Features in a two-dimensional data source can be projected into a three-dimensional representation through a process known as extrusion. A 2D building footprint, for example, can be extruded into a 3D block representation of that building. In this example, you will see how to extrude building polygons according to a height value governed by the number of floors and average height per floor to create realistic 3D building shapes.

To do so, in the Table of Contents, right-click Building_Footprints and click Properties. Click the Globe Extrusion tab and check Extrude features in layer.

Click the Calculate button to open the Expression Builder dialog box.

Double-click the attribute NUM_FLOORS to add it to the Expression text box. Assuming that each floor has a height of 4 meters, you can calculate the height of each building by multiplying the number of floors in each building by 4. Set the expression to [NUM_FLOORS] * 4. Click OK, then click OK to close the Layer Properties dialog box.

The 2D building footprints features are now extruded into 3D blocks. Optionally, to increase performance you can choose not to draw the bottom faces of extruded polygons. Navigate around the display to view your results.