Entourage and Scene Population
An empty site looks like a diagram. An inhabited site looks like a design.
You are working with Lumion Education, not Lumion Professional. Some features, material libraries, and object content differ from the professional version. These cards reflect the Education version specifically.
Why this matters
Scale reference, spatial activity, and the suggestion of life are what separate a presentation rendering from a technical diagram. A single correctly placed and scaled human figure tells the viewer more about what a space is and how it works than almost any other single element. Entourage is not decoration — it is evidence of design intent. Every person, tree, bench, and vehicle you place is an argument about how the space will be used.
Accessing the Objects library
In Build Mode, click the Objects tab on the left side. Categories include Nature (vegetation, terrain features), Transportation (vehicles, bikes), People, Furniture and Equipment, Decor, and more. Browse each category before placing objects — the Education version includes the standard default library from Lumion's installation. No additional libraries are installed or accessible.
Vegetation — LOD and performance
Lumion's vegetation objects come in varying levels of geometric detail (LOD). High-LOD models look excellent up close but are expensive in rendering time and scene performance. They're worth using for trees in the immediate foreground of a specific image. For background vegetation, mid- or low-LOD models are indistinguishable at typical viewing distances and keep the scene performing well. The rule: use high-LOD only for trees you're close to in a specific camera composition. Use mid-LOD for everything else.
| Context | LOD to use |
|---|---|
| Foreground tree, within 10m of camera | High LOD |
| Midground trees, 10–40m from camera | Mid LOD |
| Background trees, 40m+ from camera | Low LOD or mass planting object |
| Trees visible only in overhead plan view | Low LOD — detail is invisible from above |
People and scale
Human figures are your most powerful scale reference. Every Lumion person object has a defined height — verify scale against your model after placing. A figure that is 8 feet tall makes a space read as intimate or cramped; a figure that is 4 feet tall makes spaces read as monumental. Right-click a placed figure and check its scale multiplier — it should be 1.0 unless you have a deliberate reason to adjust it.
Animated people (walking, cycling, sitting) bring a scene to life in both still images and animations. In still images, motion blur on animated figures suggests movement without the figure needing to be in a specific position. In animations, animated figures anchor the scene in time and suggest daily use patterns.
Placement discipline
Entourage placed randomly is worse than no entourage. Every person, bench, and bike should suggest a plausible use pattern. People sit near water features, shade structures, and gathering spaces. Cyclists are on paths, not in planting beds. Furniture groupings suggest conversation, not waiting. Ask yourself what each placed object implies about how the space is used — and whether that implication is the one your design intends.
Try this
Place five human figures in your scene. Step back and evaluate: are they in places that the design programming invites them to be? Are they at the right scale relative to the space? Do their positions suggest a pattern of use you'd want to argue for? Then remove any figure that you can't defend as evidence of design intent. What remains is your argument about how the space works.
What breaks
High-LOD vegetation across the entire scene — a scene populated with high-LOD trees will slow Lumion to the point of unusability during editing and significantly increase render time. Reserve high-LOD for foreground elements only.
Figures floating above or sinking into the ground plane — Lumion places objects at the terrain level by default, but if your terrain surface has gaps or the terrain height doesn't match the model, figures may not land correctly. Use the vertical position handle to place figures accurately on the surface.