Integrating SketchUp Models and Google Earth

For added realism and the chance to tinker with another intriguing program, you can use material from both Google Earth and SketchUp to create and test models, and to upload a finished model to a specific location.

Cross-Ref 

Refer to Chapter 13 for a discussion of Google Earth.

SketchUp conveniently includes the Google Toolbar that includes several commands for working with the two programs. The toolbar and its contents are listed in Table 33.1.

Table 33.1: Tools for Working with Google Earth
Open table as spreadsheet

Looks Like	Name of Tool	Used For
	Get Current View	Download an image of the current view shown in Google Earth to use for placing a model
	Toggle Terrain	Show alternate 2-D and 3-D versions of the current view for creating and placing your model
	Place Model	Place a temporary version of your model on the current view in Google Earth
	Get Models	Access the 3D Warehouse repository of models
	Share Model	Upload a completed model to share via the 3D Warehouse

Configuring Google Earth

To make the model work in an online location in Google Earth, you need to work with both programs. Before you start in SketchUp, open Google Earth and follow these steps to optimize settings for capturing a terrain image:

1. Choose Tools Options to open the Google Earth Options dialog box. The 3D View tab is shown by default, as seen in Figure 33.20.

   
   Figure 33.20: Configure settings in Google Earth before capturing a terrain image.

2. In the Detail Area, select the Large (1024 x 1024) radio button. You must have the largest detail area possible for a good terrain image.

3. In the Terrain Quality section, type a value of 1 in the Elevation Exaggeration field. Drag the Quality slider to the Higher end, depending on the speed of your Internet connection.

4. Click OK to close the dialog box and apply the settings to the map area in Google Earth.

5. In the Layers sidebar, toggle the Terrain Layer to visible. If the sidebar is hidden, choose Tools Sidebar to display it at the left of the program window, as shown in Figure 33.21. The terrain image for modeling in SketchUp uses a specific layer included with the terrain image, which is described in the next section.

   
   Figure 33.21: The Terrain layer has to be enabled in order to capture the terrain image correctly.

6. Using the Google Earth tools, display the location in the program window where you want your model to appear.

Creating and testing a model

After the view is set in Google Earth, switch to SketchUp. Whether you close Google Earth depends on your modeling workflow and Internet connection.

Creating the model

Follow these steps to create your model using a Google Earth view as a terrain map:

1. Click Get Current View to get an image of the current view from Google Earth. This image contains the location information needed to properly place the model at the correct location in Google Earth.

   Note 

   When you view your imported map image in SketchUp, if the map image appears solid black, change one of the graphics mode options. In Google Earth, choose Tools Options to open the Google Earth Options dialog box, as shown in Figure 33.20. Select the Direct X option instead of Open GL in the Graphics Mode area of the dialog box. Close the dialog box, and restart Google Earth to change the graphics engine. Recapture the image.

2. Create your model on top of the 2-D image, and move it to the appropriate location on the map, such as in the example in Figure 33.22.

   
   Figure 33.22: Move your model to the desired location on the map.

3. Click the Toggle Terrain button on the Google Toolbar to toggle to the 3-D image. Reposition the model to conform to the terrain in the 3-D image if you are using terrain with a lot of elevation differences.

4. If the appearance of the map is distracting, select the map on the drawing and choose Windows Material Browser to open the Materials dialog box. Click the In Model tab and select the map, which is added to the textures when imported into the model. Click Edit to open the Edit Material dialog box, and drag the Opacity slider left to decrease the map transparency. Click Close to exit the Edit Material dialog box and close the Materials dialog box.

5. Click the Place Model button on the Google Toolbar to place the model in Google Earth. SketchUp creates a temporary file of your model and places the model in Google Earth at the proper location. As you can see in Figure 33.23, the model is listed in the Temporary Places in the Places list in the sidebar.

   
   Figure 33.23: Check out the placement of the model on Google Earth using the Place Model command in SketchUp.

If you decide you don’t have enough models or want to look for inspiration, SketchUp offers the 3D Warehouse.