Ok, I see. It's probably possible by editing the kml or rather the exported dae file. When you export to kmz, it is actually a zip file with a different name. you can rename it and see what's "inside". But do not ask me what to edit there. It's a long text file and there are different values added to shaders and such.

Will do. Thanks you annoying bastard......

Sorry, didn't answer one of your questions.... The Firefox plugin worked fine for me. Running the latest version of FF. Now worries with sat imagery too.

If a model is not accepted, they always give an explanation why. It's at the bottom of the model page but visible only to the model owner. For example: [image: g9tP_NotAccepted.png] This hint would be very useful when trying to trouble-shoot.

So the work-around works Theoretically the "Add location" feature should work no matter if the model is already geo-referenced and no matter how it is geo-referenced. SketchUp adds some special attributes when the terrain is imported with "Add location": ModelTranslationX -18855495.7977869 ModelTranslationY -215494081.152937 ModelTranslationZ -4278.33784800286 ZValueCentered -4278.33784800286 I have no clue what that means, but it's certainly missing if you only have the normal coordinates. I'll test it out or report the problem to Google.

I don't think so. Geolocation is geolocation. I have no idea why this should not work...

In previous versions of SU, we could only import greyscale imagery. I do not see how they are of better quality than the current colour version. Sure you could reload that image with the colour version exported from GE. If that is a good solution, you can still use SU 7 or 6 to import the GE image/terrain in the old fashioned way and then go on using version 8 with modelling. In my area, the "best" imagery is rather poor anyway so I do not see any difference.

If you upload these models to the 3D Warehouse, there is a checkbox that it is real and existing (or what). Leave that empty and all will be good. If you do not even upload them, there's even less to worry about.

You can also make the two far values a bit wider and play around positioning the whole rectangle up/down a bit.

Thanks Csaba, I'll have a look...

That's not Trondheim! Everytime I look at it on the map all I see is vast expanses of 10 meter deep snow with fog and clouds overhead...

Models can be uploaded to GE several ways. Some bigger organizations with many models use this way and you cannot obtain these models (unless you find out who made them and get them from them) Then there is building maker - where available at least - and unless a modeller decides to save his model to the 3D Warehouse, too, you cannot access these models. Then there is the 3D Warehouse where a modeller may decide notto allow folks o download his models and some other modellers decide to allow downloads - now this is the only case when you can access and download those "Nearby models".

I have recently updated my GE to the latest possible version and have no isues with it at all (also on XP). As for the skirts: yes, it's good if the edges merge a bit as there is less risk for gaps should a terrain update happen. Just model the skirt as small (extent and elevation) as ultimately necessary - and especially be careful to affect the surrounding buildings' footprint as little as possible. I do not know how the GE terrain and the one imported can be so different however. But now with SU 8 (as you have it), you are actually not importing straight from GE but from Maps (they share the same database I believe)

Hi Chris, Have a look at Drop.rb here: http://www.smustard.com/script/Drop It will drop a series of groups/components to the next surface they reach while falling. The "drop point" is always the group/component origin so make sure it is somewhere you like them to touch ground.

12 uploaded, 3 pending, I have none listed that are rejected, but my draft rate is terrible. Since I upgraded to sketchup 8, it's usually taken 3 to 4 submissions and a couple of appeals to get my buildings accepted, though much of this is due to difficult terrain. I think a "model this" competition would be really cool. I'm in the US, and I can tell you there are tons of small towns that would even appreciate a group of people modeling the landmark buildings in their community. I also think for those of us who geo-model for GE it would be an awesome way to help give practical pointers on one anothers' models so we can build a better GE. I admit, building maker is not an ideal tool from a usefulness, efficiency, or geometric elegance standpoint, but it does get the job done as far as putting up a facade that goes a step beyond satellite imagery. It also populates buildings most wouldn't think to model, and all it takes to get some of those hideous models off is to model them better, which sketchup can do 100% of the time so long as a chimpanzee isn't running it. My brother's workplace is a great example, I've asked him to get me some pictures of his building, as the current one is a building-maker conglomeration, maybe I'll take before and afters when he finally gets them to me!

Thank you.

If you do a lot of this stuff, it may be worth investing in the Instant Road plugin? http://www.valiarchitects.com/sketchup_scripts/instant-road

This happened to me once, too. Both rules change as well as the revision is done by humans who may interpret those rules differently. Also, sometimes they let a model that does not fully comply with the expectations through in an area where there are very few models anyway and next time when they see it but there are more models, they may check it more strictly (this is especially true with model complexity). They must have given a reason (you can read at the bottom of the model page). Try to make those changes and re-submit the model.

Also 2048 is still sort of "luxury" as it will be downsampled anyway and/or will not load properly (or at least fast) in GE and all you can see is some kind of smeared bunch of colours. Note that everything needs to be streamed from the servers. If there is a low bandwidth connection, people will simply navigate away when not seeing anything soon.

These figures (numbers) will never be revealed by Google. Many members here are beta testers of SU but even they have no clue about this. What I would do however is not laugh at some of the submissions but rather cry. Others are extremely cool however. We have a GE subforum here so I will move both of your GE related topics there. Better attention for those interested in modelling for GE.