About applying size to point feature symbology in ArcScene

You can apply size to your point feature data based on an attribute field, an expression, or random values. Applying different sizes to point features can be extremely useful in cases when you want to display features based on their actual size, for example, the size of trees or the magnitude of earthquakes.

Applying size to point feature symbology

In ArcScene, if you have point feature data with an attribute field that contains the size values, you can symbolize your points by this size field. Each marker symbol is sized individually by the value specified in the attribute field.

If your point feature data does not have size values in an attribute field, you can apply a random size to the symbology. You can also supply an expression by using the Expression Builder calculator. Expressions are a way to provide simple arithmetic operations to add, subtract, multiply, or divide the value in the attribute field by a constant value. Or you can just use a constant size value.

To size feature symbology without taking the size from a field, you can double-click the marker symbol to edit its properties, including setting the size property. However, if you then choose to apply size using a size attribute field, expression, or random values, all symbols are drawn based on the newly derived size values.

In the graphic below, the left side shows point features without any size specified. The right side of the graphic shows the same point features, but they are displayed using size values taken from a numeric field in the attribute table.

An example showing the difference in display by applying size to point features in ArcScene

6/11/2012