When you have overlap, photogrammetry pulls all the photos together in a textured 3D mesh. Instead, it uses planes that zig-zag back-and-forth. Google Earth doesn’t use satellite imagery for this process. AUTOMATED PHOTOGRAMMETRY: The only answer for Google Earth was to create automated 3D models with stereophotogrammetry.Think about the time and effort it would take to create millions of high-rise buildings across the world. 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.

Almost in a league of its own, Google Earth has mind-blowing detail in its 3D maps.

Globe 360 degree view