User generated 3D model pipeline has been retired October 1st, 2013

[Google Craig]

Hi folks,

With the goal to have every building in the world accurately displayed in 3D, we’ve explored different methods for modeling large areas of our planet in 3D, including technologies like SketchUp, Building Maker and lately 3D Imagery. We’ve decided that in order to pursue the most consistent user experience, we'll be focusing our resources on the technology that will scale to the entire world and will be discontinuing support of the user generated 3D program.

We’d like to thank all of you who helped form the landscape of Google Earth and helped cities around the globe grow out of the 2D realm, and into the imaginations of virtual 3D explorers everywhere.

Models can still be uploaded to the Trimble 3D Warehouse, where they can continue to be shared with the modeling community, but they will no longer be published to Google Earth starting October 1st, 2013. Existing models will remain visible in Google Earth, until a time when they're replaced by new models generated for that region. Google Takeout lets you download an archive containing all of your models.

On a personal note: I’ve had the good fortune of being involved in the 3D modeling effort for Google Earth from the beginning, and I've watched many of you create collections of amazingly detailed architectural wonders from every corner of the Earth. I'm very thankful to have been along for that ride and to have gotten to know many of you over the years.

With respect and appreciation,

   - CraigD and the 3D Modeling Team

[Mado]

RIP !
(from my husband ... Bdhy)

[tomcioZG]

For me, this decision is a bit weird. New technology does not cover the whole world at once, only the largest cities and only then smaller. Many beautiful places such as castles, palaces and other wonders of nature are often located outside of large cities and even in the middle of nowhere. It seems to me that you would implement new technologies gradually. It's just my opinion. I respect decision and I wish good luck to you Craig and the whole 3D Modeling Team.

P.S. I'm glad that I was able to visit Boulder in 2009. It was for me an unforgettable experience.

Best,

Tomasz

[przygod]

Thanks for sharing this sad news Craig.

It was a great experience to create and put my own piece in Google Earth. I hope there will be some new interesting UGC project coming.

Krzysztof Przygoda :: przygod

[pmolsen]

What will be the status of kml files in the 3D Warehouse please? Will it still be possible to load and display them in Google Earth?

When is the last upload of models please? In other words has the process already stopped, or if I upload a model today for example will it be considered?

[Google Craig]

Hi Peter,

3D models will be reviewed/accepted and published until October 1st, 2013. The last publish to Google Earth should occur on or shortly after the October 1st deadline.

You will be able to download and display geo-located 3D model kmls from the 3D Warehouse for the foreseeable future, but they will not be published to the 3D Buildings layer after October 1st, 2013.

I hope that answers your questions.

Best,

    - Craig

[peterg/gipuzkoa3d]

Hello Craig

But .. Current models Included on layer 0 will remain visible?

best

Peterg

[Google Craig]

Hi Peterg,

the buildings that are visible on the 3D Buildings layer on October 31st, 2013, will remain visible until they are either deleted from the 3D Warehouse or are replaced with 3D Imagery. 

Best,

    - Craig

[Paul van Dinther]

Hi Peter, how about loading models into Google Earth using the API. Will that still be supported?

[Google Craig]

The API will support the current 3D Buildings layer. Of course you can add any kmz that you'd like, for your custom layers.

Best,

    - Craig

[Richard Pedicini]

Google has never kept it a secret that it retires programs and projects as the market and the world change.

For a while it's been clear that we've been building sand castles before a rising tide, though I had not expected it to rise so high and so soon, that there would be a couple of years left at least.

That's the rational response.

The emotional one though, is that Craig's note is like hearing, "We're going to shoot your puppy".

Cheers,
Richard

[Richard Pedicini]

No, that's not it. Now it comes to me. There's a scene in "Diamonds are Forever" (the book not the movie) where ABC announces to one of the links in his diamond smuggling operation, "I'm shutting down the pipeline". The he shoots him.

Google Craig, James Bond villain. 

[Екатерина Кравченко]

Does this mean that the error on the page "My models" will not be fixed?
Page address http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/search?uq=1457940670376486217306074, I click "Allow others to see my profile", enter a nickneme and click "Save". The nickname is not saved. I can't send  the model using SketchUp without the  nickname.

[tomcioZG]

Hi Екатерина. I had a similar problem when I setting up a new account on 3D Warehouse to my friend. I couldn't save the user name. I remember that I tried to save the user name several times and finally succeeded. 

[Francisco José Borge Cordovilla]

Hola Craig, otra duda
Los modelos publicados en la galería 3D de Trimble, ¿van a poder seguir cargándose a Google Earth desde dicha galería mediante la opción "ver en Google Earth" (aunque se supriman de la capa general)?. Desde luego ello no estorbaría a los fines de Google, sería sólo para verlos puntualmente, aunuq ela capa siguiera otro sistema de generación de sólidos 3D...,
¿ o esa posibilidad va a ser suprimmida también?
UN honor haber pertenecido al proyecto, muchas gracias y un fuerte abrazo.

[SnowTiger]

Huge .... HUGE mistake.
I'm betting this will be Google Earth's downfall.

Regardless, it's definitely the downfall for my current business and may well be the downfall for SU's popularity.

I am truly disappointed with Google's decision.

[Mado]

Hi Chris,

On May 15, a French magazine has predicted the end of Google Earth with the arrival of the new Google Maps .... after Building maker, the stop of 3DWarehouse seems to confirm!

http://www.lesnumeriques.com/google-i-o-point-sur-services-produits-google-n29520.html#maps

;)

[jago716]

This is sad.  Very sad.

2013 has NOT been an ideal year for the 3D modelling community.  First we lose Building Maker (though it still appears to be in use by some), then Google Reader and Google Latitude, and now the 3D pipeline. 

I take it there won't be any "Model Your Town" competitions in the future?  

There are still quite a lot (though only so many) of geo-located works-in-progess in my personal 3D-model bucket list.  Is it truly worth it to go on at this point?  Does this render any 3D-layer guideline threads & discussions in this forum moot?

 - jago716

[Gerardo Paz]

Hi Craig...

An ... emotive day for me... I.m with GE since the prehistory.. jaja... Anyway, life changes all the time.. But I will not cry or die.... just an idea:

Google could leave a 3D USERS layer besides the 3D Layer, where people could turn it to active to see the "old" user generated 3d models.

Don´t miss thousands of hours of hard modeling and texturizing work that many people around the world gave Google as a gift. Google build a great product thanks - in some way - to the interest and colaboration we, first users, did. I spent hundred of hours contributing to Google Earth. I ask just only one thing: a 3D Users (or 3D Old Models) layer. Nothing more than that.

Google is not evil..

[matthiasbasler]

Am Mittwoch, 7. August 2013 15:44:33 UTC+2 schrieb Mado:

On May 15, a French magazine has predicted the end of Google Earth with the arrival of the new Google Maps

I fear the same.
Google further developing a desktop application? For "old school" operating systems like Windows or Linux? With data cached on the local machine? To some managers it may sound like Sony still building Gramophone record players.
Not to me, though.

I wonder if the Google Maps has many of the capabilities of the desktop applications, such as importing KMZ/KML files, creating collections of locations, switching all different types of layers on or off, checking the historical imagery (often very helpful for me) and so on.

But I have become pessimistic lately, concerning Google's strategy. I wouldn't be surprised if they declared GE discontinued without having a replacement for these features.

The only aspect that gives me some hope GE desktop has a chance to survive is, that they have a commercial version, and maybe this is providing enough money to continue development.

Matthias Basler

[matthiasbasler]

Am Mittwoch, 7. August 2013 17:56:34 UTC+2 schrieb Gerardo64:

I ask just only one thing: a 3D Users (or 3D Old Models) layer. Nothing more than that.

You are aware that a layer for user-generated models, which is not updated any more by Google is outdated within 10 years and thus slowly becomes worthless? You'd have to a have a completely user-organized review pipeline for this layer and I very much doubt Google will play along with such idea.

Rest in peace, shiny new user-generated 3D world. It was a pleasure to look at you.

Matthias Basler

[Pavel Averyanov]

This is really frustrating news for me and for all ppl, who made models in SU. I think, google should rethink this desition.

вторник, 6 августа 2013 г., 23:00:03 UTC+6 пользователь Google Craig написал:

[KEITH LURIE]

So, no new buildings.  Coming from a small town without 3d imagery, I have been the only person submitting 3d buildings.  The day that I decided to make business out of geo modelling, Craig announced that the new auto generated mesh mush was to replace all the fantastic work people have done for free. Needless to say, I gave up on the business plan, but continued to model some local buildings, knowing that , at least, until auto mesh mush covers the whole world, we can still have buildings.  Now Google says no, no more new buildings. (I hope this means that they are about to announce that they have now ‘perfected’ the slimy mesh models, and covered the whole world, with high resolution 3d modelling, but I doubt it will be in the next 10 years)

Matthias, you have the answer, ‘user-organized’.  But it should not include Google.  Perhaps someone else can provide the platform.  It would be better than Google could ever do it, because they just provided restriction.  We need a few layers, so you can include any geo located model, but it will need to be verified by other modellers to go up a layer.  The criteria becoming more stringent on higher layers.  One layer for only photo textured real buildings, a layer for any texture, the ability to ‘scroll’ through different models of the same building, and vote, a layer for fantasy buildings, a layer for really bad models, I could go on. 

A user-controlled system would be free of rules that we never understood (separate buildings on the same property for example.)  Perhaps we could have terrain that can be corrected, or add newer, fresher imagery. 

In fact, Google have used the geo modellers as free reviewers anyway. 

How about Wiki-world?

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[Thorpe]

Disappointing, but not very surprising. This now puts the future of Google Earth in doubt. 

I've only fairly recently started using SU and GE in earnest for my job, part of which entails extensive crowd & safety planning for large conferences. The most valuable aspects of SU & GE are the ease of use of both and the simple way of sharing well made and correct scale models for the various plans we have in effect. The availability of GE for anyone to use makes sharing these models amongst the many necessary sets of eyes a snap and feasible on a small budget scale. 

So, I must ask, how much longer can we expect GE to stick around and will its replacement support importing of kmx/kml files?

[Gage Mitchusson]

I Think That's Great! Can You All At Google Please Do Bentonville, Arkansas And The Surrounding Area As It Is The Home Of Walmart, JB Hunt, And Tyson?

[Jason Mill]

Very Dissapointed .. with 80% of our city wiped out in the 2011 Earthquakes and subsequent demolition frenzy, Google Earth has become the go to for many recovery agencies. These utilise the user created models as they are the only way to keep up with our accelerated change. We don't have 3D imagery yet but when we do it will be of demolished building sites and buildings in several states of construction. If the 3D imagery updates are similar to aerial imagery updates or streetview updates then our city model will be out of date within weeks. I dare say this will be an accelerated version of the situation in most cities.

Shame .. I've been a huge advocate for GE for 12yrs now .. but soon it will be no more than eye candy.

best to all my fellow moders!
J.

[Ricardo Nunes]

Sad and unfortunate because there was a good market around "geomodeling" that never got the chance to fully develop. 

But expected since good models started to be replaced by ugly geometry full of artifacts. 

And even more when building maker became an internal tool, probably to aid in correcting the auto models.

Anyway, perhaps we will see some sort of "Business models" program in the future, much like what exists today for interior panoramas.

[Jack Clark]

This is truly sad to hear.  I have continued to create geo models despite the knowledge that they may eventually be replaced, but now I see that I have only a few weeks to work on my project to model my hometown downtown area.  So sad.

[Tiago Volanick]

Uma triste notícia, depois de 4 anos de modelagem tudo irá acabar...., péssima notícia.

[Vinícius Camargos]

This is bad news for small towns in USA or Europe, and horrible news for towns in Brazil, for example. It will take ages for Google to map, for example, my town in 3D. I think Google should have stop 3d modelling for cities with the new 3D models and etc, and not for everything all at once.

[Billy Sastard]

Why such short notice? Especially when the review process can take weeks or months to get a model published. 

This is very bad news

[alp28]

On Tuesday, August 6, 2013 12:00:03 PM UTC-5, Google Craig wrote:

Hi folks,

With the goal to have every building in the world accurately displayed in 3D, we’ve explored different methods for modeling large areas of our planet in 3D, including technologies like SketchUp, Building Maker and lately 3D Imagery. We’ve decided that in order to pursue the most consistent user experience, we'll be focusing our resources on the technology that will scale to the entire world and will be discontinuing support of the user generated 3D program.

We’d like to thank all of you who helped form the landscape of Google Earth and helped cities around the globe grow out of the 2D realm, and into the imaginations of virtual 3D explorers everywhere.

Models can still be uploaded to the Trimble 3D Warehouse, where they can continue to be shared with the modeling community, but they will no longer be published to Google Earth starting October 1st, 2013. Existing models will remain visible in Google Earth, until a time when they're replaced by new models generated for that region. Google Takeout lets you download an archive containing all of your models.

On a personal note: I’ve had the good fortune of being involved in the 3D modeling effort for Google Earth from the beginning, and I've watched many of you create collections of amazingly detailed architectural wonders from every corner of the Earth. I'm very thankful to have been along for that ride and to have gotten to know many of you over the years.

With respect and appreciation,

   - CraigD and the 3D Modeling Team

Very sad, depressing day. Had greatly enjoyed geo-modelling as hobby since 2008. I guess with building maker cancellation, it was apparent what was going on. Will still create models with Sketchup, just not for google earth.
 

 

[Billy Sastard]

Also, how does the new technology model structures that are partially or fully obscured by trees? 

[Daniel Brandewie]

As a professional urban planner, I find it disappointing that Google doesn't realize the value of this technology in its mission to create a more sustainable planet.  I thought, in some respects, we were just at our infancy in exploring how Google Earth and 3D modeling could be applied to solve many urban design and city planning problems.  I have used Google Earth and 3d warehouse models for historic preservation purposes, designing streets for bicycle and pedestrian improvements, tree planting applications and affordable housing. Why any company would totally disregard the millions of hours put into this effort, that can be used for a positive purpose is simply beyond me. . Well, I do know why...they couldn't make enough money off it.

[Scottio Wilson]

Craig/Google mentions a "consistent user experience" Many of us have had our whack @ the ball. We were given the freedom to Model the World and could not accomplish it within the time or speed technology marches at. This is sad but I realize Google is a business and they are in direct competition with Apple's C3 maps in IOS7. GE was based on the GMaps API as it is. Btwn panoramic streetview and Google maps, there is plenty of business opportunity to serve our client base. Google has made user generated 3d fun and promoted the KML/KMZ file format into a standard to be reckoned with. My thanks to Google but my applause goes to all of us who took the time to model what we loved and had the witheral to follow it through to completion. Google will move forward and so will we. My hope is Google leaves a mechanism open, or creates a layer, so we can choose to display our custom models for client generated preview of future or historical buildings/landscapes. So far that is not possible with their mesh cityscapes. No resentment. I'm gonna remember the glory days @ the worldwide 3d modelers community on G+

[Rice Black]

Hello Craig

I come from Taiwan , I think my living Taiwan was not build mature .

I want to know after that day how can we see more 3D building on Google earth ?

And , or that was having some teams in some places build the 3D building in where they living place or country?

Thanks for watching my poor English grammar. 

嗨 Craig
我來自台灣，我想我生活的台灣建模還尚未成熟。

我想知道在那天之後我們要怎麼看到更多的3D建築在Google地球上？

然後，或者是有一些團隊在那些地方建立在他們的家鄉的建築？

謝謝你們看完我悲劇的英文文法。

Google Craig於 2013年8月7日星期三UTC+8上午1時00分03秒寫道：

[Scottio Wilson]

Well I guess the "consistent experience" means my existing models, which were meticulously placed and accepted and displayed properly in the GE 3d layer, now appear 2D and broken in Google Earth as of right now. So the promise of buildings staying in GE means they will look like crap as of today. Connecticut hasn't ever been meshed yet.