Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
Importing a proxy or a low geometry
3D model
What is a proxy? In simple terms, a proxy is a substitute for something. When
working with applications such as 3ds Max, we can use proxies in our scene. The
benefit of using a proxy is removing geometry from the scene and improving the
viewport and the render speed. When the rendering starts, the render engine reads
the proxy and knows that it is necessary to load the geometry. Although in the
viewport, a proxy can be just a rectangle, but when we do the rendering, we don't
see the cube, but the entire geometry.
Now that we know what a proxy is, let's explain why a similar concept can be used
in Lumion and what the benefits are. Lumion is a powerful application and although
there isn't any official number, we can import geometry with millions of polygons.
Then, we need to add another big amount of polygons from the additional content,
such as trees, plants, people, animals, cars, and water. For a scene, like the one we
are using for this topic, this is not a big issue, but when we start working with urban
models, the initial adjustments that we need to perform, such as sculpting the terrain,
adding content, and other tasks can start to make Lumion's viewport slow and difficult
to manage, particularly when our workstation doesn't meet all the requirements.
A big explanation to say this: we can create a similar proxy of a 3D model and import
it in order to improve the Lumion's speed. A proxy can be really simple, as we can
see in the following screenshot:
The proxy used in the screenshot uses outlines in the fence, the swimming pool, and
the main building. Still, this is just a suggestion and not something that we need to
create to work with Lumion, particularly when our workstation is powerful and can
handle millions of polygons. Let's pick the shovel and start digging the terrain.
