Dialux Evo 9 Review

The visualization engine has been overhauled to support PBR (Physically Based Rendering). What does this mean for you?

Let’s walk through a typical project to understand how DIALux evo 9 feels in practice.

If you want, I can:

(Invoking related search terms...)

DIALux evo 9, released in April 2020, marked a major evolution in lighting design software, primarily focusing on a complete overhaul of its documentation workflow and enhancing the efficiency of outdoor planning.  The Documentation Revolution 

The "full story" of version 9 is centered on making professional reports easier to generate and customize. 

Total Redesign: The output section was completely rewritten for better clarity and structure.

Centralized Project Hub: Users can now insert project-wide information—such as descriptions, participant contact details, and a main project image—directly into a central "project mode".

Flexible Layouts: For the first time, users could choose from different layout alternatives for each page, allowing for better arrangement of images and text.

Consolidated Room Overview: A new room list allows designers to see all luminaires, energy data, and room elements in one compact summary, removing the need for individual room reports.

Visual Enhancements: Users can now show isoluminance curves, false colors, and value charts simultaneously on a single floor plan.  Improved Design & Workflow Features 

Beyond reporting, version 9 introduced several practical tools for the design phase: 

Outdoor Planning Overhaul: The navigation bar was extended to include a specific outdoor view, and users can now visualize the contours of both indoor and outdoor spaces simultaneously during construction.

Precise Luminaire Placement: The software revised light lines and snap mechanisms (including angle and length snaps), enabling users to distribute luminaires along a line by either a specific number or a set distance.

Realistic Calculations: A new calculation method was implemented to visualize complex objects more realistically and speed up processing time.

Stability & Fixes: Version 9 resolved long-standing issues with complex geometries and improved the reliability of IFC file imports.  Technical Evolution 

Platform Transition: As part of this release, DIALux moved toward converting vector graphics to raster for documentation to improve stability in large-scale projects, though this occasionally resulted in larger PDF file sizes.

Maintenance & Standards: The update restored the ability to reassign standards to existing road projects and fixed errors in the ROVL and EN 13201:2004 standard transitions. 

While DIALux evo has since moved to version 13, version 9 remains a landmark update that defined the modern professional reporting standards used by designers today.  DIALUX EVO 9 : DOCUMENTATION EXPLAINED dialux evo 9

DIALux evo 9 , released in April 2020 , marked a major shift toward professional-grade documentation and streamlined calculation workflows for lighting designers. Key Improvements and Features Redesigned Documentation

: The output system was completely overhauled with a modern layout, larger fonts, and visually appealing cover pages. Users can now include a

of terms to help clients better understand technical data and use target ticks to clearly show compliance with lighting standards. Faster Calculation Engine

: An enhanced calculation method was introduced to better handle complex objects with many surfaces. While simple rooms remain comparable to previous versions, the "photon shooter" update significantly speeds up the processing of detailed furniture and intricate architectural elements. Live Light Visualization : Designers can now view the light output of a single selected luminaire

in real-time within the CAD window without running a full project calculation. This is particularly useful for quickly focusing spotlights or adjusting beam angles. Outdoor Area Planning

: The software added a dedicated view for outdoor spaces in the navigation bar, allowing designers to visualize the contours of both indoor and outdoor spaces simultaneously during the planning phase. Streamlined Placement Tools : Luminaire line arrangements now feature live previews

that show spacing and counts as you draw the line. The snap function was also improved with new length grids and angle snapping to increase precision. Pro Feature Export : Introduced as part of the DIALux Pro subscription, this allowed for one-click exports to PowerPoint

, and Word, alongside custom layout editing for company branding. System Requirements

To run DIALux evo 9 smoothly, your system should meet these standards: : Windows 10/11 (64-bit).

: At least 4 GB (8–16 GB recommended for complex projects).

: OpenGL 3.2 support with at least 1 GB VRAM (2 GB+ recommended). Resolution : Minimum 1024 x 768px, though Full HD (1920 x 1080p) is recommended. Version Progression Dialux evo 9.0 evaluation (PART 1) 8 Apr 2020 —

Title: The Midnight Calibration

Elena’s client didn’t just want a well-lit room. He wanted a feeling.

“I want the light to remember the afternoon my daughter took her first steps,” Mr. Alder said, pointing to a dusty blueprint of his living room. “Golden, soft, but with a sharp little shadow under the sofa.”

Three years ago, Elena would have laughed him out of her office. You don’t design light for memories. You design for lumens, uniformity ratios, and UGR glare limits. But that was before she mastered DIALux evo 9.

Now, she sat in her silent studio at 11:47 PM, a triple-shot espresso cooling beside her. On her screen, the wireframe of Mr. Alder’s living room hovered in the evo 9 interface. She rotated the 3D model with a flick of her wrist. The virtual sun was down. The room was a ghost.

“Alright, old friend,” she whispered to the software. “Let’s build a memory.”

She didn’t start with photometry. She started with texture. She dragged and dropped real-world materials into the scene: the rough oak of the floor, the velvety nap of the blue sofa, the cold, pitted surface of the cast-iron stove. In evo 9, light doesn’t just land on surfaces—it talks to them. It scatters off the oak but sinks into the velvet. The visualization engine has been overhauled to support

First, she placed the ambient base: three recessed downlights from the ERCO library, set to 2700K. Warm. Like a hug. She hit the Raytracing engine. The screen flickered, and for a moment, the virtual room looked dead. Flat. Elena frowned. That was the problem with new users—they stopped at the ceiling grid.

She zoomed in on the east window. No physical sun was coming, so she built her own. She clicked Plug-in → Artificial Sky. Instead of a standard daylight spectrum, she manually entered a color temperature curve: 3200K at the horizon, fading to a deep indigo at the zenith. She added a volumetric fog—just 12% density. The light began to spill across the digital floorboards.

That’s better, she thought. But the shadow is wrong.

Mr. Alder had mentioned a shadow under the sofa—the one that looked like a sleeping cat. Elena grinned. She imported a custom IES file she’d made years ago from a vintage French floor lamp. She placed it exactly 47 cm from the sofa’s left leg. Then she opened the Light Scenes panel.

Scene 1: “Golden Hour (Memory).” She twisted the goniometer. She tilted the lamp’s virtual reflector by 14 degrees. In the false-color rendering, the lux map bloomed like a flower: 150 lux on the floor, 80 lux on the wall, and precisely 12 lux in that long, sharp pool beneath the sofa.

She hit Calculate.

DIALux evo 9 hummed. Her laptop fans roared. The progress bar inched forward: 10%... 40%... 85%. Elena held her breath. The software wasn’t just calculating light levels—it was simulating 14,000 photon bounces. Every reflection off the ceiling, every refraction through the virtual windowpane, every micro-shadow inside the weave of the rug.

At 100%, the rendering resolved.

Elena gasped.

The room on her screen wasn’t a model. It was a photograph. The golden light slanted in from the artificial window, thick as honey. The oak floor gleamed. The velvet sofa drank the light on its back but reflected a tiny, warm highlight on its arm. And there, under the sofa—exactly as Mr. Alder described—lay a deep, quiet shadow. It looked like a sleeping animal.

She checked the numbers. Uniformity: 0.68. UGR: <16. Energy consumption: 34 watts per square meter. Perfect on paper. But the feeling was in the pixels.

At 1:15 AM, she exported two things. First, the Luminaire Schedule (PDF). Second, a 360-degree VR panorama for the client.

She didn’t attach a technical note. She just wrote in the email:

“Mr. Alder—walk into the room. The shadow is waiting.”

Two weeks later, after the electricians had left and the last trim piece was nailed in, Elena visited the real house. Mr. Alder stood in the middle of his living room. The real sun had set. But his new lights were on—the recessed downlights, the vintage French floor lamp tilted at 14 degrees.

The golden hour was artificial. But the tears in his eyes were real.

“It’s exactly how I remembered it,” he whispered.

Elena smiled and looked down at her phone. The DIALux evo 9 app showed the live Bluetooth lux reading: 151 lux on the floor, 81 lux on the wall. (Invoking related search terms

Close enough, she thought. Light is just numbers until someone feels it.

The End.

Introduction

Dialux evo 9 is a lighting design software developed by DIAL GmbH, a German-based company with over 60 years of experience in the field of lighting technology. The software is widely used by architects, lighting designers, and engineers to create detailed and realistic lighting simulations for various applications, including interior and exterior lighting design.

Key Features

Dialux evo 9 offers a range of features that make it a powerful tool for lighting design:

New Features in Dialux evo 9

Compared to its predecessor, Dialux evo 9 offers several new features and improvements:

Applications and Use Cases

Dialux evo 9 is used in various applications, including:

System Requirements

To run Dialux evo 9 smoothly, your computer should meet the following system requirements:

Conclusion

Dialux evo 9 is a powerful lighting design software that offers a range of features and tools for creating detailed and realistic lighting simulations. Its user-friendly interface, extensive object and light source libraries, and support for BIM make it a popular choice among architects, lighting designers, and engineers. With its new features and improvements, Dialux evo 9 is an excellent option for anyone looking to create high-quality lighting designs.

Instead of a standard calculation grid (e.g., one point every 0.5m), use the "Adaptive grid." The software places calculation points only where light changes rapidly (e.g., near window edges or shadow boundaries), saving significant calculation time without losing accuracy.

Challenge: Meet IES RP-8 vertical illuminance standards for security cameras. Dialux evo 9 Solution: The new "Vertical Calculation Area" tool allowed the engineer to draw a virtual "camera plane" 1.5 meters above the asphalt. The software calculated exactly how many lumens hit that plane, ensuring security compliance.

The release of evo 9 signals a clear direction: Lighting design is moving toward real-time simulation. We are seeing the convergence of CAD, BIM, and rendering engines. In the future (likely evo 10 or 11), we can expect VR (Virtual Reality) integration where clients can "walk" through their lit space with a Meta Quest headset.

Furthermore, the speed improvements in evo 9 make "iterative design" practical. Previously, a designer might try two lighting layouts for a factory. Now, they can try ten layouts in the same time, optimizing for energy efficiency (kWh/year) and visual comfort simultaneously.

A defining strength of the DIALux platform is its relationship with luminaire manufacturers. evo 9 utilizes the DIALux evo Export format. Manufacturers provide plugins or digital catalogs that allow designers to drag and drop photometric files (EULUMDAT or IES) directly into their projects. This integration ensures that the data used for calculation is accurate to the specific product being specified.