Add external 3D content

You can add a visualization to a project scenario to visualize external designs for comparison. Scenario visualizations are only shown when opening a project or when editing it. They are not shown in the overview.

Note:

• To show a simplified representation of an external 3D visualization in the overview, draw a level of detail 1 (LOD1) building for the first scenario in the project editor. See Draw buildings to learn more.
• Pop-ups that you configured in a visualization web scene are accessible when the Details side panel is open. To open it, click the Details button at the upper right of the header.

Add a scenario visualization

If you have an existing web scene with a 3D design, complete the following steps to add the layers in the web scene as a project scenario visualization:

1. Click a project in the view or find it in the search panel.

   The project editor appears.

2. Click the Configure scenarios button in the center of the header.
3. Click a scenario, scroll down to the scenario visualization section, and click Select item .

   The Select scenario visualization dialog box appears.

4. Select the web scene or scene layer to add to the scenario and click Select.

   The scene layer or the layers in the web scene are added to the scenario.

5. Click OK on the Scenarios dialog box.

Note:

• The supported coordinate systems of a scenario visualization depend on the coordinate system of the urban model. See Understanding local and global urban models to learn more.
• If the scenario visualization includes an elevation layer, this terrain is used when viewing the scenario instead of the elevation layer defined in the urban model. See Custom elevation layer to learn more.

Add 3D content using ArcGIS CityEngine

To add 3D data to ArcGIS Urban from ArcGIS CityEngine, complete the steps below. For more information about the integration between ArcGIS Urban and CityEngine, see Integrate ArcGIS Urban with CityEngine in the CityEngine help documentation.

1. Import the 3D data into CityEngine (for example, in DXF, OBJ, Collada, or FGDB format).
2. Export the model as a scene layer package (.slpk file).
3. Sign in to ArcGIS Online and click Add Item > Publish as Hosted Layer to upload the .slpk file.
4. Follow the steps in the Add a scenario visualization section above to add the layer to a project in Urban.

Add 3D content using ArcGIS Pro

You can also add 3D data to ArcGIS Urban using ArcGIS Pro. By publishing a 3D file in ArcGIS Pro, you can achieve a similar workflow to the one described in the previous section. The following steps describe the process of adding a context web scene using a preprocessed model:

1. Start ArcGIS Pro and sign in to your organization, if necessary.
2. Open the Catalog pane and right-click Database.
3. Select Add Database and choose the file (3D mode) to be added.
4. Create a new scene:
   • Choose New Global Scene if you are working with a global urban model.
   • Choose New Local Scene if you are working with a local urban model.

   See Understanding local and global urban models to learn more.

5. Right-click the feature layer, and choose Add to Current Map to add the feature layer in the database to the current map.

   The model is loaded in the view.

6. Confirm that the visualization is correct. To change it, right-click the layer in the Contents pane, click Symbology, and modify the requirements.
7. Publish the visualization to ArcGIS Online.
   1. Right-click the layer, choose Sharing, and choose Share as Web Layer.
   2. In the Sharing pane, provide a name, a summary, and tags for the layer and choose Share with Everyone.
   3. Click Publish.

      The layer is uploaded to ArcGIS Online.

Note:

The 3D model does not appear in ArcGIS Online immediately because caching a scene layer takes a few minutes. When it appears, you can open the layer in Scene Viewer.

8. Follow the steps described in the Add a scenario visualization section above to add the layer to a project in Urban.

Note:

You can load BIM data (for example, Revit files) into ArcGIS Pro and follow the same workflow as above. If you do, it is recommended that you publish a building scene layer instead of a scene layer to persist information from the BIM files. If a building scene layer is added as a scenario visualization, the Building Explorer widget appears on the Details side panel when opening a project. It allows you to browse the various levels, phases, and categories of the BIM data.