Google Earth can display both simple and photo-realistic 3D buildings in many areas. To view these:

1. Turn on the 3D buildings by checking the 3D Buildings folder in the Layers panel.
2. Position the viewer within a reasonable viewing altitude over a major city such as San Francisco. Some 3D buildings start to appear from an eye-elevation of 10,000 to 12,000 feet. Check the eye-elevation meter on the lower right of the 3D viewer to determine your current viewing height. The 3D buildings appear as light gray objects over the imagery of the city.
   
   
   

   Imagery Date: May 31st 2007
   Gray Buildings c. 2009 cyber city
   Gray Buildings c. 2008 Sanborn
   c. 2010 Europa Technologies


3. As you zoom in, more details appear. Use the navigation controls to get the best view of the buildings.
4. Mouse over certain buildings and they appear purple. Click these buildings to view additional information from the 3D Warehouse.
5. To hide a building, right-click it and choose Hide building. Note that Google Earth does not display this building again until you restart the application.
   
   
   

   ​Imagery Date: May 31st 2007
   Gray Building @ 2008 Sanborn
   c. 2010 Google
   c. 2010 TerraMetrics