Ambient Illumination Hack for Hillshades in ArcGIS Pro

Here's how to stack up multiple "scales" of terrain effects into a rich composite hillshade.
This is an update to some processes that I've shared before. You can dive into the theory and examples of these shorter components here...
Multiscale hillshade: • One Minute Map Hack: M...
Using slope for hillshade: • One Minute Map Hack: H...
Hacking a vertical edge detection to crispify terrain: • One Minute Map Hack: C...
If, after all this hillshading, you'd like to use the result in a web map, check this video from CartoRedux showing how to tile it up for the masses. • How To Make a Shaded R...
This video is sponsored by Mrs. Beach, my junior-high and high-school English and creative writing teacher. Thanks Mrs. Beach!
Check this blog post for some more background and a list of the steps: www.esri.com/arcgis-blog/prod...
Check out some other social channels where I share how-to's and updates on random map adventures:
adventuresinmapping.com
www.esri.com/arcgis-blog/auth...
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[@JohnNelsonMaps]

This is an update to some processes that I've shared before. You can dive into the theory and examples of these shorter components here... Multiscale hillshade: kzbin.info/www/bejne/apLIl6Gohq-pg8k Using slope for hillshade: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aoO1lJ9olLyYmtU Hacking a vertical edge detection to crispify terrain: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eHvdpWBubK2jp7s If, after all this hillshading, you'd like to use the result in a web map, check this video from CartoRedux showing how to tile it up for the masses. kzbin.info/www/bejne/imnIeayteq6shcU

[@tobywo]

was looking for some inspiration and techniques to elevate my cartography during my time in the GSP department at Cal Poly Humboldt. This is sick man. Cheers

[@JohnNelsonMaps]

Cool thanks! Hope it comes in handy!

[@ZAHenderson]

Can't think of a better way to start my workday than to see "awesomeness" baked into blend modes. Thanks as always!

[@JohnNelsonMaps]

happy Thursday!

[@jastaneda]

John Nelson making everyone look like a pro. You da man!

[@JohnNelsonMaps]

thanks much, Jason! it's so fun sharing these methods and even more fun to see folks use them in their maps.

[@jeffrobyoung]

Gorgeous! Thanks for another great tutorial!

[@JohnNelsonMaps]

thanks Jeff! hope you give it a shot.

[@kiddeft]

I've been waiting for this video for a long time!

[@JohnNelsonMaps]

enjoy! much hillshading glory awaits.

[@ctnb_ph1577]

Well, I don't know Shelly Beach but I feel so thankful to her right now for opening you the door to make mapping so fun. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and skills. You're the top, John Nelson! I really dig your stuff... because it makes me smile!

[@JohnNelsonMaps]

Thanks! I’m grateful too.

[@mac_jones]

Really awesome stuff. I often get caught up in the work side of GIS, but your videos remind me how fun it can be to play around and have fun with it.

[@JohnNelsonMaps]

thanks McKennan! GIS is a blast. We've got it made.

[@chriscrai]

Love this tutorial. Very simple, extreme results.

[@JohnNelsonMaps]

Thanks!

[@danethegeographer]

This is fantastic content!

[@JohnNelsonMaps]

thanks Dane!

[@JV-gi1hs]

Thanks John!

[@JohnNelsonMaps]

you bet!

[@yahiamohammedi2037]

WONDERFUL TIPS: Thank you John

[@JohnNelsonMaps]

you bet! hope you try it out.

[@alfonsocabahugjr.3144]

FIERCE! :) SuperLove This... Thanks John...

[@JohnNelsonMaps]

thanks Alfonso!

[@its-bc]

Gorgeous!

[@JohnNelsonMaps]

thanks Brian!

[@byronalvarengabeech1185]

WOW! I can't wait to try it on Washington State!

[@JohnNelsonMaps]

Cool! I’d love to see what you make!

[@TOTONOC3]

Muchas gracias por compartir tu conocimiento, mi Hillshade me quedo espectacular

[@JohnNelsonMaps]

¡Esas son buenas noticias! Estoy feliz de que haya funcionado bien.

[@rcssiddharth5986]

Oh my god, Nelson ! I've got the smartest work done in minutes. Thanks a lot, Nelson. Following you all the way from Cartography MOOC by ESRI.

[@JohnNelsonMaps]

Hey great! Welcome!

[@Tazarve]

Beautiful. Used your creative technique to produce a map for my publication related to caribou calving grounds. Thank you so much.

[@JohnNelsonMaps]

awesome! i'd love to see it

[@GISChops]

Super cool!

[@JohnNelsonMaps]

Thanks!

[@tharanainulaksith945]

That's awesome ❤

[@JohnNelsonMaps]

Thanks!

[@apurvasingh2182]

After a long time I really want to comment on a video and it is this, thanks for sharing this, you are amazing.

[@JohnNelsonMaps]

Wow thank you!

[@juancampos1164]

Thank you sir!

[@JohnNelsonMaps]

🙂

[@neslihandal5734]

This hillshade is awesome John thanks for video. I will try this for my mountains :)

[@JohnNelsonMaps]

Hope you enjoy it! I'd love to see what you make.

[@neslihandal5734]

Of course, I would be very happy to share it with you.

[@JohnNelsonMaps]

@@neslihandal5734 great thanks!

[@dr.christophersutton4980]

Totally using this for my Cart class in the fall!

[@JohnNelsonMaps]

sweet! i'd love to see the results. also i'd be happy to chat with the students and play around with this method.

[@dr.christophersutton4980]

@@JohnNelsonMaps Awesome! I'll keep in touch with you about this.

[@davidnovak3072]

Wonderful, now I need to recreate all my maps. Just joking, it's awesome as usual. ♥

[@MrAdde3000]

Love your tutorials! Im using 1m DEM and the end result is blurry and not at all like your result. Im also working at a scale of 1:70000 which maybe can explain the blurryness, but it feels like this work best on a coarser DEM. Will try it tomorrow. The result when not having the blurry slopes turned on is delicious however!

[@justinberke1687]

dank/10. 🏆

[@JohnNelsonMaps]

thanks Justin! diggity dank

[@pdcoronado]

Wao, está espectacular esos resultados. Podrías hacer lo mismo para ARCGIS DESTOK por favor. Sería una gran ayuda para aquellos que no disponemos del ARCGIS PRO.

[@JohnNelsonMaps]

¡Gracias! Lamentablemente no. Este método utiliza modos de fusión, que están disponibles en Pro. La buena noticia es que una licencia de ArcGIS incluye Pro, por lo que tal vez pueda verificar si puede instalarlo.

[@boroushaki]

Wonderful video John! I am wondering why you used the Traditional hillshade technique in this video over the multidirectional one?

[@JohnNelsonMaps]

the multidirectional one would get a little redundant with the slope layers. but i'm sure it would look good too, there's no wrong way to do this.

[@monocilindro3655]

Thanks John for this awesome and helpful video. What would you recommend doing when dealing with just bathymetry and there is no overlay imagery?

[@JohnNelsonMaps]

in that case I would give the original DEM, at the bottom, a dark-to-light blue gradient. should look great!

[@TOTONOC3]

Si pones una Shape de poligono con un fondo al final te cambia los colores del sombreado.

[@JohnNelsonMaps]

@@TOTONOC3 Me acabo de dar cuenta de lo mismo esta mañana! Será un buen método agregar un poco de azul o púrpura, haciendo que el sombreado sea más realista.

[@ricardojaviergarnicapena6749]

Nice video, excellent. Question, what happen if you use a curvature raster? Like Red Relief Image Map (RRIM)

[@JohnNelsonMaps]

No bad options!

[@harryklein4205]

Hi, This really impressive and a neat exercise to do over the long weekend. What is the accuracy of the DEM. Can it be done with a 1m or 2m DEM?

[@JohnNelsonMaps]

this is a NASA SRTM image, which is 30m. but the concept should work for any DEM, whatever the scale.

[@jacobhelfman9981]

Awesome How-To! How would I make relatively flat areas pop out more? I changed the classification from Min Max to None for my base original DEM and it made my low elevation areas look better. What other adjustments would you recommend?

[@JohnNelsonMaps]

Thanks! Here’s a video for that: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hoi2poFrhL-EbZY

[@AndrewTernes]

Would you scale down the raster blurs if you had higher resolution data? We typically collect bathymetry at 0.5m resolution. So a blur of 5 and 10 maybe?

[@JohnNelsonMaps]

i blur to taste. whatever looks best is the way to go. i don't have a useful formula for it anyway.

[@zcapitan82]

Thank you so much john for this magic. I have tested it in a very steep mountain zone and its become very dark. I am using Alos Palsar DEM (12.5 m) and I wonder if I have to change the blur number of cells. Is there any rule of thumb between DEM spatial resolution and number of blur cells?. Thanks a lot!

[@JohnNelsonMaps]

Yes probably. But it also depends on the scale of your resulting map. I recommend experimenting and going with what looks best

[@cristianarias4760]

It's really dope what you do with ArcGis Pro. I have a question. Is it possible to "merge" two raster data ? I want to create a raster with bathymetric data with topographic data. Thanks a lot for your awesome work!! Greetings from Chile :)

[@JohnNelsonMaps]

Thanks! Yes, but as is typical in GIS there are different ways of going about it. I would look into doing a “band math” raster function to add the two together. I think that should work.

[@SoItGoes1985]

Do you have any advice for the number of cells (rows & columns) to blur given the original resolution of your DEM? For instance, would I need to increase the blur for the #10 and #20 stats surfaces using a 20 ft. DEM representing a county. Thank you, sir.

[@JohnNelsonMaps]

i was using a 30m resolution DEM from SRTM. You can use whatever blur distance looks good to you. it also depends on what scale you want to view the map at. but overall it should be to your own taste and opinion. there's no right answer.

[@PBandHoneySammich]

Would adding a Z value be recommended for doing flatter areas like the SE/Georgia?

[@JohnNelsonMaps]

for hillshades you can make the area more dramatic by changing the grayscale gradient in the symbology panel from one of the linear options (none or min-max) to a statistical one, like percent clip or standard deviation.

[@ibrahimmohammed3484]

yeaaaah, blend mods instead of playing with transparency scales, but i feel that the old technique gave more of a control

[@JohnNelsonMaps]

it did. but the good news is you can use blend modes AND within-gradient transparency, so you have all the control as before plus some options.

[@nickjimenez2073]

Would mosaicking all the new rasters you made into a new feature class get you the same product?

[@JohnNelsonMaps]

Best to flatten into a single geotiff by exporting the map (minus basemap) as an image

[@dhavaljariwala8992]

What's the background music, Mr. Nelson? It's so soothing.

[@JohnNelsonMaps]

right? i love it. it's Venkatesandanda, by Jesse Gallagher. kzbin.info/door/D5hjK3sDzk2W-jw9roHuVw

[@dhavaljariwala8992]

@@JohnNelsonMaps Thank you. I really admire your work.

[@JohnNelsonMaps]

@@dhavaljariwala8992 thank you!

[@asraffasmadi9397]

Hi Nelson! I've just tried this amazing trick but bumped into a small problem. When exporting the map, the hillshade altogether won't appear in the .PDF/.PNG. All I got in the map are the basemap (imagery) and the shapefiles. Do you have any clue or any tips for this type of problem? I've tried to restart the ArcGIS Pro but there are exclamation marks(click to repair) on those hillshades - may be due to the hillshades are considered as temporary files, if I'm not mistaken. Thank you in advance.

[@JohnNelsonMaps]

Have you tried exporting the map from a layout?

[@asraffasmadi9397]

That is the method i’m using 😅 Exporting the map from layout.

[@JohnNelsonMaps]

@@asraffasmadi9397 weird, consider filing this as a bug.

[@asraffasmadi9397]

@@JohnNelsonMaps i think so too. waiting patiently for the next version of ArcGIS Pro to come out. By the way, thanks Nelson. Keep up posting new amazing tricks!

[@tonyzambone762]

@@asraffasmadi9397 Did you find out a solution to this? I'm currently having the same exact issue.

[@MuhammadNurdinnewspecies]

Please tell me you computer specs?

[@JohnNelsonMaps]

Dell Precision 5530. 16MB ram. Upgraded with an NVIDIA graphics card.