Common Questions

No, ArcGIS 3D Analyst can use all the datasets supported by ArcGIS. If your data does not have explicit three-dimensional coordinates, you can drape it on other surface data, such as a digital elevation model (DEM), or you can extrude the features in a 3D thematic representation (e.g., sales districts extruded by sales with the height representing the amount of sales).

A digital elevation model (DEM) is a representation of the earth's surface for a geographic area stored in a digital file containing regularly spaced point locations with an elevation attribute. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) DEM is a specific data product that adheres to standards defined by the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI). USGS DEMs can be downloaded for use with ArcGIS 3D Analyst.

Yes, you can display TINs by slope, aspect, node elevation, and similar edges, as well as many other analysis methods, through the TIN symbology options.

You can verify if your system meets requirements to run ArcGlobe by clicking here.

ArcScene and ArcGlobe are specialized viewing applications within ArcGIS 3D Analyst, yet they operate differently. ArcScene is optimized for viewing and analysis of smaller datasets, such as a specific local area. ArcGlobe is designed to be used with very large datasets. It has a sophisticated caching mechanism that indexes and organizes all your data into tiles and levels of detail. Once all the data is loaded, this allows for fast display and visualization as you zoom in and out, pan around, and navigate to different places in your ArcGlobe scene.

Esri has three products to view 3D data: ArcScene, ArcGlobe, and ArcGIS Explorer.

ArcGIS Explorer is a free, downloadable GIS viewer that gives you an easy way to share GIS information. After downloading ArcGIS Explorer, stakeholders can view your work created in ArcGlobe.

ArcScene is ideal if you're sharing work with others who also have ArcGIS for Desktop with the 3D Analyst extension.

If you're sharing work that requires large datasets, ArcGlobe would be best. It also requires ArcGIS for Desktop with the 3D Analyst extension. ArcGlobe also uses the ArcGIS Publisher extension to create a 3D scenario that can be read in ArcReader.

Improved rendering capabilities at ArcGIS 10 supports fast draping of both 2D and 3D datasets on top of terrain models. This includes vector data as well as 2D Web maps from ArcGIS for Server.

Yes. A virtual city template is included with the 3D Analyst extension at ArcGIS 10.

Fundamentally, a city is composed of four components: (1) a detailed cartographic basemap as a primary reference to place and location; (2) high resolution imagery showing actual features on the ground to provide visual realism; (3) detailed terrain information, generated from airborne LIDAR, Digital Elevation Models, or contours; (4) and building models in 3D with attributes relating to their name, address, and type.

These features all live in the geodatabase as feature classes, or as cells in raster data sets, and can be shared with others, either locally for editing and maintenance or through the Web for use in project planning and visualization.

Yes, with the release of ArcGIS 10, ArcGIS 3D Analyst fully supports 3D editing. You can interactively edit GIS features using the same editing framework as ArcMap and place 3D objects (e.g., buildings, street lamps, trees, etc.) within landscapes and virtual cities, as well as digitize lines and polygon features.

The ArcGIS SketchUp plug-in is no longer supported at ArcGIS 10. The recommended workflow is now as follows:

• Digitize in your polygon.
• Extrude it by an attribute in 3D.
• Convert it to a multipatch using Layer 3D to Feature Class.
• Export it to COLLADA using MPatch to COLLADA.
• Import/Edit in SketchUp (e.g., textures, pitched roof, etc.).
• Then use the edit environment to replace the mpatch feature with the new SKP model.