Latest Contributions by MatthiasBuehler1

Hi ! There's a very important distinction to be made between e.g. ArcMap and the CityEngine, how huge raster files are displayed : In ArcMap, raster files are loaded as a 'service', just loading the proper part of large files which is actually seen on screen, plus in an adapted resolution. The CityEngine treats raster files as a whole thing (texture) which is mapped on a 3d model in the viewport. Thus, the whole raster file needs to be stored in the memory of the graphics card, filling it up very fast, especially since compressed file formats such as .jpg are handled uncompressed. As you see it is happening very fast that the graphics card memory is filled up, if not treated carefully with just one huge texture. To prevent this from happening, you need to downscale the images to lower resolutions such as e.g. 2K or 4K (2048x2048 | 4096x4096). You may see that pictures larger than 8K (8192x8192) may not even get displayed (as in your case) or sometimes just get downscaled internally to 2K (sampling still happens on the full res file). What I recommend is to check what graphics card you have and how much memory it has and then check how big files become at a certain resolution as a tif file (tif is uncompressed format). Please note also that it's a huge difference in data whether your file is 8bit / 16 bit / 32 bit ! Ok ? ps. check file sizes with this neat page : http://www.hdslr-cinema.com/tools/filesize.php (see output under 'frame filesize') Matt ... View more

hi ! CityEngine handles data a little different than ArcGIS. e.g. there's no spreadsheet available which lets you sort all data. --> you can 1 ] select shapes based on attributes --> you can use CGA rules to distinguish the attributes for each footprint for the building generation. for 1], start with the following docs : selecting via attribute values : boolean expression in attribute layer - check Manual > Map Layers > Selection via Image Maps - check Manual > Mapping Attributes > Mapping Object Attributes via Layer Attribute if you have questions here, let me know .. ok ? for 2], create and assign a cga rule file to all shapes. within the rule file, define an attr : attr zoning = ""       # this is a string definition assign the rule file to all shapes and use the connection editor to point the attribute to the imported Object Attribute (GIS data), not the rule value. from there, you can use "case.. else" statements to distinguish all sorts of things. example : attr zoning = "" Lot -->     case zoning == "01" :         color(1,0,0)         Shape01.     case zoning == "02" :         color(0,1,0)         Shape02.     else :         color(0,0,1)         Shape03. ... View more

hi ! that seems to be of this installer (build 1021). a new version of the CityEngine is on it's way (2011.2). It should be distributed within these days. in the new version, there is the ArcGIS compatibility preset visible. about the other issues, can you retry once you get the new installer ? please let me know. ... View more

hi there ! then you'll need to contact Esri Germany, they'll help you further. http://www.esri.de/ Liebe Gruesse nach Deutschland ! Matt ... View more

hi ! which precise version are you using ? can you post a screenshot of the error ? what does the log window say ? are you getting an error there ? if you double click the error, can you see a stack strace (error description) ? please let me know .. matt ... View more

Hi Torsten, Yes, the Indie version is now the 'CityEngine Basic'. As an existing customer, you should have been contacted by your local Esri Distributor. (Where are you located ?) In case it happened that you did not get notified, please find your local Esri Distributor here : http://www.esri.com/about-esri/locations.html For more information, please see here : http://www.esri.com/software/cityengine/index.html The key features are : - better Inspector - improved street tools - styles (CGA feature) - improved materials (e.g. display or bump and normal maps, Ambient Occlusion, ...) If you have a running Subscription, you should be able to upgrade (via Distributor). Please let me know if this helps you ! Matt ... View more

Dear Paul, Is it possible that you can provide me with a test dataset on which you can reproduce the issue which you can share ? Please let me know. ... View more

Hi Marko. The CityEngine displays all valid MAC addresses it finds in the Licensing Screen, on the top. Can you find it ? ... View more

Hi .. Here's the answer of Simon, one of the developers. * * * unfortunately, there is currently no way to access the export status for a shape directly via a python call. i suggest the (admittedly inelegant) method to parse the export log file in the finishExport() or after the ce.export() call and cross-reference it with the collected shape uuids from the finishModel() call: ... def finishModel(exportContextUUID, shapeUUID, modelUUID): print "finishModel: shape uuid = ", shapeUUID # TODO: put shapeUUID into a list here... ... # Called after all shapes are generated. def finishExport(exportContextUUID): ... ce.export(...) # TODO: parse the "INPUT REPORT" section of the export log and # compare with the shape uuids collected above,    # check for the "ERROR" string i have put your request into our ticket database. the plan is to extend the ce.export() call with a datastructure which will contain the export status for each input shape. sorry for the mixed news & kind regards, simon ... View more

hi ! we have changed some of the behaviour for transparency. before (up to 2010.3 ) it's been treated as 'transparency', now (2011+) it is 'opacity'. it seems that in this inversion process, one thing was not adapted perfectly. fact is that currently, due to the tr 1.0000000 line in all your mtl files, all your models are completely transparent, thus showing only the wireframe. a ticket's been made. this should be fixed in the upcoming SR. btw. all your mtls point to targa textures which were not in the dataset (just the jpgs in an other subfolder). to fix such issues, you may also use NotePad++ to search-and-replace over a series of documents (e.g. all mtl files in a folder). btw.2 : a current fix to work on would be to replace all tr 1.00 to 0.00 ... View more

hi ! sorry for the late reply. can you send me the file(s) to mBuehler@esri.com ? please let me know .. ... View more

it would be awesome, but it's currently just not possible to do such queries. I've wished for this already many times too. ... View more

When I think again, you guys already got plenty points conquering N&S america around the 15th century .. 😉 hehe. ... View more

hi ! sorry for your inconvenience! a hs_err file may get created and it may also be created in different locations, not necessarily in the CE folders. [do not ask me why, that's what I was told. :)] what you can do it compare the creation time of the hs_err file. if you find one (anywhere on the harddrive) which was created in the same minute the CE crashed last, it's very likely this file may help us. I am not sure anymore, did you try and completely remove the installation, delete the CE program folder and run the TRIAL installer again ? Please let me know .. m. ... View more

hi ! well, synchronizing can no more be forced after you separate shapes e.g. with a split or comp(f). once the Model Hierarchy is branched, the shapes can not communicate or get directly synched. thus, in your specific case it's easiest to use the extrude() operation's nature to point all faces' normals to the 'outside' (note that the input face's normal is also reversed after the extrude op) to make sure all fences are correctly placed. * * * once you've gone over the CGA rule, you may have a few questions, but I guess you get the main ideas. 1] the point of the strange scaling is that if you model this fence asset to be 4 meters wide and you just insert this, there may be cases where fences are only 0.5 meters wide, thus scaling the asset quite extremely. this must be avoided. thus, I'd recommend to create the fence itself completely procedural. 2] the second point is that usually the pointy fence boards are placed exactly vertically. if you insert a 4-meter prebuilt asset on a sloped fence, all the boards of course point up not vertically since it's just a 'dumb' asset which is placed tilted. 3] at one point in the CGA code, you find a strange roof() operation. this is hack since we have no bevel op yet to basically build a little roof on the board edges and directly cutting off the most of the 'tip', leaving the beveled geometry. ... View more