Scenes (3D) | ArcGIS Maps SDK for Swift

Maps and scenes provide interactive displays of geographic data that enable you to visualize and explore patterns, answer questions, and share insight. While the programming patterns are similar and many of the classes you work with are the same, maps are designed for working with geographic data in two dimensions (2D) and scenes in three dimensions (3D).

With scenes, you can use a global or local scene to display your data, such as airline flight patterns, campus facilities, or underground utilities. Global scenes are spatially referenced using a geographic coordinate system and are used to display and work with world scale data. Local scenes, by contrast, are spatially referenced using a projected coordinate system and are used to display localized data drawn on a flat plane.

Use one of the following scene views to visualize and interact with 3D data in your app:

SceneView for a global scene.
LocalSceneView for a local scene.

How a scene works

A scene works together with SceneView (global scene) or LocalSceneView (local scene) to display geographic content in three dimensions. A scene contains a collection of layers including multiple data layers from online or local sources, a basemap layer that gives geographic context, and a base surface containing elevation data. A scene can also contain datasets that enable searches for addresses or place names, networks for solving routes, and non-spatial tables.

For offline workflows (when you don't have network connectivity), you can open a scene stored in a mobile scene package. You can create mobile scene packages using ArcGIS Pro, share them using your ArcGIS organization, or distribute directly by copying to a device. See Offline maps, scenes, and data for more information about implementing offline workflows in your app.

Scene

A scene contains a collection of layers. Two dimensional layers are displayed in the order in which they are added, while three dimensional layers are displayed using the layer's elevation information. You can use the scene to change the display order of two dimensional layers as well as to control which layers are visible, and expose this functionality with user interface controls such as lists, check boxes, or switches. Scenes extend the concept of a basemap by introducing a base surface that contains a collection of elevation sources. Layers can be draped on top of the surface, positioned relative to the surface or displayed based on their absolute values.

You can instantiate a new Scene by creating a new scene and building it entirely with code. With this approach, you typically first add a basemap layer, set a base surface on which layers are draped or relative layers are offset, and then one or more data layers.

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        // Set your API key during app initialization.
        // ArcGISEnvironment.apiKey = APIKey("<#YOUR-ACCESS-TOKEN#>")
        // Creates a scene with a basemap style.
        let scene = Scene(basemapStyle: .arcGISTopographic)
        // Creates an elevation source with a URL.
        let worldElevationServiceURL = URL(string: "https://elevation3d.arcgis.com/arcgis/rest/services/WorldElevation3D/Terrain3D/ImageServer")!
        // Creates and adds the elevation source to the surface.
        let elevationSource = ArcGISTiledElevationSource(url: worldElevationServiceURL)
        let surface = Surface()
        surface.addElevationSource(elevationSource)
        // Adds the surface to the scene.
        scene.baseSurface = surface

You can also instantiate a Scene that's stored in a portal (such as ArcGIS Online) using its item ID or URL.

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        let portalID = PortalItem.ID("579f97b2f3b94d4a8e48a5f140a6639b")!
        let portalItem = PortalItem(portal: .arcGISOnline(connection: .anonymous), id: portalID)
        let scene = Scene(item: portalItem)

The portal item, in this example, determines the scene's viewing mode as global or local. This distinction is important when it comes time to connect the scene with a view to display the map in an application. See global scene for details working with a global scene or local scene when working with a local scene. For cases when you need to specify the scene viewing mode, use SceneViewingMode to specify an appropriate option.

When the Scene first appears in the SceneView or LocalSceneView, you can focus the initial display at a specified view point by setting GeoModel.initialViewpoint.

Global scene

In a global scene, you can display spatial content on a sphere based on geographic coordinate systems. A global scene is recommended when you want to understand or provide context for phenomena that wrap around the spherical surface of the earth, such as global weather measurements, world population, or shipping lanes. You can also use a global scene to display data at a city-wide level or down to a building site level. Once you have a global Scene, in order to display it in an application, you need to connect it to SceneView. See global scene overview for details about working with global scenes.

Local scene

In a local scene, you can display data that has a spatial reference in a projected coordinate system, and the terrain and layers are shown projected on a planar surface rather than on a sphere. Local scenes are recommended for displaying data at a local or city scale that have a fixed extent in which you work. Local scenes are helpful for urban planning and visualization, such as when viewing campus facilities or building developments. You can also navigate underground and interact with subsurface data, such as utility networks or earthquake data. Once you have a local Scene, in order to display it in an application, you need to connect it to LocalSceneView. See local scene overview for details about working with local scenes.

Scene views

LocalSceneView does not currently support all the capabilities or layer types available in SceneView. This section outlines the main differences between LocalSceneView and SceneView, and describes how we plan to resolve these differences in future releases.

Layer types

Here are some notable differences between the supported layer types in LocalSceneView and SceneView:

LocalSceneView
- Does not yet support FeatureLayer or RasterLayer.
- Supports all I3S scene layers except PointCloudLayer.
- Does not yet support OGC layer types, such as OGC3DTilesLayer, KMLLayer, WMSLayer, and WMTSLayer.
SceneView does not support the new BuildingSceneLayer.

See Layer types for more details.

Capabilities

Similarly, here are some SceneView capabilities that are not yet available in LocalSceneView:

Overlays, including GraphicsOverlay
Camera Controllers
Rasters as an ElevationSource for a scene's Surface
Labeling and labeling APIs

Delivering additional capabilities

The LocalSceneView will be aligned with SceneView over time; expect to see the capabilities and layer types listed above delivered in future releases, starting with: