September 27, 2024 Linh Nguyen

iCity Addon - Procedural City Modelling in Blender

Urban design is a critical aspect of city planning and development, influencing urban spaces’ functionality, aesthetics, and sustainability. With the advancement of technology, tools like the iCity Addon in Blender have revolutionized how designers conceptualize and visualize urban environments. In today’s blog, we will explore the iCity Addon and the significance of this addon in Blender for urban design projects.

Overview of iCity Addon

iCity (Image Source: Blender Market)

The iCity add-on in Blender was a plugin designed to help facilitate the integration of urban planning data and 3D city models into the Blender software. It allows users to import, visualize, and manipulate geospatial data such as buildings, roads, and terrain within the Blender environment.

The iCity add-on offers features like importing OpenStreetMap data, creating 3D models based on GIS data, and generating realistic urban environments for visualization and analysis purposes. It is a useful tool for architects, urban planners, and other professionals working on projects that require utilizing geospatial data within Blender.

Explore features of iCity

Image Source: Blender Market

Effortless City Shaping

Create a city plan with edges and faces. ICity’s procedural systems quickly transform them into detailed buildings and streets. Create amazing roadways in seconds! The new Procedural Road tool for Blender allows you to customize the perfectly integrated width, lanes, and components. Build your vision effortlessly.

Dynamic Generation and Diversity

Block-based generation effortlessly generates varied cities. Every build is unique, thanks to our dynamic system, which provides unlimited possibilities.

Procedural Buildings

Icity’s procedural building system allows you to create unique cityscapes on the fly. No more repetitive copy-pasting; each render creates a new urban setting. Our extensive collection of architectural features provides unlimited variation, ensuring that your cityscapes are full of personality and individuality.

Building Presets

Icity provides pre-made building presets for skyscrapers, apartments, courthouses, and more. Customize them further to create a unique cityscape that reflects your vision.

iCity 1.1.0 - Beta Release Key Updates

New Export & Mesh Conversion

Supported GLB/USD export, allowing for easy integration with other software. The new “Convert to Mesh Copy” function allows users to generate a mesh copy of the city while keeping the procedural system, providing more control and flexibility for modifications.

Significant Performance Boost

The tool is currently working 10 times faster as a result of an extensive system rebuild, considerably enhancing overall performance.

Rendering Optimization

Optimized rendering processes and deleted duplicated materials and textures to improve project performance.

Element Scaling Fix

Scaling issues were addressed to ensure that staircases, doors, and other objects had proper dimensions, enhancing overall realism and consistency.

New Empty Block Feature

Introduced the ‘Empty Block’ option, providing users more control over city layouts and customization.

Building Seed & Light Control

More customization options have been added, including a building seed function and a controller for changing the strength of the building light.

How To Use iCity Tool in Blender?

First, you have to make sure Blender is installed on your computer. You can download Blender for free from their official website.

Once Blender is installed, download the iCity addon from the iCity website or from a trusted source.

Open Blender and go to Edit > Preferences. In the Preferences window, click on the Add-ons tab.

Click on the “Install” button and navigate to the location where you downloaded the iCity addon .zip file. Select the file and click “Install Add-on”. Once the addon is installed, make sure to enable it by checking the box next to the iCity addon in the Add-ons list.

Now, you should see a new iCity tab or panel in Blender. You can access the tools and features of the iCity addon from this panel.

System Requirements

  • Minimum Requirement

CPU: 64-bit quad-core

Storage: 30GB available HDD

10GB available SSD

RAM: 8 GB

Graphics: GPU with 2 GB VRAM, OpenGL 4.3

OS: Windows, macOS

  • Recommended Requirements

CPU: 64-bit eight-core

Storage: 40GB available HDD

15GB available SSD

RAM: 32 GB

Graphics: GPU with 8 GB VRAM or more

OS: Windows 10+, macOS

Conclusion

In conclusion, the iCity add-on in Blender stands out as a valuable tool for urban planners, architects, and GIS professionals seeking to integrate geospatial data into their 3D modeling workflows. Its features enable users to create detailed, realistic urban environments, optimize project workflows, and enhance collaboration. As technology continues to play a crucial role in urban development, iCity add-on will likely become increasingly essential for professionals in the field.

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References Source: iCity3D

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Linh Nguyen

Hi everyone. I work as an Assistant Customer at iRender. I always hope to know more 3D artists, data scientists from all over the world.
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