Spring 2011 CSCI 379 KML II

Be careful about the on-line tutorials on placing buildings with Google SketchUp and Google Earth. In recent versions of SketchUp, use the Add Location tool rather than Google Earth tool to get a section of the terrain.

Google SketchUp

The steps in creating the models are involved. First, you need to create a model of a building. Be sure it is an appropriate size. You may also want to add some texture to it. You can go ahead and save it as a SketchUp Model.

Next you need to add the surround imagery and terrain information. This doesn't really become part of the building, but it does allow you to place the building properly. Unfortunately, using Add Location doesn't work in RH 223 now. (I think this has something to do with Folder Redirection in Windows 7, but I'm not at all sure.) If Add Location doesn't work, you can proceed with this process, but your building will be located in Boulder, Colorado.

KMZ files

At this point, you can export your building an a KMZ file. A KMZ file is a ZIP file that contains the KML file that describes the location of your building, the COLLADA file that describes your building, and possibly other files, just as JPEG images of textures. The KML and COLLADA files are are both in XML format.

Here are some links to help you explore these formats.

Copying to the server

To publicize your model, you need to copy it to a web server. I suggest you try placing it on your UNCA Google Sites page, a web page resource that seems to be largely ignored by UNCA students and faculty. You can also try placing it on the UNCA Computer Science web server.

Neither one of these will be easy on the first try.