In the traditional architecture industry, design and visualization were two separate processes. Visualization was often outsourced to specialized companies.

However, with the advancement of technology, real-time rendering has become more accessible and user-friendly, providing architects with greater convenience. They can now see their designs come to life instantly and make adjustments on the fly. Design and rendering have become complementary partners.

So, which real-time renderer is the best design and visualization tool for architects? This article will walk you through two leading engines in the industry: D5 Render and Lumion.

Real-Time Raytracing Rendering

D5 and Lumion both offer real-time rendering capabilities. Although Lumion 2023 has promoted raytracing as its major upgrade, D5 Render was already equipped with real-time raytracing when it was launched in 2020.

So, how does the real-time raytracing performance of Lumion and D5 compare?

Real-time Viewport

Lumion:

Architects using Lumion may experience a significant discrepancy between the viewport and the final rendering results. They need to refresh the preview frequently and wait for some time to determine the rendering outcome.

D5 Render:

On the other hand, D5's viewport provides genuine real-time rendering, ensuring architects can see what they will get and saving them a considerable amount of time. Besides, the viewport is a huge plus when a client needs a real-time 3D walkthrough.

Light and Shadow

Light and shadow are critical to realistic rendering because they convey mood and emotion, and depict the illusion of objects in a scene. The accuracy of light and shadow depends on the algorithm used by the rendering engine.

It can be observed that D5 displays more accurate lighting transitions, as evidenced by the shadows cast by the buildings onto the floor, while Lumion appears to have lost this detail.

Reflection

Glass reflection is an area where D5's real-time rendering outperforms Lumion's.

In D5 Render, nearby objects are accurately reflected in the glass, while Lumion fails to achieve this level of realism.

Even with raytracing on, Lumion's rendering of curved glass lacks the necessary reflections to create a convincing image.

Animation

Animation means a lot to architecture design. By creating animated walkthroughs and flyovers of a building or space, architects can provide clients with a more immersive and engaging experience.

Rendering time

As you can see, D5 only took 1/10 of the time Lumion took to render this 6-second animation, and that was with Lumion using only 2-star quality.

Animated models/particles

D5 Render has 1,037 animated models and particles including nature, vehicle, animal, character, and ornament. All of them can be precisely presented by raytracing.

Lumion doesn't state how many animated models there are in its content library. Yet it should be noted that animated models are not converted to raytracing engine in Lumion.

For reference, while Lumion 2023 comes with 227 new models, D5 has released over 450 new models since its latest update D5 2.4, including 220+ animated trees and flowers for architecture and landscape design.

Check the new animated plants in D5 Asset Library

D5 Render currently has 9,384 models, 2,036 materials and 76 particles.

Lumion 2023 has 7,130 models (and other contents) and 1,452 materials.

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Quality

As previously mentioned, D5's viewport is highly accurate, allowing architects to see the final output result while designing the animation.

Lumion, according to its release note, does not currently support raytracing for animated objects. And "there can be noise/glimmering in movies with RT, depending on the lighting of the scene and camera movements. Low light conditions and fast camera movements are known to cause this."

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Conclusion

Overall, D5 Render is superior to Lumion in many ways. Whether you are an architectural designer or an architectural visualizer, D5's real-time raytracing solution undoubtedly improves your efficiency.

D5 enables you to accurately see the final rendering before output, presenting realistic light and shadow and reflections. With the abundant and high-quality D5 Asset Library, you can take the animation rendering up a notch.