Lumion vs Enscape: Which one is better for Architectural Rendering?

These days, there is an abundance of 3D software that enables users to visualize their ideas and notions, making the process so much simpler. Chip Render will talk about Lumion vs Enscape today as two well-known pieces of 3D software. What makes these two 3D programs so exceptional, and how might they improve your design? In today’s blog, let’s find out about them!

Lumion

Lumion is a powerful architecture visualization program that lets you create spectacular 3D renders and animations of building concepts. It is commonly used by architects, designers, and urban planners to bring their ideas to life and display them in a visually appealing format.

Since its debut in 2010, this program has garnered significant attention from the architecture and design community and has grown significantly in popularity.

It has also advanced significantly over the last many years as a result of the addition of numerous new tools and features that are made available to users with every new edition.

Image source: Lumion.com

Enscape

Enscape is a popular and adaptable visualization program that offers architects and designers a simple way to create high-quality visualizations. With its real-time rendering, seamless integration, customization possibilities, and collaborative tools, Enscape has grown in popularity among those trying to streamline their workflow and save time.

This particular software creates generated graphics of high quality, and rendering with it has become standard in the business.

Image source: Enscape.com

Animation and Rendering

The quality of Lumion renders is improving significantly and the product is becoming better and better. The rendering quality has significantly improved in Lumion’s many versions over time.

Additionally, Lumion offers an extensive picture resolution options in addition to a wide range of visual effects. It can be applied to both interior and exterior spaces, including realistic images and increased light, wind, rainfall, and night effects.

Rendering an animation can take several hours, but rendering a picture can take less than a minute. There is also a panorama option in Lumion, which is for urban projects and allows for the capturing of panoramic images.

Image source: Lumion.com

On the other hand, Enscape is a flexible plugin that may be used with a variety of 3D programs. This facilitates the job of architects and designers. The 3D render can produce excellent results. It takes a few seconds to a minute once all the textures have been put up and scene elements have been included.

It also provides the ability to make panoramic images and videos. Furthermore, Enscape provides you with several options before rendering, including 4 different rendering styles: default, white, polystyrol, and light. You can also adjust the field of view and the resolution of the image before rendering.

Populating Scenes

Because Lumion is primarily a rendering program, 3D objects must be imported from another 3D modeling program. Additionally, you may make use of Lumion’s extensive and well-stocked library, which has a wealth of architectural assets in addition to a variety of things including plants, vehicles, animals, interior furniture, and even effects like fire and water. Depending on the requirements of the project, these items can alter in terms of proportion, color, and material. It also provides ready scenes and landscape assets to include in the project like a realistic sky, sea, landscape, and even desert. To better integrate the project on the web, users can alter these settings by adding mountains, a lake, and slobs.

However, Enscape has many features, including virtual tours, annotation, animation, rendering, and landscape design. It also has a vast bank of assets, including people, flowers, and plants.

Additionally, Enscape’s Camera may rotate an object and set up scenarios. A wide range of realistic textures are also available for rendering outcomes. Since the modeling software and Enscape are linked, any modifications made in the modeling program are automatically reflected in Enscape, which is a wonderful advantage of utilizing Enscape. 

User Interface

You will find an extremely user-friendly UI in Lumion. It does not have many tools because they are all connected to give a very efficient working environment.

The working tools are so simple to use that even a novice may use them with ease. 

Like Lumion, Enscape has been getting better with every upgrade. Users are accustomed to the software’s UI even before they use it for the first time.

The system specifications for Lumion or Enscape rely on the quality you want from your rendered graphics.

Because Lumion is a powerful and heavy software due to the quality of its renderings and capabilities, it needs a powerful computer with a powerful graphics card and plenty of RAM. Additionally, it is preferable if the computer is a desktop model with an effective ventilation system to prevent overheating of the graphics cards and processor. 

Lumion is available only on Windows, and there is no MAC version. The following are the system requirements you need to work well with Lumion:

• Graphic card: 6GB or more.  GPU scoring a G3DMark of 8,000 or higher with up-to-date drivers (Such as the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060, Quadro K6000, AMD Radeon RX 580, or better)
• 64-bit up-to-date Windows 10 operating system or newer
• AMD or Intel processor with a CPU Mark of 2000 or above
• Minimum 16 GB of RAM or more
• Minimum 40 GB of free disc space

Because Enscape produces high-quality renders, similar to other rendering applications, it requires a fast computer with an external graphics card and a powerful processor in addition to being able to run 3D packages like Sketchup, Revit, and others. 

In the case of Enscape, the system requirements are as follows:

For Windows:

• Operating system: Windows 10 or higher
• Graphic card: NVIDIA or AMD dedicated GPU with 4GB VRAM that supports Vulkan 1.1. NVIDIA GeForce GTX 900 series / Quadro M series and newer
• 4GB VRAM

For macOS:

• Operating system: Monterey 12.6 and higher 
• M1: MacBook Air (M1, 2020), MacBook Pro (M1, 2021), iMac (M1, 2021)
• M2: MacBook Air (M2, 2022), MacBook Air (M2, 2022)
• M3: MacBook Pro (M3, 2023)

Lumion and Enscape are relatively easy to learn, use, and pick up. Lumion is more akin to a basic piece of software that everyone may use. The commands and tools are arranged as follows: first, select the environment; next, add the necessary items (trees, plants, people, etc.), then, modify the environment and materials (sky, sun, clouds), and finally, render. 

Also, Enscape is relatively straightforward to use, requiring little setting, unlike many other plugins and add-ons that are available. It also comes with a limited amount of commands and tools. Enscape has provided an excellent tool to help manage your BIM information within a project. 

Enscape is available for €78.9 a month and €514.8 a year. Before purchasing a license, you can test the software’s functionality for free for 14 days by downloading a trial version. 

However, the Lumion Standard costs €62.42/month and €749/year. And Lumion Pro costs €124.92/month and €1,499/year. It is pricey compared to Enscape and unaffordable for small firms, students, and typical architects and designers. For 14 days, Lumion also provides a free trial of the software.

In conclusion, the selection of rendering software plays a great important role in architectural visualization. Both Lumion vs Enscape have strengths and limitations, therefore the choice you make should depend on the particular requirements of your project.