Be sure to read the CityEngine 2021.1 release notes for all the details on new features, enhancements, and bug fixes. Visit My Esri to upgrade to CityEngine 2021.1. Are you new to CityEngine? Try it out with a fully-functional free-trial version.
More accurate buildings in Get map data
The OSM importer and the OSM rule are enhanced so that you get buildings with more detail now when using Get Map Data. This helps make the creation of a realistic context for your urban design projects in CityEngine even easier.
New enhancements for terrain sculpting
We refined the terrain editing brushes by adding functions that let you smooth the border between your edits and the original terrain. The Smooth Range fades the edited part out, and Constant Gradient lets you define a slope with a given angle. These functions are also available in the align terrain to shapes window which are helpful when working with street networks.
New importer and exporter for IFC
In the last release, CityEngine 2021.0 introduced new functionality for importing and exporting DWG models which improved interoperability with the CAD world. With this release, CityEngine connects to the world of BIM with the new IFC importer and exporter.
Transform and drawing tools
You can now save and retrieve custom reference systems and apply them using the transform tools. Use the global, local, or currently selected custom reference system when making transformations. Furthermore, we added new snapping targets to make precise drawing more convenient, such as snapping to the intersections of guides and faces, as shown in the animation below.
Working with materials in CGA
This release adds a new material encoder that lets you export materials defined in CGA to a folder containing a .cgamat file and all used textures. In combination with the readMaterial function, you can now reuse materials across scenes. Also, CityEngine 2021.1 has many other highlights for CGA such as new functions for sorting arrays, replacing specific array elements and implicit array-to-string conversion.
See the 2021.1 CGA changelog for a comprehensive list of changes and bug fixes.
Improved authoring of dashboards
Dashboards are an essential tool for evaluating and analysing design proposals and we made bug fixes and simplified the creation of them. You can now duplicate cards and pages, as well as move cards from one page to another.
ArcGIS 360 VR: Overhauled and web based
The 360 VR application was completely overhauled for the 2021.0 release with the migration to a web app that runs on most VR headsets with a modernized UI. Now, CityEngine 2021.1 improves the render quality, and for more convenience, you can use the render settings of an existing viewport.
Try it out at 360vr.arcgis.com.
New tutorial: CityEngine Tour
Last but not least, we introduced a brand new CityEngine tutorial. The CityEngine Tour is intended as an introduction to CityEngine. It gives an overview over the most important capabilities and is based on a real world urban design project by the renowned Houseal Lavigne planning and design firm.