idea X3D export in ArcGIS CityEngine Ideas

X3D export

AndreasPlesch — Thu, 22 Jun 2017 18:44:03 GMT

The X3D format is the successor to the VRML format for 3d content, for more than a decade. The format is well supported both offline and online with free and commercial viewers, and is still used in a wide cross-section of industry, government and personal environments. See Web3d.org for a good introduction and overview. X3D also has built-in geospatial support.

ArcScene with 3d Analyst offers VRML scene export for many years. Is it time to update the aging export function to use X3D (perhaps while also fixing bugs) ?

ESRI recommends using its own web scene format for CityEngine and offers a nice, optimized 3d web viewer for it. While it is great to have a fully integrated solution for easy consumption, there is a significant customer base who wants to takes this a step further and use the exported scene as data or as a sub-component in another system. X3D is a good option for that.

Re: X3D export

KoryKramer — Mon, 26 Jun 2017 13:57:44 GMT

andreasplesch2‌ Remember to up vote your idea!

Re: X3D export

AndreasPlesch — Mon, 26 Jun 2017 17:15:29 GMT

Well, I did not think you could up vote your own idea. I did now. Thanks for the reminder !

Re: X3D export

SimonHaegler — Sun, 24 Sep 2017 11:04:21 GMT

hi andreas,

if you have C++ development time at your disposal, you could use our SDK to implement a X3D exporter:
GitHub - Esri/esri-cityengine-sdk: Develop 3D applications using the procedural geometry engine of Esri CityEngine.

this repo contains the binaries and example code to get you started - all you need is a CityEngine license.

best,

simon

Re: X3D export

NDGraphics — Fri, 27 Jun 2025 22:43:43 GMT

An implementation of to export a Scene AOI to x3D is currently under development.