Hillshade created from DEM with lighting at 170° azimuth, 40° altitude to approx match shadows on aerial photo
Combined orthophoto and semi-transparent hillshadeusing hillshade constructed with 315° lighting angle
Combined orthophoto and semi-transparent hillshadeusing hillshade constructed with 170° lighting angle
In the Layer Properties box for the air photo, click on the Base Heights tab and change the setting to obtain heights from surface and browse to the correct elevation file.
The airphoto is now draped over the elevation surface as seen in this edge-on view
The Layer Properties Rendering tab is the key to getting good-looking images in ArcScene.
Check the Shade areal features … box (this is unchecked by default).Change the Quality to High (this is set to a midpoint position by default).
The high-quality render takes up lots of video memory, so, if you’re running on an older PC or one without a high end video card, your image may break up as it is rotated in ArcScene.
The Shade areal features… comes into play on the next step, which will not work if this is not checked.
Scene Properties Illumination governs the scene light position.This light position, and checking the “shade layers relative to scene light” box in the layers properties, governs how shadows and highlights play across the scene as it is rotated, enhancing or disrupting the 3D effect.
The Sun Position and Elevation
http://www.srrb.noaa.gov/highlights/sunrise/azel.html
Lat/Long read from ArcMap screen
Date and time from meta data
Zooming in for a closer look Scene light set to 315°: conflicting shadows do not match those in the air photo