So after years of using Lumion I’m turning to D5 Render - initially I really like most of what I’ve seen, there’s certainly some workflow issues I need to iron out but first impressions are good.
One of the great things about Lumion was the support, the Lumion staff would get back to you within an hour or two of asking a question on the forum, it made a huge difference to my use of the software, especially in the early days.
So I wanted to ask, is the help that is given here from the D5 Render support staff or is it generally from the community? - and if it is the latter and you cannot get a clear response to a query, is there some other way to get that direct support? - I’m not yet a ‘Pro’ user so it might be that I am not yet able to contact D5 Render directly.
I was also a Lumion user from version 7 to 12.5,
and you’re right that the support was excellent and very personalized, responding several times with different answers.
I’ve been a D5 Pro user since version 1.2 in May 2020.
I can say that the support is also very good, and with much better response to user requests regarding the features added with each update.
The big difference compared to Lumion and other software is the speed and number of improvements that come with each update.
This also becomes a disadvantage when so many changes are incorporated, requiring adjustments and performance patches to be made on the fly. But they always get fixed.
The other advantage/disadvantage is that half of the forum queries are about D5 stability issues in different configurations. Because it’s a real-time software, it’s very demanding on software/hardware configurations, and many experience issues with it due to fragile or incorrect settings.
Ok, that’s very interesting/worrying regarding the stability issues - as one of Lumion’s other strengths was that stability, of course that coincided with far less updates but for me (and most people I guess) it’s of huge importance that I don’t lose work
One thing to add, I’ve heard that D5 Render is more stable with an RTX graphics card, I do have one in my machine - might this help with the stability issues?
Stability is more of an issue for users with fragile configurations where D5 pushes them to the limit. In my case, I’ve never had those problems in five years, except for one time three years ago, which was resolved with support.
I’ve never lost a single project on D5. As for Nvidia RTX cards, they’re the best in terms of speed and compatibility. I have a 4090, and it runs excellently, with temperatures no higher than 65 degrees, of course, with the Fractal case and all the necessary fans.
I’m Clov, part of D5’s technical support team. Our main goal is to provide timely and helpful responses to all your questions and concerns, especially in the “Get Help” section of our forum.
Other users also share their valuable inputs and experiences, often providing quick solutions and diverse perspectives. We truly believe in the power of this collaborative environment to help everyone get the most out of D5. So aside from us, providing assistance and support, some of our users are very much active too, so don’t hesitate to interact.
Regarding your concern about “losing files,” this should not happen as long as the D5 File Folder is properly archived by zipping it when transferring or for archival purposes. The D5 File Folder is not a single file but rather comprises multiple components, so zipping ensures all necessary elements are kept together. You can refer to the image below for reference.
