The Simple 3D Modeling Tool Google Building Maker Available in 7 More US Cities

Google continues to expand the availability of its simple Building Maker tool. Google Building Maker enables users to create 3D models of the buildings in their town or in plenty of other places around the world with the aid of aerial photography.

The tool is now available in 116 cities with the addition of seven new ones in the US.

Users in Fresno, Austin, Phoenix, San Diego and other places can now enjoy the simple tool and start recreating their city in 3D even if they have zero 3D modeling experience.

"If you climb up on the roof of your house and cup your hands to your ears, I’ll bet you’ll hear cheering. That’s the sound of everyone in Fresno, Lake Tahoe, Austin, Phoenix, Sacramento, San Diego and St. Louis celebrating the arrival of better Building Maker coverage in their cities," Nicole Drobeck and Aidan Chopra, Google Community Outreachers write, announcing the availability of the tool in the new cities.

Google may be exaggerating a 'bit,' but Building Maker is certainly an interesting tool for a number of reasons. First of all, it enables anyone to contribute.

Normally 3D modeling, even of simple structures like the one in Google Earth, requires a bit of experience and knowledge. But the web-based Building Maker tool eliminates much of the hassle and automates the process as much as possible.

In essence, all users have to do is match a geometric shape to photos from several angles of a building. Google then creates the 3D model and even uses the aerial imagery to texture it. Of course, if you have better pictures, you can used those as well.

When you're done, the new building will end up in Google's 3D Warehouse and eventually inside Google Earth or Maps if it's better than other renditions of a building or the only one.