Getting Technical - August 2025
How can you generate 3D vegetation in ArcGIS Pro? Is it possible to leverage CityEngine to generate realistic facades for the buildings within our ArcGIS Urban scenarios? How do you make cartograms in ArcGIS Pro? Get answers to all these questions and more in this month’s edition of Getting Technical. Read it now:
Must Reads
Register today for the Esri Canada Federal User Conference
Esri Canada Federal GIS Conference
October 7, 2025 | Ottawa, Ontario
Make plans to join us at this exclusive event that explores how the federal government is using the geographic approach to derive powerful insights and make data-driven decisions for all Canadians.
Register today for the Esri Canada User Conference
Esri Canada User Conference is Back – Register Now!
November 3–4, 2025 | Toronto, Ontario
Time is running out to get the lowest price for Canada’s #1 GIS event: the Esri Canada User Conference 2025. Tickets are limited and selling fast. Don’t miss your chance to be part of the movement that’s integrating everything, everywhere to build a smarter, more connected future.
Blogs
Enhancing Decision-making in Urban Centres with ArcGIS Dashboards
Urban Centre Explorer showing an overview of the housing tab for Downtown.
Learn how the City of Kelowna’s Long Range Policy Planning department is making the most out of ArcGIS Dashboards for planning the city’s five Urban Centres.
Extending ArcGIS Urban with CityEngine: Realistic Facade Models – No Code
Using CityEngine we can quickly go from schematic massing models to a detailed, realistic scenario.
ArcGIS CityEngine expands the parametric and generative planning functionality available with ArcGIS Urban and can support your planning work at scale throughout the planning process. This blog is part 2 of a three-part series focusing on different integrations between Urban and CityEngine. In this part, we explore how we can leverage CityEngine to generate realistic facades for the buildings within our ArcGIS Urban scenarios to enhance the impact of our planning scenarios. Read Part 1 here to explore initial Urban-CityEngine integrations.
Generating 3D vegetation in ArcGIS Pro
Classified point cloud web scene layer showing vegetation.
When it comes to 3D GIS, the most commonly seen objects are generally of buildings, utilities or other infrastructure. But there is one type of feature that makes up a big part of our world: vegetation. Modelling vegetation such as trees is important for performing analyses like spatial proximity, line of sight or shadow impact – investigations that are valuable in fields such as AEC and urban planning. There are several ways to render 3D vegetation in ArcGIS. In this blog, we show you a simple approach on how to generate these features in ArcGIS Pro, as well as how to share and display them in web GIS.
View all additional blogs on the Esri Canada Blog site.
Videos
Colour Tips to Improve Map Accessibility in ArcGIS Pro
Want to make your maps more inclusive and readable for everyone? In this GeoSnap, I’ll show you how to use smart color choices in ArcGIS Pro to improve map accessibility. Whether you're designing for colour vision deficiencies or just want clearer map visuals, these tips will help you choose colour schemes that work better for all users.
Create Service Usage by Users Report in ArcGIS Enterprise 11.5
Do you need more granular data on who is using what services and how often in your ArcGIS Enterprise Deployment? The new ServiceUsageByUsers reporting metric in 11.5 has you covered.
How to Create Cartograms in ArcGIS Pro 3.5
Have you ever wanted to make your own cartogram? If so, check out this GeoSnap where Alex walks you through how to use a new tool added to ArcGIS Pro 3.5. In only a few minutes, you can make your own cartograms with publicly available data from the ArcGIS Living Atlas or ArcGIS Online!
Stay up-to-date on all of our GeoSnaps by visiting the YouTube playlist.
Training
Using ArcGIS AllSource for Geospatial Intelligence Analysis
Harness geospatial data and tools for mission support
Ideal for intelligence and all-source analysts, this course teaches geospatial concepts and recommended workflows that support the production of timely, accurate and actionable intelligence. Using relevant scenarios and operational problems, you will learn how to manage, analyze and visualize geospatial data, then share your work by producing mission-specific products aligned with industry best practices.
Esri Canada Seminars & Webinars
What’s Next: Cityworks AMS to Trimble Unity Maintain
September 3, 2025
Join us for a deep dive into the Trimble Unity Maintain (formerly Cityworks AMS) enterprise asset management solution and the versatile Trimble Unity Field mobile application. We will be providing an update on recent product lifecycle announcements and migration path to the Trimble cloud managed SaaS platform (in Canada!), and will be showcasing the product vision, features and benefits, including demonstrations of Trimble Unity Maintain, our cloud-based enterprise asset management system, and Trimble Unity Field, our GIS-centric data collection and visualization experience for maintenance management.
Linear Referencing for Transportation Asset Management
September 4, 2025
Managing and analyzing roadway assets across time and location is complex, especially when data is stored in silos or lacks spatial accuracy. If your organization needs to improve its approach to managing transportation data, this webinar is for you.
By watching, you’ll gain a clear understanding of how to assess whether your current data and systems can support linear referencing, what to consider before starting and how to create a roadmap for modernizing your transportation asset management approach.
Telecommunications Data Management Using ArcGIS Online
September 16, 2025
In this webinar we will demonstrate how ArcGIS Online and the ArcGIS Solution for Communications Data Management can be quickly and easily adopted by independent telecom operators in Canada to improve network documentation, easily implement field access and improve customer service, without extensive GIS expertise or significant upfront investment. We'll show you how you can extend network access using ArcGIS Field Maps and generate serviceability maps from the data in your ecosystem!
Once Upon a Map: Telling Better Stories with ArcGIS StoryMaps
September 23, 2025
Are you interested in taking your storytelling to the next level? Whether you’re showcasing a project, advocating for a cause or simply want to share a more engaging place-based story, ArcGIS StoryMaps helps you connect with your audience in a new way. This session will demonstrate how to blend maps, media and text into cohesive digital narratives with no coding required!
We’ll explore what makes a story great, walk through the basics of building your own and highlight examples from across the GIS industry. By the end, you’ll be ready to start turning your maps and data into stories that stick.
Missed last month’s recording? No problem, check out the recordings: View recorded seminars | View recorded webinars
Service Packs, Patches & Product Support Updates
Esri Support App
Download the Esri Support App to subscribe to important product updates and bug-related notifications. Also, try its newest feature—scan and solve error messages. You can also take advantage of Esri’s in-app generative AI chatbot to answer some of your questions. This Esri Support AI Chatbot can also be accessed on the Esri Support website.
ArcGIS Trust Center
Visit the ArcGIS Trust Center for critical security announcements and updates to privacy and compliance information.
Migrating from ArcGIS Engine
ArcGIS Engine is scheduled for retirement on March 1, 2026. In this post, we delve into deprecation specifics, the impending retirement of ArcGIS Engine, strategies for planning your migration and an introduction to one of the key migration routes leveraging ArcGIS Maps SDKs for Native Apps.
ArcGIS and the Impact of MFA Enforcement in Snowflake
Announcing the Deprecation of ArcGIS Maps SDK for Local Server
Retiring Apps & Features
Below you’ll find more information about the upcoming retirement of several apps and features included in ArcGIS Online and ArcGIS Enterprise.
ArcGIS Pro add-on Entitlement Changes Coming to My Esri
On December 1, 2025, Esri will remove the ability for customers to convert their ArcGIS Pro add-on entitlements from ArcGIS Desktop purchases to ArcGIS Pro Single Use or ArcGIS Pro Concurrent Use licenses. The ability to request that previously converted Single Use and Concurrent Use licenses be reverted back to ArcGIS Pro add-ons in My Esri will also be removed. Licenses that have been converted before December 1, 2025 will continue to work as Single use or Concurrent Use licenses.
Map Viewer Classic Is Planned to Retire in Q1 2026
Map Viewer Classic will be removed from ArcGIS Online upon retirement and can no longer be accessed. For more information, read the retirement announcement as well as the Map Viewer Classic Roadmap for Retirement blog.
ArcGIS Configurable Apps Is Planned to Retire in Q1 2026
To provide users with more time to migrate their applications, the retirement date for Configurable Apps has been extended to Q1 2026. Apps built using Configurable Apps will no longer be accessible upon retirement. For more information, read the retirement announcement.
ArcGIS Web AppBuilder Is Planned to Retire in Q1 2026
You will not be able to create new apps or edit existing apps using ArcGIS Web AppBuilder after retirement. Apps will continue to work after retirement. However, we recommend you migrate your apps to ArcGIS Experience Builder as updates to browsers could introduce functional or security issues which will not be addressed by Esri. For more information, read the retirement announcement.
Classic Esri Story Maps Is Planned to Retire in Q1 2026
To provide you with more time to migrate classic Esri Story Maps, the retirement date has been extended to Q1 2026. At that time, classic Esri Story Maps will be removed from ArcGIS Online, and any stories created with classic Esri Story Maps will no longer be available. For more information, read the retirement announcement and review the Classic Esri Story Maps Roadmap for Retirement blog.
View all service packs and patches