Tutorial: Create an offline scene

Fieldwork takes you and your mobile workers to places without a data connection, but that shouldn’t stop you from using your GIS data. You can create a scene without an internet connection, and you can use it on your device in the field. You can use a custom app built with the ArcGIS Maps SDKs or use ArcGIS Earth or ArcGIS Earth Mobile.

Taking data offline often requires preprocessing. This workflow explains how to create tile packages as elevation sources for use in the Create Mobile Scene Package geoprocessing tool. However, it can also be used to create tile packages from aerial imagery. Aerial images that reference raster datasets are supported as input to the Create Mobile Scene Package tool. See Author a mobile scene package for ArcGIS Maps SDKs for additional considerations.

Find and open the project

The data used in this tutorial is available as a project package that can be downloaded from ArcGIS Online through ArcGIS Pro.

To open the project, complete the following steps:

1. Open a new instance of ArcGIS Pro.
2. From the ArcGIS Pro start page, click Open another project .
3. Click the All Portal filter and search for Make Offline Scene example.
4. Select the Make Offline Scene project package and click OK.

   The project downloads and opens four scenes:

   • WGS84
   • WGS84_PostProcess
   • WebMercatorAuxiliarySphere
   • WebMercator_PostProcess

   For scenes that are ready to run through the Create Mobile Scene Package tool, use WebMercator_PostProcess or WGS84_PostProcess. Choose Option 1 or Option 2 below, depending on whether the mobile scene package is intended for a local scene in the Web Mercator Auxiliary Sphere coordinate system or a global scene in the WGS84 coordinate system. If this project is for an app that was built with the ArcGIS Maps SDKs, follow Option 2, because they only support global scenes. Alternatively, Option 1 can be followed as long as the scene is converted to a global scene and a basemap is used. If you have access to a portal, the quickest way to create tile packages is to use Option 3.

   

Option 1: Create a tile package for a ground elevation source in WebMercatorAuxiliarySphere

ArcGIS Maps SDKs only supports ground elevation sources that reference a tile package. To take the scene offline, use the Manage Tile Cache and Export Tile Cache tools to create the tile package.

1. Ensure that WebMercatorAuxiliarySphere is the active scene.
2. On the Analysis tab, click the Tools button.

   The Geoprocessing pane appears.

3. In the Geoprocessing pane search box, search for Manage Tile Cache and click the tool to open it. Set the following parameters:
   1. Specify a Cache location using the browse button .
   2. Type Elevation Cache Web Mercator for Cache Name.
   3. Select Recreate all tiles for Manage Mode.
   4. Select DEM for Input Data Source.
   5. Select Elevation tiling scheme for Input tiling scheme. If the tile package is for an aerial image, select ArcGIS Online tiling scheme.
   6. Use the default number of scales.

      If you do adjust the scales, ensure that the Minimum Cached Scale and Maximum Cached Scale values are adjusted as well.

   7. Click Run .
   The cache is created in the cache location.
4. In the Geoprocessing pane search box, search for Export Tile Cache and click the tool to open it. Set the following parameters:
   1. If Elevation Cache Web Mercator was not added to the scene in the previous step, add Elevation Cache Web Mercator to the scene from the Cache location.
   2. Select Elevation Cache Web Mercator for Input Tile Cache.
   3. Specify a folder for Output Location using the browse button .
   4. Type GroundElevationWebMercator for Output Tile Cache Name.
   5. Select Tile Package for Export Cache As.
   6. Use the default values for the other parameters.
5. Click Run .

   A tile package is created in the output location.

Option 2: Create a tile package for a ground elevation source in WGS84

This workflow is for the WGS84 (WKID 4326) coordinate system, which is the default coordinate system in a global scene.

1. Ensure that WGS84 is the active scene.
2. In the Geoprocessing pane search box, search for Manage Tile Cache and click the tool to open it. Set the following parameters:
   1. Specify a Cache location using the browse button .
   2. Type Elevation Cache WGS84 for Cache Name.
   3. Select Recreate all tiles for Manage Mode.
   4. Select DEM for Input Data Source.
   5. Select WGS84 version 2 elevation tiling scheme for Input tiling scheme.
   6. Click the browse button and browse to the tiling scheme created in the previous step.
   7. Click Select All to select all the scales.

      This can be adjusted if you're using your own data. If you do adjust the scales, ensure that the Minimum Cached Scale and Maximum Cached Scale values are adjusted as well.

   8. Type 250000000 for Minimum Cached Scale.
3. Click Run .

   The cache is created in the cache location and added to the scene.

4. In the Geoprocessing pane search box, search for Export Tile Cache and click the tool to open it. Set the following parameters:
   1. If Elevation Cache WGS84 was not added to the scene in the previous step, add Elevation Cache WGS84 to the scene from Cache location.
   2. Select Elevation Cache WGS84 for Input Tile Cache.
   3. Select the project folder or any folder for Output Location using the browse dialog box.
   4. Enter GroundElevationWGS84 for Output Tile Cache Name.
   5. Select Tile Package for Export Cache As.
   6. Use the default values for the other parameters.
5. Click Run .

   A tile package is created in the output location.

Option 3: Share a web scene or web layer

Tile packages can be quickly created using the Share a web scene or Share a web elevation layer workflows. Once these workflows have been completed, you can add the tile package from a portal to your scene.

1. In the Catalog pane, click the Portal tab.
2. Click My Content .
3. Search for the recently created tile package .
4. Right-click the tile package and click Add to current map.
5. In the Contents pane, drag the tile package into the Ground surface.

The elevation tile package is set as the elevation source in the Ground surface.

Prepare a scene to use in the Create Mobile Scene Package tool

Now that the data has been prepared, you'll ensure that the scene is ready for input to the Create Mobile Scene Package tool.

1. Remove the DEM raster and any other rasters from the Contents pane that were created in the previous steps.
2. If not already done, add the tile package to the Ground elevation surface.
   1. On the Map tab, in the Layer group, click Add Data and click Add Elevation Source .
   2. Browse to the recently created tile package and select it to add it as the elevation source.

      The tile package is added as the ground elevation source.

      Note:

      You may need to refresh the workspace to see the tile package.

3. Prepare feature layers by reviewing requirements in Operational layers.
4. For additional ArcGIS Maps SDKs considerations, see Author a mobile scene package for ArcGIS Maps SDKs.

Create a mobile scene package

Once the scene has been prepared, you're ready to use the Create Mobile Scene Package tool.

1. In the Geoprocessing pane search box, search for Create Mobile Scene Package and click the tool to open it. Set the following parameters:
   1. Click the Input Scene drop-down menu and select WGS84 or WebMercatorAuxiliarySphere.
   2. Specify a location and file name for Output File using the browse button .
   3. Use the default values for Input Locator, Area of Interest, Extent, and Clip Features.
   4. Specify Downtown Philadelphia for Title.
   5. Specify Downtown Philadelphia Offline Scene for Summary and Description.
   6. Specify philly, mspk, and offline for Tags.
   7. Use the default values for the other parameters.
2. Click Run .

   A mobile scene package is created that can be shared across the ArcGIS platform. The mobile scene package can be shared to ArcGIS Online or Portal for ArcGIS 10.7 or later for use in an ArcGIS Maps SDKs app.