3d Building Footprints

[KevinGutierrez]

Hey Guys,

I was wondering if 3d Buildings from 2d buildings could be done, not only from extruding polygons in arcscene or arcglobe. I want to add textured walls to buildings and probably different roofs depending on attribute data. I am working with ArcGIS 10.1. I have heard that 10.2 has a tool that makes that easier. But I want to know if there is a process to make my boring 2D data into attractive 3D buildings. I have tried also to replace 3d features with models and the like (FAILED). I have tried many other things but so far I have been unsuccessful. Can somebody please assist me with this. I would highly appreciate it.

[ChrisDonohue__GISP]

Here's an alternative software that may do the trick, should no one know of a good GIS solution.

SketchUp

http://www.sketchup.com/

Chris Donohue, GISP

[BenLeslie1]

Sounds like CityEngine but that's been around a while (since 2010 at least) and is a stand alone application, it's not dependent on 10.2.

[ChrisDonohue__GISP]

SketchUp has been around since before 2006.  In that year, Urban Planning colleagues of mine discovered it and were using it for a plethora of projects.  They really liked it.  I played with it a bit and found it to be very intuitive.

I have not used it in recent years, though.

[PaulCrickard1]

With Sketchup 6 and Arcmap 9.3 there was a plugin that let you load GIS in Sketchup and Sketchup in GIS - it was really cool. the last time I used Sketchup in GIS was by creating models and then using them as markers (think you have to save the model as a COLLADA - but there are instructions everywhere). You create some points then set the marker as your 3D model. Last I heard, SketchUp got bought by anopther company so haven't used it in a while but think it could be the best option if you don't have CityEngine.

The old plugin used multipatch geometry, so if you can find a way to multipatch the skethup model you should be able to bring it in other than as a marker.

[ChrisDonohue__GISP]

That was part of what made it cool - one could go back and forth to GIS with the Plug ins.  Plus it was very easy to use.  The company that made SketchUp (@Last Software) was very small, and if you called tech support for them you could get anyone from the company heads to the programmers (and they were all knowledgeable and enthusiastic).  If you suggested additional functionality, they often would create it within a short time.  We had a great user experience with them.

The company was sold to Google around 2007.  I hear that Google sold it to Trimble in recent years.  I don't if/how that has affected their software and user experience.