ArcMap Surface Tools: Crafting Dynamic Hillshades

This is the introductory note to our all-encompassing tutorial on ArcMap Surface Tools, but more specifically a guide to the art of creating dynamic hillshades. This video tutorial is for anyone who is a beginner at GIS and for those that have several years of experience performing GIS work – this video will explain to you, how to accurately and effectively create stunning visualizations of hillshade which can be used in a number of GIS applications. At the very end of this tutorial, you will understand how you can leverage on the ‘surface’ tools in ArcMap to enhance the appearance of your elevation data and hence your maps.

This tutorial is more like a presentation of what hillshading is, and different techniques that can be used for producing visually satisfactory relief images. We will begin by explaining the production of the simplest form of hillshade and go through to even the more complex settings that can be applied to alter the distinct appearance of a hillshade dependent on the user or viewer’s needs. Come with us on this learning expedition of sorts to learn the surface tools in ArcMap, and level up your GIS game. If you are doing environmental work, city planning, or any project that needs you to trace the terrain, you are in the right place as this tutorial will help you in achieving your mapping objectives with a lot of ease.