topic Timelapse and CityEngine in ArcGIS CityEngine Questions

Timelapse and CityEngine

Luiz_AmadeuCoutinho — Mon, 28 May 2018 16:30:46 GMT

I´m trying to create Timelapses using the Sun Position and Shadows on CityEngine, of course I know CE has fixed sky.

My first try was export the Screen Capture on Webscene, it works but is not perfect. It´s hard to use the slider with precision to capture one Print and save the image. Attached my best one with 119 frames to represent the Sun and Shadows of my project in Lisbon - Portugal.

My second option is try to create a scrip to capture and save one image per minute in 24 hours on CityEngine. But I´m not Python Expert. So, someone tried this in the past? It´s make sense to use CE to create timelapses ?

Re: Timelapse and CityEngine

LR — Tue, 29 May 2018 09:46:06 GMT

Why don't you just record your screen? AFAIK you can't access the light and panorama settings with Python anyway.

Re: Timelapse and CityEngine

Luiz_AmadeuCoutinho — Tue, 12 Jun 2018 09:08:43 GMT

Record the screen it´s not the same. It´s impossible to use the slider with total precision.

I´m a photographer to and I do timelapses sometimes. A good timelapse has a lot of pictures and is the best to create a smooth view.

I understand, Python is not the option. I´ll try others alternatives.

Thank you.

Re: Timelapse and CityEngine

LR — Wed, 13 Jun 2018 09:20:48 GMT

The slider is accurate down to 3 minute intervals, even if you extract every unique frame from the recording that's 20 seconds at 24 fps for a whole day. For a time lapse, that's rather smooth.

Alternatively, you could probably set up a loop with a macro scripting tool like AutoIT or AHK to iteratively change the lighting settings directly in CE and export a screenshot. Very prone to eventually fail due to hiccups in the process but you could pick up where it broke if you log your iteration settings.