How to get map data to generate a building model in one click and convert it into a 3D Tiles file?

GISBox provides a one-click city model generation function in the scene column. It supports confirming the import area by selecting a box on the map, and then importing SHP data and generating a city model with one click. The specific operations will be introduced next.

1. Create a new scene

Open GISBox and click to switch to “Scene”, as shown below:

After successful creation, the scene project will be automatically opened. At this time, the software will prompt us to import OSGB/General Model/SHP files. We can select the corresponding type of file to import, or click the “Import Later” button below.

2. Get map data and generate city model

Find and click the “Get Map Data” in the upper menu bar, as shown below:

In the pop-up window, we can freely select and move the range of the map, or enter the max/min longitude and latitude coordinates on the right to change the range of the map, as shown in the following figure:

After determining the area of the map, click the “Import” button in the lower right corner to generate a city model in the scene with one click, as shown in the figure below:

3. Edit SHP

Select the generated SHP building model in the scene, and you can change the “Position”, “Rotation” and “Scale” of the building model in the style on the right.

If there are problems with the generated SHP model, you can click the “Generate” button to regenerate it.

The generated SHP model can be exported as “3DTiles” or “GLB” in the export, as shown in the following figure:

4. SHP converted to 3DTiles

Select the SHP model just generated, and then select “Export 3DTiles” in the export above, as shown below:

In the tiling task, click the folder icon on the right to set the path for file export. There are no special requirements for the export path, and it needs to be saved in an empty folder, as shown in the following figure:

Then change other basic settings, such as “Zero Point Coordinate”, “Size Parameter”, “Texture Compression”, “Vertex Compression”, etc., as shown in the figure below. (For detailed instructions on how to use the slicing options, please refer to the tutorial → General Model Tiling).

When the settings are completed, click the “Create” button below to start the tiling task. We can view the real-time progress of tiling, as shown in the following figure:

5. Stream as service

If you check “Stream as Service” in the tiling task settings, the model will be automatically distributed after tiling is successful (generate the corresponding service address). We can click to open the corresponding distribution list, as shown in the following figure:

The generated service address can be applied to GIS engines such as Cesium or Cesium for Unreal, and can also be applied to digital twin project building platforms, such as Wings Engine.