CityEngine is a stand-alone desktop software application for the design, planning, and modeling of urban environments in 3D. The current release connects to the rest of the ArcGIS system primarily through data exchange, though this will become more tightly integrated in future releases.
CityEngine allows professional users in GIS, CAD, and 3D to:
CityEngine also provides advanced capabilities for the direct export of the generated 3D city models out to other software tools, such as data management/analysis packages (like ArcGIS), 3D editing software (like Maya or 3ds Max), geo-visualization tools (like ArcGlobe or Google Earth), game engines (like Unity or Unreal), high-end rendering solutions (like RenderMan), or web-ready cloud rendering services (like RealityServer).
Currently CityEngine is sold in the following markets:
Procedural modeling means that 3D geometries and textures are constructed using rules (procedures) instead of labor-intensive manual modeling.
A single procedural rule can be used to generate many 3D models. For example, the rule can make use of feature attribute information stored in GIS data—such as the number of floors, roof type, wall material type, etc.—to generate a series of alternate 3D models that accurately represent the properties of each feature. The more attributes you have, the more accurate the generated model can be.
CityEngine comes with a number of example projects and rules that you can experiment with to learn how the rules drive the 3D content. In the future, generic rule sets will be available on the CityEngine resource center, and we will encourage the community of users to share/contribute rules.
No. CityEngine does not yet provide solutions for automatic 3D urban reconstruction out of oblique imagery or lidar data.
No. CityEngine's primary strength is in 3D content creation and its advanced export capabilities. As a consequence, CityEngine content can be used in all kinds of commercial and proprietary visualization solutions.
Yes. Esri CityEngine 2011 supports the import of Esri Shapefiles (SHP) and File Geodatabase (GDB). Future releases will further integrate the capabilities of CityEngine and ArcGIS, which means it will be even simpler to work with GIS data inside CityEngine.
To export from CityEngine to ArcGIS, you can use either the COLLADA or KML format. The KML format essentially adds georeferencing information to the COLLADA files.
No, CityEngine is a 3D content generator. This content can be loaded into ArcGIS 3D Analyst (ArcScene and ArcGlobe) for visualization, editing, and analysis.
CityEngine's primary strength is in 3D content creation. Most other 3D GIS tasks, such as visualizing large numbers of 3D GIS features, running 3D analysis, and maintaining 3D databases, are best performed using the ArcGIS 3D Analyst extension tools.
Yes, CityEngine runs on all three major operating systems.
Native 64-bit and 32-bit versions are available for Windows (7/Vista/ XP). A native 64-bit version is available for Linux and Mac OS X with Intel processors (no CityEngine support for 32-bit or PowerPC Macs).
Yes, CityEngine is a native 64-bit application. Therefore, if needed, CityEngine could make use of all your memory (and not just 2-3GB as in 32-bit applications).
Yes. Customers that currently use CityEngine will continue to be supported and can be assured that CityEngine will continue to evolve and expand.
Procedural was acquired by Esri and has now become a part of the Esri team. The former Procedural office is currently being expanded as an Esri R&D Center in Zurich and will focus on urban design and modeling. The team will continue to enhance the 3D modeling and design solutions that are available inside CityEngine, as well as work on other related initiatives.
Please visit the Customer Care Portal and log in using your Esri Global Account.
Please visit the CityEngine Resource Center for forums, blogs, and technical information.
