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Style 3D object layers

With smart mapping styles in Layer style, you can apply styles to your 3D object scene layers (3D object layer) to emphasize texture and coloring uniformly across the layer. Additionally, you can focus on the attributes and either apply a continuous color ramp to the 3D object layer or style the 3D object layer by category types. For example, you can show occupancy rates of buildings in a color ramp with lower rates in lighter colors and higher rates in darker colors.

Color

Use the Color style when you want to display all your buildings with the same coloring and texturing.

  1. Follow the steps in the Style layers workflow.
  2. For Texture, configure how building textures display.

    Textures are images are on the faces of models, such as the facades of buildings. You have the following options for modifying textures:

    • Original texture—Use the existing texture with its original coloring.
    • Grayscale texture—Turn the existing texture into grayscale texturing.
    • Colored texture—Apply a specified color to an existing texture.
    • Color only—Apply only a color.

    Note:

    Color is unavailable when you choose Original texture or Grayscale texture. If your 3D object layer doesn't have textures, you will only see the Color option.

  3. For Color, click the color picker.

    Do any of the following:

    1. Click  Fill color Pencil to see the fill color options:
      • Choose a color in the color picker.
      • Create a custom color by the Hex, RGB, or HSV values.
      • Under Saved, you can apply saved colors. Click Add or Zoom out to add or remove a color.
      • Click Done to apply the settings and return to the previous pane.

      The most recent fill colors are shown.

    2. Click Fill transparency to set the transparency with the slider or by entering values.
    3. Click Cancel to return to the previous pane without applying the color settings.
    4. Click Done to apply the settings and return to the previous pane.
  4. For Elevation Mode, see Change elevation mode.
  5. For Labels, see Apply labels.
  6. For Edges, see Visualize edges.

Counts and Amounts

Use the Counts and Amounts style when you have a 3D object layer with numeric attributes and want to visualize the layer along a color ramp. For example, you can display the energy consumption of buildings in a color ramp, with lower-energy buildings in a lighter color and higher-energy buildings in a darker color.

  1. Follow the steps in the Style layers workflow.
  2. Move the upper and lower slider handles to adjust the coloring based on the specified attribute.
  3. For Texture, configure how 3D object layer textures display.

    Textures are images are on the faces of models, such as the facades of buildings. You have the following options for textures:

    • Colored texture—Apply a specified color to an existing texture.
    • Color only—Apply only a color.
      Note:

      If your 3D object layer doesn't have textures, you will only see the Color option.

  4. For Color, click the color picker.
    Do any of the following:
    1. Click  Fill color Pencil to see the fill color options:
      • Under Category, select the types of color ramps from which you want to choose.
      • Click Flip ramp colors Invert color ramp to flip the colors.
      • Click Done to return to the previous pane.
    2. Click Cancel to return to the previous pane without applying the color settings.
    3. Click Done to apply the settings and return to the previous pane.
  5. For Elevation Mode, see Change elevation mode.
  6. For Labels, see Apply labels.
  7. For Edges, see Visualize edges.

Types

Use the Types style for a 3D object layer with either text or numeric attributes. Similar to the 2D Types and 3D Types styles, use the Types style when you want to color buildings uniquely based on an attribute, such as zoning.

  1. Follow the steps in the Style layers workflow.

    The Types pane appears with the Mapped Attribute box displaying the specified attribute.

  2. Modify the Attribute Values list.

    The most common attribute values are listed. The remaining attribute values are automatically grouped into the Other section. By default, the attribute values are listed in descending order by the number of features, which is listed next to each attribute value. The total number of features is displayed at the top of the list.

    1. Click an attribute value to modify.

      Do any of the following:

      • Change the symbology.
      • Drag the attribute value to change the order in the list and in the legend.
      • Rename an attribute value by selecting it and clicking the name.
    2. Click Select all at the top of the list to modify all values.

      To return to modifying an individual value, click a value or click Select one at the top of the list.

    3. Modify attribute values in the Other section.

      Do any of the following:

      • Change the symbology.
      • Drag individual attribute values in and out of the main list
      • Click Select all to drag all values.
      • Click the show Show Other values or hide Hide Other values buttons to show or hide features that are in the Other section. By default, these attribute features are hidden. Features that are hidden and dragged to the main list become visible in the scene and in the legend.

    Tip:
    Ideally, your layer should show fewer than 10 values; more than 10 are difficult for users to distinguish.

  3. For Texture, configure how 3D object layer textures display.

    Textures are images on the faces of models, such as the facades of buildings. You have the following options for modifying textures:

    • Original texture—Use an existing texture with its original coloring.
    • Grayscale texture—Turn an existing texture into grayscale texturing.
    • Colored texture—Apply a specified color to an existing texture.
    • Color only—Apply only a color.
      Note:

      Color is unavailable when Original texture or Grayscale texture is selected. If your 3D object layer doesn't have textures, you will only see the Color option.

  4. For Color, click the color picker.

    Do any of the following:

    1. Click  Fill color Pencil to see the fill color options:
      • Choose a color in the color picker.
      • Create a custom color by the Hex, RGB, or HSV values.
      • Under Saved, you can apply saved colors. Click Add or Zoom out to add or remove a color.
      • Click Done to apply the settings and return to the previous pane.

      The most recent fill colors are shown.

    2. Click Fill transparency to set the transparency with the slider or by entering values.
    3. Click Cancel to return to the previous pane without applying the color settings.
    4. Click Done to apply the settings and return to the previous pane.
  5. To apply a color ramp to all the attribute values, click Select all at the top of the Attribute Values list.

    The solid color picker becomes a color ramp.

    1. Click  Fill color Pencil to see the fill color options:
      • Under Category, select the types of color ramps from which you want to choose.
      • Click Flip ramp colors Invert color ramp to flip the colors.
      • Click Done to return to the previous pane.
    2. Click Solid color to change the ramp to a solid color and display the fill options.
  6. For Elevation Mode, see Change elevation mode.
  7. For Labels, see Apply labels.
  8. For Edges, see Visualize edges.

Change elevation mode

Change the elevation mode to customize the positioning of your layers. For Offset, enter a positive or negative value in meters to offset the layer higher or lower, respectively. Absolute height is automatically set as the Elevation Mode setting for 3D object layers.

Note:
OSM 3D Buildings and OSM 3D Trees don't include z-values; therefore, the elevation mode is set to Relative to Ground.

Apply labels

If labels are available in your layer, you see a Labels toggle button. By showing labels in your scene, you can immediately convey information about the scene based on an attribute in the layer.

  1. Click the Labels toggle button to turn labels on and off in your layer.
  2. You can configure the labels by doing any of the following:
    • For Text, click the drop-down menu to choose the attribute for labeling. You can select <custom> when custom label expressions are saved from another app, such as Map Viewer or Map Viewer Classic.
    • For Size, choose small, medium, or large for the label size.
    • For Color, choose light or dark to make your text light or dark.
    • For Callout size, choose an appropriate scale (city, regional, world) and length (small or large) for the callout lines. Scale affects how long you can see the callout lines when zooming out.
      • Select <none> for no callouts.
      • You can select <custom> when custom callout lines are saved from another app, such as ArcGIS Pro.
    • Click the Improve perspective toggle button to display labels more intuitively, so labels that are farther away are smaller.

Visualize edges

Click the Edges toggle key to accentuate and stylize the building edges and outlines, including substructures, exterior walls, balconies, and roofs.

To use Edges, do the following:

  1. Click the Edges toggle key to turn edges on and off in your buildings.
  2. For Style, choose the style of the lines defining your edges.
    • solid—Solid straight line
    • sketch—Hand-drawn sketched line
    • <custom>—Custom-styled line only available when saved from another app, such as ArcGIS Pro
      Note:

      If <custom> is selected, the Color and Size options are unavailable.

  3. For Color, choose either light or dark for the edge lines.
  4. For Size, choose thin, standard, or thick for the thickness of your lines.