Blue Marble Project

The Solaire 30″ Infrared Grilling System was recently added to the Google 3D Warehouse. Made by Rasmussen, the Solaire grill has a bunch of great features for outdoor cooking and it was an exciting challenge to translate those selling points into a dynamic 3D SketchUp model. This dynamic component includes configurable options which can be accessed from the Dynamic Component Options Dialog. Use the Interact tool to Open/Close various parts and turn on/off the Grill Burner. You can even see the flames when you turn the knobs!

Sustainable Industries has released their annual supplemental issue - 2009 Top 10 Green Building Products. Blue Marble Project is proud to have played a role in the creation of this year’s issue by supplying Sustainable Industries with the 3D computer models that were embedded in the downloadable PDF version of the issue. The 3D SketchUp models can also be downloaded from the Google 3D Warehouse.

Here’s a sample of one of this year’s winners - the T5 from Tennant Company:

We’re pleased to have the opportunity to present a course at the Mobius LA conference this upcoming Saturday, June 17. The course is entitled Using Web 3.0 Technologies to Promote Your Practice and AIA Members in attendance will earn 1.5 CE Credits.

Most of the Presentation will involve live demos of fancy schmancy online stuff but you can check out this copy of our presentation slides that we’ve conveniently posted here as a Google Presentation (how very 3.0 of us eh?).

Also in Web 3.0 fashion, Mike will be twittering from Mobius (you can follow him on twitter @MikeTadros) and if Mobius records the session we’ll post it to our YouTube page afterward.

To learn more about how you can expand your online presence by incorporating free Web 3.0 technologies into your marketing strategy, inquire about our in-person consulting services. Email us today at info@bluemarbleproject.com.

Google recently updated the Embed Code that users can copy from a 3D Warehouse model page which enables you to post an interactive 3D View of the model on any site (or blog).

Here’s a model we created recently for Dacor that includes installation information - could be a nice thing to have handy on the job site.

We’re certainly excited about this update as we think it only helps improve upon the many ways in which SketchUp models can be re-purposed as portable online media content.

Another exciting aspect to this recent update is the ability to quickly snatch the Google Earth Embed code for Geo Located models. This is a model of the Renaissance Montura LAX Hotel in Los Angeles, CA.

For more information about this 3D Warehouse feature you can check out this post on the Google SketchUp blog.

For the folks out there who are keeping score of their 3D Warehouse fame, you can toss out whatever spreadsheets you’ve been using to tally the weekly download stats of your models. Google has FINALLY pushed an update to the Warehouse stats that show aggregate download and chart past performance. Thanks to all the hard working, underappreciated guys and gals on the Warehouse team. This is something I know we’ve been bugging you about constantly for the past year and I know this was a tough problem. The stats charts looks great and the aggregate info is a tremendous improvement!

We’ll hold off for at least a week or two until we start bugging you again about getting aggregate stats for collections…

To read more about this feature update check out this post on the Google SketchUp blog.

This article was originally posted at our sister site: the School blog

This post is part of a series - if you haven’t already, read part 1 and part 2 first.

After the huge PR response to our launch of the Whirlpool 3D model collection in September ‘06, the question was what to do next?  Major trade shows are an excellent time to launch products and the International Builder Show is the biggest for product manufacturers.  But I didn’t think home builders were quite ready for SketchUp and Google 3D Warehouse.
Google told me their first big show of 2007 would be Macworld.  They claim to like this show because SketchUp is the only 3D modeling software that works on a Mac, so no competitors show up.  I think the attraction is the Buena Vista Café, birthplace of Irish Coffee in America.  The Google folks were there several nights, just to soak up the history I’m sure.
At about this time I was thinking about video podcasting, convinced that Whirlpool’s online continuing education program needed a rich media approach as a competitive differentiator to the PowerPoint presentations that are the industry standard.  But I didn’t know enough about the technology and the players to get started.  Since MacWorld had several presenters speaking on this topic, it seemed like the place to be.

So my team hunkered down (easy to do in Michigan in December) and focused on creating the KitchenAid brand 3D model collection.  By January we had virtual appliances ready for Macworld.  Certain that an appliance manufacturer had never attended Macworld and feeling intimidated about “talking tech”, I decided to bring my son, Duncan, a photographer and avid Mac user, to translate.  Good thing I did.  Speaking the lexicon at Macworld is an immersion experience… like asking for directions in a foreign country.

The upshot?  We launched a virtual collection of KitchenAid appliances in the Google SketchUp booth at Macworld, the press picked up the PR story and I learned a great deal about video podcasting.  Maybe some learnings for reaching builders too, but that’s for next time.

We were honored to be recently selected by the good folks at O’Reilly to deliver a pair of presentations at the upcoming Where 2.0 Conference in San Jose, CA. The conference, which focuses on “Becoming Location Aware”, will take place May 19-21.

Our first presentation will take place at 11am on May 19th. Our CEO Alex Oliver will be giving a talk titled Translating Geo-Web Efficiency into Real-World Sustainability. In the presentation, Alex plans to cover some case study projects where technologists can leverage digital data sets to give architects, builders and designers better tools and education for building a more environmentally friendly world.

Our second presentation will take place later that day at 4:30pm. Our President Mike Tadros will conduct a 1 hour class titled Building Our World With Sketchup. During the class, attendees will learn more about how to leverage location inside and outside of SketchUp, including importing and exporting location-based data from Google Earth.

Come see us for one or both of our presentations. We’ve arranged for you to get  25% off your Where 2.0 registration when you enter this code: WHR09FSP. Sign up here. If you plan to come, we’d love to meet you! Email us at info@bluemarbleproject.com and we’ll plan to catch-up at the show.

The Thermador Appliance Dynamic Component Collection is the third in a series of beautifully modeled and textured appliance collections that were launched just in time for KBIS 2009 (see also Miele and Dacor). For Thermador, we again leveraged Dynamic interaction options to create appliances with doors that swing open, and information dialog boxes that link back to the manufacturer website. The Column Refrigeration units also include options for specifying RH vs LH door swings. These models also include installation information including cutout dimensions and utility hook-ups as can be seen in this 48″ Duel Fuel Range from Thermador’s Pro Grand Professional Series.

The Dacor Appliance Dynamic Component Collection we’ve recently added to the 3D Warehouse includes some of the most intricate appliance models ever posted to the warehouse. We’ve taken full advantage of Dynamic interaction options to create appliances with doors that swing open, drawers that slide out, and information dialog boxes that link back to the manufacturer website. These models also include installation information including cutout dimensions and utility hook-ups as can be seen in this 48″ Built-in Refrigerator from Dacor’s Epicure Series.

We launched this collection just in time to demo the collection at KBIS 2009 and the reaction was phenomenal. This is one component collection you’ve just got to download and check out for yourself.

We’ve only just begun working on the Miele Appliance Dynamic Component Collection but we’re already seeing a rapid uptake of this beautifully textured model of their CVA 4062 Coffee System (complete with frothy beverage). This dynamic component features an options dialog with that includes information about the product, links back to the Miele website, and options for whether or not to include the optional warming drawer.