Frequently asked questions
CityEngine is a desktop application that provides unique interactive design and procedural modeling capabilities for the efficient creation of 3D cities and buildings.
CityEngine is used by professionals in the following industries:
- Urban planning, design, and development (architectural visualization and local government)
- Entertainment (films, commercials, games)
- Real-world simulation, emergency response, and defense
- Academia
Over the next few years, we see CityEngine becoming the desktop application of choice for city planners, urban designers, and architects. We will invest in advancing special-purpose capabilities such as procedural master planning tools; interactive urban analytics on the GPU or the management, comparison, and communication of redevelopment scenarios. At the same time, we will continue to tightly integrate CityEngine with the ArcGIS 3D platform—namely, interconnect CityEngine with web apps, such as Scene Viewer and ArcGIS StoryMaps, and VR/AR apps based on ArcGIS Runtime SDKs.
Yes. CityEngine is used by several major animation studios and visual effects houses for the creation of digital sets of urban environments. CityEngine can generate Alembic geometry caches of unlimited size on disk. Alembic allows for the hassle-free management and rendering of massive 3D models in Digital Content Creation (DCC) tools such as Houdini or Maya and is typically used in the production of feature films.
Yes. CityEngine is well suited to export your 3D GIS data or city models to Unity, the tool of choice for developing virtual reality applications (for example, Gear VR, Hive, and Oculus) or augmented reality solutions (for example, HoloLens). As a result, CityEngine writes the popular Filmbox (FBX) file format, which can now be flawlessly read by Unity. In the typical use case, an FBX so-called instancing feature allows for small file sizes and high frame rates in Unity.
Requires foundational user type
What does "requires foundational user type" mean?
User types provide a flexible way for people to license the capabilities and apps they need to do their work in ArcGIS Online or ArcGIS Enterprise.
Every subscription requires at least one foundational user type to activate and administer ArcGIS Online or ArcGIS Enterprise. Creator and GIS Professional are foundational user types.
All dependent user types (Viewer, Editor, and Mobile Worker) must be purchased with at least one foundational user type or added to an existing organization. Dependent user types rely on a foundational user type to activate and administer ArcGIS Online or ArcGIS Enterprise.
Add a foundational user type
Creator: Purchasing the Creator user type helps users get started with ArcGIS Online. Create maps, perform spatial analyses, and share results with stakeholders in a variety of ready-to-use apps.
GIS Professional: The GIS Professional user type includes ArcGIS Pro, the world's leading GIS software, and full access to ArcGIS Online.
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