Chapter 7: 3D Web Scene
The basics:
Scenes can be grouped into two main types
Photorealistic: Aims to re-create reality using photos to texture features. These types of scenes often use imagery as the texture and are extremely well suited for showing visible objects, such as a city.
Cartographic: Takes 2D thematic mapping techniques and moves them into 3D. These types of scenes often use attribute-driven symbols (extrusion height, size, color, and transparency) to display physical, abstract, or invisible features such as population density, earthquake magnitudes, flight paths, zoning laws, solar impact, and air corridor risks.
Main elements in scenes
Surfaces: Surfaces are continuous measurements, typically elevation, with one value for a given x,y location. Surfaces provide the foundation for draping other content. Surfaces are often referred to as a digital elevation model (DEM), digital terrain model (DTM), or digital surface model (DSM).
Features: Live on, above, or below the surfaces. They can be 2D layers or 3D scene layers. These features are operational layers of your 3D app.
Textures: Provide exterior or interior covers of your 3D features. Textures often use aerial imageries or cartographic symbols.
Atmospheric effects: Examples include lighting and fog.
Web scenes and web scene layers
3D object scene layers: These layers can be used to represent and visualize 3D objects, such as textured or untextured buildings. 3D object scene layers can be created manually or automatically using procedural rules.
Building scene layers: Building scene layers allow you to visualize complex digital models of buildings and interact with all the components of the building. With building scene layers, you can explore a building’s composition, properties, and locations of structures in a building digital model.
- Overview: Optional layer that allows you to view the 3D building as a single layer. The overview can be created from the exterior shell defined in the building layer.
- Discipline: Combines category layers into the various work disciplines of a building, such as architectural, structural, mechanical, plumbing, or electrical.
- Category layer: Represents individual categories, such as windows or walls, organized in disciplines. Category layers are 3D object scene layers. You can change the symbology or change other properties of the layer.
- Filter: Allows you to view details in complex buildings. With a filter, you can choose to show only elements with specific attributes as solid or show others in wire frame mode.
This particular section seems like a lot of fun. the first thing that comes to mind when considering how I would use it is creating a plot of property that I hope to one day achieve at some point in my life, we’ll see though. I really like the idea of having space for a home, a few animals, a pond and a small community space where individuals could sell locally made goods, as well as an outdoor education space for kids. I would like to just lay this out and play around with what this could look like structurally.