Esri ships CityEngine 2022.1
Originally posted on 6 August 2022. Scroll down for news of the CityEngine 2022.1 update.
Esri has updated CityEngine, its procedural 3D city generation software, making it possible to export data to Twinmotion, Epic Games’ real-time visualisation tool.
Other changes in CityEngine 2022.0 include a new Lasso Selection tool, and updates to the transformation and street layout tools.
A powerful procedural tool for generating 3D city models for urban planning and VFX
CityEngine generates detailed city models from simple procedural rules, importing data in standard file formats like OBJ and DXF, and exporting in formats including FBX, Alembic and USD.
Although aimed at architects and urban planners – it integrates with ESRI’s ArcGIS platform – the software is also designed for entertainment, and comes with connections to DCC tools and game engines.
In recent years, it has been used on some major movies: Scanline VFX used it for city-destruction shots in Independence Day: Resurgence, and Walt Disney Animation Studios used it on Zootopia.
New in CityEngine 2022.0: export to Twinmotion, new Lasso Selection tool
By the standard of recent releases, City Engine isn’t a huge update, with the headline change in Esri’s blog post being the ability to export data to Twinmotion, Epic Games’ real-time visualisation tool, for rendering.
Twinmotion is supported via a new compatibility option in the existing CityEngine Datasmith exporter.
Other changes include a new Lasso Selection tool, and the option to rotate or scale multiple objects individually about their centre points.
The Inspector, used for creating street layouts, has been simplified, and there are updates to the welcome screen and CGA, CityEngine’s procedural modelling language.
Updated 7 November 2022: Esri has released CityEngine 2022.1.
Changes include the option to download real-world basemaps and elevation maps at 8K resolution using the software’s Get Map Data feature.
The update also improves workflow for drawing street networks, with a new Intersect Segments option to create new nodes automatically where streets cross.
A new Reverse Direction tool makes it possible to reverse the direction of individual streets.
It is also now possible to copy and paste rule attributes, street parameters and object attributes in the Inspector, making it easier to style street networks.
City planners get improved integration with Esri’s ArcGIS Urban software.
Pricing and system requirements
CityEngine 2022.1 is available for 64-bit Windows 8.1+ and Server 2012+ and RHEL 7 Linux. Perpetual licences cost $4,000, while subscriptions cost $2,000/year.
Read an overview of the new features in CityEngine 2022.1
Read an overview of the new features in CityEngine 2022.0
Read a full list of new features in CityEngine in the online changelog