If you’ve seen any of our speed model videos before, you probably noticed that sometimes we sync Sketchup with Lumion. This allows us to model things in Sketchup that will update in real-time in Lumion. It’s a simple trick that will smooth out your workflow and make your life a lot easier when modeling and rendering! This way you don’t have to upload a new file every time you make a change to your model. So, open up Sketchup and let’s get started!

Sync Sketchup with Lumion

Import Model. Begin by opening up your Sketchup file or importing a model from the 3D Warehouse. We found the model from our video here.

Install Plugin. The next step is to make sure you install the plugin Lumion LiveSync. Click here to read a more detailed article on how you can install plugins to Sketchup.

Open Lumion. Once you have that done, open Lumion and select a background to use. I find myself using the mountain scene often because it adds some detail to the horizon.

File > Save As. Before you can upload your model to Lumion you have to save the file. With Sketchup open, go to “file” and select “save as.” Type the title of your model and hit “enter.”

Start LiveSync. Next to the LiveSync icon in Sketchup, there is a play button. Click on the button to begin the live sync and sync Sketchup with Lumion. Now go back to Lumion and your model should be automatically imported!

In our model, we noticed there was an issue with the grass interfering with the ground plane that was imported. To fix this, we switched over to Sketchup and deleted the ground. Then we hit “ctrl” + “S” to save the model. If we switch back over to our Lumion model we can see that the ground plane is now gone.

Even before we do any rendering in Lumion you can tell what a difference there is in the quality of the renderings.

Stop LiveSync. If you want to stop the live sync, just go to Sketchup and click on the “stop” button next to the LiveSync icon. There is also an option to start or stop camera synchronization. Turning it on will essentially keep whatever view you have in Sketchup in Lumion as well. This is a great option if you are modeling, but we have noticed it can clip a lot of objects in the view.

Now that you know our secret to sync Sketchup with Lumion, let us know what other questions you may have! Our speed models usually focus on the rendering in Lumion because it’s more aesthetically appealing, but maybe we will include more behind the scenes looks in our future videos. Let us know what you think in the comments below! If you want to check out some of our speed models take a look at our YouTube channel here. If you want more Sketchup tips and tricks, be sure to check out at our full list of tutorials.

Happy Hacking!