19.08.2009

3D city models

FME technology provides support in the creation, maintenance and transfer of virtual 3D city models
 
There are now many city and district councils who are currently creating their own virtual 3D city models. As the standard laid down by the Open Geospatial Consortiums (OGC) by which 3D city models are exchanged, CityGML plays a central role in these activities. FME is the spatial ETL tool made by the company Safe Software Inc. from Canada. It not only supports CityGML, but also a number of other GIS and CAD formats.

Database: City of Karlsruhe, Stadtliegenschaftsamt

Using FME, it is possible to create CityGML data, easily and flexibly, from a variety of different data formats, based on existing information.

FME technology allows users without programming knowledge to perform all the activities typically required for the production of 3D city models, such as generating 3D building models from 2D footprints, transferring complex CAD models, integrating attribute data, intersecting with laser scan data, and updating existing models.

At a glance:

• Fully supports CityGML 1.0.0 (and older versions)
• Supports the entire thematic model (buildings, roads, city furniture etc.)
• Levels of detail (LoD): 0-4

Typical application scenarios:

• Creation of an LoD 1 block model from the building footprint, height attribute, number of storeys, surface models and digital terrain model
• Creation of higher LoDs from CAD models
• Conversion of Google SketchUp models to CityGML
• Integration and mapping of attribute data to attributes relevant to CityGML 
• Inclusion of several LoDs in one CityGML file
• Conversion of CityGML files into a wide range of other formats, including KML and 3D PDF

A number of other 3D formats are supported in addition to CityGML, including:

• Adobe 3D PDF
• Autodesk 3ds
• ESRI Geodatabase
• ESRI Shape
• Google SketchUp
• IFC
• KML
• Oracle