Archive notice: This article was originally published on October 14, 2019. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
And here is the next release already: Esri has released CityEngine 2019.1 together with the new Maya plug-in “Serlio.” The update to the software for procedural editing and visualization of 3D cities includes improvements to the drawing tools, guides, better import & export functions and more.
The new features in CityEngine
The CityEngine has been used in many well-known VFX and gaming projects in recent years and offers an increasing number of useful features in combination with DCC tools or game engines.
Serlio plug-in for Maya
The new plug-in enables artists to create and edit CityEngine models procedurally in Maya. Similar to the Houdini plug-in “Palladio,” Serlio is suitable for generating 3D content in digital sets, but is limited to the creation of individual buildings and objects. The standalone tool is still required for urban-planning tools and editing road networks. Serlio is available free for Windows (10) and Linux here. Commercial use requires at least one license for the latest CityEngine version.
2D drawing tools and guides
Following the last release, the 2D drawing tools receive further updates, including bug fixes, double-clicking to close a polygon, and more workflow improvements. In addition, guides are now available as a separate tool in the main menu and hotbar and are intended to provide even better help with positioning and adjusting objects. Among other things, the update makes it possible to create guides at defined distances from edges. When overlapping, the lines now also remain visible, so that the position and orientation of the guides can be recognized and used more effectively. Planar drawing mode is also supported.
Import and export
CityEngine content can now be imported into any Unreal Studio project. Based on the Unreal 4.23 Datasmith SDK, you can also use shaders with the new Unreal Studio Exporter. The previous CityEngine Model Loader template is therefore no longer required. According to the update notes, the terrain height maps are also no longer randomly rescaled. The SPLK exporter also receives an update with new PBR material support and reduced loading times.
ArcGIS Urban
ArcGIS Urban features and content can be used directly through the CityEngine interface with the update. Among other things, CityEngine 2019.1 evaluates the ArcGIS Urban zone and overlay layers, supports building types and space-use types, CGA rules, and enables publishing as ArcGIS Urban projects.
Availability
CityEngine 2019.1 is available for 64-bit Windows 7+, RHEL 7 Linux and macOS 10.13–10.14. Esri does not list prices directly on the website—for Germany, the price of a Single Use Perpetual Licence is currently 5,500 euros.
Further information: To the Esri CityEngine website and release notes
