Tiles from Point-Attached External Model

Instructions for use

The point-attached external model refers to the models with the same material, shape and size but different spatial positions and postures. Only one copy of the model is saved. Position Info stores multiple Model Dataest in the way of 3D Point Dataset. This approach has the same purpose as instantiation, which can reduce space consumption and data volume.

Function Entry

  • 3D Data tab-> 3D Tiles group-> Generate Tiles Drop -down Button-> Tiles from Point-Attached External Model Button
  • Toolbox -> 3D Data -> Model Processing -> Tiles from Point-Attached External Model

Operation steps

  1. Open the data source that requires model tile generation in the Workspace Manager.
  2. In the "3D Data" tab under the "3D Tiles" group, click the "Generate Tiles" dropdown button and select the "Generate External Model Tiles from Point Set" button. The "Generate External Model Tiles from Point Set" dialog box will appear.
  3. Add model datasets by clicking the button and selecting the dataset in the "Select" interface.
  4. In the "Select" dialog, choose the data source in the left panel. All datasets within the selected data source will be displayed in the right panel. Click "Select All" or multiple selections to confirm the datasets to add, then click "OK" to proceed. You can also create a new dataset to add.
  5. Basic Settings
    • Tile Name: The configuration file name for the generated tiles. It defaults to the data source name and can be modified.
    • S3M Version: Supports S3M 1.0, S3M 2.0, S3M 3.0, and S3M 3.01. S3M 2.0, S3M 3.0, and S3M 3.01 support PBR materials, while S3M 3.0 and S3M 3.01 support loading in ellipsoidal scenes.
    • Tile Side Length: Displays and sets the tile side length in meters. Different side lengths correspond to different scales. Hover over the question mark next to the "Tile Side Length" label to view the relationship between tile side length, scale, and level. The "Tile Side Length" indicates the scale relative to the specified tile side length.
    • Attribute Storage Type: Supports S3MD, ATTRIBUTE, and DB types.
      • S3MD: Stores attributes in JSON format, allowing quick extraction of all attribute information for a single object.
      • ATTRIBUTE: Stores attributes as binary streams, resulting in smaller file sizes and enabling fast extraction of specified field attributes for multiple objects.
      • DB: Stores attributes in a DB large file format, available only for S3M 3.01. Supports fast querying of S3M tile object attributes for large datasets on the web and enables thematic map creation using attribute fields.
    • Thread Count: Sets the number of threads allocated. Default is 4.
    • Filter Threshold: Filters out smaller sub-objects at coarse levels to improve performance in large scenes. For example, a threshold of 2 filters sub-objects with the longest side less than 2 meters at the coarsest level, and less than 1 meter at the next coarser level, and so on. The finest level sub-objects are not filtered.
    • Storage Path: Sets the storage path for model tiles. A folder named after the tile name will be created automatically to store the tile files.
  6. Associated Model Parameter Settings

    Note: Game asset models must be static meshes, primarily used for data beautification in Unreal Engine. For specific usage, refer to the SuperMap Hi-Fi 3D SDK for Unreal help documentation.

    • Association Type: Provides two types: Model File and Game Asset.
    • Model File Path: The attribute field recording the model file path, which must be an absolute path.
    • Game Engine Asset Path: The attribute field recording the game engine asset file path.
    • Object ID Field: Sets the field for the unique identifier ID, selected via the dropdown arrow.
    • Matrix Settings: Configures parameters for model rotation and scaling. There are two methods:
      • Check the "Matrix Field" checkbox and specify the data field as the rotation and scaling parameters.
      • Uncheck the "Matrix Field" checkbox and select specific fields for X/Y/Z rotation and scaling parameters.
    • LOD Level Count: Sets the number of LOD levels for the tiles. Enter the value directly in the numeric box.
    • Texture Compression Type: Mainly supports four compression formats. Different compression methods are used for different tile applications to reduce the amount of video memory used by texture images.
      • WebP: Significantly reduces total data volume, a texture compression format supported on both PC and mobile devices.
      • DXT (PC Devices): Reduces video memory usage and improves rendering performance, but increases total data volume.
      • CRN_DXT5 (PC Devices): Reduces video memory usage and total data volume, but requires longer processing time.
      • KTX2.0: Reduces video memory usage and total data volume, but requires longer processing time than DXT.
    • Vertex Optimization Method: Supports no compression, regular compression, and MeshOpt compression. MeshOpt is not available when S3M version is set to S3M 1.0/2.0.
    • Material Type: Sets the material type for tile data, including Common Material and PBR Material. Note that S3M 1.0 does not support PBR materials.
    • Outline: Checks the checkbox in front of Outline to determine whether the models in the resulting tile data include outlines. Unchecked by default.
  7. Coordinate Conversion Parameter Settings
    • Coordinate Conversion: Sets whether to perform coordinate conversion. Unchecked by default. When checked, you can set the target coordinate system and reference system conversion parameters.
    • Target Coordinate System: Sets the coordinate system for the result data. Three methods are provided: Reset Coordinate System, Import Coordinate System, and Copy Coordinate System.
      • Reset Coordinate System: Click the "Reset Coordinate System" button at the top of the "Projection Settings" to open the "Coordinate System Settings" dialog and select a projection as the target file's coordinate system. For detailed operations, refer to the "Projection Settings" Window.
      • Import Coordinate System: Click the "Import Coordinate System" button at the top of the "Projection Settings", then select and import the projection information file in the "Import Coordinate System File" window. The details of the selected projection file will be displayed in the text box below.
      • Copy Coordinate System: Click the "Copy Coordinate System" button at the top of the "Projection Settings", then select the coordinate system of a dataset in the "Copy Coordinate System" window. The details of the selected dataset's coordinate system will be displayed in the text box below.
    • Reference System Conversion Settings:
      • Conversion Method: Click the dropdown button next to the "Conversion Method" label. The dropdown menu lists over ten reference system conversion methods provided by the system. Users can choose an appropriate method. For details, refer to Reference System Conversion Method Description.
      • Projection Conversion Parameters: Different conversion methods allow different customizable parameters in the "Projection Conversion Parameter Settings" dialog. For detailed descriptions, refer to Dataset Projection Conversion.
  8. Merge Layers: Sets whether to merge multiple external model tile sets from point sets into a single file. Unchecked by default.
  9. After completing the settings, click the "Generate" button to execute the tile generation operation. The *.scp file is the tile configuration file.
Caution:
  • The Tile edge length determines the number of Tile root nodes: the larger the edge length, the fewer the root nodes; conversely, the smaller the edge length, the more the root nodes, and the longer the Generate Tiles. When there are too many root nodes, loading the model will be somewhat slower.
  • The LOD level number has an effect on the smooth switching effect when the model is displayed: the larger the LOD level number is, the smoother the switching effect is when the model is displayed; On the other hand, if the LOD level number is set too large, it will lead to the generation of models with redundant levels, and the Generate Tiles will take a long time. Please set a reasonable value according to the display requirements.
  • Path within the property sheet of the 3D Point Dataset used to Generate Tiles. Must be an absolute path to the model. Otherwise, the generation will fail!
  • All Property Field names are property names, not property aliases.
  • Spherical Tile is generated when S3m 1.0 and S3m 2.0 are selected for S3m version, and ellipsoidal Tile is generated when S3m 3.0 and S3m 3.01 are selected.
  • Both sphere and ellipsoid Tiles support loading in an ellipsoid scene, but ellipsoid Tiles do not support loading in a sphere scene.