Set illumination for scenes and maps

In scenes, illumination works by simulating sunlight and shading on the faces of 3D features such as multipatches or extruded polygons. You can also apply atmospheric effects to further simulate real-world lighting such as a sunset.

Illumination properties are also applied to elevation surfaces when they have the Shade relative to light position appearance option enabled.

To make 3D content without textures appear more realistic with depth perception, use ambient occlusion. To improve the depth perception for point clouds in your scene, use eye-dome lighting. In a global scene, you can show stars beyond the globe as well as an atmospheric halo.

In maps, you can use illumination to highlight the surfaces of TIN layers.

Illumination and lighting examples

A comparison of a global scene without atmospheric effects (left) and with atmospheric effects (right):

A comparison of a global scene without eye-dome lighting (left) and with eye-dome lighting (right):

A comparison of a global scene without ambient occlusion (left) and with ambient occlusion (right):

A comparison of a global scene without stars and halo (left) and with stars and halo (right):

Illuminate a scene

In a global scene, you can set the location of the sun, thereby using light and shading to add more realism to the time of day being displayed. In addition to lighting, you can choose to show stars beyond the globe as well as an atmospheric halo. The default illumination setting for a scene is the lighting originating from directly overhead as if it were noon on a sunny day.

To adjust the illumination in a scene, follow these steps:

1. To illuminate a scene, on the View tab, in the Scene group, click the top portion of the Illumination split button .
   • When illumination is on, the lighting source mimics that of the sun angle of the data and time set in the Illumination properties.
   • When illumination is off, the lighting source mimics that of the sun directly overhead at the camera position. This is the default.
2. When illumination is on, you can make additional adjustments by clicking the bottom portion of the Illumination split button .
   • Use the slider to change the time of day. Click the Play button to play through a full day of light in 30-minute increments.
   • Use the calendar to change the date. Click the Play button to play through a full year in monthly increments.
   • Click the Map Time button to use the current time and day at the camera location. If the scene is time-aware, it will use the date and time set on the time slider.
   • Click the Display Shadows button to simulate shadows in the scene. Depending on the light source, 3D features such as multipatches or extruded polygons can have shadows. Keep in mind that simulating shadows can impact drawing performance.
   • Click Illumination Settings to access all illumination settings for the scene on the Map Properties dialog box.

Access illumination settings

Follow these steps to access all illumination settings from the Map Properties dialog box:

1. In the Contents pane of a scene, right-click the name of the scene and click Properties.
2. On the Map Properties dialog box, click the Illumination tab.
3. Apply atmospheric effects as necessary:
   • Check Show atmospheric effects to simulate a specific mood, such as sunset.
   • Check Show stars and halo to show stars beyond the edge of the globe and an atmospheric halo around the globe.
   • Check Display shadows in 3D to simulate shadows in the scene. Depending on the light source, 3D features such as multipatches or extruded polygons can have shadows. Keep in mind that simulating shadows can impact drawing performance.
   • Check Use ambient occlusion to make 3D content without textures appear more realistic with depth perception. If you add a layer with textures, you may want to turn off ambient occlusion because the textures already have lighting information included. Ambient occlusion can impact drawing performance. This option is checked by default.
   • Check Use eye-dome lighting to apply eye-dome lighting effects to the scene. Eye-dome lighting improves depth perception for LAS datasets and point cloud scene layers. This option is checked by default. If this option is turned off, eye-dome lighting is disabled for all layers, regardless of the eye-dome lighting setting of each layer. Set Light contribution to define the brightness of the scene. Light contribution is not available if Show atmospheric effects is checked. In that case, the light is simulated depending on the position of the sun.
4. Choose how to define the sun position for the scene:
   • Noon at camera position simulates equal ambient light regardless of where on the globe the camera is positioned.
   • Date and time simulates light at a specific time, including the time zone.
   • By the Absolute sun position simulates light at a specified by latitude and longitude.
   • By the Map time simulates light at the map time of the scene, if a map time has been set.

Illuminate a map

Follow these steps to change the illumination angle used for shading TIN layers in a map:

1. In the Contents pane of a map, right-click the name of the map and click Properties.
2. On the Map Properties dialog box, click the Illumination tab.
3. Adjust the Azimuth, Altitude, and Contrast settings as necessary. Azimuth and altitude are expressed in angles. Contrast is expressed as a percentage.
4. Optionally, click Restore Default to reset changes to the default illumination values.