Display a scene

Learn how to create and display a scene with a basemap layer and an elevation layer. Set properties of the scene's camera to control the 3D perspective.

Like a map, a scene contains layers of geographic data. It contains a basemap layer and, optionally, one or more data layers. To provide a realistic view of the terrain, you can also add elevation layers to define the height of the surface across the scene. The 3D perspective of the scene is controlled by the scene's camera, which defines the position of the scene observer in 3D space.

In this tutorial, you create and display a scene using the imagery basemap layer. The surface of the scene is defined with an elevation layer and the camera is positioned to display an area of the Santa Monica Mountains in the scene view.

The scene and code will be used as the starting point for other 3D tutorials.

Prerequisites

Before starting this tutorial:

You need an ArcGIS Location Platform or ArcGIS Online account.
Confirm that your system meets the minimum system requirements.
An IDE for Java.

Steps

Create a new Java project with Gradle

Open IntelliJ IDEA.
- From the Welcome to IntelliJ IDEA screen, click the New Project button. (If you're already inside a project, click File > New > Project in the menu bar.)
- In the New Project window, select Gradle from the list on the left, make sure Java is checked under Additional Libraries and Frameworks, and click Next.
Note
If you wish to use an alternative to Gradle, see Install and Set Up for options.
- In the next window, enter a name for your new project and choose a location to save it.
- Click Artifact Coordinates to expand the drop-down. In GroupId enter com.example.app. You can leave the defaults for ArtifactId and Version. Then click Finish.

In the Project tool window, replace the contents of the build.gradle file with the following script to configure your app and reference the API. Make sure that you import the Gradle changes once you have replaced the contents.

build.gradle
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plugins {
    id 'application'
    id 'org.openjfx.javafxplugin' version '0.0.13'
}

ext {
    arcgisVersion = '100.15.0'
}

repositories {
    mavenCentral()
    maven {
        url 'https://esri.jfrog.io/artifactory/arcgis'
    }
}

configurations {
    natives
}

dependencies {
    implementation "com.esri.arcgisruntime:arcgis-java:$arcgisVersion"
    natives "com.esri.arcgisruntime:arcgis-java-jnilibs:$arcgisVersion"
    natives "com.esri.arcgisruntime:arcgis-java-resources:$arcgisVersion"
    runtimeOnly "org.slf4j:slf4j-nop:1.7.32"
}

javafx {
    version = "17.0.2"
    modules = [ 'javafx.controls' ]
}

task copyNatives(type: Copy) {
    description = "Copies the arcgis native libraries into the .arcgis directory for development."
    group = "build"
    configurations.natives.asFileTree.each {
        from(zipTree(it))
    }
    into "${System.properties.getProperty("user.home")}/.arcgis/$arcgisVersion"
}

run {
    dependsOn copyNatives
    mainClassName = 'com.example.app.App'
}

Click View > Tool Windows > Gradle to open the Gradle view, then in Tasks > build, double-click copyNatives. This unpacks the native library dependencies to $USER_HOME/.arcgis.

You can also run Gradle tasks via the command line. Consult Gradle's documentation to learn how this is done.
In the Project tool window, under src/main, right-click the java folder, and click New > Package.
Name the package com.example.app.
Right-click this package and click New > Java Class.
Name the class App.

Add import statements

In App.Java, add import statements to reference the ArcGIS Runtime API and JavaFX classes.

App.java
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package com.example.app;

import com.esri.arcgisruntime.ArcGISRuntimeEnvironment;
import com.esri.arcgisruntime.geometry.Point;
import com.esri.arcgisruntime.geometry.SpatialReferences;
import com.esri.arcgisruntime.mapping.ArcGISScene;
import com.esri.arcgisruntime.mapping.ArcGISTiledElevationSource;
import com.esri.arcgisruntime.mapping.BasemapStyle;
import com.esri.arcgisruntime.mapping.Surface;
import com.esri.arcgisruntime.mapping.view.Camera;
import com.esri.arcgisruntime.mapping.view.SceneView;

import javafx.application.Application;
import javafx.scene.Scene;
import javafx.scene.layout.StackPane;
import javafx.stage.Stage;

public class App extends Application {

Add a UI for the scene view

A scene view is a UI component that displays a scene. It also handles user interactions with the scene. Use JavaFX to add a scene view to the UI.

In App.Java, create a new public class named App that extends the JavaFX Application class.
- Add a member variable for a SceneView.
  
  The sceneView member variable allows you to easily reference your SceneView from other parts of the application.
- Create the main() method, where you call Application.launch(args).
  
  This code calls the static method launch() of the JavaFX class Application, which creates an instance of your App class and then calls the start() method. For a description of the JavaFX life cycle, see Application.
- Override the start() method, in which you configure the JavaFX Stage with a title and dimensions, and then show it.
  
  Note that the start method is abstract and must be overridden. It takes a single parameter of the JavaFX type Stage.
- Create a JavaFX StackPane, and use it to create a JavaFX Scene. Then set the JavaFX scene on the stage.
App.java
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```
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public class App extends Application {

  private SceneView sceneView;

  public static void main(String[] args) {
    Application.launch(args);
  }

  @Override
  public void start(Stage stage) {

    // set the title and size of the stage and show it
    stage.setTitle("Display a scene tutorial");
    stage.setWidth(800);
    stage.setHeight(700);
    stage.show();

    // create a JavaFX scene with a stack pane as the root node, and add it to the scene
    StackPane stackPane = new StackPane();
    Scene fxScene = new Scene(stackPane);

    stage.setScene(fxScene);

  }

}
```

Add the sceneView to the UI.

App.java
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    StackPane stackPane = new StackPane();
    Scene fxScene = new Scene(stackPane);

    stage.setScene(fxScene);

    // create a scene view to display the scene and add it to the stack pane
    sceneView = new SceneView();
    stackPane.getChildren().add(sceneView);
Expand

Add a scene

Use the scene view to display a scene centered on the Santa Monica Mountains in California. The scene will contain an imagery basemap layer.

Create a new ArcGISScene with an imagery basemap.

App.java
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Add line.    // create a scene view to display the scene and add it to the stack pane
    sceneView = new SceneView();
    stackPane.getChildren().add(sceneView);

    ArcGISScene scene = new ArcGISScene(BasemapStyle.ARCGIS_IMAGERY_STANDARD);

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To display the scene in the scene view, call the sceneView's setArcGISScene() method, passing the newly created ArcGISScene as a parameter.

App.java
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    // set the scene on the scene view
    sceneView.setArcGISScene(scene);

Expand

Create a new Surface and add a new ArcGISTiledElevationSource to it to define the base surface for the scene. Next, set the elevationExaggeration property on the surface to 2.5f to increase the 3D effect of the elevation. Finally, set the surface as the base surface of the scene.

An elevation source can define a surface with 3D terrain in a scene. Without an elevation source, the default globe surface is used to display the scene.

App.java
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    sceneView.setArcGISScene(scene);

    // add base surface for elevation data
    Surface surface = new Surface();
    String elevationServiceUrl = "https://elevation3d.arcgis.com/arcgis/rest/services/WorldElevation3D/Terrain3D/ImageServer";
    surface.getElevationSources().add(new ArcGISTiledElevationSource(elevationServiceUrl));
    // add an exaggeration factor to increase the 3D effect of the elevation.
    surface.setElevationExaggeration(2.5f);

    scene.setBaseSurface(surface);
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Set the initial viewpoint of the sceneView using a Point and a Camera.

The position you view the scene from is defined by a Camera. The following properties of the camera are used to define an observation point in the scene:

3D location: Latitude, longitude, and altitude
Heading: Azimuth of the camera's direction
Pitch: Up and down angle
Roll: Side-to-side angle

App.java
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    Point cameraLocation = new Point(-118.794, 33.909, 5330.0, SpatialReferences.getWgs84());
    Camera camera = new Camera(cameraLocation, 355.0, 72.0, 0.0);
    sceneView.setViewpointCamera(camera);
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Get an access token

You need an access token to use the location services used in this tutorial.

Go to the Create an API key tutorial to obtain an access token.
Ensure that the following privilege is enabled: Location services > Basemaps > Basemap styles service.
Copy the access token as it will be used in the next step.

To learn more about other ways to get an access token, go to Types of authentication.

Set your API key

Before running the ArcGIS Java API code, set the API key property on the ArcGISRuntimeEnvironment with your access token. In the code below, replace YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN with your copied access token. Be sure to surround your access token with double quotes as it is a string.
App.java
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```
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    stage.setScene(fxScene);

    ArcGISRuntimeEnvironment.setApiKey("YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN");
```
Expand
Warning
The access token is stored directly in the code as a convenience for this tutorial. Storing access tokens in the source code is not best practice.
Run the app. Ensure to run the app as a Gradle task and not as an application in your IDE. In the Gradle tool window, under Tasks > application, click run.

You should see a scene with the imagery basemap layer centered on the Santa Monica Mountains in California. Click, drag, and scroll the mouse wheel on the scene view to explore the scene.

Stop the app

To ensure that ArcGIS Runtime API resources used in the application are released when it is closed, override the JavaFX stop method and call dispose() on the sceneView:

App.java
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   * Stops and releases all resources used in application.
   */
  @Override
  public void stop() {
    if (sceneView != null) {
      sceneView.dispose();
    }
  }
Expand

What's next?

Learn how to use additional API features, ArcGIS location services, and ArcGIS tools in these tutorials: