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. The change brings maps more in line with Google Earth, which has always presented the world from that viewpoint.Almost in a league of its own, Google Earth has mind-blowing detail in its 3D maps. The 'Globe Mode' update is only available on desktop and not mobile, but it works on all major browsers, including Chrome, Edge and Firefox, reportedly thanks to WebGL.

That's pretty clear on Google Maps now when you spin from one place to the other. As such, Greenland looks the size of Africa, when it's much, much smaller - a mere 836,300 square miles compared to Africa's 11.73 million square miles. The most commonly used Mercator projections shows the correct shape of countries, but enlarges regions that are farther from the equator. Google's referring to the fact that it's impossible to represent the true area of different regions on the planet using flat projections. Just zoom all the way out at 😎🌍 /CIkkS7It8d With 3D Globe Mode on Google Maps desktop, Greenland's projection is no longer the size of Africa. That means you'll see the world in a more realistic way: 'With 3D Globe Mode on Google Maps desktop, Greenland's projection is no longer the size of Africa,' Google Maps said on Twitter. You won't notice the change when you first open the app, but if you zoom out far enough, you'll eventually get a moon's-eye view of our world.

Google is finished thinking two-dimensionally with Maps and now shows the Earth as a globe rather than a flat 'Mercator' projection as before.

World map globe 360 view