Hasbro, makers of 'Monopoly' game, launches the Design your own Building Competition

Hasbro, the makers of the Monopoly game, have officially announced a competition that gives Monopoly-lovers the chance to design a building that will be included in the new interactive game Monopoly City Streets.

To enter this competition, you need to design a 3D building using Google SketchUp and upload it to the Google 3D Warehouse. The deadline to submit entries is Tuesday, October 6, 2009 at 11:59pm, EST. Visit the Monopoly City Streets blog for the Official Rules, prizes, and more information.

Here's how it works:

1. Download Google SketchUp for free.
2. Learn to build 3D models with SketchUp by watching video tutorials and related YouTube videos. Download and work through a few examples using these self-paced tutorials: Introduction to SketchUp, Starting a Drawing Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.
3. From SketchUp, choose "Share Model" and upload your 3D building to the Google 3D Warehouse (you must have a Google account to sign in).
4. In the upload window, add the tag "monopolycompetition09" and make sure that you've checked "Allow 3D Warehouse users to contact me about this model" so we can contact you if you win!
5. Within 48 hours, your model/entry will appear in the Competition Collection in the Google 3D Warehouse.

Technical Guidelines:

• Buildings can be any size and any shape
• Buildings must not have photo-textures; they must be painted with solid colors
• The file size limit is 2 MB
• The file format should be .SKP

A few quick tips:

1. Keep it simple. Or not. The judges will be looking at all designs – simple and complex.
2. Go crazy. Remember, the MONOPOLY world is a fun place. Make your building the same! Go wild and have oodles of fun doing it.
3. Upload as many designs as you want. The more you submit, the greater the chance of your design winning!
4. For some inspiration, check out some sample creations already in the Google 3D Warehouse Competition Collection.

Check out the Monopoly City Streets blog for the Official Rules and more information. Good luck!

Posted by Tasha Danko, SketchUp Product Marketing Team

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3D Warehouse: Model sharing in 41 languages

Can you say Google Триизмерна галерия? With this release we've added support for 14 more languages, bringing the total number of 3D Warehouse languages to an astonishing 41! Now you can share your models using 3D Warehouse in Bulgarian, Catalan, Croatian, Filipino, Greek, Hindi, Hungarian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Slovak, Slovenian, Serbian, Ukrainian and Vietnamese. You can change the language in the top right hand corner and don't forget to use one of our recent features - integration with Google Translate - to localize model descriptions!

Posted by Jelena Oertel, 3D Warehouse Localization Team

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Share your profile in the 3D Warehouse

Google Profiles are a safe and easy way to share information about yourself and now you can present that information in the Google 3D Warehouse. How does it work? Well, when you upload a 3D model to the Google 3D Warehouse, it's now attached to your Google Profile. Other Google users can easily learn about you and your 3D passions! Here's what it looks like in the 3D Warehouse:


If you haven't created a Profile yet, it's a snap to do so. Go to www.google.com/profiles and login with the same 3D Warehouse account. Do some clicky, type some typey, and boom! Folks who find your models can now find you (well, if you want them to).

Stumped for what to put in your profile? Create a 3D Warehouse collection for your hometown and use Google SketchUp 7.1 to model a few buildings. There's a good chance there are other modelers who are from the same place, and through the power of Profiles you might just make a 3D connection.

Posted by Scott Lininger, Google 3D Warehouse Team

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Google SketchUp 7 is now available in French, Italian, Spanish, and German

Google SketchUp 7 (free and Pro) in French, Italian, German and Spanish has arrived. Learn what's new in version 7!

For version 7, we decided to focus on three main areas: making SketchUp easier for new modelers, simplifying the process of model sharing and collaboration and adding more tools for SketchUp Pro customers. We made changes that makes everyone's life easier, and launched LayOut 2, a separate program that lets Pro users create detailed multi-page documents and presentations.


Here's some information on upgrading:

• Installing SketchUp 7 on your computer won't affect SketchUp 6; you'll have access to both versions for as long as you like.
• If you have a license for SketchUp Pro 6 and you'd like to upgrade to Pro 7, you can upgrade it through our online store (boutique en ligne, negozio online, Online-Shop, tienda online). The cost to upgrade each license is US$95, EU€72 or UK£62 and if you purchased a SketchUp Pro 6 license on or after August 1, 2009, the fee is waived as long as you upgrade before or on October 31, 2009.
• If you purchased a SketchUp Pro license through one of our authorized resellers, please contact that reseller directly for upgrade terms.
  

What are you waiting for? Download a copy of Google SketchUp 7 in your language and give it a try. Happy sketching!

Posted by John Bacus, SketchUp Product Manager

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All about LayOut 2.1

Now that SketchUp 7.1 is out the door, I thought it'd be a good idea to tell you a little bit more about its 2D, Pro counterpart: LayOut 2.1 is more powerful than ever. We added features that should let you use SketchUp Pro for an even larger chunk of your workflow:


Dimensions!
LayOut isn't just for presentation documents anymore. LayOut 2.1 gives you the ability to add precise dimensions to your work. Use the new Dimension tool on any inserted SketchUp model to produce a set of dimensioned drawings quickly and easily. But enough tooting our own horn; here's what some of our esteemed beta testers have been saying over the last few weeks:

"To all the Googies! Dimensioning in LO is the best thing since sliced bread and eating half a loaf a day this is SO welcomed! Getting fat though!" – Richard Jeffrey

"Thank you, thank you, thank you for the dimensioning tool in Layout. We’ve been praying for this for a long time. I can’t adequately express how much it means to my work process." – rdwilkins

"When Google introduce Layout, I asking myself what to do with it. Then I use Layout for a building permission and get congratulation from the mayor of the city. Then, I burn the license of the bad 2D CAD program I use with SketchUp." – Christophe Hébert

"I have just attempted my first set of construction dwgs with LO. Although a simple project it was good to see how the new dimension tool in LO would help." – Andrew Carter

"...Dims in LO is fantastic. I am now taking LayOut VERY seriously as a Con Doc Production app rather than just a presentation app as I had been doing until now." – "Mayor" Mike Lucey

"AutoCAD and I just broke up!" – Eric Schimelpfenig

You can watch a short video I made about Dimensions in LayOut 2.1, then check out this how-to video from Tyson:

Snap to SketchUp Model
Elements like lines, labels and dimensions automatically snap to points in the SketchUp models you insert in LayOut 2.1. When Object Snap (Arrange > Object Snap) is enabled, colored point inferences appear as you hover over edges, endpoints and faces in inserted SketchUp model views. Elements you create while snapped to points in a model are sticky; they remain attached when the underlying model view is moved around on your page. Naturally, this applies to dimensions, but it also works with labels and shapes (like door swings).

Improved Freehand tool
We tweaked the Freehand tool to make it even easier to draw smooth, perfect vector lines with a mouse. As you draw, LayOut figures out where to put the control points so that your shape stays recognizable but editable. Now you can draw things like scale figures, free-form graphics and foliage right inside LayOut.

Bulleted and Numbered Lists
LayOut 2 makes it easy to include lists – bulleted or numbered – in your text. Before, only Mac users could do this. Now, everyone can.

Improved Grids
In LayOut 2.1, you can choose to display your grid as dots instead of lines; sometimes this makes it easier to see what you're doing. You can also tell LayOut to draw your grid (dots or lines) in front of your drawing elements. After all – what good is a grid if you can't see it?

Improved Copy/Paste
We've made it easier to move elements like graphics and text between LayOut 2 and the other programs in your design toolbox.

Tweaks and other goodness
Needless to say, we didn't just add a bunch of new features in 2.1. Our crack team of amiable nerd-types have been squashing bugs and fiddling with code for months. And as always, many thanks go out to the selfless beta testers who've helped make LayOut better with every release.

Posted by Aidan Chopra, SketchUp (and LayOut) Evangelist

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SketchUp 7.1 is here

Fall is just around the corner here in Boulder, and with it comes our next release of Google SketchUp (cue the bugling elk). The team's been working long hours through the summer on projects large and small. I'm proud to announce that Google SketchUp 7.1 is available today for you to download and install. Don't you just love the smell of fresh new software?

Even though we're calling this a "point" release (you lucky Pro 7.0 users will get this update for free!), Google SketchUp 7.1 includes a lot more than just minor tweaks and bug fixes. We've added a batch of new features and functionality that make SketchUp (and LayOut 2.1 in SketchUp Pro) even more useful for everyone. Here's some of what's new:

Large Model Handling
We overhauled SketchUp's rendering engine to make it easier to work with big models. With the right setup, operations like orbiting, zooming and drawing are quicker and smoother. Of course, how much quicker depends entirely on factors like your computer's configuration and the specific model you're working on. For most people, most of the time, SketchUp should feel snappier when they're working with lots of geometry. Have a look at this article to find out how to take advantage of the improvements we made.

Better File Exchange
One of the things we're pretty concerned about around here is something called data liberation. Too often, your stuff's locked inside proprietary file formats that force you to use whatever tool you used to create it. We don't think that's right, so we're doing what we can to make it easier to move your data around.

COLLADA is a 3D file format based on open standards; it makes it easier to move your models between different pieces of software. KMZ is the standard file format for packaging 3D models together with information about their geographic locations. SketchUp 7.1 can import and export COLLADA and KMZ files, which should go a long way toward letting you do whatever you like with your data.

Modeling in Context
Whether you're building photo-textured, geo-located models that are headed for Google Earth, or just trying to cobble together some context for a design proposal, you should be interested about the stuff I talk about in this short video:



Get Photo Texture gives you direct access to Google Maps Street View imagery from right inside SketchUp. You can use panoramic, street-level photography we've gathered to photo-texture your models. It's spooky-cool.

Nearby Models lets you use the Component Browser to search the 3D Warehouse for buildings located near the one you're working on. Bringing in a geo-location snapshot first tells SketchUp where to look.

Upload Component provides a shortcut for uploading parts of your model to the 3D Warehouse without having to save them out as separate files first. This is handy if you're modeling several buildings on the same block; it's also useful for preserving the functionality of Dynamic Components when you upload them.

Dimensioned Drawings in Google SketchUp Pro
We've given SketchUp Pro a big upgrade in this release; it's specially targeted at those of you who need to make professional design documents to communicate your work to clients and partners. LayOut 2.1 (included in SketchUp Pro 7.1) now includes a simple but surprisingly powerful tool for dimensioning models and creating dimensioned drawings. There's a bunch more to talk about in LayOut 2.1, but we'll save that for another blog post tomorrow.



...and if that's not enough, have you got an idea for what we should do next?
In earlier days, we used to be able to talk to everybody who was using SketchUp. Every week, well over a million of you are using SketchUp, and it's getting really hard to remember all of your names – much less the new features you'd like us to build. For this release, I've put up a shiny new Google SketchUp Product Ideas page that you can use to let us know what you think we should build next. Don't hold back – I'm listening, and I'll respond formally to (at least) the top ten ideas you post.

And if you just want to talk about SketchUp, please head on over to the Help Center where you'll see that we've done a big upgrade on our discussion forums.

Posted by John Bacus, SketchUp Product Manager

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Stangl Associates uses SketchUp & LayOut for plant design

This was a particularly fun case study to work on. Mitchel Stangl, a longtime Google SketchUp Pro customer and power user, agreed after a trip to this year's daratechPLANT conference to write a case study about his use of SketchUp Pro and LayOut. His company, Stangl Associates, designs process plants. Since he began using SketchUp years ago, Mitchel has created some of the most detailed and interesting models we've seen.

Check out this case study; some of Mitchel's impressive LayOut documents are below.


Posted by Chris Cronin, SketchUp Sales Team

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Bridge builders have been revealed

You may remember that we held a Student Bridge Modeling Competition for students to model interesting spans anywhere in the world. We're blown away by the quality of the bridge models, and had the hard task of selecting just three top bridge modelers. Well, the winners' stories about modeling for Google Earth are interesting too.

Jason Wong, an architectural student at Washington State University, who was the first place winner has been modeling since early 2007. Jason had an interesting introduction to the process, "I basically started playing with SketchUp and Google Earth (I did my house and then a fantasy project of a hotel). Contrary to what most people do, I actually didn't start by working on my hometown. Instead, being the big Denver Broncos fan I am, the first real life building I took a stab at was Invesco Field at Mile High. The geometric complexity of the stadium really intrigued me. I never finished it, but it worked well to - call me crazy - pass the time while recovering from having my wisdom teeth removed!" In addition to his gorgeous bridges, his buildings are top notch. Check out Jason's Spokane's Historic Looff Carrousel (please note that some recent Google imagery updates have resulted in building alignment issues - we're working on it).



Jason is hooked on the idea of an immersive virtual world that is truly global and driven by users. "The thing that gives me the most satisfaction about getting a model into Google Earth is knowing that I have produced something that can be enjoyed by hundreds, even thousands, of Google Earth viewers. Having the opportunity to explore a city in the third dimension adds an entire level of enjoyment and comprehension for the viewer. Being able to show off Spokane to people who may never be able to visit it is really cool. It's even cool to think about people who live here making use of the models to better understand the built environment in which they live."

Tobias Merk, a student in Germany, grabbed second place in the contest. Tobias has been modeling since late 2007 and got inspired to model by the scope of Google Earth. "It's very cool to know that everyone in the world can look at the work you put up. I started modeling with the idea that I'd complete my entire town, although I have had to put some of the work on hold while I take care of my school studies." That being said, Tobias still has a lot of great buildings completed in Nördlingen, Germany, including this incredible model of St. Georgs Church.



Nicholas Falbo is a real newcomer to modeling for Google Earth. It's amazing that he pulled in a 3rd Place finish considering he has only been modeling for Google Earth for about 6 months. In fact, his winning entry is the only model he has uploaded to date! He's an Urban Studies student at Portland State University in Oregon, US. He really like the freedom of digital design, not just for buildings in Google Earth. "I liked the ability to create new things, with essentially unlimited resources. By modeling digitally, I can create cars, buildings, and other objects, without needing physical tools, land or other raw materials. It's satisfying to see my models with other models around it. It's one more piece of the puzzle as the virtual earth becomes 3D."



Congratulations again to the competition winners: Jason, Tobias and Nick. Please be sure to check out all the work they have done by visiting the Google 3D Warehouse.

Posted by James Therrien, Google SketchUp Team

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Shelter Competition: Vote now!

The submission period for the Design It Shelter Competition is over; now it's time to exercise your right to an anonymous online opinion by voting for your favorite shelter. Ah, sweet democracy...

Check out the People's Prize page on the Guggenheim competition website to register your vote. The 10 designs from which you'll choose (of the nearly 600 that were accepted) were selected by students from the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture. They are (in no particular order):

Wave Shelter

By Jonathan Dowse
From: Chapel Hill, United States | Shelter location: United States

BEFORE SUNSET (ECOHAB SHELTER)

By Rodrigo Montoya
From: Bogota, Colombia | Shelter location: Colombia

The Unfolding View Shelter

By Chris Chin
From: Kirkland, United States | Shelter location: United States

CBS - Cork Block Shelter

By David Mares
From: Setúbal, Portugal | Shelter location: Portugal

Lagoa Azul Shelter: Between Water and Sky

By David Huang
From: Boston, United States | Shelter location: Brazil

Waste-Pickers Shelter

By Alexander Niño Ruiz
From: Grosuplje, Slovenia | Shelter location: Colombia

Skin

By Robert Wilson
From: Welwyn Garden City, United Kingdom | Shelter location: United Kingdom

A Bamboo Shelter in a Garbage Dump City

By Gonzalo Raymundo
From: Quezon City, Philippines | Shelter location: Philippines

Riverside Shelter

By Natalia Schenfeld
From: Santa Fe, Argentina | Shelter location: Argentina

ZBOX: transformative folding space

By Zack Moros
From: Asbury Park, United States | Shelter location: United States

Voting ends October 10th. The winners of both the People's Prize and the Juried Prize will be announced on October 21st, at the Guggenheim Museum's 50th Anniversary Celebration in New York, and on the Guggenheim's web site.

Posted by Aidan Chopra, SketchUp Evangelist

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Dublin and Cardiff now in 3D

Today, we added Dublin, Ireland and Cardiff, Wales to our collection of photo-textured 3D cities in Google Earth. With the '3D Buildings' layer in Google Earth turned on, you can now fly to these cities and explore everything from famous landmarks like Cardiff Castle, St. David's Hall, Aras An Uachtarain, and Custom House, to the quiet alleys of these historic cities. Cardiff and Dublin are comprised of primarily autogenerated models, but also include some user-created models as well. Have a look at this video for a look at the newest 3D cities in Google Earth.



Whether you're new to these cities, a native and feeling homesick, or anything in between, 3D cities in Google Earth enable you to visit locations on Earth no matter where you are. Enjoy!

Posted by Bruce Polderman, Product Manager

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