Optimized City Generation (satellite 3d buildings)

Ideas & Requests
1

First of all, great work on the new City Generation feature introduced in version 2.10!
It’s a fantastic step toward faster urban context visualization.

I’d like to propose an idea for a potential enhancement:
-The ability to overlay satellite imagery (e.g., from Google, Bing, or OpenStreetMap’s raster tiles) onto the terrain and generated city blocks.

Currently, the generated buildings are very helpful for massing and context, but they appear as white blocks without texture or detail. By adding an optional satellite image layer, the scene would instantly feel more grounded in reality — especially for urban visualizations or large-scale masterplans.

A few suggestions for how this could work:

  • Allow users to toggle a satellite base layer (similar to map view in GIS tools)
  • Use OpenStreetMap data for structure and satellite images for realism
  • Offer adjustable transparency between satellite imagery and terrain textures
  • Optional projection alignment tools for matching imported models with real-world visuals

This would make presentations and design reviews far more immersive, especially when combined with the powerful lighting and camera tools D5 already offers.

2

I have use Blender to bring Google 3D maps into my workflow. I notice Pacemaker for Sketchup has also upgraded there method to add Google 3d maps.

D5 Team please see link for more info.

Although the white massing city blocks currently in D5 is very useful. Helps to speed up the proses of creating a context for your future building. Early stages for massing analysis this very good. When the massing has been established on a site then the next face is to add more details.

2 Likes
3

Thank you for your feedback! I’ve shared this with our team for review.
We will review it carefully and reach out if further details are needed.