Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Lumion VS Blender

Compare Lumion VS Blender and see what are their differences

Lumion logo Lumion

Easily turn your CAD projects into architectural visualization videos and images. Compatible SketchUp and 3D BIM Tools, such as Revit, ArchiCAD and Allplan.

Blender logo Blender

Blender is the open source, cross platform suite of tools for 3D creation.
  • Lumion Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-25
  • Blender Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-04-13

Lumion features and specs

  • User-Friendly Interface
    Lumion is known for its intuitive and easy-to-use interface, which makes it accessible for users at all skill levels, from beginners to professionals.
  • High-Quality Realistic Renders
    The software produces high-quality, photorealistic renders and animations quickly, helping architects and designers present their work effectively.
  • Fast Rendering Speed
    Lumion's rendering engine is optimized for speed, significantly reducing the time it takes to render complex scenes.
  • Extensive Library
    Lumion offers a vast library of materials, objects, and landscapes that can be easily integrated into projects, saving users time and effort.
  • LiveSync Capability
    Lumion’s LiveSync feature allows real-time synchronization with various CAD software, providing seamless workflow integration and instant visual feedback.
  • VR Support
    The software supports virtual reality, allowing users to create immersive environments that can be explored in VR, enhancing client presentations.

Possible disadvantages of Lumion

  • High System Requirements
    Lumion demands a powerful computer with a high-end graphics card and plenty of RAM, which can be a barrier for some users due to the cost of such hardware.
  • Expensive Licensing
    The cost of acquiring a Lumion license can be high, particularly for small firms or independent designers, making it less accessible for everyone.
  • Large File Sizes
    Projects in Lumion can result in large file sizes, which can be challenging to manage and share, especially for users with limited storage solutions.
  • Limited Texture Customization
    While Lumion offers a wide range of pre-made materials, customization options for textures and materials can be somewhat limited compared to other 3D rendering software.
  • Learning Curve
    Although the interface is user-friendly, mastering all the features and achieving the best results can still require a significant learning curve for new users.
  • Dependency on GPU
    Performance in Lumion is heavily reliant on the GPU, meaning that users with less powerful graphics cards may experience slower rendering times and reduced performance.

Blender features and specs

  • Free and Open Source
    Blender is completely free to use, which makes it accessible for anyone. Its open-source nature allows for extensive customization and community-driven development.
  • Comprehensive Toolset
    Blender offers a full suite of tools for 3D modeling, animation, rendering, compositing, video editing, and more, making it a versatile tool for various creative projects.
  • Active Community
    Blender has a large, very active community that supports beginners and veterans alike through forums, tutorials, and a plethora of shared resources.
  • Cross-Platform
    Blender runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux, ensuring that it can be used by people on different operating systems without any problem.
  • Regular Updates
    The Blender Foundation frequently releases updates and new versions, ensuring that users have access to the latest features and improvements.

Possible disadvantages of Blender

  • Steep Learning Curve
    Blender can be difficult to learn, especially for beginners who are not familiar with 3D modeling and animation software.
  • Complex User Interface
    The user interface can feel overwhelming due to the wide range of available features and tools, making it less intuitive compared to some other 3D software.
  • Performance Issues
    Blender may struggle with performance issues when handling very complex scenes or high-poly models, especially on less powerful hardware.
  • Limited Industry Adoption
    While Blender is growing in popularity, it is still not as widely adopted in certain industries like film and AAA game development, where proprietary software like Maya and 3ds Max are more commonly used.
  • Lack of Official Support
    Given its open-source nature, Blender does not have the same level of official technical support that paid software solutions offer, relying instead on community support.

Lumion videos

Lumion 9 Review - Real Skies, Real Grass, Real Problems...?

More videos:

  • Review - What's New in LUMION 9! (Real Time Rendering!)
  • Review - Twinmotion 2020 Review - Is it the end of Lumion for me?

Blender videos

blender

More videos:

  • Review - blender vs zbrush
  • Review - blender vs substance painter

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Lumion and Blender)
3D
12 12%
88% 88
3D Modeling
17 17%
83% 83
3D Rendering
100 100%
0% 0
Game Development
7 7%
93% 93

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Lumion and Blender

Lumion Reviews

Top 13 Picks for Maxon Cinema 4D Alternatives in 2024
The renaissance of CAD designs truly happens when they are transformed into remarkable renders, and Lumion happens to be the art maestro in this terrain. A preferred buddy of architects and designers at large, Lumion fine-tunes your models into vibrant videos, lifelike images, and sweeping 360° panoramas. All this under a sleek interface that might make your CAD software blush.
Source: aircada.com
10 Best V-Ray Alternative Software for Rendering
Lumion is a powerful, easy-to-use 3D rendering software that makes the work of architects, engineers, and other design professionals easy. This software facilitates them to quickly create unique visuals for their designs. Predominantly, Interior designers and architects can use Lumion to enhance their models.
Source: foyr.com
15 Best Maya Alternatives
Some of the unique features on Lumion include volumetric spotlights, surface decals, animated phasing, orthographic views, rain streaks, open street maps, and a full content library among others.
10 Best Rendering Software by Price: Render Within Your Budget
Well known for its realism and quality in the architecture community, Maxwell is an unbiased CPU/GPU-based rendering software that is geared toward industrial design and architectural visualization. Along with an incredible degree of hyper-realism, it also has an easy-to-use setup, which allows you to produce fantastic results with little fuss. The most recent iteration of...
Source: renderpool.net
Best SolidWorks rendering software [2020 Guide]
This rendering software has been for a long time and enables quick and fast rendering of images. Lumion allows easy animation as users can insert cover materials, weathering, aging and transparency with ease.

Blender Reviews

Top 13 Picks for Maxon Cinema 4D Alternatives in 2024
Blender is a robust, free, and open-source 3D computer graphics software toolset. Engineered by Dutch animation studio NeoGeo, its core development was helmed by Ton Roosendaal, and it’s supported on various platforms including Linux, macOS, Windows, BSD, and Haiku.
Source: aircada.com
10 Best Cinema 4D Alternatives for 3D Animation in 2024
Blender is a free software program suite that allows you to create good 3-D content. It has enough tools for each person interested in 3-D modelling, 3-D Animation, visual results, motion graphics, and even video enhancement. Blender is considered a good alternative to Cinema 4D.
10 Best Blender Alternatives: An Overview
While Blender is a fantastic tool with a vast community and resource pool, these 10 Blender Alternatives bring something unique to the table. Depending on your needs, project demands, and preferred workflow, you might find one of these options a more suitable fit. Whether you're after detailed sculpting, architectural visualisation, or intricate simulations, there's a...
Top 10 Best VTuber Maker Software (2023)
Blender is a free, comprehensive, open-source 3D modelling software that is guaranteed to give you a professional-looking avatar. Admittedly Blender does require a great deal of skill and learning. But the level of customisation that Blender offers is exactly what any high-quality 3D avatar needs.
Source: vtuberart.com
10 Best V-Ray Alternative Software for Rendering
Some of the pros of Blender include that it is free to use, it has a built-in game engine, and it supports a wide range of file formats. However, some cons include that it can be difficult to learn and use; there is no official support from Blender Foundation. Overall, Blender is still considered a powerful 3D rendering software.
Source: foyr.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Blender seems to be a lot more popular than Lumion. While we know about 137 links to Blender, we've tracked only 2 mentions of Lumion. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Lumion mentions (2)

  • Lumion 2023 is available for students!
    To download it you have to login into your account https://lumion.com/ Go to My Account, then License Keys, then View more and you will get an option Download Product. Source: about 2 years ago
  • Lumen is beautiful.
    But for high end archviz images, its still not quite there. For this quality, especially for quick/underpaid projects I'd rather stick to Lumion then. Source: almost 4 years ago

Blender mentions (137)

  • Why am getting chinese text when i download blender?
    Update, I just downloaded 3.6 LTS from the blender.org official site, they are asking for donations. This time, the URL stayed. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Why am getting chinese text when i download blender?
    Hold up. When I go to blender.org then add the /thanks to the URL, it goes to that page, then immediately goes to a 404 right after. Interesting.... Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Wanting to download blender 3.6 is the site hacked ?
    This is oddly strange its the usual go to for me to download blender updates (i google blender and click the usual blender.org strange..). Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Why am getting chinese text when i download blender?
    If this is any other site than blender.org, you're at the wrong place. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Women who run their own businesses, please share some tips/strategies that helped you
    Can't say much, here. But I use this to deliver what my clients need. Before you ask why I can't tell - anonymity through obscurity. Source: almost 2 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Lumion and Blender, you can also consider the following products

Keyshot - KeyShot 3D rendering and animation software is the fastest, easiest way to create amazing, photographic visuals of your 3D models. Enter your search in the box aboveTryYour download of KeyShot is only moments away.

Unity - The multiplatform game creation tools for everyone.

Cinema 4D - Cinema 4D is a 3D modeling, animation, motion graphics and rendering application.

Autodesk 3DS Max - 3ds Max is software for 3D modeling, animation, rendering, and visualization. Create stunning game enrivonments, design visualizations, and virtual reality experiences.

SOLIDWORKS Visualize - SOLIDWORKS Visualize provides a suite of standalone software tools that combine industry-leading rendering capabilities with design-oriented features and workflows that enable easy and fast creation of visual content for designers, engineers, market…

ZBrush - ZBrush is a digital sculpting and painting software solution.