Get your community in 3D on Google Earth

Google has announced a competition to show your community love by creating a 3D portrait of your community and sharing it with the world through Google Earth. All you have to do is build 3D models of the buildings in your community using Google’s free tools, SketchUp and Building Maker.

Here are some notes regarding the competition.

• Modeling teams may include up to six members.
• Buildings can be modeled with SketchUp, a free and relatively easy-to-use 3D modeling program from Google. You use SketchUp in combination with Google Earth to give models a precise geographic location.
• Buildings can also be modeled with Google Building Maker if your town is located in an area where Building Maker data is available. These models can also be edited and improved with Google SketchUp.
• Each completed building model should be uploaded to a dedicated town collection on the Google 3D Warehouse.
• Join our Google Competition Group to discuss ideas and issues with other modelers. It’s also a great way to find people to help you form a team.
• To enter, each team must complete and submit an online entry form.
• The competition submission deadline is 11:59 PM PST on March 1, 2010.

According to Google, entries will be judged on the basis of the following general criteria:

• Accuracy: Your models’ scale, location and orientation must be as true-to-life as possible.
• Photo-texturing: “Paint” your models with photographs of the actual buildings. Use photo-editing software to create textures that are devoid of trees, cars, people and other visual clutter.
• Efficiency: Make sure your town loads quickly in Google Earth by keeping your models simple.
• Detail: Create a sense of place by emphasizing things that make your town unique.
• Metadata: Include plenty of text information about the buildings you upload.
• Coverage: While quality is more important than quantity, model as much as you can to provide a compelling 3D experience for online visitors.
• Elegance: Strive for a combination of beautiful textures, lightweight models and rich metadata.

Prizes

The winning individual/team will receive:

• USD$10,000 for the town’s public school district (or international equivalent)
• a visit from a Google team, along with an event in the winners’ honor
• a video profile of the winning team and their town, to be featured on YouTube
• a virtual tour of the winning town that will be added to the Google Earth website
• international publicity in the form of blog posts, tweets and other media
• additional coverage on Google websites

For more information, Click here.

Technorati Tags: Google, Google Earth, Building Maker, SketchUp, Google 3D Warehouse