Extruding 3D point layers looses shadowing in ArcGIS Pro

[JonathanCruz1]

Hi Everyone,

I desperately need help. I am currently symbolizing a point layer as a 3D layer (using 3D cylinders) in ArcScene by Graduated Symbols. When I try to extrude the point layer using one of its attributes to display height, the 3D cylinders looses its shadowing and looks darker. The tops of the 3D cylinders become hollow. Without the shadowing, the 3D cylinders almost look 2D. Has anyone else had this issue before? Attached are pics of before the extrusion and after the extrusion.

Map & data's current geographic coordinate system: WGS 1984

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks in advance!

Jon

[SeanSimpson]

Hi there,

Did you ever resolve this issue?

Thanks

[JeremyWright]

Folks,

I'm looking into the reported issue with shading disappearing on extrusion (which sounds like a bug ), but in the meantime I would recommend authoring your symbols differently to achieve the desired result. 

If you use a "3d Model Marker" in Pro, and use attribute-driven symbology to connect the height to a field, then the cylinders will render at the desired height (with endcaps and shading) in the same manner as extruded points.

An example of this type of symbology can be had by looking at the "Western Pacific Typhoons (2005)" Web Scene.  To open it in Pro, go to Project Pane->Portal->All, and search for Typhoons 2005.  Add an open the aforementioned titled Web Scene and look at the "Typhoons Q1" layer to see the cylinder symbol.  Click the "burger button" in the upper right of the Symbology dockpane to see the "Review Connected Attributes" option - here you can see the height is driven from an attribute.

More detailed info on attribute driven symbology is available in the Pro help:

Attribute-driven symbology—ArcGIS Pro | ArcGIS for Desktop

Regards,

Jeremy W.

[JeremyWright · Accepted solution]

OK and to answer the question - the extruded cylinders ARE shaded, but the default lighting in a scene is "noon at camera position" - meaning the lighting is from directly above.  This means no shading variance for the sides of the cylinder.  Change it to a date/time (if a global scene) or a different position (if a local scene) to see the shading.

[JonathanCruz1]

Hi Jeremy,

Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner. You are most definitely correct. I changed the "Azimuth" under Illumination withiin the Scene's Map Properties to my desired value. My cylinders are still hollow but by tilting the scene at a certain angle, the "hollowness" seems to disappear and in the grand scheme seems relatively minor. Attached are pics of my properties window and my results.

Thanks again!!