This article was made with CityEngine 2022.1 and Twinmotion 2022.2.
Before you start exporting the terrain layer, some preparations are needed.
Export your scene geometry using the Datasmith Exporter
Please consult the Export DATASMITH (Unreal and Twinmotion)—ArcGIS CityEngine Resources | Documentation for more details.
Select the Terrain and open the Inspector. Increase the elevation resolution until the grid is approximately 1- by -1 meter. Additionally, write down the amplitude of the terrain (Maximum Height - Minimum Height value), since it is later needed for the import in Twinmotion.
Does your scene contain an ocean, lake, or slow-flowing river? Then use Twinmotion for realistic water visualization. Most likely your terrain data represents the surface of the water body. For the visualization in Twinmotion, water bodies need some depth to look good. Use the CityEngine terrain edit brush to increase the depth of the terrain in the water areas.
There are two methods to transfer terrain data from CityEngine to Twinmotion. You can either choose to export a heightmap image or terrain mesh.
Select the terrain in the Scene Editor and go to Menu > Export... > Export Selected Terrains as Image. Then choose the png (16 Bit Grey) format.
Select the terrain in the Scene Editor and go to Menu > Export Models... and select Autodesk FBX.
First, make sure your Twinmotion scene is set to meters:
Open the Twinmotion geometry import dialog to import your scene geometry stored int the Datasmith exchange format.
In Twinmotion, terrains are called Landscapes. Open the import dialog and select the Landscape tab. On import, landscapes get materials assigned automatically.
You have three different options to add the terrain:
The third option is to import the terrain mesh as geometry. This allows you to keep the texture (e.g., satellite image) of your CityEngine terrain.
Optionally, enable Water in the Twinmotion scene.
Use the rotate/translate tool for aligning your building geometry to the terrain.
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