wyliepoon
Senior Member
I downloaded the latest version of Google Earth (4.3 Beta) to see how my Google Sketchup models appear on it. I have to say I'm very impressed with it!
The loading time for 3D buildings is much improved over the old version. I used to have to spend a whole night trying to put buildings into Google Earth to create the Toronto skyline (which is why I haven't posted anything from Google Earth recently), but with this new version, the skyline can be done in one or two hours. Models on the "Best of 3D Warehouse" layer are now loaded onto Google Earth in a similar way to Virtual Earth.
A new feature of 4.3 is a tool that allows you to adjust sunlight to different times of day, creating realistic shadows on the buildings.
However there are still some drawbacks to Google Earth, at least when it comes to viewing Toronto. Google hasn't created a full model of 3D buildings for Downtown Toronto like it has for American and Japanese cities. The selection of models in the "Best of 3D Warehouse" layer is terrible for Toronto; the CN Tower model on the layer isn't the best I've seen in 3D Warehouse, and the buildings selected don't reflect what is currently on the skyline (while Google chose my Ritz-Carlton, RBC and Uptown models for the layer, it didn't choose existing landmarks like First Canadian Place or Commerce Court West). Google Earth continues to have problems displaying some building textures- 16 York Street looks like it's paved in asphalt!
Closer to (my) home, here's Scarborough Centre on Google Earth...
The loading time for 3D buildings is much improved over the old version. I used to have to spend a whole night trying to put buildings into Google Earth to create the Toronto skyline (which is why I haven't posted anything from Google Earth recently), but with this new version, the skyline can be done in one or two hours. Models on the "Best of 3D Warehouse" layer are now loaded onto Google Earth in a similar way to Virtual Earth.
A new feature of 4.3 is a tool that allows you to adjust sunlight to different times of day, creating realistic shadows on the buildings.
However there are still some drawbacks to Google Earth, at least when it comes to viewing Toronto. Google hasn't created a full model of 3D buildings for Downtown Toronto like it has for American and Japanese cities. The selection of models in the "Best of 3D Warehouse" layer is terrible for Toronto; the CN Tower model on the layer isn't the best I've seen in 3D Warehouse, and the buildings selected don't reflect what is currently on the skyline (while Google chose my Ritz-Carlton, RBC and Uptown models for the layer, it didn't choose existing landmarks like First Canadian Place or Commerce Court West). Google Earth continues to have problems displaying some building textures- 16 York Street looks like it's paved in asphalt!
Closer to (my) home, here's Scarborough Centre on Google Earth...
