By default, Building Maker models are marked as "Google Earth ready." We will review the building to see if it meets our acceptance criteria, and if it does it will appear in the 3D buildings layer of Google Earth. If your building isn't accepted at first, don't worry - you can always fix any problems and have it reviewed again! Here are several common reasons Building Maker buildings aren't accepted and how you can fix them:
Generally this means that some or all of your building corners are not sitting correctly on the Google Earth terrain.
How to fix it: There are a couple of things that may cause your model to float.
First, a bit of background. Building Maker blocks lie flat on the terrain. To fit into the terrain properly, Building Maker needs to be told which points align with the Google Earth terrain. If two points are constrained to live on the terrain, but the terrain isn't the same elevation at those two points, Building Maker will split the difference and the result is often that the building will float. This is the most common reason buildings float.
Fixing this problem is fairly simple. Preview your model in the Viewer to see where the lowest terrain point is. Then unconstrain all of the ground-plane points in your model except for that lowest point. To unconstrain a point, right-click on it and select "Unconstrain." You may want to experiment with unconstraining points or adding new lowest points until things look right in the viewer.
Another common reason your building may be flagged as "floating" is that it consists of side-by-side blocks, and one of the blocks is floating. You can usually resolve this issue by snapping the floating box to a ground-level point on the block that is not floating. This is done by turning snapping on, then dragging one of the corners of the floating box until it snaps to the corner of the box that is grounded.
Incomplete Texturing
This reason typically indicates that there are black faces on your model.
How to fix it: There are a few ways to correct this problem. First, make sure that you always model within the imagery bounds. If you're outside of the area where we have imagery, there may not be pictures of all sides of your building.
Next, be certain that you align your blocks in all six provided images. There is also a "Load next 2 images" button, which will give you additional photos for texturing.
Finally, if you're receiving this message but your model doesn't have black faces, you can appeal your model's judgement. Just click on the "Tell us why we're wrong" link at the bottom of the Model Details page. Be sure to include details to help us correct our judgement.
Model incomplete
This reason can indicates that parts of your building are detached from other portions of your building or that your building isn't structurally complete.
How to fix it: When you're creating your building, make sure to use the Position options to set the location of your blocks. For example, if you're creating an air conditioning unit on top of your building, you'll want to use the Place new block inline with selected option. This will tell Building Maker that the next block should be directly on top of the rest of your building. If you've already created your building you may be able to resolve disconnected blocks by snapping one corner to another block's corner or edge.
You may also see this reason if you haven't modeled all the distinct parts of your building. In this case, you'll want to go back into Building Maker and make sure your structure is complete.
Better model exists
This means that another model exists for the location that you've chosen, and the model reviewers have deemed that it is higher quality.
How to fix it: To get your model accepted in this case, you just have to make a better building than the one that's already there. You can see other buildings near your model in Building Maker by selecting the "Show Buildings" option in the Viewer panel. Use those buildings for ideas on how to improve your model in Building Maker, or try refining your model in SketchUp instead.
Model needs to be divided into separate models
This means that your building contains more than one discrete structure.
How to fix it: Building Maker models should only contain one building each. You may need to go back into your model and make sure there aren't any extraneous structures around your main building.
Misaligned
This means that your building doesn't match up with the satellite imagery in Google Earth. This can happen when the Building Maker oblique imagery is more current than the Google Earth satellite imagery.
How to fix it: There isn't currently a way to fix this problem in Building Maker. However, you can appeal your model's judgement by clicking the "Tell us why we're wrong" link at the bottom of the Model Details page. Be sure to include details to help us correct our judgement.