--- title: "Site Context" canonical: "https://documentation.chaos.com/space/ENSCAPE/841646089/Site%20Context" format: markdown --- This page provides information about the Site Context feature in Enscape. Overview Understanding the context around a building is important for visualizing its impact on the surroundings and vice versa. The Site Context feature allows a model of the area, including low-poly buildings, streets, and topography, to be imported to your project. It is important to note that an imported site context model is only visible in the Enscape Viewport and not in the host CAD application. Add Site Context Start by opening the Site Context feature using the associated button in the Enscape Viewport toolbar. Alternatively, you can use the shortcut key O . The Site Context panel opens to the left of the Enscape Viewport. Site model button in Enscape Then, add the site context. To do this, click on the Add Site Context button in the Site Context side panel. This opens the Import Site Context window. It contains the following options: Search – Here you can enter an address or coordinates. Current Location – The location of the pin on the map. Site Context Data – Toggles the visibility of parts of the site model. These options can also be adjusted after the site context model has been imported. Buildings and Landmarks and Streets and Sidewalks can be toggled off completely or individually from the menu. It is also possible to do so by right-clicking on elements directly in the Enscape Viewport and clicking on Hide Selection . Import – Imports the site model from OpenStreetMap. The current area is bound by an adjustable orange box. The map provides the following adjustment options: Zoom in – Zoom into the map. Zoom out – Zoom out of the map. Go to Location – Moves the map back to the selected area, if the view is displaced. Fit to Location – Moves the area selection to the map pin, if the pin is displaced. Site context Menu To search for a location, enter the street name, city, postal code, or coordinates. The default location is always set by the host CAD application. Once the desired location has been selected, press Enter or click on one of the search results, if more than one result is returned. In some cases, the exact location or address must be entered in the search field. Import Site Context Once the location has been determined, the area and position of the model need to be determined. The orange pin icon on the map indicates the location of your model. It can be moved by dragging the pin, and it can be rotated by hovering over the circular arrow symbol (zoom in on the map to see it). The selection area can also be adjusted. By default, a 1000 x 1000 meter area around the model is set. To adjust the site area, you can: Resize it by dragging one of the sides of the orange bounding box. The size will be indicated in meters. Rotate it by hovering the mouse cursor near a corner. When the cursor changes, you can rotate the area. Move it by draggin the pin to the new location. After which, you can select Fit to Location to move the selection area to the new pinned location. Minimum area size is 100m x 100m. Maximum area is 9999m x 9999m. If the area is greater than 5000m x 5000m a warning appears. Map Data Options Clicking on the three-dot menu icon next to Map Data provides the following options: Update Site Context – Will open the initial Site Context window, enabling the user to update the location and imported area Edit Site Context – Allows repositioning and rotation of the site model Hide Overlapping Data – Site context model data overlapping with the CAD model will be hidden Reset Visibility – All hidden data will become visible once again Remove Site Context – Removes the current site context model from your project. The entire site context model can be toggled off by clicking on the eye symbol in the Map Data tab. Three-dot Menu Options Clicking on Edit Site Context allows the following options: Translation [T]: Allows horizontal repositioning of the site model. Rotation [R]: Rotation of the site model can be performed by moving the slider or by entering a value in degrees (°). To confirm changes, click on the Confirm button, or the Discard button to cancel. If elements are intersecting with the CAD model after translating the site context model, those site context model elements will be toggled off. If the CAD model is moved to a different position, site context model elements will remain hidden until you click on Reset Visibility via the Hamburger menu. The CAD model’s lowest point will be used as the base touchpoint with the site context geometry. So, if you find that your CAD model is floating above the site context model you can check and adjust the CAD model for possible extruding geometry (for example, sub-surface geometry elements). Site Context Translation options Asset Placement Both Enscape Assets and Custom Assets can be placed on the site context model. Surfaces in the site context model that can accommodate asset placement are topology, streets, and the tops of buildings. To place assets on topography, the topography needs to be toggled so it is visible. When selecting topography to place assets on via the bucket tool , the whole site context model will be considered. This can result in potential performance impacts with high asset density and a large site context surface hogging the GPU’s VRAM and affecting Enscape performance . Important Notes Depending on the amount of geometry in the area selection, a 10km 2 area can increase VRAM usage by approximately 1GB. Furthermore, the download time of the site context model may be increased significantly. Geometry clipping will occur at 17 kilometers from the camera. Holes in the project will be covered, if they intersect with the site context model’s topography. A site context model cannot be inclined and parts of the site context model could be displayed in the air, away from the expected ground plane. When sharing a CAD model, the site model will be available but not editable. Site context models are supported in the Enscape Standalone Executable and Web Standalone files. If you encounter issues with the map itself, we recommend that you contact Openstreet Maps support .