3D cities – VerySpatial

This week’s podcast (episode 274) looked at the 2D/3D question, but as we tend to do, we talked a good bit more about 3D than 2D. We each, of course, have worked with 2D and 3D applications, but again and again we have returned to 3D for a particular use. Urban environments scream for 3D. Sue has blogged about her efforts in creating 3D visualizations for historic environments, 3D models for planning activities, and the plain old fun of looking at city data in a 3D viewer.

But how can you get into the 3D city modeling game? Well there are lots of options.

If you are using SketchUp 8 and ArcScene 10, things are getting easier

Check out Bentley’s 3D city GIS webinars

Take a look a products like Geoweb3D

Get some 3D data

And keep things open by learning more about CityGML

These are just a few of the resources online that you could check out to get on the road to creating your own 3D cities.