CityEngine Web Viewer troubleshooting
Listed below are issues you may encounter when using CityEngine Web Viewer and some recommended solutions.
- When I open City Engine Web Viewer, I see a message that my browser does not seem to support WebGL.
- When I open City Engine Web Viewer, I see a message that my hardware does not seem to support WebGL.
- It takes a long time for a Web Scene to open in CityEngine Web Viewer.
- When navigating in CityEngine Web Viewer, there is a long lag time and the interactivity seems slow in general.
When I open City Engine Web Viewer, I see a message that my browser does not seem to support WebGL.
CityEngine Web Viewer requires a desktop web browser that supports WebGL, a web technology standard for rendering 3D graphics. The latest versions of Chrome and Firefox desktop browsers have WebGL built in.
Safari on Mac OS
WebGL is not enabled by default. To enable WebGL:
- Click the wheel icon, Click Preferences, then click Advanced.
- Check the box next to Show Develop menu in menu bar.
- In the newly enabled Develop menu, click Enable WebGL.
Internet Explorer on Windows
WebGL is not supported in IE but you can add support by installing the Google Chrome Frame plugin. After you install Google Chrome Frame, restart Internet Explorer and reopen CityEngine Web Viewer.
CityEngine Web Viewer is not supported on mobile devices or in Safari Windows at this time. To test if your browser has WebGL enabled, open get.webgl.org. To troubleshoot WebGL-related issues, visit WebGL Troubleshooting.
When I open City Engine Web Viewer, I see a message that my hardware does not seem to support WebGL.
Make sure that your computer hardware has a graphics card that supports WebGL and that your graphics drivers are up to date. To get more detailed information about WebGL requirements, visit WebGL Troubleshooting.
It takes a long time for a Web Scene to open in CityEngine Web Viewer.
Due to the large file size of CityEngine Web Scenes, and depending on your Internet connection, it can take up to several minutes for the scene to load in CityEngine Web Viewer.
When navigating in CityEngine Web Viewer, there is a long lag time and the interactivity seems slow in general.
WebGL uses your system’s graphics card. The performance of CityEngine Web Viewer therefore directly depends on the power of your graphics card. Bigger Web Scenes with more complex content require more system resources. On less powerful systems this can lead to slow interactivity.
Below are some recommendations for improving the performance:
- Turn off direct and diffuse shadows in the Settings pane.
- Open only one CityEngine Web Viewer at a time. Close other browser tabs or windows that are running CityEngine Web Viewer or other WebGL content.
- Close other 3D applications that are using the graphics hardware, for example, ArcScene.
- Make sure your video drivers are up to date.
- A Web Scene that requires more memory than your graphics card's video memory can result in a significant drop in performance and cause slow and laggy interactions. Try opening a more lightweight Web Scene or consider upgrading your graphics card.