14 DAY TRIAL // Google is again expanding the number of cities it supports for its Building Maker tool. The tool enables users to quickly and easily create 3D models of the most interesting buildings in their towns, and from around the world, which can then be included in Google Earth and Maps for everyone to enjoy.
"Today’s Google Building Maker imagery update is our last one for 2010 – you can now use our purpose-built geo-modeling tool in any of 109 cities around the world. We’ve just released imagery for: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Oslo, Norway and The Hague, The Netherlands," Nicole Drobeck, Geo Community Program Manager at Google, announced.
This update also comes with more data and imagery for cities already included in Building Maker, specifically San Diego, California and Portland, Oregon.
This latest update, the last one for 2010, comes hot on the trails of another one just a couple of weeks ago which added San Antonio, Texas; Tucson, Arizona; Norfolk, Virginia and Salt Lake City, Utah.
If you've been waiting for your city to become part of Building Maker this is your chance. You don't have to have any 3D modeling skills to use the web tool, everything is provided for. All you need to do is match the aerial imagery Google has acquired to a 3D model of the building.
Building Maker has been around for a little over a year, but it has already been expanded to 109 cities from various countries. If your city is not supported yet, you can always start working in one of the places that is available.
Of course, if you feel Building Maker doesn't do the architecture in your town justice, or if you feel comfortable enough with 3D modeling to try your hand at something a bit more advanced, you can export your Building Maker model to Google's professional 3D modeling tool, Sketch Up.