
The rest can be displayed by changing a settings option in Google Earth as follows: Examples include Machu Picchu in Peru and Martin Luther King memorial near the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC. Some display by default as they have not yet been superceded by photogrammetry versions. You did not point out that all of the legacy models still exist in Google Earth and can be displayed. Under Google Earth above you mentioned legacy 3D models and the newer photogrammetry models. READ MORE: Google Earth vs Google Maps: What’s the Difference? If you want more information, Google explains how they build their maps with such attention to detail. It’s the side-angle cameras that paint the texture along the sides of mountains and building walls. When you have overlap, photogrammetry pulls all the photos together in a textured 3D mesh. Instead, it uses planes that zig-zag back-and-forth. Google Earth doesn’t use satellite imagery for this process. AUTOMATED PHOTOGRAMMETRY: The only answer for Google Earth was to create automated 3D models with stereophotogrammetry.Think about the time and effort it would take to create millions of high-rise buildings across the world. The biggest downfall was that SketchUp was a manual process. But users can’t submit their 3D models to Google Earth anymore. They started giving the software away free. SKETCHUP 3D MODELS: In the past, most of Google Earth’s 3D models were created from SketchUp.It has everything you’d expect to visit there like the towering granite monoliths, deep valleys, and ancient giant sequoias.īut how are 3D buildings and landscapes generated in Google Earth? It’s actually a combination of two types of 3D feature types: Yosemite is an example of the amount of detail that a photogrammetric mesh can capture.

The architecture in cityscapes shows bridges, towers, monuments, and even rollercoasters. Almost in a league of its own, Google Earth has mind-blowing detail in its 3D maps.
