I'm wondering if someone at ESRI (Chris Wilkins, Matthias Buehler, Brooks Patrick, Gert Van Maren, Thomas Fuchs, Cheryl Lau, ?) could comment on the future outlook of CityEngine specifically in regards to several features needed to complete many GeoDesign workflows. Specifically the need for higher quality renderings, interactive walkthroughs (by this I mean not just a tour but the ability to interact with the scene from a pedestrian perspective), and the ability to collaborate proposal scenarios (using actual detailed models not just generic rectangles).
Does the road map include integrating these capabilities through CE or will there continue to be a need for some type of rendering software or game engine? If a third party is recommended, do you have any suggestions? Something with a plugin built in (which means you'll continually have to do the compatibility dance) or just something that accepts an industry standard import? Is there an industry standard? It seems there are a dizzying array of options and I'm hesitant to commit myself down a path both financially and temporally (?) without knowing where we are headed.
My primary workflow with CE currently revolves around providing our Design Review Board with visualizations of proposed developments. I'm comfortable using CE as the workhorse for model creation, both procedural and manual, but I've been using LumenRT for the final presentation primarily because of the ability to walk through the scene. I'd prefer to bring as much of the workflow under the ESRI umbrella as possible (a fact which I'm sure will be pleasing to certain ears) because of the robust user communities and support. Obviously that's not possible now. I've seen a fair bit of evidence saying I'm not alone in wanting many of these capabilities or at least perhaps a recommended strategic path forward.
Scott
Hi Scott,
I'm not in that loop, but others you mention might be able to answer about roadmap questions. I just write CGA.
Chris
Hi Scott,
I don't work at Esri anymore since late 2014 ..
You're asking good questions regarding the future, but I can't comment on the roadmap myself. I hear some things here and there, but they're usually not public knowlege and I can't share this.
What I can do is advertise my own company now as a 'third party' - this may be an option for you to outsource some things that are not your core expertise:
Kind greetings!
Matt
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matthias buehler || dipl. arch. eth zurich
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vrbn bühler || www.vrbn.io || winterthurerstrasse 51 || 8610 uster || switzerland
+41 78 930 04 07 || matthias.buehler@vrbn.io || @vrbnio @mattb3d
Hi Scott
Thank you for your input. You are right, that there are requests similar to yours.
Providing a Design Review Board with different proposals is an important workflow for CityEngine.
In the latest release the team added new features that serve this purpose:
For the next release we continue to add more features for this workflow.
As Mattias Buehler already mentioned, the roadmap is not public knowledge, so I hope you understand, that I have to keep it that vague.