Dear all,
thank you very much for your feedback.
We are also preparing a Mac Version.
Regards
Graziano

This is amazing- just what I need to learn how to do.

I looked at the Users guide but I am not finding how save the changes back to a SU file- I am guessing you save bak into the kmz file then open that? Still fiddling with it..

Sorry, I took it down because it was out dated and my newest model is too big to upload to the warehouse.

I've just tried placing a simple model under the water, and it worked with some problems.

First you have to place the model in sketchup well under the coordinates of the map you get from GE, it seems that the highest point in any underwater topography you import will always be 0 in sketchup.
And to view the model in GE from an underwater perspective you have to turn the water surface off, so no cool pictures from below the seas for the sketchup fans, wich is disapointing.

water 3.jpg

Water 1.jpg

water 2.jpg

Indeed it'sfunny!:D

(Although note that this news is about the standalone GE, not the plugin)

I can't agree more with the comments above. Since .png are a lossless format, file sizes tend to be larger. Try to limit texture widths to 500 pixels. GE will crunch alot of this info anyway to make the filesize smaller.

What I was trying to get across in my image is that you dont have to model between the steel beams:the cutout. This will save time and polygons. Also .png's are great for signage. check out the logo for the fedex forum.

Gaieus, you are sure right about non-profit, plus sweat-equity on recovering about 30 km of trails in my younger days. I really appreciate what Google Earth free allows us to do, it is a great service. Now I have work on my 3D SU models to populate the local GE terrain.
Cheers

Scale is definitely the issue here, not incomplete texturing. Not sure why you received that judgment, but the scale is definitely off. Please remember to always test your final model in Google Earth itself. It takes seconds to do just by hitting the "Place Model" button in SketchUp.

@unknownuser said:

If you look at the model from above it should blend into the google terrain. If textures or model parts show from afar it is not likely going to get into the 3d layer.

This is not true. We are looking for accurate and current, and don't fail models for having easily visible differences from the GE imagery. The BEST model is going to have ground level photography that has been cleaned up in an image editor to remove things like wires, road signs, bushes/trees, along with an appropriate amount of geometric detail. What "appropriate amount of geometric detail" means, is to include architectural features of the structure that enhance it's visual appeal without going to the architecturally completedetail level, which would increase the polygon/face count to the point where it's too complex and will be failed for that reason.

@unknownuser said:

I have had models in the warehouse for 6 months to a year before they gained a place in the 3d building layer.

We are working everyday to improve this. Stay tuned and please add more models! YOU get to build the future of Google Earth!

Cheers,

thanks for yours helping.

Thanks. I have successfully completed the process bye your post. thanks again.

Adrian

Nice one Alpmeadow!
Chicago looks realistic, I'll have to take a look in GE.

Hi Alpmeadow,

I think this would be agood idea. My interest is in making models for GE. I find the discussions of organic modeling, rendering, architechture, etc. interesting, but they don't relate directly to my area of particular interest.

I've already suggested to Google that the 3DWH should have a seperate catagory only for GE models (and those aimed at GE.)

Tom

Hi Stefan,

Usually what Google demands (and "normally" people would / should do) is to model with Terrain on since if it is 3D,the terrain should also be 3D.

However,with simpler models (one building at a time) when you suddenly turn terrain off in GE, the model should more or less "accurately" jump down or snap to the flat terrain.

This cannot be achieved with a longer wall of even the smallest graveyard (especially knowing that these graveyards are actually often placed on hillsides or hilltops near the villages in the valleys in Europe).

A solution could be to model smaller pieces of the wall separately and upload them one by one but this would be a ridiculous demand so I would go to ignore those not toggling terrain on when viewing 3D buildings.

Of course there could be a solution; to prevent 3D building from being displayed when terrain is off in GE - or more exactly, turning on the 3D Layer would automatically trigger the terrain (and with exaggeration 1).

Would make a good feature request

But I can give my model a geographic location using the "Geographic Location" options located underneath this tickbox. Wondering what this new thing does.

Just 5000 dollars for the software... is cheap 😆

I think mine was about £30 but if you can afford a Leica Distometer (the cheapest ones are about £100) I I really would recommend it. The Ryobi one I have is not much use for measuring outdoor distances as it only uses the lazer to shine a dot on to the surface you want to measure to, but it actually measures the distance by using a sonic beep. This works fine indoors but outdoors there is often too much interference for it to work accurately.
I have used the Leica distos and they actually measure with the lazer so they are supposed to be accurate up to about 100 metres.

If you have around £300 - £1000 to spare, the Leica bluetooth models are excellent. They will beam dimensions straight to your laptop, pda or phone. If you use them in conjunction with bluetooth enabled cad software like Powercad Sitemaster, the software can actually draw elevations or floorplans semi-automatically while you measure. See link to "Give Me Power" who sell Powercad Sitemaster. Michael Axon, the guy that runs this firm demonstrated the system at my office and it really was impressive, but expensive. The Sitemaster trial will let you save though so it is worth downloading and having a play.

http://www.powercad-sitemaster.co.uk/

edit: Its worth having a look on ebay too, just found this http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/LEICA-DISTO-LITE-D5-LASER-MEASURE-DISTANCEMETER-IN-CASE_W0QQitemZ350122746172QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Measuring_Tools_Levels?hash=item350122746172&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1301%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318

Hi Xavier,

Sorry for not coming back to this yet. I downéloaded your model yesterday and had a short look but then I had to go to a meeting and my whole day was a mess.

Anyway, I haven't thoroughly gone around the problem yet but what I noticed was that most of your model is onder the ground level. I could imagine this at some parts of the world but this hilly-billy area shouldn't be so low.

Great - glad that it solved the problem! 👍

I'm currently having the same problem, has anyone seen a fix for this? I've spent a few hours just troubleshooting but no solution in sight.