlined.

Funny how you trust a company with all your data and suddenly all of that is sold to another company and you must accept it if you want to keep using the product.

I'm not complaining, just pointing out a hard reality that is becoming increasingly common.

Give this one a try:

The Power Email App

Postbox is the power email app for busy professionals, like you.

Postbox (www.postbox-inc.com)

For Gmail and Google Apps accounts with your own domain, setup is fully automatic.

@pc0158 said:

The purchase will lock up all proprietary code under Trimble's control; a re-do as part of another venture would be instantly crushed by lawsuits and the non-competition clauses all employees will be required to sign as part of the acquisition, or which they have already signed as part of their employment at Google.

Still, Michael Gibson, who created Rhino as an employee for McNeel, has created a new modeler called MoI, completely rethinking the UI and way of working.

SketchUp has, by design, a number of limitations. It would be really cool if the same team could start a completely new software, completely re-thinking the current paradigms of 3D modelers and coming up with something that is still simple, but way more powerful. Don't get too attached to a way of working that is already 12 years old.

I'm trying to give my videos a more stylized look in post-pro, including:
-Bloom
-Simulation of film camera... similar to Instagram.

But so far haven't found an affordable/free app that does this. Any pointers?

Current price of Lumion 2 Ultimate if you're not upgrading from a previous version: 1500 euros

Original price of Lumion in November 2010: 749 euros
Price to upgrade to "Ultimate" version in June 2011: 600 euros thanks to credits worth 150€ given "free" to existing customers.
Price to upgrade from Lumion 1 Ultimate to Lumion 2 Ultimate in december 2011: 450 euros with a 10% offer, now 500.
Price to upgrade from Lumion 2 Ultimate to tomorrow's "Ultimate Ultimate" version: Still unknown, but the fact that they said they're gonna give a 66% discount to existing Ultimate 2 customers means the new "Ultra Mazinkaiser Optimus Prime Z Lumion" is not gonna be cheap.

I have no problem paying 30% total price every year for an update that keeps the price of the top version the same... The problem here is that the cost of keeping up with Lumion is snowballing as they create new top versions with higher price tags.

I copy-pasted my post to the Lumion forum. It's becoming an interesting thread. You might want to join...
http://lumion3d.com/forum/general-discussion/lumion-users-a-heads-up-about-constant-changes-in-licensing-policies-here/

I better start learning Unity.

In case you're not up to date with what's been going on in the Lumion world...

December 2010: Lumion 1 was launched. Even with all its bugs, we early adopters supported the budding software. In early spring, we were told great new features would be coming. However...

June 2011: A new "Lumion Ultimate" license was launched with the features of version 1.2 and all "Lumion" licenses became "Lumion Basic" and would have to pay again to have the new features. Lumion Ultimate buyers were told they would always have everything, initially with 5 modules or "plugins", and were told:

@unknownuser said:

We finished 5 plugin packs now and the other 4 or 5 will be introduced later. The ultimate edition will always get the plugin packs for free. So with time the Ultimate edition will become much more attractive.

They also said among the extra plugins coming for free to them would include Advanced Animation and a new library of models for Interior scenes. See this thread.
Lumion users suddenly became an angry mob about this slightly unexpected change, but eventually calmed down and coughed up the money... Or just kept a limited version. Reactions of SCF members back in June 2011 can be read here...
http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=80&t=37871&start=0
and here:
http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?p=333651#p333651

December 2011: The library of interior models and the new advanced animation feature are released... With "Lumion 2 Ultimate" license. That means paying again. The Lumion 1 Ultimate didn't "become more attractive" and didn't "get the plugin packs for free". They just changed the version number and thus forced "Ultimate" users to upgrade to get the new stuff, including stuff they were told they would be getting for free. (The interior models and advanced animation).

May 2012: The Lumion team said they would soon be releasing new juicy features... But in order to not give this new features for free to Lumion 2 Ultimate users, as they were supposed to, they will eliminate the plugin system for the Ultimate license, eliminate the Basic license, and introduce a new "top" version that will have these features. Owners of the basic license are being offered a huge discount to upgrade to "Ultimate", and owners of "Ultimate" will be offered a discount to upgrade to the new, yet unnamed license. See this thread.

I still believe Lumion is awesome. It has become my main rendering software. I only want a very clear, official statement by Act-3D about what's going on and what's coming. Until now, the Lumion team way of protecting themselves has been "This is not an official statement", "please wait for and official statement form Act-3D"... (official statement never comes).

As i said, I'm their #1 fan... and also their #1 critic.

Most of the time, as you have seen, I try to keep peace here and in all other forums. But today I saw the need to start a little fire.

I second Rich's recommendation.

I would dare to say that no image needs to be rendered at more than 1920x1080, if it has top-notch antialiasing.
Unless it's going to be closely examined, like an illustration for assembling furniture or a map.

Maybe it's a cultural thing.

The construction companies I've worked for include soccer, tennis, basket and volleyball fields and a few pools, but never an American Football field... It's practically unknown. Yes, soccer is dangerous, too. A lot of people have undergone knee surgery because of this, but it's not nearly as dangerous as the sports you guys mention.

I have always find this sport too violent for my taste, but in the light of recent news it seems there's more to it that simply taste. There are also serious health risks:

http://www.midwestsportsfans.com/2012/05/junior-seau-ray-easterling-spongebob-and-the-morality-of-watching-football/

Hi, Fred. These look really nice.
Have you tried BSD? A friend of mine swears by it. Also, he omits the wall behind the camera, so more light enters the room.

But Chris, if the model is already done in Revit, what would be the purpose of exporting it to SketchUp? Just to add entourage and render?
If you want movies, there's a direct path from Revit to Lumion.
If you want stills, you can export to AutoCAD and... well, wait until they release the Thea plugin for AutoCAD.

The fact that this thread is already 19 pages long has made me seriously consider learning either MoI or Rhino.

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Yes, I plan to replace it with an animated logo at the end.
Thanks for reminding me.

I asked Bluehost for a refund and signed up for Weebly Pro. It's a joy to use!

Thank you, Pilou!