To create building geometries through CGA rules, the following general workflow can be used:
Lot --> extrude (4) Building Or: attr height = 30 Lot -->extrude(height) Building
In order to modify the resulting 3D models, different possibilities exist: (1) edit the rules by scripting, (2) overwrite the rule parameters of a rule set on a per-building basis, and (3) if stochastic rules are used (rules with random parameters), the random seed of all or single buildings can be altered. The last method is used in creating virtual cities that should have certain characteristics. These types of randomization are not a representation of reality.
The following figure shows how a rule can be overwritten (2nd method mentioned above). This window provides values to the parameters of a rule. To overwrite the rule, there are some options: (a) to use the rule-defined value, (b) manually add a user-defined value, (c) object attribute, (d) shape attribute, or (e) layer attribute. Layer attribute is to choose attributes based on shapefiles or geodatabases attribute table. For instance, if you have height value as a field in the building footprints’ attribute table, you can use it to automatically generate extrusions. Other instances of fields that can be used for buildings are roof types, roof materials, façade materials, etc.