It appears that there’s an issue with Rhino’s - Lumion live-sync feature when applying multiple materials to a polysurface in Rhino 8. Unlike in earlier versions such as Rhino 6 and early Rhino 7, now you have to explode the polysurface into surfaces for Lumion to recognize multiple materials applied to it.
This change has made Lumion integration less efficient, as the model needs to be exploded to surfaces before adding materials. Additionally, when applying a material to a single surface of a polysurface in Rhino 7-8, it generates unnecessary materials in the form of “Custom,” “Custom 1,” and so on, cluttering the materials list.
Could you please provide information on any changes made in recent updates? This issue significantly impacts workflow efficiency, and it would be helpful to know if there is a solution or workaround available. Also, the inclusion of hidden or unnecessary “Custom” materials in the list seems counterproductive. Is there a reason behind this design choice, and could it be reconsidered for a more streamlined user experience?
Your clarification on these matters would be greatly appreciated.
After the Rhino 7.3 update, Lumion can’t recognize materials on polysurfaces. This isn’t Lumion’s fault but a Rhino issue. In previous Rhino versions, Lumion worked well with polysurfaces.
Also, custom materials created by Rhino make the process less efficient. Architects and designers in general need a smoother experience—updating the app can help. Having 15 materials but dealing with a list of 100 due to auto-generated custom materials is a major drawback. We should see only the materials used, not sift through a long list.
Think about a car or a building with many parts. Dealing with over 100 unnecessary custom materials for just one model is a hassle. In reality, we might only use 10-15 materials in the entire 3D design.
The Materials panel has an option to filter what is seen based on if the materials are used in the model. This won’t help the new custom materials in the list however as those are still going to be in use. You can instead assign a new Plaster material to all objects prior to sub-object material assignment. This way a new custom material will not be created. All of the non-sub-object assigned faces would then be that Plaster material.
Definitely contact Lumion about any changes to the way their plugin works. If a change was made in Rhino it will need to be supported by them as well.
