As usual, you can read all the details here, but for those who just care about the highlights:

• We’ve fixed some more crashes folks reported in Ruby Observers.
• Those of you with many Ruby extensions installed should no longer suffer from greyed-out menu items.
• SketchUp Pro network licenses on Windows now allow multiple instances to run on the same machine at one time.
• ...and the usual collection of performance improvements, security updates and bug fixes.

SketchUp will notify you the next time it checks for an update, but if you just can’t wait, download a fresh install right now.

Posted by John Bacus, SketchUp PM

Why a new showcase? Often, when you find an amazing model in the 3D Warehouse, it doesn't tell the full story behind a project. You can download it and see how it was built. But you probably wouldn’t get a sense of why it was built. Where did the inspiration come from? What were the design challenges the modeler faced? What happened after the model was finished? The story just isn’t complete.

The Showcase is a space where the stories, images, renders, animations, and 3D models of passionate SketchUppers can shine a bit brighter.

But that's not all – the Showcase is also a first look at a new element of SketchUp technology: an online 3D model viewer. This 3D viewer lets you orbit, zoom, and pan 3D models right in your browser! To see it in action, find a project marked with a red flag or simply click here. Please note: you’ll need to use the latest version of Google Chrome to take advantage of the WebGL goodness that makes this viewer possible.

Go ahead and start exploring now; content is organized by category filters, so you can easily find projects based on your interests.

Finally, our team would like to dedicate the SketchUp Showcase to all the passionate SketchUppers who’ve supported us for over a decade. As we enter a new chapter with Trimble, we hope the Showcase and the online viewer are proof that SketchUp is only getting better. It’s clichéd to say we wouldn’t be much of anywhere without you, but that doesn’t make it any less true. Thank you for all of the love (sometimes tough) you’ve sent our way. Your passion for SketchUp is still what gets us out of bed in the morning.

Posted by the SketchUp team

The winning team is a dynamic duo: Josetxo Perez Fernandez, 36, is a professional who works in computer administration; and Pedro Domecq Aguirre, 45, is a programmer, 3D data specialist and network administrator. Those are their day jobs, anyway. It turns out that they’re actually world-class, polygon-wrangling, texture-mapping, megabyte-optimizing, geo-modeling superheroes. And now they’re bona fide local heroes, too. Thanks to them, millions of people across the globe can now get familiar with the beautiful little town of Getaria.

Not only that, but we’ll also be awarding US$25,000 to a local school and hosting a celebration with the town of Geteria in honor of Pedro's and Josetxo's accomplishment.

Zorionak to the winning town, to the other five finalists, and to all the other entrants who collectively modeled almost 25,000 local landmarks that are now available for all to enjoy in Google Earth’s 3D Buildings layer. The virtual world is a richer place thanks to your efforts, and the real one is a lot better off, too.

Posted by Allyson McDuffie, SketchUp Team

Evansville, Indiana, United States | Evansville’s collection of models

Modeler: Randall Crane

Getaria, Gipuzkoa, Spain | Getaria’s collection of models

Modelers: Josetxo Perez Fernandez, Pedro Domecq Aguirre

Leominster, Herefordshire, United Kingdom | Leominster’s collection of models

Modeler: Tom Harvey

Lowell, Massachusetts, United States | Lowell’s collection of models

Modeler: Beryl Reid

Toruń, Kujawsko-Pomorskie, Poland | Toruń’s collection of models

Modelers: Arkadiusz Pawlowski, Górniak Grzegorz

Zielona Góra, Lubuskie, Poland | Zielona Góra’s collection of models

Modeler: Tomasz Szular

This video provides an aerial, musical tour of each of the six finalists’ models in situ. Make some popcorn and enjoy.

It’s voting time!

It’s up to you (and the rest of the world) to pick an overall winner. We’ve created separate one-minute video tours for each town, as well as KML files that you can download to see the models in Google Earth. Peruse the entries, then vote for your favorite. You have until May 1st, 2012 to cast your ballot.

Congrats and thanks to everyone who entered—this year’s models were truly amazing.

Posted by Allyson McDuffie, Google SketchUp Team

This video provides a nice overview of the new release:

The new version of Product Connect features thousands of product models and these three plugin-based tools:

Get Products

Get Products is a new tool that makes it dead simple to add pre-existing product models from the Google 3D Warehouse. Like the Get Models tool in SketchUp currently, Get Products launches the Google 3D Warehouse but directs you to a collection with nearly 300 sub-collections of branded and generic product models. You can choose products from a Product Connect enabled catalog and you'll find that product information has already been added for you. Or, choose other Building Product models and add the information yourself.

Product Editor

With the new Product Editor tool, you can now create your own Product Connect enabled models. Just take any SketchUp component (including materials), launch Product Editor, and add any information you need such as product type, name and description. Product Editor can also be used to add or edit info in pre-existing Product Connect enabled models such as project specific notes or price.

Report Maker

When you’ve finished your design, and filled it with Product Connect enabled components, the new and improved Report Maker tool allows you to save organized product schedules in .csv format. With just a few clicks, product lists can be included in construction document sets, edited to create pricing estimates, and even used to place and manage orders.

If you have an existing collection of SketchUp components that you’d like to enable for Product Connect, Igloo Studios offers a service for upgrading existing components. Or if you don’t already have product models created, Igloo Studios can help you with that too. Contact them for more information

Thanks again to Igloo Studios for another great launch that will help SketchUp users everywhere streamline the product selection and specification process.

Posted by Gopal Shah, SketchUp marketing

With SpaceClaim, engineers can convert conceptual designs in SketchUp’s native SKP format (which is optimized for fast performance) into precise solid models needed for mechanical design and manufacturing. As an example, SketchUp models usually convert to CAD programs as meshes, so holes end up being made of lots of little faces. SpaceClaim uses its feature recognition technology to convert these features into exact cylindrical surfaces.

Take the model below: SpaceClaim’s SketchUp import tools automatically convert facets to precise geometry when possible. On the left is the original SketchUp geometry. The middle model demonstrates the new import capability, with no manual cleanup. And the model on the right is further improved using SpaceClaim’s manual repair capabilities.

With this functionality, mechanical designers can directly re-use SKP files, rather than remodeling from scratch. This type of precision is important for rapid prototyping, laser cutting, CNC machining, detailed dimensioning, simulation, and photo-realistic rendering. And SpaceClaim’s process produces models that are completely compatible with other mechanical CAD systems. Another bonus: these import tools enable mechanical engineers to use the entire 3D Warehouse as a starting point for their designs.

If you'd like to try SpaceClaim, please visit their website.

Posted by Gopal Shah, SketchUp marketing

No, you’re not seeing things. By default, SketchUp downgrades higher resolution image textures to a maximum of 1024 x 1024 pixels because in the past graphics cards didn’t have the horsepower to render models with large textures on screen reliably.

If you want to turn off this feature, you can do so by going to Properties > OpenGL, and checking the “Use maximum texture size”. With this checked, SketchUp will no longer downgrade your image textures to 1024px. SketchUp will communicate with your video card and if everything is up to snuff, your image will display at a new maximum resolution of up to 4096 x 4096 pixels.

Important note! Your first inclination might be to activate the “Use maximum texture size” option and bring in the highest resolution textures possible.

But as anyone well-versed in the “science” of modeling with textures will tell you, the size of images DO matter. Large textures can bloat the size of your SketchUp model and tax your video card and system memory exponentially. If you are going to use the “maximum texture” option, you will need to be extra conscious about the size of your image textures and choose which ones need to be at a higher resolution.

Posted by Chris Dizon, SketchUp Guru

Making hospitals more energy efficient

Hospitals have unique energy consumption demands. Not only do a hospitals require lighting and heating 24 hours a day, but they also require ventilation, sterilization, laundry, food preparation and important medical equipment to be powered as well. Therefore, any improvements made to the building could drastically reduce the bills, freeing up money to be spent elsewhere.

The NHS Western Isles Trust are very proactive in trying to reduce their energy costs and carbon footprint. To determine their baseline energy consumption and carbon emissions and then to simulate a number of fabric and technology improvements to their largest building, they turned to GreenspaceLive. A hospital model and energy analysis workflow was created in Google SketchUp Pro with GreenspaceLive’s gTools suite.

Project Methodology

To start, existing 2D CAD models and scanned paper drawings were shared via gWorkspace. These floor plans were then imported into Google SketchUp Pro. Once the floor plans had been imported, each floor was extruded to the correct height and dimensions. A detailed model is not required for the gModeller plugin, so the model could be simplified to single faces for walls, floors and roofs.

Once completed, attributes were added to the model using the gModeller's customised materials, located within the Paint Bucket tool in SketchUp. Next, spaces were identified using the manual Space tool, which allowed the model to have zone specific information, such as heating, lighting and ventilation for different areas.

The gbXML building information model generated by gModeller was now ready to be exported to an energy analysis engine. In this case, gEnergy was used, however, exported models can also be imported into Green Building Studio, Ecotect, Trace, DesignBuilder and others. gEnergy was initially run using the Hospital’s existing fabric and technologies to establish a baseline Energy Performance rating, subsequent analysis runs were then carried out with simulated improvements to the building, including proposed refurbishment changes, to determine the impact they would have on performance of the building.

Once gEnergy runs were completed, the model was exported to Google Earth and presented to the clients, showing gDashboard energy results on screen while touring their model.

Using the gWorkspace cloud platform, the modeling team was able to share and collaborate with the client throughout the process. Team members and client representatives were able to view, download and share files from the project, as well as view all energy runs that were undertaken.

The Results

Armed with the tools and the data, NHS Western Isles Hospital were able to model different scenarios and view the impact these changes would have. The results were dramatic – making a number of changes to the heating system, the team was able to demonstrate that the most effective change would result in over 50% energy savings, while reducing the CO2 emissions by almost 80%.

Dave Tierney, part of the Energy Team at NHS Western Isles Hospital said, “Using gTools, senior executives and staff received an overview of our carbon emissions, energy consumption and the impact changes in technology and fabric will have on our building. We can clearly see the differences in low carbon technology investment options. The results will help shape our plans for tackling carbon emissions and energy consumption in the future."

To learn more about gModeller and the rest of the gTools suite, you can visit the GreenspaceLive website. You can also sign-up for a free trial. Thanks again to Donald and the rest of the gang at GreenspaceLive for sharing this case study with us.

Posted by Chris Cronin, SketchUp Sales

In our third and final installment in our blog series profiling Turner Construction, Jim Barrett, Director of Integrated Building Solutions explains how Turner uses SketchUp Pro as an innovative training tool:

Turner takes advantage of SketchUp Pro’s ease-of-use, friendly environment and the 3D Warehouse as a fundamental tool for introducing Turner engineers, superintendents, and safety managers to Virtual Design and Construction (VDC).

Turner training courses begin with teaching SketchUp Pro. Many VDC concepts are taught through SketchUp. SketchUp Pro is also a core tool and foundational step towards Turner’s advanced VDC tools and processes.

Jim explains, "We find that SketchUp Pro is a great tool for introducing fundamental modeling and analysis skills to all construction families. At Turner, we include SketchUp Pro as part of the standard program installation package on all computers. This makes SketchUp just a click away for all users."

We'd like to thank Jim and all the folks at Turner for giving us a detailed peek into how they use SketchUp Pro in their operations. We look forward to hearing more.

Posted by Gopal Shah, SketchUp Marketing

Licensed Category:

Free Category:

We sat down with Jim Barrett, Director of Integrated Building Solutions, to discuss how Turner is using new technologies and processes to solve everyday problems. In this first installment, Jim tells us about SketchUp Pro’s role in Turner’s World Trade Center Transportation Hub Project.

To meet the accelerated schedule and high number of deliverables for the World Trade Center Transportation Hub Project, Turner turned to SketchUp Pro. This project is not only a complex matrix of building system and structural elements; it also requires detailed phasing of demolition and construction to avoid disturbance to the six major subway lines that run within the project extents. Coordination models are essential for planning phasing and coordinating the location of not only the permanent structures, but also the temporary construction items such as formwork, shoring, and bracing.

Weekly work-in-place presentation updates are automated through a custom Turner plugin (which we’ll discuss in Part 2 of this post) for exporting images to slide presentation software. The ability to customize workflows provides Turner with the opportunity to combine constructibility studies with graphic information about the schedule and clearly represent this information to the project team.

Interoperability is key for Engineers at Turner. SketchUp Pro’s ability to import and save to exchange file formats allows the team to compile models from multiple disciplines, regardless of the model’s software origin. In this way, the team can quickly study complex details and integrate additional information to an existing model.

We’d like to thank Jim and Turner Construction for chatting with us. In part 2, we’ll explore a couple of Turner’s custom plugins used to bring existing processes into the simple, efficient and visual environment of SketchUp Pro.

Posted by Gopal Shah, SketchUp Marketing

We’re curious to learn more about what SketchUp users want out of 3D printing: if you were going to (or already have!) print a SketchUp model, what would it be? Take a couple minutes to let us know.

Posted by Mark Harrison, Community Manager

For some children on the spectrum, especially those who are nonverbal, SketchUp serves as a way to communicate allowing them to share their thoughts through images. Other kids learn life skills that help them to achieve educational and career goals they might not have even aspired to before SketchUp. It seems SketchUp builds self-esteem since these children are able to model circles (and squares) around their neurotypical peers.

It was these anecdotes that inspired Cheryl Wright, Associate Professor in Family & Consumer Studies, at the University of Utah, to study the SketchUp/autism connection in detail. Cheryl and her team have hosted several SketchUp camps, called project iSTAR, for dozens of children with autism. Here's a short video intro to the program:

Cheryl’s team studied hundreds of hours of video of campers, and last month they published a paper in the Family & Consumer Sciences Research Journal outlining their findings. While the camp set out to develop a skill set that could lead to potential employment, Utah researchers found several added benefits, such as stronger interpersonal relationships and greater confidence due, in large part, to a focus on the kids’ talents instead of their disorder. Cheryl explains, “[The campers] talents are often invisible. In our program, we provided a platform for their talents to shine.”

This, of course, is only a taste of the study’s findings, and we encourage you to read the team’s article to learn more. Lastly, we’d like to thank the University of Utah for helping us, and the world, understand how we can better prepare children on the autism spectrum for success. We look forward to continuing to forge new learnings that will enable us to touch more lives.

Post by Tom Wyman, Project Spectrum

It’s that time of year again! The stockings are hung by the chimney with care and Google and NORAD are ready to answer the question of “where?”

NORAD’s tradition of tracking Santa on Christmas Eve started in 1955, when a Sears and Roebuck ad promoting the Talk-to-Santa hotline inadvertently sent callers to CONAD (NORAD’s predecessor) commander-in-chief’s operations hotline. After recovering from the surprise that the call was not from the Pentagon or the White House but instead a little boy inquiring if the commander was Santa Claus, Colonel Harry Shoup asked his team to check their radar for signs of Santa’s sleigh and a tradition was born.

The Santa tracking tradition has grown over the years and today it’s also possible to track Santa using Google Earth and Google Maps on the NORAD Santa site, and on your mobile phone as well. Starting tomorrow (Saturday, December 24) at 2:00 a.m. EST, visit www.noradsanta.org to follow Santa’s journey from the North Pole to homes all over the globe. This year there are many ways to keep tabs on Santa’s sleigh, no matter how quickly it moves:

• Follow Santa on Google Maps: Visit www.noradsanta.org to see where Santa is currently flying and where he’s headed next on Google Maps. Click on the video icons to watch “Santa cam” videos from all over the world, and the gift icons will display information about each city along the route.
• Watch Santa fly in 3D with the Google Earth plug-in: If you have the Google Earth plug-in installed on your computer, you can track Santa’s location in 3D and see him deliver presents everywhere from the mountain villages of the Swiss Alps to the white sand beaches of Hawaii.
• Track Santa from your mobile phone: Follow Santa on the go by searching for [santa] on the Google Maps for mobile app.
• Get updates via social media: The NORAD team will be posting updates about Santa’s flight throughout the day on December 24. Follow them on Google+, Twitter or Facebook for live updates.
• Subscribe to the NORAD Tracks Santa YouTube channel: All “Santa cam” videos will be posted on the NORAD Tracks Santa YouTube channel as they’re captured. You can also watch a recap of Santa’s 2010 trip. Check back often for updates!

Santa flying over London in Google Earth

NORAD Tracks Santa is a special project near and dear to all of us involved. I started working on the program seven years ago and it’s been a thrill to watch it grow over the years. Recently, I was given the opportunity to speak at TEDActive about the origins of NORAD Tracks Santa and how Google has brought this to life in Google Earth.

I’d like to thank all of Santa’s “elves” that helped out across Google and NORAD far and wide. Happy Holidays!

Posted by Bruno Bowden, Lead Google Engineering Elf

With SU Walk, you can create beautiful, photorealistic animations from your SketchUp models. Key features include:

• Photorealism. Apply reflections and lights directly inside SketchUp.
• Keyframe animations. Export a variety of formats including .mp4 and .avi.
• Weather environments. Choose from clear sky, moving clouds, rain, fog, even moonlight to add realism to your animation.
• Speed. Polygon reduction makes camera movement in the scene very fast.

Here is a video of SU Walk in action:

SU Walk costs $129 for a single license, but discounts are available for bulk purchases, educators and owners of SU Podium V2. SU Walk works with Google SketchUp 7 or 8 and is currently Windows only, but a Mac version is upcoming. Learn more: suwalk.com.

Posted by Gopal Shah, SketchUp marketing

To refresh your memory, this year's competition is focused on drawing attention to the employment needs of individuals with autism. The idea is simple: use SketchUp to design a space that represents your dream job, career interests or plans for future employment.

The contest is open to all, so submit your entry soon for a chance to win up to $3,000.

Posted by Gopal Shah, SketchUp marketing

In just one month, our launch video received nearly quarter million views and several hundred of you took the time to tell us your SketchUp story. Your positive reaction and the quality of the work you’ve shared with us is inspiring, but to truly blow out this showcase, we need to hear from even more of you.

If you haven’t yet told us your SketchUp story, share it now by filling out this form. If SketchUp has helped you turn an idea into reality, we want to hear about it.

And for your inspiration, here are just a few of the hundreds of quality submissions we’ve received so far:

Whether you know him as Père Noël, Weihnachtsmann, Babbo Natale, Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas or Santa Claus, there’s a chance you’re anticipating a visit from the jolly old man this December 24. Although he goes by many different names, the magic he brings to the holidays is felt by children and adults celebrating Christmas all over the world.

Growing up in Lawrence, Kansas, I have fond memories of racing to the tree Christmas morning to see what Santa left during his stop in my town. Sometimes it took a lot of work to stay on the right side of the “naughty or nice” list, but Santa came through for me every year.

Like most traditions, this one has evolved over time. Now, in addition to racing downstairs to their stockings, children can follow Santa online on his annual trip from the North Pole to their chimney. With NORAD Tracks Santa, children and families can watch Santa as he delivers presents all over the globe (with a little help from the North American Aerospace Defense Command). If you haven't yet followed this tradition in your family, we'd like to invite you to join us this Christmas Eve.

The countdown to track Santa begins today. Visit www.noradsanta.org the entire month of December to play holiday games and learn fun facts about NORAD and Santa. Set a reminder for 2 a.m. EST on December 24 to start tracking Santa in real-time on the website using Google Maps, and in 3D with Google Earth. If your phone is handy on Christmas Eve, you can also search for [santa] on Google Maps for mobile to track his journey on the go.

Wherever you are, we look forward to counting down to the holidays with you at www.noradsanta.org. Be sure to finish all your holiday shopping in time so you can join us for the main event on December 24.

In the meantime, to get into the Santa tracking spirit, follow NORAD Tracks Santa on Google+ and enjoy a few highlights from last year’s journey in this video:

The Model Your Town Competition is open to just about everyone, just about everywhere in the world. Form a team, model buildings (using SketchUp or Building Maker) and upload them by the end of February 2012.

You can model as many structures as you like – which types of buildings you choose to include is entirely up to you. The important thing is that your choices say something about the character and history of your town.

If your town wins, a bunch of us from the SketchUp team will visit, throw you a dinner party and do our best to make you feel like the local hero that you truly are. Check out the competition website for details, and start rounding up teammates!

Here's some inspiration by way of the 2010 winner, Jorge De Albertis, from Lima, Peru (just to get your creative juices flowing):

New to geo-modeling? Learn more at Your World in 3D, then get started modeling your town!

Posted by Allyson McDuffie, Google Geo team

To accommodate more people, the folks behind Maxwell have just released something they’re calling Maxwell for Google SketchUp. It’s a dedicated photo-renderer, based on the venerable Maxwell rendering engine, that operates entirely inside of SketchUp. Best of all, it has the Big Three qualities going for it:

• Cross-platform. It works on both Windows and Mac systems.
• For both free and Pro. It works on both SketchUp and SketchUp Pro.
• Two entry points. There are free and licensed versions available.

As you can see in this straightforward feature matrix, the free version allows you to render in Draft mode and limits your resulting image to a resolution of 800 pixels. The Licensed version adds Production mode (faster rendering of complex lighting) and increases your maximum output resolution to 1920 pixels. At only $95/75€, the paid version is a bit of a bargain.

If you’re looking for all the bells and whistles and extra pixels that Render Suite offers, the “bridge” plugin for sending your SketchUp model to R.S is still available. So really, SketchUp modelers who want Maxwell’s delicious, unbiased results have three options. And they’re all good ones.

Posted by Aidan Chopra, SketchUp Evangelist

Well, it’s time for all you unsung SketchUp heroes to stand up and take a bow, so today, we’re kicking off the Make Ideas Real project. The result of this initiative will be an innovative, online showcase that does justice to the impact SketchUp users are having on the physical world.

But we need your help to pull this off.

Here’s how you can pitch in: Use this form to tell us your SketchUp story. Send us an image of a SketchUp model with an accompanying photograph that shows your completed project. Anything goes for subject matter; architecture, archeology, industrial design, construction, woodworking, personal fabrication, model railroading, mousetrap design — as long as SketchUp helped you make it, we want to see it. Professionals, semi-professionals and proud amateurs are all welcome.

Here are three examples of what we mean:

Over the next few months, we’ll curate the submissions we receive, and in 2012, we’ll launch a special showcase of SketchUp users who are reimagining the spaces we inhabit. Please share your story with us, so we can share it with the world.

Posted by Gopal Shah, SketchUp team

This month’s update to 45° imagery in Google Maps includes U.S. and international imagery.

Let’s just begin with Graz. It’s the second largest city of Austria (behind Vienna), located in Steiermark. It is a typical Austrian town with a vivid university life, a charming historic center mostly of the Gothic period and is significantly influenced by mediterranean climate which manifests being among the sunniest places in Austria due to its location at the southeastern rim of the Alps. Arnold Schwarzenegger - bodybuilding world champion, movie star and former governor of California - was born and raised nearby.

Canton OH is home of the Pro Football Hall of Fame which opened in 1963 and where the busts of America’s greatest professional football players are enshrined.

So you can imagine our delight when our friends at Filter Foundry told us that Harald was using SketchUp extensively on his latest project, PULSE: the complete guide to the future of racing. We immediately reached out to Harald who happily agreed to tell us more.

“I can somehow just create in SketchUp,” Harald explains. “It allows me to visualize my ideas very quickly, giving me free range to explore. I literally use SketchUp the way I used to sketch with a pencil.”

Harald starts with a SketchUp model and uses Photoshop to bring it to life.

He continues, “SketchUp allows me to very easily create an environment for any vehicle I have designed. The typical application for SketchUp is to model something in 3D, set up the perspective, export the image and use that as an underlay for an illustration in Photoshop.”

This evolution of a space through SketchUp and Photoshop.

Speaking more broadly about SketchUp’s role in the movie industry, Harald tell us that “once it caught on, it spread like wildfire. Now everybody I know is using it.”

He continues, “Since a lot of people I work with are using SketchUp, it’s a great crossover platform, too. I can model something in SketchUp and I can send that file to somebody who adds something else to it, and it sort of becomes this thing that everybody adds to.”

An electric race from the pages of PULSE.

Thankfully, Harald believes it’s the “natural obligation” of an industry vet to share acquired knowledge, and to make good, he’s posting a series of SketchUp quick tips on Filter Foundry. His first tip shows “how easy it is to create good tires in SketchUp.” Stay tuned for more.

Harald is offering SketchUp tips on Filter Foundry.

As a final note, it’s worth mentioning that Harald got into SketchUp the way most of us did: by modeling (or at least attempting to model) his own house.

Like most, Harald first used SketchUp to design his house.

“The way I learned SketchUp was on a tip from a friend, who said to just make your own house in SketchUp.” With a big grin, Harald continues, “Before I was even close to finishing my own house, I started designing my dream house. It ended up being 15,000 square feet. It’s a little big, but there’s nothing wrong with dreaming big.”

We’d like to thank Harald for taking the time to chat with us; thanks also to our friends at Filter Foundry for making this story possible. To see even more of his work, check out Harald’s pad on Filter Foundry or visit his personal site, haraldbelker.com.

Posted by Gopal Shah, SketchUp Marketing

]]> https://googledata.org/google-sketchup/pulse-pounding-visuals-from-hollywood-artist-harald-belker/feed/ 0 https://googledata.org/google-earth/google-geo-teachers-institutes-bring-innovative-educators-together/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=google-geo-teachers-institutes-bring-innovative-educators-together https://googledata.org/google-earth/google-geo-teachers-institutes-bring-innovative-educators-together/#comments Tue, 18 Oct 2011 17:39:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=d1fdc6af6723c2f62b235f99853880df exciting lessons with Google’s tools. These tools help students learn about the world in fun ways. Recently they had the opportunity to share this work with peers from all over the US at two Google Geo Teachers Institute events, first in Washington DC at National Geographic Headquarters and then at the University of Southern Maine Lewiston-Auburn College in Lewiston, Maine.

The Institute was an intensive, two-day event where participants got hands-on experience using Google Earth, Google Maps, and Google SketchUp. Participants also learned about Google Fusion Tables and Chromebooks, and heard from a variety of guest educators. Juan Jose Valdez, head geographer at National Geographic Society, and Angus King, former governor of Maine, gave keynote addresses on the importance of geographic literacy and the state of technology in education today.

Educators had the opportunity to see and hear how Google’s tools can be integrated easily into all subjects to create a more meaningful learning experience for their students. For example, Jerome Burg of Google Lit Trips demonstrated how Google Earth can be used to teach all levels of literature. Mike Hathorn of Hartford High School and Beryl Reid of Billerica School District discussed how students are using SketchUp for historical architecture projects. Margaret Chernosky of Bangor High School showed attendees how she helps students visualize geographic data into Google Earth. Jim Sill of El Diamante High School shared his Google Maps educational tips and tricks as well.

Google Earth and SketchUp bring the world's geographic information to teachers and students in a new and unique way. Google Earth's satellite imagery and Google SketchUp models create a 3D experience of the entire planet, giving students an opportunity to explore in ways never before possible. The many layers provided in Google Earth include a plethora of information and resources for both teachers and students. From literature to science and from math to history, Google Earth, Maps, and SketchUp provide a compelling and fresh way to teach, learn, and explore.

Visit the Google for Educators website for more ideas on how to bring geographic technology into the classroom.

Posted by Allyson McDuffie, Geo Education Team

]]> https://googledata.org/google-earth/google-geo-teachers-institutes-bring-innovative-educators-together/feed/ 0 https://googledata.org/google-sketchup/google-geo-teachers-institutes-bring-innovative-educators-together-2/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=google-geo-teachers-institutes-bring-innovative-educators-together-2 https://googledata.org/google-sketchup/google-geo-teachers-institutes-bring-innovative-educators-together-2/#comments Tue, 18 Oct 2011 17:44:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=56deaba86aaaafa10ac2ff557bf43bcb [Cross-posted from the Lat Long blog]

Educators have created many exciting lessons with Google’s tools. These tools help students learn about the world in fun ways. Recently they had the opportunity to share this work with peers from all over the US at two Google Geo Teachers Institute events, first in Washington DC at National Geographic Headquarters and then at the University of Southern Maine Lewiston-Auburn College in Lewiston, Maine.

The Institute was an intensive, two-day event where participants got hands-on experience using Google Earth, Google Maps, and Google SketchUp. Participants also learned about Google Fusion Tables and Chromebooks, and heard from a variety of guest educators. Juan Jose Valdez, head geographer at National Geographic Society, and Angus King, former governor of Maine, gave keynote addresses on the importance of geographic literacy and the state of technology in education today.

Educators had the opportunity to see and hear how Google’s tools can be integrated easily into all subjects to create a more meaningful learning experience for their students. For example, Jerome Burg of Google Lit Trips demonstrated how Google Earth can be used to teach all levels of literature. Mike Hathorn of Hartford High School and Beryl Reid of Billerica School District discussed how students are using SketchUp for historical architecture projects. Margaret Chernosky of Bangor High School showed attendees how she helps students visualize geographic data into Google Earth. Jim Sill of El Diamante High School shared his Google Maps educational tips and tricks as well.

Google Earth and SketchUp bring the world's geographic information to teachers and students in a new and unique way. Google Earth's satellite imagery and Google SketchUp models create a 3D experience of the entire planet, giving students an opportunity to explore in ways never before possible. The many layers provided in Google Earth include a plethora of information and resources for both teachers and students. From literature to science and from math to history, Google Earth, Maps, and SketchUp provide a compelling and fresh way to teach, learn, and explore.

Visit the Google for Educators website for more ideas on how to bring geographic technology into the classroom.

Posted by Allyson McDuffie, Geo Education Team

]]> https://googledata.org/google-sketchup/google-geo-teachers-institutes-bring-innovative-educators-together-2/feed/ 0 https://googledata.org/google-sketchup/in-the-zome-with-rob-bell/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=in-the-zome-with-rob-bell https://googledata.org/google-sketchup/in-the-zome-with-rob-bell/#comments Thu, 13 Oct 2011 17:48:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=567c34184703e7ce8a9d69b8f9c60782 Rob Bell first introduced us to the Zome during BaseCamp 2008 at the appropriately named Cool SketchUp Stuff session. Last spring, we ran into Rob again at Maker Faire Bay Area. Being fascinated with the evolution of these geometrically hypnotic structures, we thought it would be worthwhile to share Rob’s story and learn more about his new Zome Builder plugin for SketchUp and SketchUp Pro.

About Rob
Rob has had an impressive professional career working as a Software Engineer on projects such as Living Books and Lego Mindstorms. More recently he has also done commercial design and fabrication work for companies such as Tesla Motors, Google, The LongNow Foundation and the Stanford Design School. As Rob explained to us, “the type of skills and thinking that make someone a good software engineer are the same skills that make a solid craftsman, designer and builder.”

The Zomadic Shop on a typical day

In 2006, Rob used these skills to start Zomadic, a design/fabrication studio in San Francisco’s Mission District. In his studio, Rob uses SketchUp Pro and his Shopbot CNC router for 95% of his projects. “For me, Sketchup and the Shopbot go hand in hand,” says Rob.

What are Zomes
Zomes are polar zonohedral domes. Rob’s Zomes are beautiful, organic spaces designed in SketchUp, fabricated with a CNC router and assembled with just mallets and bare hands.

A Zome at Burning Man [photo credit: Dark Sevier]

Properly, Zomes are composed of rhombic faces rather than triangulated struts and nodes.

Looking up the polar axis of a twelve frequency zome

As Rob tells it, “Zomes are about thinking of space and structure in terms of volumes - not points, nor lines, nor planes - because volumes are real and those other things are only abstractions. As Buckminster Fuller said, ‘All systems are polyhedra.’”

Designing Zomes with SketchUp Pro
For Rob, the first step in creating a Zome is designing the structure in SketchUp Pro.

The Miracula Mirabilis: A twelve frequency helical zome spire designed in Sketchup.

“SketchUp Pro has been the perfect design tool for me.” Rob continues, “I make strong use of components, layers and component instance transformations. The recent addition of the Solid Modeling Tools to SketchUp Pro has cut down my design time tremendously."

To make the design process easier, Rob also wrote a Ruby Script to generate basic polar zonohedral forms, which he subsequently released freely for anyone who’d also like to create these unique shapes.

Creating polar zonohedra and helical shells in Sketchup

And now Rob has released a new plugin for Sketchup and SketchUp Pro called Zome Builder. Zome Builder generates not just the primitive geometry of a Zome, but it also generates the part geometry that one needs in order to be able to actually build one. It’s a neat tool, which Rob continues to develop.

The vertex connectors cut on the Shopbot CNC Router

Fresh panels being test fit at Zomadic

Once Rob lands on a design, he uses Zome Builder to generate the part geometry for the panels and connectors. The parts are then ready for export to CAD for toolpathing and fabrication using a Shopbot.

After the parts are cut there’s still plenty of hand work to be done; subassemblies, edge round over, sanding and painting. Rob’s Zomes are large works of art and the attention to detail is evident to everyone who encounters them. “For this year’s project I had a core team of ten people. Everyone participated in the shop and on the playa to help me make it happen.”

The Zonotopia crew

The final step is assembly. The joinery of Zomes require no glue, nails, or staples. “I wanted to design a system where everyone could participate and have fun during the construction process,” says Rob.

Zomes, Zomes everywhere

Rob’s Zomes have been featured at Maker Faire, Lightning in a Bottle, Day of the Dead Festival, Prepare for the Playa, Decompression and of course, Burning Man where each year, he shares a new version of his ever-evolving art piece, Zonotopia.

In his words, “I think of Zonotopia as an archaeological wonder of ancient origin built by a people whose skill in art, craft and design was more sophisticated than our own. Each year I’m able to unearth a little more of what’s down there a new and amazing property of this Zonotopal architectural space is revealed and manifested. The Miracula Mirabilis is the third Zome of Zonotopia and it is the most sophisticated so far.”

The Miracula Mirabilis

“What I find so compelling is that this Zonotopal Architectural space I’m working in has just barely been explored in the computer much less actually built. There are but a handful of people around the world working in this domain -- and a rich domain it is, and that’s exciting.”

We’d like to the thank Rob for sharing his one-of-a-kind SketchUp Story story with us. We hope this post inspires you to try Rob’s Zome Builder plugin to make your own Zome. To find more pictures, models and information about Zomes, visit Rob’s website www.zomadic.com and Zomad’s 3D Warehouse page.

Posted by Gopal Shah, SketchUp marketing

]]> https://googledata.org/google-sketchup/in-the-zome-with-rob-bell/feed/ 0 https://googledata.org/google-sketchup/enter-the-sketch-a-space-design-competition-2011/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=enter-the-sketch-a-space-design-competition-2011 https://googledata.org/google-sketchup/enter-the-sketch-a-space-design-competition-2011/#comments Wed, 12 Oct 2011 20:07:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=664890dbeb6e0e45f7d19c62ce801182

To highlight this October’s National Disability Employment Awareness Month, our Project Spectrum team joined up again with our friends at Easter Seals to host the second annual Sketch-a-Space competition. This year’s competition is meant to draw attention to the employment needs of individuals with autism.

The contest is easy to enter: use SketchUp to design a space that represents your dream job, career interests or plans for future employment. First prize is $3,000. Sketch-a-Space is open to anyone and split into 4 categories:

• Youth with Autism: individuals with autism age 13-17 
• Adult with Autism: individuals with autism age 18 and over 
• Youth: individuals without autism age 13-17 
• Adult: individuals without autism age 18 and over 

Why are we focused on employment? When individuals with autism have access to the supports they need and engage in work that capitalizes on their strengths, the result is meaningful employment.

Last year’s Sketch-A-Space winner, JP Saikali, is the perfect example. JP started using SketchUp when he was in middle school. Now, he knows he wants his future career to be related to Computer Systems and Network Administration – a degree he’s working toward at Wentworth Institute of Technology.

JP's Ultimate Game Room

Not only that, JP made good on his winning design, The Ultimate Game Room. He used his prize money to make his design a reality creating a game room in his basement, complete with a new flat screen TV and sound system.

Now, it’s your turn. Enter today; you could be our next winner and one step closer to realizing your employment dreams.

Posted by Gopal Shah, SketchUp marketing

Dave Richards is fine woodworker living in Rochester, Minnesota. By day, he maintains critical life support equipment in the Anesthesia Department at the Mayo Clinic. By night, he’s a an authorized SketchUp trainer/rockstar, contributing and teaching on the popular blog Design. Click. Build. on finewoodworking.com and the SketchUcation forums. His work has been published in Fine Woodworking magazine, and Dave is considered by many as a foremost expert on using SketchUp for woodworking. He sat down to chat with us recently. Here’s what he had to say:

How do you use SketchUp?
SketchUp is my “go to” application for woodworking. I draw all of my projects using SketchUp Pro. In fact, I really have no need for any other design application. I can work at higher precision than is needed in woodworking and I can draw everything I need with it.

Typically, I draw plans for projects so that other woodworkers can build them. Some of these projects also involve some design work and collaboration with clients while other projects involve creating plans for existing pieces of furniture. I’ve also found SketchUp useful for making detailed drawings of machines for exploded views and instructional manuals.

Have you worked on any projects that folks might have heard about?
Woodworkers who are familiar with Fine Woodworking Magazine might recognize a number of the projects I’ve worked on because they are almost always tied to articles that run in the magazine. Examples of these are an Arts and Crafts Display Case designed by Michael Pekovich and several Shaker style pieces by Christian Becksvoort.

Two Shaker Tables designed and built by Christian Becksvoort [Credit: Fine Woodworking Magazine] 

Which of your projects are you most proud of?
I’m probably most proud of the Arts and Crafts Display Case drawings as well as drawings for a work bench designed by Garrett Hack. In both cases, my SketchUp drawings were used as renders accompanying the magazine articles as well as for complete plan documentation.

Display Case documentation 

Display Case designed and built by Michael Pekovich [Credit: Fine Woodworking Magazine] 

What was your reaction the first time you used it?
I first heard about SketchUp on a woodworking forum back in the days of @Last Software. Before I downloaded the trial version of SketchUp Pro, I spent a long time looking at the videos that were available on the @Last website. I read the old forum looking at what others were doing. Finally I decided to give it a try. I was very pleased that I could quickly create a 3D perspective view of a real object with accurate dimensions. It was much easier than the CAD programs I tried and I was hooked. It didn’t take the full eight-hour trial period to decide I would buy it.

Shaker Wall Cabinet designed by Chirs Gochnour [Credit: Fine Woodworking Magazine] 

The biggest hurdle was convincing my wife that the $495 would be well-spent! I spent about that much for my tablesaw. I realized that SketchUp Pro would qualify as another big tool for my shop. At that time I had no idea I would be using it the way I do now.

Do you use any other tools in cooperation with SketchUp?
I use LayOut to create the plan documentation from the SketchUp model. This is a key part of the process for me. I also use Microsoft Excel and Word to deal with CSV files that are created for cut lists generated by the Cut List plugin. Some of the images I create need a little post processing and for that work I use PhotoShop and a freeware application called Paint.NET.

I’ve also gotten a lot of use out of Style Builder to make my own sketchy line styles. It seems like Style Builder is an under-utilized tool but I find it is very simple to create and edit line styles with it.

Stand Up Desk designed by Dave Richards and George LaRue Downing, Built by George LaRue Downing 

Any final words?

That old adage about a picture being worth a thousand words is definitely true and I frequently find times when it is easier to make a point or communicate an idea with a quick sketch done in SketchUp than to type out paragraphs of description.

We'd like to thank Dave for taking the time to talk with us. You can see even more of his SketchUp work here.

Posted by Gopal Shah, SketchUp marketing

I gave it a whirl and the viewer is quite good. Orbiting a SketchUp model with single finger, panning with two, and pinching to zoom in and out is very satisfying. Loading models onto your mobile device is easy too; the Google 3D Warehouse is integrated in the app and you can also load models through Dropbox and email.

The mobile viewer would be neat enough, but SightSpace 3D’s killer feature is the Augmented Reality (AR) viewer, which gives you the ability to overlay 3D models onto the physical world. Any geo-located Google SketchUp model can be exported to a KMZ file, placed on an iPad 2 or iPhone 4, and viewed in real-time, in a real place letting you actually walk through the space. As you can imagine, this is useful for previewing construction projects, displaying kitchen designs, urban planning and much more.

Additional features include bookmarking views, taking snapshots in both Viewer and AR mode, and the ability to annotate and email notes directly from the app.

SightSpace 3D is available now in the iTunes store now for $15 US, so go download it today.

Posted by Gopal Shah, SketchUp Marketing

Let’s start our exploration in the ruins of the ancient Roman forum, home of the original Roman republic. From here we can easily travel to some of the subsequent Imperial buildings such as the Colosseum (AKA the Flavian Amphitheater) and Trajan’s Market and Column.

Next, we’ll head Northwest, towards the Pantheon and Piazza Navona. The Pantheon is a great example of the layered reuse of buildings in Rome; originally built in the Republican period, the Pantheon was retrofitted with the front portico in the Imperial period, and then later converted into a church. The shape of Piazza Navona also displays its historic foundation as the site was originally the Stadium of Domitian in the Imperial era.

Lastly, let’s head over to the Vatican City, where we can see great examples of the Renaissance and Baroque architecture of the city in Saint Peter’s Basilica and the colonnade by Bernini around St. Peter’s square.

There is much more to explore in Italy’s modern capital, so have a look around this beautiful city! And don’t forget, a few years ago we also released ancient Rome in 3D which allows you to see Rome as it was in 320 AD.

To see Rome in Google Earth for yourself, use Google Maps with Earth view or turn on Google Earth’s “3D Buildings” layer and search for “Rome, Italy”. Alternatively, you can download this KML tour from the Google Earth Gallery to take a virtual tour of the 3D landmarks for yourself. As always, feel free to use Google Building Maker or Google SketchUp to make any improvements or additions to the city or to model your own town.

Happy touring!
Posted by Mason Thrall, Program Manager, Geo 3D

So that’s the what, here’s the why. Five years ago, Google acquired a Boulder-based startup called @Last Software, which was making waves in the architectural world with their 3D modeling software, SketchUp. Google had an ambitious idea to add a 3D model of every building on the planet to Google Earth, and SketchUp was a tool up to the task. Not only that, by opening SketchUp to a wider audience, users would have the opportunity to help build a virtual mirror of their world.

Today, the 3D virtual world is in full bloom: hundreds upon hundreds of villages, towns, and cities have been added to the 3D map representing hundreds of thousands of 3D buildings from every corner of the globe -- truly, a testament to the power of open collaboration.

In the intervening half decade, we’ve introduced several new ways of adding buildings to the 3D map, including Google Building Maker and the Cities in 3D program. And you may have noticed 3D buildings surfacing on Google Maps and Google Maps for mobile as well. With so many different ways of creating and viewing 3D models, we realized we needed a destination that would demystify the process of geo-modeling,

Enter: the new Your World in 3D website. We call the website Your World in 3D because it is you, the user, who is helping build this virtual world, and perhaps more importantly, it is you who is finding innovative and surprising ways of using this data.

Why geo-model? When asked, most geo-modelers say they do it because geo-modeling is just plain fun, but building your town in 3D can also be a great way to show civic pride and encourage tourism for your town. It can also provide an interactive way to promote your business or contextualize the urban planning. 3D modeling has also been used in crisis response situations as we saw in the grassroots modeling effort that happened after the earthquake in L’Aquila, Italy.

We hope you’ll join us on this mission (and adventure) of building the most comprehensive 3D virtual mirror of planet Earth.

Happy modeling!

Posted by Nicole Drobeck, Geo Community Program Manager

I’ve really enjoyed working with SketchUp since I was introduced to it in 2007 while working at Otak. I especially appreciate that SketchUp allows me to model in real-time which is a feature I use in meetings with clients, stakeholders and other consultants on the design teams. A few years ago a colleague of mine, Gary Hartnett, started using SketchUp in meetings as a tool to both “wow” the client and to educate them regarding the possibilities and constraints tied to different design options.

This capability came in handy on a project we were working on with Community Transit in Everett, WA to design concepts for a series of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Stations. After our first workshop, we came out with a couple of concepts which we refined and presented using SketchUp. One of these concepts ended up being built as close as possible to the original design. By modeling and presenting in SketchUp, the client felt ownership over the design and had a better understanding of the challenges associated with construction. Initially, they wanted something “wavy” or “fluid”, but using SketchUp, it was effective to show that a two-directionally curved canopy is not terribly easy to build, especially with a limited budget and a tight schedule.

Later in 2007, we designed a Pedestrian Bridge in Tempe, AZ at the Town Lake. In meetings with the client, the engineer T.Y. Lin International, and the artist Laurie Lundquist, it was highly effective to present proposed concepts for the bridge directly from SketchUp using a laptop and a projector. This allowed the team to engage in real-time with the bridge concepts and study the relationship with the neighboring Tempe Center for the Arts, which was a sensitive issue for this design. The viewpoints at the different piers of the bridge were easy to visualize using a series of Scenes in SketchUp. The model also allowed real-time analysis of aspects like transparency, visibility and shading. I then created a rendering of the bridge using Adobe Photoshop, which was helpful in creating the reflection in the water.

SketchUp was also a great tool to do shading studies for consideration of different shading structures. A shading sail, developed together with local artist Laurie Lundquist, integrated with the flow of the bridge and proved elegant and functional.

Toward the end of the design process, SketchUp actually played one more unique role. While I was determining the right angle for the 2 bridge arches to touch each other at the top of each arch in SketchUp, the 2 arches suddenly overlapped (as I was working within the component, both arches were turning simultaneously), and voila, a unique crossing arch appeared, which we introduced as our preferred alternative. Today, the bridge is currently under construction.

As recently as a couple of weeks ago, I used Match Photo for the first time in a meeting with a prospective client for station design and design of alignment options for another Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) line. I created just one model to demonstrate 3D modeling, show 3D sections of the streetscape and show a Match Photo context study.

By switching Layers on and off and clicking on saved Scenes, we were able to show how future transit oriented development (TOD) would positively impact the streetscape. The different lane options were also placed in different Layers and Scenes, so we could show their respective impact with one click on the Scene tab. At the request of the client I was able to change the station configuration in real-time, which translated immediately to the Match Photo Scenes.

I want to conclude by saying what I appreciate most about Sketchup is that it’s highly intuitive and quick enough that it enables real-time modeling, which is a real asset in presenting and shaping public projects that usually include a significant amount of community engagement.

We'd like to thank Guy for sharing his story with us. More of his firm's beautiful renderings can be found in this album or by downloading this pdf.

Posted by Chris Cronin, SketchUp Pro Sales

It’s a great day for the citizens of Argentina -- and for Canadians in the nation’s capital. We’ve released new Building Maker imagery in six new cities:

• Buenos Aires, Argentina
• Córdoba, Argentina
• Mar Del Plata, Argentina
• Mendoza, Argentina
• Rosario, Argentina
• Ottawa, Canada

...but that’s not all! To help these cities get modeled, we’re having the first ever modeling competition for Building Maker. Starting today, you can create models in these six cities to win prizes in two different categories: Best Model and Most Models. The first place prize is a GPS-enabled digital camera; second place is a Building Maker shirt; and third is a Google travel mug. Have fun!


Posted by Nicole Drobeck, Geo Community Program Manager

Their latest project is a virtual tour of the U.S. Green Building Council’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. (Note: you’ll need the Google Earth plugin installed to view).

This project is cool for lots of reasons. For starters, USGBC’s 75,000-square-foot facility is loaded with efficient and innovative green features that have earned the building a LEED Platinum rating. Professionals regularly tour the USGBC for real-world examples of successful green practices.

However, not everyone has the luxury of being able to visit Washington DC, so Igloo Studios built this one-of-a-kind Google Earth tour of the building. Using a custom instance of the Google Earth plugin and building product catalogs from the 3D Warehouse, Igloo was able to create a tour of both the exterior and interior of the building!

As you navigate through the 3D building, you’ll notice it’s jam-packed with other goodies like a guided audio tour, photos and embedded videos. You can even click on the building’s materials and products to learn more about the green tech used in its construction.

Once you finish the tour, you can launch a test that will earn you the same continuing education credits that you would get for taking the live tour.

And the coolest feature of all: if you find a building product during the tour that might be useful in one of your projects, you can download it directly into your SketchUp design!

If you're interested in learning more about how your products or buildings can be visualized in this way, be sure to send Igloo an email.

Posted by Chris Cronin, SketchUp Pro Sales

After the training, students spent two and a half months developing their visions of what Westport should look like in the future. We then selected winners based on how innovative, creative, and practical the design was. Many of the students incorporated themes of green technology, renewable energy, and sustainability into their projects.

This year’s winning design came from the Electric Spoon Parade team and was based predominately on the use of converting the town’s canals to hydroelectric power generators. There were also other water catchment systems set up around the town to collect rain water for greenhouse use and filtered for consumption at a newly designed sports complex. Other important attributes include an underground bypass for automobile traffic and a pedestrian bridge.

We held a celebration to announce the winners and awarded everyone a variety of fun Google gear, notably the sweet shades the participants are sporting in the photo above. The Town Council of Westport also generously provided gift cards to all the members of the winning teams.

Westport may be a small town in Ireland, but it has some big ideas on how to become the Town of Tomorrow!

Posted by Nicole Drobeck, Geo Community Program Manager

Two other talented modelers also made the trek from their respective homelands to share their modeling insights with the group, Bruno Redureau from France (3DCité) and Mano Papanikolaou from Greece (}-M@No->).

The first day of the event was spent covering the basics, but the real fun started on the second day when we took a tour of the city and specifically of Skadarlija, the bohemian district of Belgrade. Here you find many small shops and restaurants on the cobblestone streets are made up of watermelon-sized rocks. We took photos of the area to use later to create photo textures for future models.

In addition to learning modeling techniques and asking questions, the group shared stories with each other about their own geo-modeling projects, all the while sampling delicious Serbian finger-food. Fellow Serbians were able to meet one another in person, and put a face to a 3D Warehouse name.

Srdjan Vidakovic, an avid Google Map Maker and Panoramio user, helped document the second day’s activities. View more photos of the event and watch Belgrade grow in 3D.

If you’re interested in having a modeling event in your town too, find out how! We’d love to help you get your town on the 3D map!

Posted by Nicole Drobeck, Geo Community Program Manager

Brussels is one of Europe’s best kept secrets. As Belgium’s charming capital city, many have enjoyed living there, ranging from Victor Hugo and Karl Marx to Jean-Claude Van Damme. Now, you can discover the riches of Brussels in a virtual 3D visit with Google Earth.

Several thousands of 3D buildings have been added to the city’s map. Using Google Maps with Earth view or Google Earth’s “3D Buildings” layer, you can now visit the city to experience its rich architectural history. See the KML tour in the Google Earth Gallery to take a virtual tour of the 3D landmarks for yourself.

The place to start is the Grand Place / Grote Market, Brussels' central square. Its 17th century landmark guild houses are richly decorated with sculptures, gables and gold patterns and are said to hold the secret formula of alchemy engraved in its facades.

From there, you are only a virtual stones-throw away from the Royal Palace and its neo-classical Place Royale, which was built upon the ruins of Charles Quint’s palace and housed the famous Order of the Golden Fleece's treasure. Today, you’ll find the Magritte museum there, beautifully presenting the life and work of one of the world’s best-known surrealists.

Swivel around to see the impressive Palace of Justice, Brussels’ law courts which presides over the city skyline.

En route you will pass the Notre-Dame-du-Sablon church, one of the finest examples of Gothic architecture in the city.

The next stop is the Cinquantenaire Jubilee Park with its arch built in 1880 to celebrate the 50 years of independence. The large warehouses you see next to the arch used to hold the Mundaneum: the largest historical attempt to categorize and organize the world’s knowledge and make its accessible to all, back in 1900.

Perhaps the most well-known landmark in Brussels is the Atomium, an all-metal building built in 1958, in the shape of an iron atom magnified 165 billion times. From the Atomium, turn around and look back for the best panoramic view on Brussels.

Before leaving Brussels, stop by the European Parliament where 27 nations are slowly but surely morphing into a prosperous and peaceful union. Google Belgium’s office is located nearby, can you spot it?

When you’re finished touring Brussels in Google Earth, head north to Antwerp, where citizens are actively modeling their city with free 3D tools from Google.

You think this is cool? If you’d like to get started modeling your town, you can get started quickly with Google Building Maker (where available).

Enjoy the tour!

Posted by Julien Blanchez, Country Marketing Manager Belgium

In keeping with the DIY vibe, our booth was constructed three full-size recycled shipping containers and outfitted with big screen TVs, 3D printers, CNC cutters and, most importantly—robots! Folks from the Google SketchUp team and the newly-formed Cloud Robotics team will be on hand to walk you through the steps of of designing, fabricating, building and programming your own robot.

Our booth will also have demos, games, giveaways, hands-on activities for both kids and adults and talks from folks like MAKE Editor-in-Chief Mark Frauenfelder. And to top it off, we'll open Maker Faire each morning with an Android-powered weather balloon launch at 10:00 am PDT (weather permitting).

See our Google at Maker Faire site for a full schedule of Google events, and make sure to follow @sketchup on Twitter for updates throughout the weekend.

Fellow Makers—we hope to see you there!

Posted by John Bacus, SketchUp Product Manager

For years, Google's geo products have been identified as a powerful learning toolkit that can help students conceptualize, visualize, share, and communicate information about the world around them.

This fall, we will host two Google Geo Teachers Institutes: September 23 and 24, 2011 in Washington DC at National Geographic Headquarters and September 26 and 27, 2011 at the University of Southern Maine Lewiston-Auburn College in Lewiston, Maine.

This event is a free professional development experience designed to help educators get the most from Google's geo products and technologies. The Geo Teachers Institute is an intensive, two-day event where participants get hands-on experience using Google Earth, Google Maps, and Google SketchUp, including a focus on features like Ocean, Mars, Moon and Sky in Google Earth.

Attendees will learn about innovative instructional strategies and receive resources to share with colleagues. The Google Geo Education team hopes this event will empower educators to bring the world's geographic information to students in a compelling, fresh, and fun way.

If you are interested, please complete this application. You will be notified if you are selected by August 15, 2011. Even if you can’t make it to this event, we have many online resources available for Google Earth and SketchUp and encourage you to check them out.

Posted by Tina Ornduff, Geo Education Program Manager

3D models which are “Product Connect-enabled” are rich with information; they can include SKUs, website links, dimensions and in some cases, pricing information and environmental statistics. After adding these PC-enabled models to your SketchUp project, you can use the Product Connect plugin to export the metadata as an organized product schedule in the form of a spreadsheet. Igloo’s new offering makes going from conception to production a heck of a lot simpler.

Here's how it works:

1. Download the Product Connect plugin from Igloo Studios website and install it on your machine.


2. Find a Product Connect-compatible model in the 3D Warehouse and download it into your SketchUp model.



SketchUp model with Product Connect-compatible models

3. Open the Product Connect tool set and click Report Maker.



Report Maker window

4. Select a product schedule type (such as Cabinet or Appliance), then click the Create Reports button. The plugin generates a spreadsheet containing all of the product models as well as their relevant metadata.



Product Schedule report

Today, there are hundreds of Product Connect-enabled models freely available in the 3D Warehouse. These include:

• KraftMaid cabinetry
• Merillat cabinetry
• Quality cabinets
• DeNova countertops
• Brizo faucets
• Delta faucets
• Dacor appliances
• Oceanside Glasstile
• Formica Corporation surfacing materials

Are you a product manufacturer who’d like to offer PC-enabled models on the 3D Warehouse? Any product manufacturer can participate by creating new Product Connect-enabled models or by upgrading existing SketchUp models to be compatible with this system.

Congrats to the team at Igloo for helping to solve a long-standing problem. This tool connects product manufacturers with millions of SketchUp modelers who want to make use of those products in their designs.

Posted by Gopal Shah, SketchUp Marketing

The project is asking anyone – from designers and architects, students and professionals, to submit their designs in an effort to find affordable housing solutions for the poorest of the poor.

The $300 House project began as a challenge to businesses in a Harvard Business Review blog post by Dartmouth professor Vijay (V.G.) Govindarajan and co-author Christian Sarkar, an independent marketing expert.

Designers are encouraged to submit their entries for review and discussion. “We want designers and architects to see this as a business opportunity, not as a charity case study,” says Govindarajan. “This design challenge can help us get innovative people to focus on a vast un-served market waiting to be created across the world.”

Winners will be selected by the online community and an expert panel of judges – which includes Yves Behar, Rahul Mehrotra, Bob Freling, Stuart Hart, and others – along with celebrity judge David Hinds of reggae supergroup Steel Pulse.

In addition to a cash award, winners also receive a scholarship to a two-week workshop to both build actual prototypes of the $300 house, as well as operationalize a social venture to manufacture and distribute the homes.

The Economist recently featured the $300 House; here’s what they had to say:

Some emerging-world governments are beginning to realise that providing security of tenure is the only way to deal with the problem of ever-proliferating slums. And big companies that face stagnant markets in the West are increasingly fascinated by the “fortune at the bottom of the pyramid”. Bill Gross of Idealab reckons the market for cheap houses could be worth at least $424 billion. But in reality it is worth far more than that: preventing the Earth from becoming what Mike Davis, a particularly gloomy follower of Marx and Engels, has termed a “planet of slums”.

There are a little over 2 weeks left in the contest and you can take a look at some of the submissions here.

Now, what are you waiting for? Go, go, go!

Posted by Gopal Shah, SketchUp Marketing

The BolderBOULDER is one of the United States’ biggest 10K road races. Last year, more than 54,000 people participated, including several members of the SketchUp team and plenty of other Googlers from the Boulder office—after all, it’s right in our backyard.

Back in January, a group of us met with the race’s organizers to figure out ways that our geo-technology might play a role in this great local tradition. Our team ended up putting together a couple of nifty 3D maps that should help everyone (runners and spectators) get their bearings ahead of race day on May 30th:

We used the Google Earth API to embed an interactive course map on BolderBOULDER’s website. With the Google Earth plugin installed, you will be able to see hundreds of 3D models of the buildings along the course, as well as special race day structures we modeled just for the event. Be sure to click “Run the Race” (in the upper-left corner of the screen) to take a guided tour of the course.

To help folks get to and from the race, we used the Google Maps API to embed a map with information about public transportation options, road closures and parking.

Whether you’re planning to join us in Boulder or just perusing the course from afar, feel free to explore the maps we built. No running shoes required, and no one’s keeping time.

Posted by Kay Chen, Geo Program Manager

This year, Phil emerged at 7:25 AM and did not see his shadow! Despite the major winter storm stretching across 2,000 miles of the continent, it sounds like we’ll be enjoying an early spring!

To make sure you're running the latest (and most certainly greatest) version, open SketchUp 8 (free or Pro) and choose Help > Check for Update. If you're on a Mac, choose SketchUp > Check Web for Update. Let's see if we can break the record for 30-day downloads, too!

The Bay area peninsula is also the home of Silicon Valley. Several technology companies are available to view in 3D, including of course, the Googleplex in Mountain View.

Sports fans might be interested to check out the HP Pavillion, where the San Jose Sharks play, as well as AT&T Park, home of the 2010 worldseries champion, SF Giants. Music lovers may also want to view the Oracle Arena in Oakland and Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View. If you’re starting college soon, take a virtual tour of the Stanford and UC Berkeley campuses.

Of course, this is just a small sample of the several thousands of buildings you’ll find in the area. You can check out an expanded tour we created, or you can open up Google Earth and explore for yourself. As you go on your virtual tour, you may notice that several buildings were created by users, who continue to be an integral part of our 3D building efforts. For example, supermodeler, PeterX created nearly 1,000 buildings around the Bay Area, including the NASA Ames Research Center.

If you’d like to get involved in modeling your town (or any other location), we have several free (and easy!) tools to get you started. With Google Building Maker, you can create and contribute a building in as little as 10 minutes. And if you’d like to refine your building, bring it into Google SketchUp for fine-tuning.

Everyday, we are working on adding more 3D cities to Google Earth as part of our larger mission to organize the planet’s geographic information and make it accessible to all.

Happy touring!

Posted by Gopal Shah, Google SketchUp team

So we decided to offer help in the best way we know how: with technology.

As we outlined in this post, employees from the Google SketchUp team offered to assist in the effort. Workshops were held to collect photographs and train local volunteers in the use of SketchUp as a geo-modeling tool.

While this was happening, we were collecting aerial imagery that would enable us to make L’Aquila available to geo-modelers around the world in Google Building Maker.

With L’Aquila now available in Building Maker, we’ve organized a follow-up workshop where Google staff will return to work with volunteers to model the city. The workshop is scheduled for January 22-23 at the University of L’Aquila. Seating is limited. Register here if you would like to attend.

Of course, not everyone who may be interested in volunteering can attend, so we’d like to invite geo-modelers around the world to join us virtually. In addition to supporting a good cause, geo-modelers who join the effort will be awarded a special badge in the Google 3D Warehouse.

Visit the L’Aquila 3D website to learn more about the project.

To get started, follow these simple steps:

• Watch these helpful getting started videos
• Launch Building Maker
• Select “L’Aquila” from the list of available cities
• Zoom into the city and find a building of interest. Tip: be sure to avoid buildings that are currently being modeled by others by looking for blue dots.
• When you’ve finished your model, publish it to the 3D Warehouse. If it passes our review, it will appear in the 3D Buildings layer of Google Earth within a week or two, depending on the volume of models.

Barnaby asked if Google would support a geo-modeling workshop in L’Aquila in an effort to create a digital model of the city. An engineer working on SketchUp and an Italian by birth, I was asked to travel to L’Aquila and give geo-modeling classes in Italian. I was excited! I could visit my motherland, teach people about the product I work on and help out with a project that could have a great impact on reviving the city. I ended up teaching six full-day classes over the course of two trips in October and November.

Teaching in Italian about a product on which I work almost exclusively in English proved to be more challenging than I thought. It took me awhile to get used to using the correct Italian name for the Push/Pull tool: Spingi-Tira. (It’s more fun to say, though.) The passionate volunteers who attended my classes more than made up for the language frustrations. Not only were they interested and attentive learners, but their desire to do something for their beloved city was contagious.

The modeling phase of the project is now in full swing. Several of the volunteers’ models have already been accepted into Google Earth—you can see them in your browser if you like. You can even take part in the project by helping to model the city from wherever you live. We’ve added L’Aquila to the list of places where you can use Google Building Maker to create geo-models, so no previous 3D modeling experience is necessary. If you’d like to dive in a little deeper, you can use SketchUp in connection with the many photos and other information on Barnaby’s website.

My few days in l’Aquila teaching SketchUp proved to be a fantastic experience. I met so many people who are enthusiastic about this project and willing to sacrifice their weekends to learn how to model, and to provide an exhaustive photographic record of the current situation. The time I spent with them was a wonderful remainder of the love they feel for their city—a love that I now share. I count myself lucky to be a participant in this important project.

In his instructable, Ed walks through 7 easy steps to go from a simple cube in SketchUp to a 3D printed, level-3 Menger sponge.

Ed has won a SketchUp Pro license, a 12-month subscription to Ponoko Prime and a $537 Ponoko digital making voucher.

Upon winning, Ed told us, “it’s great to see more and more tools of creation, like Ponoko, being opened up to everyone.” We couldn’t agree more.

Congrats to Ed for winning the grand prize and congrats to Ponoko for making a great 3D printing tool!

Often considered one of the top destinations for world travelers, Paris is known for landmarks like the Notre Dame Cathedral and the Arc de Triomphe, world-famous museums like the Louvre and the Musée d'Orsay, and hundreds of little bistros with French pastries so good they make your heart pop (literally and figuratively). Now all of these sites – and the many, many others that make Paris special – are available to tour in 3D in Google Earth.

With Google Earth’s “3D Buildings” layer turned on (or by using the Google Earth plug-in for Google Maps) you can wander the streets of the Montmartre district made famous by artists like Picasso, Van Gogh and Dalí from your living room. You can also see the Sacré-Cœur Basilica without having to climb the 237 steps to get there. Instead of waiting in line to see the view from the Eiffel tower, fly straight to the top in Google Earth and get a 360-degree view of Paris. Round out your tour by taking a peek at the Centre Pompidou, which turned the architectural world upside down (or perhaps inside out?) with its exposed skeleton and brightly colored building utilities.

Whether you’re an armchair tourist or planning your next vacation to France, take some time to tour the streets of the French capital and see the historic sites; after all, many of them were created by modelers just like you.

If you’d like to get involved in modeling your town (or any other location), we have several tools to get you started. With Google Building Maker, you can create and contribute a building in as little as 10 minutes. And if you’d like to refine your building, bring it into Google SketchUp for fine-tuning.

Happy touring!

Posted by Gopal Shah, Google SketchUp team