Blue Marble Project

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.

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

This is part 2 of a Case Study - read part one here.

Before I tell you how School helped Whirlpool to reach designers, get their products specified and drive sales, I need to mention the contribution of my fellow team members.  Joe Sharkey was the first person to meet Brad Schell, cofounder of @Last Software - the makers of SketchUp.  Joe’s insights, background in industrial design and 20+ years experience with AutoCAD helped me in see the value of pursuing an experiment in 3D modeling with Google SketchUp and 3D Warehouse.  His CAD skills also made it possible to pursue modeling in SketchUp without a budget for outsourcing so we could start immediately and keep up with Google’s launch schedule.  Ben Wojcikiewicz tackled aspects of how to organize, update and optimize the 3D appliance collections within the Google 3D Warehouse.  My two talented friends collaborated closely, taught me the technology and we worked like a “start up”, but within a large corporation.

My vision is also driven by a business challenge from a manager who stated, “I’m tired of going to the Kitchen & Bath Show (KBIS) and having past presidents of the National Kitchen & Bath Association (NKBA) ask me, where are Whirlpool’s 3D models for 20/20 software users.”  I had negotiated potential contracts several times but the development and distribution costs for 3D appliance models and my conclusions were always the same.  The costs were too high to demonstrate a positive ROI for appliance products.  Modeling fees were too costly for proprietary software that only reached a niche audience, distribution costs for mailing up-to-date CDs to keep up with new appliance launches were too high, and the file size of typical CAD models was too large for kitchen and bath designers to easily download because they often use older hardware and lack high speed Internet.

I struggled with this challenge for three years.  So the approach Google suggested was stunning by contrast:  Create a collection of 3D virtual product models with either the free version of SketchUp or $495 Pro version, use your in-house team to draw the models or outsource to a company like Igloo Studios’ Blue Marble Project, then post and manage your product collection in Google’s online 3D Warehouse at no cost.

In SketchUp, the 3D model file size can be minimized for fast, easy downloads for architects and designers.  Google doesn’t charge manufacturers for hosting building product collections so they can be updated with new products any time and as often as needed.  And there is no cost to users for downloading branded products to incorporate in their designs.

What’s more, Google has been working proactively with CAD software companies to make manufacturer’s 3D building product collections an “open community” solution.  You’ll find that many CAD programs for architects already allow them to download product models directly from the 3D Warehouse into their designs.  Interoperability with Kitchen and Bath CAD software has been slower but early adopters like Chief Architect introduced import capability for SketchUp models about a year ago.

So what’s not to like about this approach?  Seems like a no brainer to me.  Fortunately, we were not burdened with a proprietary solution when the Google SketchUp and 3D Warehouse opportunity was presented.   The economic downturn may have slowed the building and remodeling industry in the short term, but affordable, web based solutions like this one should be high on any building product manufacturer’s wish list for 2009.

Read Part 3 of this case study here.

Perhaps this notion is best described by someone who’s been thinking about the web a bit longer than we have. In this video, Kevin Kelly describes the evolution of the web over the past 5,000 days, and talks about where we’re headed over the course of the next 5,000. One of the key points for web developers - create portable content for the web. This is a concept that is perfectly well suited to 3D SketchUp models and the Google 3D Warehouse. From a marketers perspective, web 3.0 shifts the focus away from the notion of having to force people to your website by creating ’special’ content that can only be viewed on your site. Rather, sites like Facebook, YouTube, etc. and even the 3D Warehouse, allow companies to invite traffic to their own sites by distributing content and information about their brands via platforms where people feel comfortable consuming media on their own terms.

The 3D Warehouse is a distribution platform that hosts 3D Computer Models of Buildings which plug into Google Earth, making it a perfect location based media solution for marketers who are interested in improving their visibility amidst the sea of GeoWeb platforms and data.

More broadly, the 3D Warehouse hosts 3D models of ‘places + things’. The ‘things’ part of that equation means that product manufacturers, distributers, and retailers can use the 3D Warehouse as marketing/advertising platform to distribute information via 3D product models. Architects, Designers, and consumers all then have access to freely download and interact with the 3D models on their own terms, by incorporating 3D products into their projects.

Google recently launched an update to the 3D Warehouse which allows visitors to view the models in 3D right on the website, without having to download the model first. The 3D view of the model is automatically generated when the model is uploaded to the Warehouse. Under the hood, the 3D View is a simple set of rendered images of the model that are taken at intervals to simulate a 360 degree spin view.

This update will allow us to deliver more accurate data to our clients about the use and popularity of their 3D content. Having a 3D View of the model on the website means that people may be less likely to download a 3D Model out of mere curiosity. Chances are greater that if you’re model is being downloaded, it’s because someone actually wants to use it for something.

To test the ‘3D View’, click on the tab in top right corner of the image below.

View the object above on Google’s 3D Warehouse

For more information check out this post on the Official SketchUp Blog.

We recently teamed up with the folks at Google.org and Geodynamics (an Australian geothermal energy company), to create a series of informational 3D models and animations that illustrate the process of driling and harvesting for geothermal energy.

You can view the animation and download the models from Google.org’s website. The Models are also available for download from Google’s 3D Warehouse.

For the full run-down on the project, check out this post on our Igloo Studios Inc. Blog.

Wouldn’t it be nice to know where to park if you wanted to shop at Macy’s? Well now you can plan those kind of details a little easier by visiting the 3D Shopping Centers in California that we’ve modeled for Westfield, Corp. The Shopping Centers are available for download in SketchUp format from the Google 3D Warehouse, or you can view the models in Google Earth.

Ever been frustrated trying to find the hotel you are looking for? If pictures speak a thousand words, then we’re hoping our 3D models of selected Marriott Hotels speak a million.