ArcMap

TIN To Raster

Summary

Interpolates a raster using z-values from the input TIN.

Learn more about how TIN To Raster works

Illustration

Create Raster From TIN illustration

Usage

  • Because interpolation of the input TIN surface occurs at regular intervals, some loss of information in the output raster should be expected. How well the raster represents the TIN is dependent on the resolution of the raster and the degree and interval of TIN surface variation. Generally, as the resolution is increased, the output raster more closely represents the TIN surface. Because the raster is a cell structure, it cannot maintain the hard and soft breakline edges that may be present in the TIN.

  • When exporting a large raster, consider specifying the Output Data Type as an integer to save disk space if the accuracy requirements of your z-values are such that they can be represented by integer data.

Syntax

arcpy.ddd.TinRaster(in_tin, out_raster, {data_type}, {method}, {sample_distance}, {z_factor})
ParameterExplanationData Type
in_tin

The TIN dataset to process.

TIN Layer
out_raster

The location and name of the output raster. When storing a raster dataset in a geodatabase or in a folder such as an Esri Grid, no file extension should be added to the name of the raster dataset. A file extension can be provided to define the raster's format when storing it in a folder, such as .tif to generate a GeoTIFF or .img to generate an ERDAS IMAGINE format file.

If the raster is stored as a TIFF file or in a geodatabase, its raster compression type and quality can be specified using geoprocessing environment settings.

Raster Dataset
data_type
(Optional)

Specifies the type of numeric values stored in the output raster.

  • FLOAT —Output raster will use 32-bit floating point, which supports values ranging from -3.402823466e+38 to 3.402823466e+38. This is the default.
  • INT —Output raster will use an appropriate integer bit depth. This option will round z-values to the nearest whole number and write an integer to each raster cell value.
String
method
(Optional)

The interpolation method used to create the raster.

  • LINEAR —Calculates cell values by applying linear interpolation to the TIN triangles. This is the default.
  • NATURAL_NEIGHBORS —Calculates cell values by using natural neighbors interpolation of TIN triangles
String
sample_distance
sampling_method distance
(Optional)

The sampling method and distance used to define the cell size of the output raster.

String
z_factor
(Optional)

The factor by which z-values will be multiplied. This is typically used to convert Z linear units to match XY linear units. The default is 1, which leaves elevation values unchanged. This parameter is disabled if the spatial reference of the input surface has a Z datum with a specified linear unit.

Double

Code sample

TinRaster example 1 (Python window)

The following sample demonstrates the use of this tool in the Python window.

import arcpy
from arcpy import env

arcpy.CheckOutExtension("3D")
env.workspace = "C:/data"
arcpy.TinRaster_3d("tin", "raster.img", "INT", "LINEAR", "OBSERVATIONS 250", 1)
TinRaster example 2 (stand-alone script)

The following sample demonstrates the use of this tool in a stand-alone Python script.

'''******************************************************************
Name: TinRaster Example
Description: This script demonstrates how to use the 
             TinRaster tool to create rasters from 
             each TIN in the target workspace.
******************************************************************'''
# Import system modules
import arcpy
from arcpy import env
import exceptions, sys, traceback

try:
    arcpy.CheckOutExtension("3D")
    # Set environment setting
    env.workspace = "C:/data"
    # Set Local Variables
    dataType = "INT"
    method = "NATURAL_NEIGHBORS"
    sampling = "CELLSIZE 10"
    zfactor = "1"
    # Create list of TINs
    TINList = arcpy.ListDatasets("*", "Tin")
    # Verify the presence of TINs in the list
    if TINList:
        # Iterate through the list of TINs
        for dataset in TINList:
            # Define the name of the output file
            outRaster = "{0}_natural.img".format(dataset)
            # Execute TinRaster
            arcpy.ddd.TinRaster(dataset, outRaster, dataType, 
                                method, sampling, zfactor)
        print "Finished."
    else:
        print "There are no TIN(s) in {0}.".format(env.workspace)
    arcpy.CheckInExtension("3D")
except arcpy.ExecuteError:
    print arcpy.GetMessages()
except:
    # Get the traceback object
    tb = sys.exc_info()[2]
    tbinfo = traceback.format_tb(tb)[0]
    # Concatenate error information into message string
    pymsg = 'PYTHON ERRORS:\nTraceback info:\n{0}\nError Info:\n{1}'\
          .format(tbinfo, str(sys.exc_info()[1]))
    msgs = 'ArcPy ERRORS:\n {0}\n'.format(arcpy.GetMessages(2))
    # Return python error messages for script tool or Python Window
    arcpy.AddError(pymsg)
    arcpy.AddError(msgs)

Environments

Licensing information

  • Basic: Requires 3D Analyst
  • Standard: Requires 3D Analyst
  • Advanced: Requires 3D Analyst

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