Archive notice: This article was originally published on May 15, 2018. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
CityEngine 2018 Towers Upward
A new version of the city modelling and analysis tool from Esri is ready. There are several improvements to the Visibility Tool and to publishing and collabs on the ArcGIS platform. Terrains imported using Get Map Data can now also be framed much better with the CityEngine 2018 update. Furthermore, we can look forward to UX improvements and better navigation and display in the viewport.
3D Model Export and GIS Feature
The update now also includes the GeoTIFF format, which is now set as the default option for terrain export. The FBX exporter will also have to cry less in the future, as it can now set face vertex normals as a “stopgap” if original vertex normals are missing. And last but not least, the terrain exporter follows the configured units of the corresponding coordinate system of a scene instead of treating “one for all”.
InsertAlongUV Operation
Another practical feature can also be found in the new InsertAlongUV command, which allows the user to read and insert a geometry asset from a file, whereby it is to follow specified UV coordinates.
Unreal Engine Support
There are also improvements on the Unreal Engine front. Two new export options have been added with Epic’s Datasmith Exporter, enabling control over object granularity and asset instancing. The usual bug fixes have also been made.
Further General Changes in the CityEngine 2018 Update
CityEngine has also received a whole series of general changes around it. (For all those gifted with languages, Simplified Chinese is now even available as a system language!)
You can find all changes and features explained once again in greater detail HERE.
Happy building!
Note: Incidentally, Esri is also an official partner of the animago Awards 2018! This year, it will take place on October 25/26, 2018 at the Gasteig in Munich.
