Frequently asked questions
The Google Photorealistic 3D Basemap is a ready‑to‑use ArcGIS basemap built from Google’s global high‑resolution 3D imagery. It provides an instantly usable, photorealistic 3D foundation for GIS visualization and spatial analysis.
Access to the Google Photorealistic 3D Basemap is based on sessions. ArcGIS organizations receive an initial session entitlement, and additional sessions can be purchased to support expanded use of the basemap.
The Google Photorealistic 3D Basemap usage is tracked by sessions. Sessions start when a user adds the basemap to a 3D-capable app and end after three hours or when the user closes the app. In a web browser, a session does not reset when a user refreshes the page unless they disable the browser cache or clear it manually. Sessions are tracked at the organization level and cannot be monitored per organization member.
You can browse and select the Google Photorealistic 3D Basemap from the 3D basemap gallery in ArcGIS. If you do not see it, your organization administrator may need to enable the option “Allow members to use Google Photorealistic 3D Basemap” in the organization settings under the “Map and Scene” tab. For more, read our help documentation.
Photorealistic 3D coverage is available for more than 49 countries.
Use the basemap in ArcGIS workflows to create visually rich 3D visualizations. You can layer your own 2D and 3D data on top of the photorealistic basemap to explore spatial relationships, reveal patterns, and gain new perspectives on existing data.
You can learn more about the Google Photorealistic Basemap in this blog post.