In ArcGIS, you can use a features attributes to create simple 3D objects. You can set a base elevation and extrude features by an attribute value. You can create more complex 3D models applying procedural rules to input features and its attributes to generate 3D objects. Procedural rules are scripts that construct complex 3D objects and textures from simple input geometries such as point, polygon, or multipatch features. A single procedural rule can generate many 3D models. For example, the rule can use feature attribute information stored in GIS data—such as the number of floors, roof type, or wall material type to generate a series of alternate 3D models that accurately represent the properties of each feature.
Workflows
Procedural rules are scripts you write in ArcGIS CityEngine, which is a desktop application that provides interactive design and procedural modeling capabilities for the creation of 3D cities and buildings. Once you have created your rules in ArcGIS CityEngine, you can use them for 3D symbology in ArcGIS Pro, or generate 3D features in ArcGIS Pro or ArcGIS CityEngine. You can also turn your simple features with 3D symbology into 3D features in the geodatabase using ArcGIS Pro.
ArcGIS CityEngine includes example projects that contain rules that you can modify to see how the rules leverage the 3D content. You can find many rule packages in ArcGIS Online by searching for rpk or rule package. A rule package is a compressed package, containing compiled CGA rule files, plus all needed referenced assets and data. Rule packages allow you to share procedural rules in a single file.
Typically, you use 3D procedural symbology or generate 3D features in ArcGIS Pro or ArcGIS CityEngine) and share the generated 3D objects as a 3D object scene layer if you need to work with the 3D objects in the web. You can also use procedural rules directly in ArcGIS Online and ArcGIS Enterprise by leveraging PyPRT. This Python package allows you to transform feature layers in ArcGIS Online and ArcGIS Enterprise into 3D object scene layers leveraging published rule packages.
Considerations
Many procedural rules and rule packages that come with ArcGIS CityEngine or that you find in ArcGIS Online can be used directly in ArcGIS Pro. If you want to modify these rules or write new ones from scratch, you can learn CGA to power procedural content creation in ArcGIS.
Required software
You need ArcGIS CityEngine to write procedural rules and export 3D objects to a geodatabase. ArcGIS Pro is needed if you want to use existing rules as 3D symbology. If you need to generate 3D features from rule packages in ArcGIS Pro, you need the ArcGIS 3D Analyst extension. To publish your 3D objects to 3D object scene layers, you need an ArcGIS Online or ArcGIS Enterprise publisher account.
ArcGIS help documentation
Reference material for ArcGIS products
ArcGIS blogs, stories and technical papers
Supplemental guidance about concepts, software functionality, and workflows:
Videos
Esri-produced videos that clarify and demonstrate concepts, software functionality, and workflows:
Tutorials
Guided, hands-on lessons based on real-world problems:
ArcGIS solutions
Industry-specific configurations for ArcGIS:
- Use the 3D buildings solution to generate buildings leveraging rule packages.
- Generate street signs in ArcGIS online using the sign management solution.
Developer resources
Resources and support for automating and customizing workflows:
Esri community
Online places for the Esri community to connect, collaborate, and share experiences:
- See what the Esri 3D community is saying about CityEnginedata
- Ask the 3D community questions.