SketchUp

This article presents two workflows for using Google Building Maker and SketchUp together to create 3D Buildings. The first workflow (“From Building Maker to SketchUp”) is a way for people to start in Building Maker to create their rough buildings and then bring them into SketchUp for further detailing.

The second workflow (“From SketchUp to Building Maker”) is a way for people to work entirely in SketchUp to create a Building Maker building and then enhance that building with SketchUp.

From Building Maker to SketchUp

Building Maker is a terrific tool for creating low polygon count buildings for Google Earth. Building Maker models can be taken into SketchUp for further modification. To create a Building Maker model in Building Maker and modify that model in SketchUp:

1. Launch Building Maker (http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/buildingmaker).
2. Create a Building Maker model. Align each block to at least 6 images to ensure all imagery appears in SketchUp. Refer to the Building Maker Getting Started Guide for further information. The following image contains a simple two block building maker model:



3. Save the Building Maker model.
4. Select the My Models menu item in the My Warehouse menu.
5. Click on the building you just created
6. Click on the the Download Model button. A list of download file types is displayed.
7. Click on the link next to “SketchUp 8 (.skp).” The "Generating SketchUp File" dialog box is displayed. The resulting SketchUp file (.skp) is saved to your computer.
8. Double-click on the resulting SketchUp file to load SketchUp. The building model appears in SketchUp with a tab for each image you used in Building Maker. Each scene is a photo matching scene. The following image shows the model in SketchUp with corresponding Scene tabs:



The following image shows the scene thumbnails in the Scene Manager (notice that the active scene has a pencil icon):



9. Make modifications to the model in SketchUp 8. The following image shows the building with air conditioning units and sign modeled in SketchUp using the sketch over mode:



10. Click the Share Model button () from SketchUp. The model is uploaded back into 3D Warehouse over the original Building Maker model.

From SketchUp to Building Maker

To create a Building Maker model in SketchUp and modify in SketchUp:

1. Click on the Add new building button (). Building Maker opens in a web dialog box.
2. Create a Building Maker model. Align each block to at least 6 images. Refer to the Building Maker Getting Started Guide for further information. The following image contains a simple one block building maker model:



3. Click on the SketchUp Export button. The Save to the 3D Warehouse dialog box appears.
4. Fill in the information for your model.
5. Click the Save button. The "Generating SketchUp File" dialog box is displayed. The building model appears in SketchUp with a tab for each image you used in Building Maker. Each scene is a photo matching scene. The following image shows the model in SketchUp with corresponding Scene tabs:



The following image shows the scene thumbnails in the Scene Manager (notice that the active scene has a pencil icon):



6. Make modifications to the model in SketchUp 8. The following image shows the building with air conditioning units and additional walls modeled in SketchUp using the sketch over mode:



7. Click the Share Model button () from SketchUp. The model is uploaded back into 3D Warehouse over the original Building Maker model.