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Optimizing raster and surface layers

Available with 3D Analyst license.

  • Optimizing raster and surface layers in ArcScene

Quite often, raster and surface data is very large and may be slow to draw. There are several techniques and options you can use to optimize the display of raster and surface data in ArcScene.

One important way to reduce the time it takes to display large raster datasets is to always opt to generate pyramids if they do not exist. When image pyramids do not exist, ArcScene will attempt to load the full-resolution image, regardless of the current scale, and may run out of resources. If you are not automatically prompted to build pyramids for your data, you can build pyramids using the Build Pyramid geoprocessing tools.

Other optimization techniques are distinct to the 3D viewing environment you are using.

Learn more about optimizing raster and surface layers in ArcGlobe

Optimizing raster and surface layers in ArcScene

The following optimization technique is only applicable in ArcScene:

Reduce the display quality of the image

  1. Right-click the layer in the table of contents, click Properties, and click the Rendering tab.
  2. Under the Optimize section, move the Quality enhancement for raster images slider to adjust the display quality, and therefore memory usage, of the image.

Moving the slider to the far right (the High end) allocates more memory usage and improves image quality. Moving the slider to the far left (the Low end) degrades raster quality but frees up memory allocation.

Tip:
  • If you are unsure whether pyramids have been built for your raster data, you can check the layer properties to verify. See Check if pyramids have been created.
Raster quality slider in ArcScene

Related topics

  • Raster pyramids

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