Align terrain to shapes

Terrains can be aligned to shapes by using the Align terrain to shapes tool Align terrain to shapes tool. You can select shapes and access the tool the following ways:

  • Click the Align terrain to shapes tool Align terrain to shapes tool.
  • Click Layer > Align terrain to shapes in the main menu.
Note:

The Align terrain to shapes tool Align terrain to shapes tool aligns one or all terrains to the shapes currently selected.

Tool settings

The Align terrain to shapes tool Align terrain to shapes tool has the following parameters:

Terrain

The terrain which should be aligned or All.

Raise terrain

If enabled, terrain vertices below selected shapes are aligned.

Maximal raise distance

If distance between terrain and shape is smaller, terrain vertices below shape are raised.

Lower terrain

If enabled, terrain vertices above selected shapes are aligned.

Maximal lower distance

If distance between terrain and shape is smaller, terrain vertices above shape are lowered.

Add border

If enabled, a small border region around the shapes is aligned, too.

Write cut/fill volumes to attributes

If enabled, for each selected shape cut/fill volumes in cubic meters are approximately calculated. The values are written into the object attributes (fields "cutVolume" and "fillVolume").

Resetting terrains

Terrains can be reset by using the Reset Terrain tool. Click Layer > Reset Terrain.

Note:

Reset means restoring the original height defined by the elevation attribute of the terrain layer.

Reset settings

Terrain

The terrain which should be reset or All.

Constraint

  • Everywhere: Terrains are completely reset.
  • Inside selected shapes only: Only the terrain vertices intersecting the currently selected shapes are reset.

Add border

If enabled, a small border region around the shapes is reset, too. Only meaningful if Constraint is set to Inside selected shapes only.

Elevation Delta Maps

When aligning terrains, the original heightmap of the terrain is not modified. The elevation data is stored as a separate image file in a subfolder (named after the CityEngine scene) in the project's data folder. These files and folders should not be renamed or deleted. If required, however, you can modify the elevation delta image file with an image processing tool (e.g. apply blurring) and store it under the same name.