Exporting CityEngine Terrains to LumenRT

[AlexandruVasile]

This question is sort of in relation to the "dynamically displaying buildings" thread:

https://community.esri.com/message/435693?et=watches.email.thread#435693

In an effort to visualize a large scene, I exported it to LumenRT. But I converted the terrain to a mesh before exporting and so I have to manually align it to the buildings. There is a second option in the LumenRT documentation that I don't quite understand:

"To export a heightmap-based terrain, you must add a shape proxy and attach a LumenRT Terrain rule"

I don't understand this: what is a shape proxy and how do I make one? Attaching the LumenRT rule I think should be no problem.

This is the link to the article:

http://www.e-onsoftware.com/wiki/LumenRT/index.php/Documentation/Export_Plugins/Esri_CityEngine_Plug...

Also, has anyone worked with LumenRT together with Cityengine to share some knowledge? Were you able to export an ENTIRE scene to LumenRT (from terrain to houses, cars etc.)? I am running into small problems along the way (such as exporting a scene to LumenRT, saying it is successful or getting a random error and than nothing shows up in the target folder where I wanted to save it)

[NathanStocker]

Hi Alexandru,

Not sure if you're still looking for responses on this, but I just stumbled into it and have been doing some large scenes and wanting to use multiple terrains in LumenRT, which means I've had to do some similar things.

If you're just using one terrain, you should be able to export straight from CityEngine and just select 'Export all visible terrain layers'. Otherwise, if you're keen to use a mesh or multiple terrains, you can export the terrain as an obj, then re-import it into CityEngine. Then you just select it along with your models when exporting to LumenRT.

Unless you want to sculpt the terrain in LumenRT, it's probably more hassle than it's worth to try the shape proxy route.

In terms of general findings of using LumenRT, I've also found it to be buggy and frustrating at times - however it's also good and simple when it works.

Hope this helps.

Nathan

[NatanMicheletti1]

Hello Nathan,

Terrain as OBJ seem to be a lot easier to export to LumenRT, but how can you ensure their geo-referencing? I've tried in many ways with the centering tool but it doesn't seem to work, and it won't let me re-import my terrain as they are now located far away from where I have my georeferenced objects.

Thank you in advance,

Regards

Natan