Google Earth and Sketchup - the perfect pair

By Mark O’Neill

Sketchup may have brought out the designer side in everyone with models ranging from the very simple to the very intricate. But it is Google Earth where these models are vividly brought to life. Now using these two tools, the average internet user doesn’t even need to leave their house in order to travel around the world - or even make money.

The best place to download Sketchup models is the 3D Warehouse and it is from there that the Sketchup Buildings blog gets its updated material every day. The Sketchup Buildings blog is a good blog to subscribe to as it looks for the best new models every day. Thanks to the blog, I have built up quite a collection of buildings from various countries, many of them very well designed and articulate in detail.

But it’s the 3D Warehouse which deserves the most attention. Model designers can group together their models in one place and other users can download each model directly into Sketchup or directly into Google Earth. Models can also be rated from one to five stars. Buildings seem to be the most popular type of model (try typing in the name of your town or city to see if anyone has made a model of your local landmarks) but you can also get cars, planes, tanks and even space shuttles. Science-fiction fans can even download models of Transformers which can then be loaded onto Sketchup or even put on your website.

It seems to be a matter of pride over who manages to get the best looking and best designed model made on Sketchup. And this makes for some amazing work.

But as I said, buildings seem to be all the rage and whole towns and cities are starting to appear on Google Earth as 3D Sketchup buildings. Soon we’ll have every street corner and alleyway meticulously reproduced in 3D virtual reality. This is starting to become a boom industry as businesspeople are starting to see the financial incentives. Not only is there a thriving industry in making the models for other people but professionals such as real estate agents and architects can also harness the power of Sketchup and Google Earth to build 3D models of properties to show to prospective clients. Why look at a patch of empty ground and imagine what will be there eventually when you can make an interactive 3D model instead?

Google Earth also has many advantages for the ordinary consumer too. Last year, when I was going on a trip, I mapped my route on Google Earth to see how far away the airport was from my hotel. Prospective house buyers can also check out the area they are contemplating moving to if they happen to live far away. But the best advantage of all is that you can re-live memories. After coming back from holiday, you can go to Google Earth and see the sights again and pretend you’re still there.

So Sketchup and Google Earth make the perfect pair. Sketchup provides the tools to make the models and Earth brings them to life.

Here are six blogs that cover Google Earth and which also allow you to download KML files to view :

1. Google Lat Long - the official Google blog covering Earth and Maps. Good for official announcements but a little too boring and commercial for my tastes. One to still watch though for new features, upgrades and future plans.

2. Google Earth blog - in my opinion, the best Google Earth blog out there. Good screenshots and lots of KML files to download.

3. Ogle Earth - more of a “news” type of blog but still excellent reading nonetheless.

4. Google Sightseeing - this one shows new stuff from both Earth and Maps. I’ve only just found it recently so I need to study it a bit more before rendering an opinion. What do you think of it?

5. Google Earth Hacks - another news and features blog. Not very big on graphics but still fairly informative.

6. Digital Earth blog - A nice black layout with lots of links and news.

Do you know of any good Sketchup or Earth websites / blogs which should be mentioned here?