Measurement tools

CityEngine offers the Measure Distance (M + D) tool for measuring distances and the Measure Area and Path (M + A) tool for measuring areas and paths. You can activate the tools in the main toolbar or under Edit in the main menu.

A measurement is taken by clicking on a geometry in the scene to place the starting point. A second click places the end point. In case of the area measurement tool, multiple measurement points can be placed.

Measure distance

Measure distance: Line of sight, vertical and horizontal distance. Note: The line of sight shines through the building.

Measure area and path

With the Measure Area and Path (M + A) tool the measurement points are not required to be part of the same plane. If this is the case the points are projected onto a horizontal or vertical plane at an average height or depth automatically.

Note:

• In this case, the displayed surface measure relates to the projected area, while the displayed distance always refers to the perimeter defined by the measurement points.
• The projected plane is positioned so that the distances to the measurement points is minimized. The measurement point with the largest distance to the plane is marked with a label displaying the distance.

The measurement points are not co-planar and therefore projected onto a vertical plane. With 4.51 feet the lower right measurement point is the most distant to the plane.

Measure tool considerations

The following list describes the measure tool behavior:

• When placing measurement points the cursor snaps to vertices, edges and faces of all scene objects.
• Laser lines are displayed to project the current height on to the surrounding geometry.
• Only one measurement can be displayed in a scene at a time. When starting a new measurement, the current one disappears.
• Measurements disappear after switching to a different tool. This applies also for the navigation tools in the toolbar. Nevertheless the navigation shortcuts can be used between placing measurement points and after finishing a measurement.
• To reset the tool, press ESC
• To change the units go to Viewport > View Settings > View Coordinate System. The change takes effect with the next measurement you start.
• To adjust a completed measurement hover over the measurement points. Use the arrows to move the measurement point along the axis or use the yellow ball to move freely and use snapping.
• To copy-paste measurement results go to Window > Show Log. Double click the entry of your measurement to display the Detail View.

Specific for the Measure area and path tool:

• You can undo measurement points using Ctrl+Z.

• Press Enter to immediately close the path.