3D Warehouse Gone Insane

This is inspiring. It's the OK GO video for "This Too Shall Pass" featuring a continuous four-minute shot of a Rube Goldberg machine operating in sync with the song.

It reminds me a bit of what might happen if the all the contents of the Google 3D Warehouse were to go crazy and start moving around on its own! Enjoy.

House of Cards

Watch artist Bryan Berg make magic happen in the YouTube video below. It's a house of cards made entirely with freestanding, unattached playing cards. And it's not just any card house-- it's the Rhode Island State House!

Check out the Google Earth/SketchUp version of the Rhode Island State House above, which I have added to these 3D model collections: 1900s, American Capitols

3D Basecamp Looks Fun

I was unable to attend this year's 3D Basecamp at Google Boulder, but I can live it through this post by Aidan Chopra, SketchUp Evangelist, on the SketchUp blog.

From what I can tell/what I have heard, it was a blast. There were about 250 attendees (a handful were geo-modelers) who split their time between the Google Boulder Office and a second location called the Milk factory (?) or something like this.

3D Printing Takes Off

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According to this article from the Seattle Times, 3D printing is really taking off.

It is now being used to create not just small-scale plastic models, but also functional objects like prosthetic limbs and (soon) entire concrete houses!

Although the printers are costly hobbyists can purchase starter kits for around a thousand dollars.

Dónde puedo conseguir SketchUp?

Pardon me, Spanish speakers, if that was incorrect Spanish (but I thought I would try using a handy phrase taught me by a friend-- I just replaced one word "cerveza").

Modeler John Wilkes from UK sent me this nice video he found on another modeler's YouTube channel. Auquicu was the winner of this year's Google Model Your Town competition in Barranco, Lima, Peru.

Trying Out New Modeling Features

Hi! So I quickly tried out some of the new features in SketchUp 8 and Building Maker. I am still getting accustomed to them and may not remember all that I did, but I'll take my best shot.

Happy Belated Birthday

By PinkCakeBox on flickr

OMG! I forgot that SketchUp Island celebrated its 1st birthday on August 23!

Poor little forgotten SketchUp Island.

Well, better late than never.... happy birthday, blog, and many more!

P.S. Thanks to Beryl Reid for the awesome birthday banner!

Sounds Good To Me

One of the ideas we brainstormed at the Mapper-Modeler conference this past spring in Zurich was the idea (often suggested before, apparently) of having sound in Google Earth.

Check out the YouTube clip above demonstrating what that would look like (and sound like), or try it out here in an embedded Google Earth window.

I think it adds a lot of realism to the buildings and terrain without adding a lot of heavy polygons. What do you think?

Have I Been Asleep for Two Months?

Click to enlarge

When I said in my last post that "everything is different" in the SketchUp/geo/modeling world, I didn't literally mean it.

But now I'm wondering if I should have.

Today I previewed a 3D building model in the Google 3D Warehouse and used the Street View tab to check for accuracy. All very normal. But...

I'm Back! Everything Is New!

I'm back and everything is new!

While I was away from the Island on a two-month adventure the SketchUp people developed Sketchup 8. Just click on that link to find out more as there is too much awesomeness to describe. Really!

Basically, everything you ever hoped SketchUp could do, it can now do. At least that's the way I feel.