Whether you are new to working in 3D and are looking for a place to get started (like a class or exercise), or are a seasoned user of ArcGIS, there are always opportunities to grow in your training and learning practices. The challenge sometimes can be knowing where to start and how to find what will best meet your needs. Here is a quick break down of all the places you can seek out different types of available information.
- Desktop Help – topics and guide books – This is always available to read through on your own, locally or from the web.
- Resource Center – templates, videos and blog updates – This is web access only but contains downloadable content.
- Purchased training – web courses and instructor led training – new courses with great content appear periodically but this option can be a Learning solution easily overlooked. This blog post wants to change that!
The most common help solution to learn more about 3D is the desktop help. The help system is where all our topics are organized to read through when accessed from within the application or searching the Web Help. Content for 3D is one of many grouped sections for working with particular data and a specific environment of the software. The help system also contains a few “guidebooks” with some unique 3D workflows that sum together a variety of tools and visualization/analysis effects in a casual read. No data is provided but is aimed at helping you apply this to your own situation. Tutorials for 3D Analyst are only included up to the 10.0 release of ArcGIS. They are slowly being converted over to templates and being reworked and updated.
If you’re looking at getting beyond how to specifically use the software and want more use case scenarios, or information about new or improved installs, then seek out the Resource Center for 3D GIS. This online community revolves as a host for templates, videos, and blog posts. Templates are packaged data and workflows for a variety of popular or advanced exercises. You can download the template and follow through it on your own, learning tips about authoring and analyzing 3D results you might not otherwise deduce on your own. Videos also highlight many of the possible workflows you can do in 3D. They are short and highlight many great features, but they are more promotional and less tutorial. Videos also include recordings from conference presentations. Finally, the blog posts keep you up to date on feedback from questions, software updates, and what our 3D team is generally up to. Content on the resource center is dynamic so its look and feel revolves periodically and new material is added frequently.
Web Courses and instructor-led Training. This can be a really great asset for teams in a company or individuals who need more hands-on exposure to learning our software. Go to esri.com and under Training you can search for a list of available training options. You can customize how you want to experience esri learning through either attending a class in person, or self-paced web classes you download. Some new and noteworthy web courses include:
- Getting Started with Esri CityEngine
- Modeling a City Using Esri CityEngine
- Creating Smart 3D City Models with Esri CityEngine
Happy learning!
Karen Zwicker
3D Product Engineer