Latest Contributions by MatthiasBuehler1

Hi ! I need a little more info on what you need to do. Select the objects ? Get reports ? .. Did you see those : http://video.arcgis.com/watch/1778/tutorial-10-python-scripting http://video.arcgis.com/watch/1780/tutorial-12-scripted-report-export ? ... View more

Hi ! Sorry for the late reply. Some of that data can be exported, but not really can be accessed. If I understand you correctly, you'd like to have the CityEngine to use as an easy to use designing tool, then bring over the important structures and convert them into native objects for precise engineering/analysis purposes. I understand the wish for this, but this is honestly a very difficult task. Can you post an example of a script based definition of a curved street with a certain width ? Depending on how that looks, a combination or reports / console prints and Python scripts can go in the right direction. Let me know. Matthias ... View more

Hey there ! Do you have by chance ArcGIS 10.0 also installed on your system ? Let me know .. Matt ... View more

haha, MEL'ism .. 🙂 I used to code a lot of MEL too. Love it. Love Maya ! It's our favourite 3d app in the office, used a lot to test things and of course also get inspirations.. It's always great to share some insight ! Keep the good work up ! ... View more

Hi ! That is currently not yet possible 'cleanly' unless you pass down the info down to the shape. E.g. by testing if a roof floor has the highest split.index. A hack would be to use convert() in a function named like 'heightAboveFloor' (= code example below) to get the relative distance of the current shape's pivot to the start shape's pivot. This value can then be compared to e.g. 'numberFloors'*'floorHeight' or 'buildingHeight' and then place your light asset if it's 'high enough above floor'. Let me know if this is unclear. E.g. used in the Medieval Town Example : case convert(y,scope,object,pos,0,0,0) < 3.5: ps. This works well when footprints are not sloped. If sloped, the heightAboveFloor is only approximate since the Start Shape's pivot only is taken into account. ------------------------ Otherwise : Since Shapes can not query back up in the Model Hierarchy and down other branches, that info must be fed consistently. What you can do otherwise is use Python to (3 workflows possible): 1] get the highest vertex and draw a little new Shape there as a Start Shape for placing your lights again with a CGA rule. 2] report all high point shapes and use the Script Based Exporter to analyze the reports, then draw a little shape again as in 1] on the highest one. 3] more complex: - create a helper attr with PythonHelpValue = 0 - report all positions in CGA - use Python to find the highest shape on which a light may be created and get it's height. - set the helper attr with that value ( use Python to set the value and the source to 'user value'.) - important : at the shape which previously reported the shapes, an other test is prepared in CGA, like : PossibleLightPositionShape --> case PythonHelpValue == 0 :     report (shapes height in world.)     print ("run Python now")     NIL case (heightInWorld < PythonHelpValue +delta0.01) && (heightInWorld > PythonHelpValue -delta0.01):     PutLight else :     NIL I used the 3] workflow in support cases where CGA had to be prepared to be able to react to 'multistep Model Generation', where first, a Model creates reports, then Python is used to create statistics over multiple shapes and write the results back to all shapes as user-set attributes for the second generation Model Generation. --------------------------------- Hopefully, my longtime wish comes true soon where leaf nodes can be combined again in a CGA operation to test exactly such things ! --------------------------------- Maybe read all this twice .. 😉 ... View more

sure. If you don't need models which generate really fast, then occlusions are real helpful. let me know when you have more questions. ... View more

Hi ! I've tested to export streets without rules and it worked fine here. I'd have been surprised too. What's the build date of the CityEngine you are using ( Help -> About ). The Street Model Generation works correctly ? Does CE crash or freeze ? I'd try to create a new scene with just a few streets and track down which elements cause the issue in the scene you're currently working on. Eliminating all details to track the precise issue down. Let me know .. ... View more

Hi .. Just a quick input on the terrain : - note the U and V Subdivision in the terrain layer attributes in the Inspector ( select the terrain ). If the subdivision is too dense and too much geometry is produced, just tone those values down reasonably. Especially if the terrain is almost flat. - in the export settings, in the 'Optimization' tab, there's a setting called 'Simplify Terrain Meshes'. If this option is enabled, the export will take quite a bit longer than if disabled. What this option does is take the terrain and simplify it's geometry using an edge-collapse algorithm, with much less resulting polygons. That computation takes quite long. --> Play with the UV Subdivisions and the Terrain simplification to optimize the terrain's share in the WebGL scene. ... View more

Hi ! then, you forgot to define the filesearch as a 'const'. const buildingtex = fileRandom("assets/buildingtex/myFacade*.jpg") ... View more

Cool ! Great to hear .. Thanks for sharing ! Matt ... View more

Hi ! Jep, right. The extra code is just to give the system a little 'physical room' to prevent imprecision issues. So I move the face out, scale it down so it does not touch something, create the test volume, test, and then go back to the original shape with the result, deleting the rest of the geometries that were created for the test. I know it's a little complex, but that gives the best results. Nevertheless, in your example, I'd try to not use Occlusions, but really try to well-define all your shapes, so you can guarantee that e.g. signs only get placed where no building is. Maybe post a screenshot of the desired situation and I have an other input. Lemme know ! Interesting topics you post ! 🙂 ... View more

Hi ! There's no way to export the procedural representation in it's 'procedural nature'. Though we're currently working on the so-called 'Procedural Runtime', which is basically an SDK which you can tie into any 3d app and get back the models directly into that app (without need of CityEngine). Though that's a thing to arrive and is not yet available. At the moment, I'd try to export your model to either .obj or .dae ( Collada ), and then automate the task of importing the new model again into Revit. That way, you just have the basic 'current model' sitting in a specific location in your project directory, from where it can be overridden from CE and loaded into Revit. That's the fastest it get at the moment. So you have to find the export format which currently works the best for you. (Currently, there's no possibility to write custom exporters. But e.g. .obj and .dae are ascii-based formats anyway, if you prefer this. current export formats of interest for you : - .obj - .dae - .fbx - .kml / .kmz( = georeferenced dae ) - File GDB (Esri format) - .3ds Additionally, note that CityEngine does not create 'BIM-Models'. What you are creating is indeed a 'dumb' polygonal model, but next to the geometry, you can of course also export metadata for the geometries and export them also via Python to e.g. a text file, ready to load elsewhere. Let me know if this helps and if you have more question. Cheers ! Matt ... View more

I would if I could .. I'm not a 3DSMax user .. 😞 But there's tons of them around, so I recommend to ask e.g. on AutoDesk's 'Area'. Sorry to be no help here in this specific task. Matt ... View more