Scene

new Cesium.Scene(options)
Scene/Scene.js 206

The container for all 3D graphical objects and state in a Cesium virtual scene. Generally, a scene is not created directly; instead, it is implicitly created by CesiumWidget.

contextOptions parameter details:

The default values are: { webgl : { alpha : false, depth : true, stencil : false, antialias : true, premultipliedAlpha : true, preserveDrawingBuffer : false, failIfMajorPerformanceCaveat : false }, allowTextureFilterAnisotropic : true }

The webgl property corresponds to the WebGLContextAttributes object used to create the WebGL context.

webgl.alpha defaults to false, which can improve performance compared to the standard WebGL default of true. If an application needs to composite Cesium above other HTML elements using alpha-blending, set webgl.alpha to true.

The other webgl properties match the WebGL defaults for WebGLContextAttributes.

allowTextureFilterAnisotropic defaults to true, which enables anisotropic texture filtering when the WebGL extension is supported. Setting this to false will improve performance, but hurt visual quality, especially for horizon views.

Name Type Description
options Object optional Object with the following properties:
Name Type Default Description
canvas Canvas The HTML canvas element to create the scene for.
contextOptions Object optional Context and WebGL creation properties. See details above.
creditContainer Element optional The HTML element in which the credits will be displayed.
mapProjection MapProjection new GeographicProjection() optional The map projection to use in 2D and Columbus View modes.
orderIndependentTranslucency Boolean true optional If true and the configuration supports it, use order independent translucency.
scene3DOnly Boolean false optional If true, optimizes memory use and performance for 3D mode but disables the ability to use 2D or Columbus View.
terrainExaggeration Number 1.0 optional A scalar used to exaggerate the terrain. Note that terrain exaggeration will not modify any other primitive as they are positioned relative to the ellipsoid.
shadows Boolean false optional Determines if shadows are cast by the sun.
mapMode2D MapMode2D MapMode2D.INFINITE_SCROLL optional Determines if the 2D map is rotatable or can be scrolled infinitely in the horizontal direction.
Throws:
Example:
// Create scene without anisotropic texture filtering
var scene = new Cesium.Scene({
  canvas : canvas,
  contextOptions : {
    allowTextureFilterAnisotropic : false
  }
});
See:

Members

backgroundColor : Color
Scene/Scene.js 389

The background color, which is only visible if there is no sky box, i.e., Scene#skyBox is undefined.
Default Value: Color.BLACK
See:

readonlycamera : Camera
Scene/Scene.js 761

Gets the camera.

readonlycanvas : Canvas
Scene/Scene.js 632

Gets the canvas element to which this scene is bound.

completeMorphOnUserInput : Boolean
Scene/Scene.js 322

Determines whether or not to instantly complete the scene transition animation on user input.
Default Value: true

debugCommandFilter : function
Scene/Scene.js 447

This property is for debugging only; it is not for production use.

A function that determines what commands are executed. As shown in the examples below, the function receives the command's owner as an argument, and returns a boolean indicating if the command should be executed.

The default is undefined, indicating that all commands are executed.

Default Value: undefined
Example:
// Do not execute any commands.
scene.debugCommandFilter = function(command) {
    return false;
};

// Execute only the billboard's commands.  That is, only draw the billboard.
var billboards = new Cesium.BillboardCollection();
scene.debugCommandFilter = function(command) {
    return command.owner === billboards;
};

readonlydebugFrustumStatistics : Object
Scene/Scene.js 941

This property is for debugging only; it is not for production use.

When Scene.debugShowFrustums is true, this contains properties with statistics about the number of command execute per frustum. totalCommands is the total number of commands executed, ignoring overlap. commandsInFrustums is an array with the number of times commands are executed redundantly, e.g., how many commands overlap two or three frustums.

Default Value: undefined

debugShowCommands : Boolean
Scene/Scene.js 461

This property is for debugging only; it is not for production use.

When true, commands are randomly shaded. This is useful for performance analysis to see what parts of a scene or model are command-dense and could benefit from batching.

Default Value: false

debugShowDepthFrustum : Number
Scene/Scene.js 516

This property is for debugging only; it is not for production use.

Indicates which frustum will have depth information displayed.

Default Value: 1

debugShowFramesPerSecond : Boolean
Scene/Scene.js 492

This property is for debugging only; it is not for production use.

Displays frames per second and time between frames.

Default Value: false

debugShowFrustums : Boolean
Scene/Scene.js 478

This property is for debugging only; it is not for production use.

When true, commands are shaded based on the frustums they overlap. Commands in the closest frustum are tinted red, commands in the next closest are green, and commands in the farthest frustum are blue. If a command overlaps more than one frustum, the color components are combined, e.g., a command overlapping the first two frustums is tinted yellow.

Default Value: false

debugShowGlobeDepth : Boolean
Scene/Scene.js 504

This property is for debugging only; it is not for production use.

Displays depth information for the indicated frustum.

Default Value: false

readonlydrawingBufferHeight : Number
Scene/Scene.js 647

The drawingBufferWidth of the underlying GL context.
See:

readonlydrawingBufferWidth : Number
Scene/Scene.js 662

The drawingBufferHeight of the underlying GL context.
See:

farToNearRatio : Number
Scene/Scene.js 409

The far-to-near ratio of the multi-frustum. The default is 1,000.0.
Default Value: 1000.0

fog : Fog
Scene/Scene.js 556

Blends the atmosphere to geometry far from the camera for horizon views. Allows for additional performance improvements by rendering less geometry and dispatching less terrain requests.

fxaa : Boolean
Scene/Scene.js 525

When true, enables Fast Approximate Anti-aliasing even when order independent translucency is unsupported.
Default Value: true

globe : Globe
Scene/Scene.js 717

Gets or sets the depth-test ellipsoid.

readonlygroundPrimitives : PrimitiveCollection
Scene/Scene.js 748

Gets the collection of ground primitives.

readonlyid : String
Scene/Scene.js 979

Gets the unique identifier for this scene.

readonlyimageryLayers : ImageryLayerCollection
Scene/Scene.js 834

Gets the collection of image layers that will be rendered on the globe.

imagerySplitPosition : Number
Scene/Scene.js 1089

Gets or sets the position of the Imagery splitter within the viewport. Valid values are between 0.0 and 1.0.

mapMode2D : Boolean
Scene/Scene.js 1077

Determines if the 2D map is rotatable or can be scrolled infinitely in the horizontal direction.

readonlymapProjection : MapProjection
Scene/Scene.js 790

Get the map projection to use in 2D and Columbus View modes.
Default Value: new GeographicProjection()

readonlymaximumAliasedLineWidth : Number
Scene/Scene.js 677

The maximum aliased line width, in pixels, supported by this WebGL implementation. It will be at least one.
See:
  • glGet with ALIASED_LINE_WIDTH_RANGE.

readonlymaximumCubeMapSize : Number
Scene/Scene.js 692

The maximum length in pixels of one edge of a cube map, supported by this WebGL implementation. It will be at least 16.
See:
  • glGet with GL_MAX_CUBE_MAP_TEXTURE_SIZE.

mode : SceneMode
Scene/Scene.js 991

Gets or sets the current mode of the scene.
Default Value: SceneMode.SCENE3D

moon : Moon
Scene/Scene.js 379

The Moon
Default Value: undefined

morphComplete : Event
Scene/Scene.js 336

The event fired at the completion of a scene transition.
Default Value: Event()

morphStart : Event
Scene/Scene.js 329

The event fired at the beginning of a scene transition.
Default Value: Event()

morphTime : Number
Scene/Scene.js 402

The current morph transition time between 2D/Columbus View and 3D, with 0.0 being 2D or Columbus View and 1.0 being 3D.
Default Value: 1.0

nearToFarDistance2D : Number
Scene/Scene.js 418

Determines the uniform depth size in meters of each frustum of the multifrustum in 2D. If a primitive or model close to the surface shows z-fighting, decreasing this will eliminate the artifact, but decrease performance. On the other hand, increasing this will increase performance but may cause z-fighting among primitives close to thesurface.
Default Value: 1.75e6

readonlyorderIndependentTranslucency : Boolean
Scene/Scene.js 967

Gets whether or not the scene has order independent translucency enabled. Note that this only reflects the original construction option, and there are other factors that could prevent OIT from functioning on a given system configuration.

readonlypickPositionSupported : Boolean
Scene/Scene.js 705

Returns true if the pickPosition function is supported.

readonlypostRender : Event
Scene/Scene.js 906

Gets the event that will be raised at the end of each call to render. Subscribers to the event receive the Scene instance as the first parameter and the current time as the second parameter.

readonlypreRender : Event
Scene/Scene.js 892

Gets the event that will be raised at the start of each call to render. Subscribers to the event receive the Scene instance as the first parameter and the current time as the second parameter.

readonlyprimitives : PrimitiveCollection
Scene/Scene.js 735

Gets the collection of primitives.

readonlyrenderError : Event
Scene/Scene.js 878

Gets the event that will be raised when an error is thrown inside the render function. The Scene instance and the thrown error are the only two parameters passed to the event handler. By default, errors are not rethrown after this event is raised, but that can be changed by setting the rethrowRenderErrors property.

rethrowRenderErrors : Boolean
Scene/Scene.js 313

Exceptions occurring in render are always caught in order to raise the renderError event. If this property is true, the error is rethrown after the event is raised. If this property is false, the render function returns normally after raising the event.
Default Value: false

readonlyscene3DOnly : Boolean
Scene/Scene.js 953

Gets whether or not the scene is optimized for 3D only viewing.

readonlyscreenSpaceCameraController : ScreenSpaceCameraController
Scene/Scene.js 775

Gets the controller for camera input handling.

shadowMap : ShadowMap
Scene/Scene.js 565

The shadow map in the scene. When enabled, models, primitives, and the globe may cast and receive shadows. By default the light source of the shadow map is the sun.

skyAtmosphere : SkyAtmosphere
Scene/Scene.js 354

The sky atmosphere drawn around the globe.
Default Value: undefined

skyBox : SkyBox
Scene/Scene.js 346

The SkyBox used to draw the stars.
Default Value: undefined
See:

sun : Sun
Scene/Scene.js 362

The Sun.
Default Value: undefined

sunBloom : Boolean
Scene/Scene.js 370

Uses a bloom filter on the sun when enabled.
Default Value: true

terrainExaggeration : Number
Scene/Scene.js 1034

Gets the scalar used to exaggerate the terrain.

terrainProvider : TerrainProvider
Scene/Scene.js 846

The terrain provider providing surface geometry for the globe.

readonlyterrainProviderChanged : Event
Scene/Scene.js 862

Gets an event that's raised when the terrain provider is changed

useDepthPicking : Boolean
Scene/Scene.js 533

When true, enables picking using the depth buffer.
Default Value: true

useWebVR : Boolean
Scene/Scene.js 1047

When true, splits the scene into two viewports with steroscopic views for the left and right eyes. Used for cardboard and WebVR.
Default Value: false

Methods

completeMorph()
Scene/Scene.js 2799

Instantly completes an active transition.

destroy() → undefined
Scene/Scene.js 2883

Destroys the WebGL resources held by this object. Destroying an object allows for deterministic release of WebGL resources, instead of relying on the garbage collector to destroy this object.

Once an object is destroyed, it should not be used; calling any function other than isDestroyed will result in a DeveloperError exception. Therefore, assign the return value (undefined) to the object as done in the example.
Returns:
Throws:
  • DeveloperError : This object was destroyed, i.e., destroy() was called.
Example:
scene = scene && scene.destroy();
See:

drillPick(windowPosition, limit) → Array.<Object>
Scene/Scene.js 2732

Returns a list of objects, each containing a `primitive` property, for all primitives at a particular window coordinate position. Other properties may also be set depending on the type of primitive. The primitives in the list are ordered by their visual order in the scene (front to back).
Name Type Description
windowPosition Cartesian2 Window coordinates to perform picking on.
limit Number optional If supplied, stop drilling after collecting this many picks.
Returns:
Array of objects, each containing 1 picked primitives.
Throws:
Example:
var pickedObjects = scene.drillPick(new Cesium.Cartesian2(100.0, 200.0));

isDestroyed() → Boolean
Scene/Scene.js 2861

Returns true if this object was destroyed; otherwise, false.

If this object was destroyed, it should not be used; calling any function other than isDestroyed will result in a DeveloperError exception.
Returns:
true if this object was destroyed; otherwise, false.
See:

morphTo2D(duration)
Scene/Scene.js 2807

Asynchronously transitions the scene to 2D.
Name Type Default Description
duration Number 2.0 optional The amount of time, in seconds, for transition animations to complete.

morphTo3D(duration)
Scene/Scene.js 2839

Asynchronously transitions the scene to 3D.
Name Type Default Description
duration Number 2.0 optional The amount of time, in seconds, for transition animations to complete.

morphToColumbusView(duration)
Scene/Scene.js 2823

Asynchronously transitions the scene to Columbus View.
Name Type Default Description
duration Number 2.0 optional The amount of time, in seconds, for transition animations to complete.

pick(windowPosition) → Object
Scene/Scene.js 2604

Returns an object with a `primitive` property that contains the first (top) primitive in the scene at a particular window coordinate or undefined if nothing is at the location. Other properties may potentially be set depending on the type of primitive.
Name Type Description
windowPosition Cartesian2 Window coordinates to perform picking on.
Returns:
Object containing the picked primitive.
Throws:

pickPosition(windowPosition, result) → Cartesian3
Scene/Scene.js 2655

Returns the cartesian position reconstructed from the depth buffer and window position.
Name Type Description
windowPosition Cartesian2 Window coordinates to perform picking on.
result Cartesian3 optional The object on which to restore the result.
Returns:
The cartesian position.
Throws:
  • DeveloperError : Picking from the depth buffer is not supported. Check pickPositionSupported.
  • DeveloperError : 2D is not supported. An orthographic projection matrix is not invertible.