Changes to direct KMZ uploads

3D Warehouse
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Howdy Folks,

This is a quick bulletin to let you know that 3D Warehouse will no longer support the direct upload of KMZ files.

As we continue to move forward with the development of new features for 3D Warehouse, we’re excited to work on shiny new things that we think people are going to love. In order to do that, we need to choose where we invest time. Time that is often spent maintaining the features that 3D Warehouse already has, and time making sure that when we add something new, we don’t break the stuff that’s already there. In an effort to free up some time that has been spoken for, we look for things that people aren’t using anymore and ask ourselves whether we can get rid of ‘em.

We recently looked at the usage data related to the KMZ files that have been uploaded to 3D Warehouse over the past few months and it was pretty interesting…

Seems we’ve come a long way from the heyday of GEO modeling. I suppose it should come as no surprise, now that we’re several years removed from Google’s decision to no longer accept user generated models into Google Earth’s 3D Buildings layer. At any rate, we know many of you were (and perhaps still are) avid geo modeling enthusiasts, so we felt it important to let you know about this change.

With fond memories and a great deal of enthusiasm about the future, we reminisce about the sheer volume of KMZ files that have been uploaded to 3D Warehouse and bid support of KMZ uploads a fond farewell. Bon Voyage!

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Understandably, you may have a few questions. Here are some that we anticipated:

  • Does this mean that I can’t make geo-located models? Not at all. You can still open SketchUp and click File > Geo-location > Add location… just like before and define a geographical position in your SketchUp model.

  • Can I still upload geo-located models to 3D Warehouse? Absolutely. It will have to be a geo-located SketchUp model, which the vast majority of geo-located models in 3D Warehouse are already.

  • Can I still make KMZ files? Of course. In SketchUp, click File > Export > 3D Model… and select *.KMZ as the file type. You can open this file in Google Earth just as before, too.

  • Why is KMZ still listed as an option on the direct upload page? The backend for direct KMZ uploads has already been disabled. However, this change hasn’t percolated to the frontend just yet. KMZ will be removed as an acceptable format from the direct upload page within the next week.

Do you have a question that I missed? Fantastic. Please reply below, and we’d be happy to answer them.

Cheers!