How to create Realistic Materials in Lumion?

Creating realistic materials can significantly enhance the quality of your renders, making them stand out in any project. In this guide, we'll walk you through the process of creating realistic materials in Lumion, using PBR (Physically Based Rendering) materials, and optimizing your workflow with tools like ShareTextures.

1. Getting Started with Lumion's Material Library

When you first import a model into Lumion, the material library provides a solid foundation. However, for more customized and realistic results, creating your own PBR materials is key.

2. Understanding PBR Materials

Physically Based Rendering (PBR) is a shading and rendering method that offers a more accurate representation of how light interacts with material properties. PBR materials consist of multiple images or maps, each contributing to the final look of the material.

3. Sourcing Quality Materials from ShareTextures

ShareTextures is an excellent resource for premium PBR materials, offering up to 4K resolution. Once downloaded, unpack the zip file to access the various maps that make up a PBR material.

4. Importing and Adjusting Texture Maps

Back in Lumion, select the surface where you want to apply the material. The first map to import is the texture map, equivalent to a diffuse or color map. You can adjust the size, position, and rotation of the map within Lumion's settings.

5. Utilizing the Relief (Normal) Map

The Normal Map, or Relief Map, creates an illusion of depth on the material's surface. If you don't have a normal map, Lumion can generate one automatically based on the texture map. However, for the best results, always use the normal map provided by your PBR material.

6. Working with Reflectivity and Roughness Maps

Reflectivity and roughness maps control how reflective and smooth your material appears. These maps work together with the normal map to create a realistic surface. Inverting maps can be done directly within Lumion, making the process efficient.

7. Metalness and Displacement Maps

The metalness slider adjusts whether a material is metallic or non-metallic. For materials that come with a metalness map, Lumion provides an easy way to apply this for realistic metal surfaces. Displacement maps offer even more depth by altering the actual geometry of the surface.

8. Advanced Material Settings: Opacity, Subsurface Scattering, and Clearcoat

Lumion's advanced settings, like opacity maps and subsurface scattering, allow for the creation of translucent materials, such as frosted glass or varnished wood. These settings provide the finishing touches for a truly realistic material.

With these tips and tricks, you can create highly realistic materials in Lumion that will take your renders to the next level. Whether you're using free resources like sharetextures.com or customizing materials from scratch, understanding the principles of PBR and the tools available in Lumion is essential.
You can check our Lumion Material Library too. It has 500 PBR Materials prepared only for Lumion.