Publish hosted scene layers

Publish a hosted scene layer to your ArcGIS Online organization using one of the following methods:

• Add multipatch or point data to a scene in ArcGIS Pro and publish. When you publish multipatch or point data from ArcGIS Pro, a related hosted feature layer is created in your organization.
• Add LAS data to a scene in ArcGIS Pro and publish. When you publish LAS data from ArcGIS Pro, only a scene layer is created in your organization.
• Add a voxel layer to a scene in ArcGIS Pro and publish. A voxel scene layer is created in your organization.
• Create a scene layer package (SLPK), add it to your content in ArcGIS Online, and publish. When you publish a scene layer package, a scene layer is created and the SLPK is added as an item.
• Publish from an existing point or multipatch hosted feature layer. When you have a related hosted feature layer, you can edit data.
• Create an empty 3D object scene layer and associated hosted feature layer. You can populate the scene layer by uploading 3D models.

You must have privileges to create, update, and delete content and publish hosted scene layers to publish from a scene layer package. To publish from ArcGIS Pro or an existing hosted feature layer, you must also have the privilege to publish hosted feature layers.

When you publish from ArcGIS Pro or a scene layer package, the .slpk file is added as an item in your content. Once you confirm that the scene layer functions, you can delete the scene layer package from ArcGIS Online to save storage space, but only if you are certain you no longer need the scene layer package.

Publish from an ArcGIS Pro scene

Add your data layers to a scene in ArcGIS Pro, configure the scene, and publish (share). Publishing scenes to ArcGIS Online is supported starting with ArcGIS Pro 2.1. Before 2.1, you had to create a scene layer package, upload it to ArcGIS Online, and publish a scene layer.

Publishing multipatch, point, or building data in a scene from ArcGIS Pro creates a hosted scene layer and a related hosted feature layer. Publishing LAS data creates a hosted scene layer.

Be aware that web browsers cannot display some complex cartographic symbols you may have originally used when you authored the scene. Most symbol types are available, but in some cases, the symbols may be downgraded when you publish them. See Author maps to publish feature services in the ArcGIS Server help for details about which symbols are supported, and make any required changes to your symbology prior to publishing multipatch or point data.

Before you publish, ensure your ArcGIS Online portal is active in ArcGIS Pro and you are signed in to your organization.

For instructions on publishing a scene layer from ArcGIS Pro, including which types of scene layers you can publish, see Share a web scene layer in the ArcGIS Pro help.

Publish from a scene layer package

A scene layer package contains a scene layer and its data. You can create a scene layer package (SLPK) in ArcGIS Pro, ArcGIS Drone2Map, or ArcGIS CityEngine. ArcGIS Pro 2.3 and later releases allow you to create a scene layer package from a building layer using Revit as a data source, upload the scene layer package to ArcGIS Online, and publish a building scene layer.

Tip:

Esri continues to improve the usability of scene layers. ArcGIS Pro 2.4, Scene Viewer, and apps built using the 4.12 ArcGIS Maps SDK for JavaScript consume version 1.7 and earlier releases of the indexed 3D scene layer (I3S) model for integrated mesh and 3D object scene layers. I3S version 1.7 provides better performance and scalability than previous versions.

To take advantage of these improvements, the Create 3D Object Scene Layer Package geoprocessing tool now creates I3S version 1.7 scene layer packages. You can update existing integrated mesh and 3D object scene layer packages to version 1.7 using the I3S converter, which is available in the I3S GitHub repository. The I3S converter also identifies the I3S version of your existing scene layer packages, allowing you to determine whether you need to convert them.

See Share a scene layer package in the ArcGIS Pro help for information on the type of data you can include in a scene layer package.

To upload a scene layer package to ArcGIS Online, the package must be smaller than 500 GB. If you need to publish a scene layer package that is larger than 500 GB, you must publish it from ArcGIS Pro 2.9 or later as a web scene instead.

If you have a scene layer package that is smaller than 500 GB, you can add it to your organization from your local drive and publish a hosted scene layer:

1. Sign in to your organization and click Content > My content.

   You must sign in with an account that has privileges to create hosted scene layers and create, update, and delete content.

2. Click New item > Your device.
3. Choose the scene layer package on your computer or a network drive.
4. Choose Add <scene package name> and create a hosted feature scene layer.
5. Click Next.
6. Type a title that describes the scene layer.
7. Choose a folder in My content where you want to save the item.

   Alternatively, you can choose Create new folder from the menu and type a folder name to save the item in a new folder.

   Folder names cannot contain 4-byte Unicode characters.

8. If your organization has set up content categories, click Assign categories and select up to 20 categories to help people find your item.

   You can also start typing a category name to narrow the list of categories.

9. Optionally, type tag terms separated by commas.

   Tags are words or short phrases that describe your item and help people find your item when searching. Federal land is considered one tag, while Federal,land is considered two tags.

10. Optionally, type a summary that describes the data.
11. Click Save.

Publish from a hosted feature layer

You can publish a hosted scene layer from a hosted feature layer if all the layers in the hosted feature layer are point layers or all the layers in the hosted feature layer are multipatch layers.

When you publish a hosted scene layer from a hosted feature layer, the scene layer uses the pop-ups you configured on the hosted feature layer. Point scene layers created from hosted feature layers can also take advantage of drawing styles in Scene Viewer.

Be aware of the following when publishing a hosted scene layer from a hosted feature layer:

• You must be the owner of the hosted feature layer from which you publish the hosted scene layer.
• You cannot publish a hosted scene layer from a hosted feature layer view.
• The hosted feature layer can contain multiple layers, but all the layers must contain the same geometry type. For example, all the layers in the hosted feature layer must be point layers or all the layers in the hosted feature layer must be multipatch layers.
• If the hosted feature layer data is stored in the World Geodetic System 1984 (WGS84) coordinate reference system, the hosted scene layer will use the WGS84 coordinate reference system, and it can be used in global scenes.
• If the hosted feature layer data is stored in a geographic coordinate system, the hosted scene layer will be published in a WGS84 scene layer and can be used in global scenes.
• If the hosted feature layer data is stored in the Web Mercator projection, you can publish a hosted scene layer in the Web Mercator projection, and it can be used in global or local scenes.
• If the hosted feature layer data is stored in any other well-known projected coordinate system, you can publish the hosted scene layer in WGS84 for global scenes, or publish the hosted scene layer in the hosted feature layer's projected coordinate system for use in local scenes.
• If the hosted feature layer data is stored in a custom projected coordinate system, you cannot publish it to a local scene; it will always publish to WGS84, and you can use it in global scenes.
• When you publish point scene layers from a hosted feature layer, ArcGIS Online copies the renderer defined for the hosted feature layer. The following styles are currently unsupported, and you cannot publish a point scene layer from a hosted feature layer that has one of these styles applied: Predominance, Predominance and Size, Heat Map, or any style that uses a date field to classify the data, such as Continuous Timeline (Size), Age (Color), or Types & Size (Age). You also cannot publish a point scene layer from a feature layer that has labels or time configured.

  To publish a point scene layer, change the style settings on the hosted feature layer and remove labels.

• You cannot publish a scene layer from a hosted feature layer that contains any of the following field data types: big integer, date only, time only, date/time offset.

Follow these steps to publish a hosted scene layer from a hosted feature layer:

1. Sign in to your organization.

   You must sign in with an account that has privileges to publish hosted feature layers, publish hosted scene layers, and create, update, and delete content.

2. Open Content > My content and open the item page for the hosted feature layer from which you want to publish.
3. Click Publish > Scene layer.
4. Type a unique title for the hosted scene layer.
5. Optionally, type tag terms separated by commas.

   Tags are words or short phrases that describe your item and help people find your item when searching. Federal land is considered one tag, while Federal,land is considered two tags.

6. Optionally, type a summary that describes the hosted scene layer.
7. If your organization has set up content categories, click Assign categories and select up to 20 categories to help people find your item.

   You can also type in the Categories box to narrow the list of categories.

8. Choose the folder where the hosted scene layer will be stored.
9. If the hosted feature layer data is stored in a well-known projected coordinate system other than Web Mercator, use the scene layer in a global scene or a local scene.

   Note:

   A well-known ID (WKID) is displayed next to the global and local scene options. A WKID is a unique identifier that represents a predefined spatial reference. In this case, the WKID value displayed next to each option represents the coordinate system used in the scene layer.

10. Check Enable updates if you are publishing from a multipatch feature layer, you plan to edit the feature layer, and you want changes reflected in the scene layer.
11. Click OK to publish.

Create an empty 3D object scene layer

You can create a 3D object scene layer that has an associated hosted feature layer but contains no data. After you create the layer, you can populate it by creating features in Scene Viewer. After the layer is populated, you can edit features or attributes in Scene Viewer or ArcGIS Pro.

Empty 3D object scene layers created as described below always store data in the World Geodetic System 1984 (WGS 84) coordinate system.

1. Sign in to your organization.

   You must sign in with an account that has privileges to publish hosted feature layers, publish hosted scene layers, and create, update, and delete content.

2. Open Content > My content.
3. Click New item > Scene layer.
4. Choose 3D object and click Next.

   Layer details are displayed to indicate three fields that will exist in the empty hosted layers. These fields are not editable. This is in addition to system fields that are required for a 3D object scene layer.

5. Click Next.
6. Type a title for the hosted layers.

   The same title is used for the hosted scene layer and hosted feature layer.

7. Choose the folder in My content where you want to save the hosted layers.

   Alternatively, you can choose Create new folder from the menu and type a folder name to save the layers in a new folder.

   Folder names cannot contain 4-byte Unicode characters.

8. If your organization has set up content categories, click Assign categories and select up to 20 categories to help people find your item.

   You can also type in the Categories box to narrow the list of categories.

9. Optionally, type tag terms separated by commas.

   Tags are words or short phrases that describe your item and help people find your item when searching. Federal land is considered one tag, while Federal,land is considered two tags.

10. Optionally, type a summary that describes the data that you will add to the layers.
11. Click Save.

Two layer items are created in your content: a hosted scene layer and a hosted feature layer.

To populate the layers, you can upload 3D models to create features in the feature layer.