If you are using SketchUp, then it’s time for you to soon browse over to Google’s website and download the latest version (v.8 M2). Although this release is not a new version but rather a maintenance release (hence the “M2″), there are a few new features and a bunch of bugfixes. So what’s new and [...]

I recently had a need for a PHP script that queries a MySQL database for location-based point data (a LatLong coordinate and some descriptive information) and then creates a KML-file from that data on the fly. A file like this can then easily be loaded into Google Maps, Google Earth and other geospatial applications. In [...]

When I went to the 2011 Google Geo User Summit United States in Mountain View, CA this July, I had the chance to present two projects that I have worked on in the recent past here at the University of Massachusetts. “Building a 3D World” The first presentation was on our campus modeling project in [...]

While I am semi-comfortably seated on my United Airlines flight and traversing all three North-American time zones on my way back to Massachusetts, it’s time to recap what happened at the 2011 Google Geo User Summit United States over the last two and a half days*. Overall summary: Wow, was that ever great fun!!! If [...]

Please upgrade your browser One of the greatest benefits of having a 3D modeler like SketchUp is that creating and sharing explorable representations of real-world objects is extremely easy. It was therefore just a matter of time before Osama bin Laden’s hideout in Abbottabad appeared on Google Earth. So before the real building gets taken [...]

Just in time for today’s beginning of Google’s Basecamp user meeting (an “unconference” in their words), Google released the eighth iteration of SketchUp, their hugely popular 3D modeling application. This version comes with a few enhancements to satisfy both user bases: Geo-modelers (who create buildings and objects for Google Earth) and planners/designers (who model all [...]

I have blogged about Autodesk’s new online offering – Project Butterfly – before, but today, Tal Weiss, former co-founder of VisualTao and now Senior Software Development Manager with Autodesk, gave me an interesting presentation of the collaboration features that have been added recently. With more than 25,000 documents already uploaded into the system, Autodesk wants [...]

This video is a beautiful homage to some architectural classics and is simply amazing if you appreciate the amount of effort that goes into CG rendering – the majority of this film is CG (using 3ds max and VRay and apparently a little bit of SketchUp). Here’s my best advice: Instead of clicking the video [...]

Yayyy!!! A new version! Software updates are always exciting… New features are to be explored, new capabilities exploited for as-yet unknown projects. Contrary to Autodesk’s religious update schedule, Google has been only somewhat regular in providing updates. But alas, announced by today’s blog post by John Bacus, SketchUp’s project manager, the new version of SketchUp [...]

Summer is officially over in a few days and the semester has been on its way again for two weeks now. This means I can finally catch a breath and get back to posting on my own blog. But before I get back to CAD and wood topics, one trip should be mentioned: Among the [...]