Sunshadow Volume to Multipatch

[AprilThorvaldson]

Any advice/experience would be appreciated!

I was creating sun shadow volumes in ArcScene (10.1) using 3D Analyst and two extruded buildings.  The shadow volumes are created from the top height of the building to 0.  The problem is that when the volume is then converted to a footprint you get a skewed shadow volume.  The base height of the building is at an elevation of ~230m and the building is 12 m tall.  Is there a way to set the base height of the building so that the shadow volume is only created to ground level so that the shadows are accurate when converted to footprints?

Thanks in advance,
April

[ChaseNorris]

I'm working on a similar project and I might have a solution, depending on your topography. I am working in a relatively flat area, so I deleted the elevation column from my building attribute table. I then added an aerial raster so that the buildings sat right on it, then ran the sun shadow volume tool. The shadows cut through the aerial, but looking at it from above, it looks accurate enough. Maybe you can create a footprint from that? What tool are you using for that step, btw?

[Syamsuri_Satria]

Hello...Help me!! i have problems about using tool "Sun Shadow Volume" In ArcScene 10.1.

i use feature (shp) extruded 3D layer

then i use tool "Sun Shadow Volume" with data :

     - Start date and time : 1/22/2015 6:00:00 AM

     - End date and time : 1/22/2015 5:00:00 PM

     - Iteration interval (optional) : 1

     - Iteration unit (optional) : hours

but always it don't succeed..show the words "Error 999999"

Thanks all

Syamsuri Satria

[YingYeung]

Hello everyone,
I had the same problem with Syamsuri Satria.

I have try to input the extruded polygon or fgdb file but there is the same error (999999) and no result given out.

Is there any necessary features or layer I should use for the sun shadow volume tool?
Anyone can help me to solve it?
Thanks a lot!

Ying

[CarlisleHaworth]

You can try to first bring your unextruded polygon into arcscene, open up the properties of the polygon, and set your extrusion there. After it's set, and with ArcScene still open, you can run the sun shadow volume tool.