Google & SketchUp : redrawing the globe one house at a time

I was amazed to see that one of the best software I’ve ever used has now been snapped up by Google.

Of course, as expected, the Mac version isn’t available yet in a « Googlified » version, but the trial of V4 I had used was simply beautiful, intuitive and oh, so powerful.

SketchUp allows the common man to easily create 3D environments and models, apply textures… all the stuff that 3D Studio does, but for non-graphic artists (i.e. didn’t study advanced geometry and physics engine).The best (most frightening) part? Read on… (source: SketchUp website)

Oh yeah, ”both Google SketchUp and SketchUp Pro 5 (with the plug-in) are Google Earth enabled, meaning that you’ll be able to use SketchUp and Google Earth together just like you could using the SketchUp Google Earth Plugin that we’ve had for awhile.

This means that everyone will be able to find their house in Google Earth, import the aerial photo and terrain into SketchUp, model their house (or apartment, or whatever), and send it back to Google Earth for free. Models shared in the 3D Warehouse will even be able to be geo-referenced, meaning that they’ll ‘know’ where they belong in the world.

When you submit your models to the warehouse, you’ll have the option of including geo-referencing information. Or not, if you’re, say, a Hollywood famous person.