Add layers to scenes

Add layers to new or existing scenes to help better tell a story. You can browse Scene Viewer resource options such as ArcGIS Online, My Content, and Living Atlas to add content and enhance a scene. You can also add a layer by providing a URL.

Note:

See Global versus local scene: layer support for layer requirements.

Add layers to a scene

To add layers to a scene, complete the following steps:

  1. Verify that you are signed in to your account and open Scene Viewer.
  2. On the Designer toolbar, click Add Layers Add.
  3. Add the layers you want to the scene.
  4. Click Save Save to save the layers that you added to the scene.

Layers that Scene Viewer supports

Scene Viewer supports the following layer types:

* Scene Viewer doesn't support all the image rendering properties set in Map Viewer.

See Scene Viewer layer support for information about ArcGIS Enterprise and ArcGIS Online layer availability in Scene Viewer.

Search for layers

To search for layers to add layers to a scene, complete the following steps:

  1. Click Add Layers Add on the Designer toolbar.
  2. Click Browse layers Browse layers to search for layers from the following options:

    • My Content—Includes layers you own.
    • My Favorites—Includes layers you've marked as favorites.
    • My Groups—Includes layers from groups to which you belong.
    • Subscription content—Includes layers available through ArcGIS Marketplace if your organization assigned licenses for purchasing the data layers.
    • My Organization—Includes layers from your organization.
    • Living Atlas—Includes selected layers from ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World, including web scenes, feature and scene layers, imagery, demographics, and land cover.

    • ArcGIS Online—Includes layers you've added, layers from groups to which you belong, and public layers.

  3. Do any of the following to find the layers you want:
    • Type search terms in the search box. You can also use advanced search to help narrow the search results.
    • Click the Filter button Filter to narrow the search results. For example, if you are searching for layers in an organization and content categories have been set up, you can use the Categories filter to narrow the results. You can also filter ArcGIS Living Atlas layer results using the ArcGIS standard category set or the Regions filter. Use the Status filter if you want the search to only return layers that have been marked as authoritative. The filter options available depend on where you are searching for layers, and whether and how you are signed in.
      Note:

      To limit search results based on the current view, select Only show content within map area. For example, if the scene is zoomed to Nevada, USA, the search results are ordered and based on the current view. Changing the view to Pennsylvania typically returns different results (depending on the keywords). All layers that overlap the current view (and match the keywords) are returned.

    • Optionally, click the Sort button Sort to sort the layer results and change the sort direction.
    • To see the details about a layer, click its title. In the layer details pane, click the View full item details button Item details to open the item page to see more information about the layer.
  4. Click Add Add to add a layer to a scene.
  5. Repeat the previous step for each layer you want to add.
    Tip:

    You can add any of the layer results to your favorites by clicking Add to Favorites in the layer details pane. You can view your complete list of favorites by choosing My Favorites when searching for layers in Scene Viewer or from the My Favorites tab on the content page.

  6. Click Remove Remove to remove a layer from a scene.
  7. On the Designer toolbar, click Save Save to save the layers that were added to the scene.
  8. Add more layers to the scene or click Done.

ArcGIS web service

Add an ArcGIS web service layer to a scene by providing the URL of the layer.

GeoJSON

Add a GeoJSON layer, which is an open standard geospatial data interchange format that represents simple geographic features and their nonspatial attributes.

CSV

Add a CSV layer which is a web-based text file (.csv) that typically includes location information.

Line of sight

Add a line of sight layer to perform 3D visibility analysis from an observer to multiple target points.

Dimensions

Add a dimensions layer to annotate multiple dimensions with labels that display either the horizontal, vertical, or diagonal distance between the points.