3D Scene - Point labels floating and herd together when viewing at surface level

[SonarBATStructureMAPS]

Could some please advise me on how to get point (Shapefile) labels from floating around all willy nilly and appear as they are heading together, floating and bunched up in an ArcGIS Pro 3D Scene. The values in my screenshot are depth sounding points where I made the point icon transparent so just the point label (numeric Z depth value) displays.

The point layer that I wanted to display was download from a NOAA GIS data portal as a Shapefile. To get the point labels to display in the ArcGIS Scene I have to drag the feature class to the 3D group in because when I drag them down to the 2D group, no point label display and the ability to add/edit the labels is deactivated.  

The labels look okay when zoomed out but if I zoom down to seafloor level in the 3D Scene, the labels appear to float all over place or group together in free roaming packs that do not care where they are supposed to be, which is on top of the transparent point. I would like for the labels to just lay on the seafloor flat instead of standing up vertically and levitating into thin air when moving towards them in the scene.  

Where is the setting to make them lay flat on the seafloor and play dead as a 2D label does?

[Andrew--Johnson]

Hi,

Based on your description it sounds like the points are Z enabled so if your elevation mode is set to absolute height then the points will render at whatever Z value is specified in the geometry. If you want them all to render on the ground you can change the elevation mode to on the ground.

Right click layer in Contents pane > Properties > Click on Elevation Tab > Click dropdown and set to On the Ground

https://pro.arcgis.com/en/pro-app/latest/help/mapping/layer-properties/define-height-characteristics... 

thanks,

Andrew

[SonarBATStructureMAPS]

Thanks for the response Andrew. I followed your directions and set the points layer Elevation to 'On the Ground'. However, I'm still seeing the point labels to be floating and not locked to their associated point location. As I tilt down to ground level, the labels become bunched together and display though the seafloor surface layer. See screenshots below.  

1. No tilt overview (looks okay in this view)

2. 45° degree tilt (still displaying as expected) 

3. Tilt to almost ground level (labels appear to be floating and showing though seafloor surface)

Are there any other settings that I adjust to make the labels stay locked to the precise XY coordinates that the points are assigned to? 

Thanks! 

Matt 

[Andrew--Johnson]

Hi Matt,

From the screenshots I noticed there are many ground sources. I wonder if some of those points are hitting different sources OR a different pyramid so it appears to jump. To test that theory I have a couple ideas...first you can turn off all sources so then the points render at 0 elevation and see if you can reproduce the behavior. Another option is to add the esri hosted Topobathy3D service and see if you can reproduce the behavior only with this source turned on in your scene. 

You can add that service to your scene (if your active portal is ArcGIS Online) via Add Data > Add Elevation Source Layer > Click On Living Atlas > In search box search for topobathy 3D > click layer then click Ok

Regarding the labels displaying through the terrain that is currently an as designed behavior. Due to performance reasons and consistency with web scene the labels will always render even if blocked by another 3d feature. There is a design that is being worked on by the Text team so there will be enhancements in this area not in the next release but hopefully soon after.

thanks,

Andrew