Exporting a model from SketchUp to Google Earth

SketchUp
1

Hi,

I’m trying to export a model I’ve drawn in SketchUp to Google Earth but there’s a few things that need to happen:

First of all, the model is of a satellite that is 35,790km above sea level and I want to visualize it on Google Earth to see that the views would be like of the satellite and of planet Earth below.

How can I do this? I’ve geo-located the model within Sketchup to the exact point above Earth I’d like the satellite to be in geosynchronous orbit with Earth, but the ‘Preview Model in Google Earth’ button is greyed out. I realize I would also need to move the model the 35,790km above the origin point so that once I am able to export it to Google Earth, it would be located at the right distance from Earth.

How can I do this?

2

First off, I’ve never thought of making a satellite for Google Earth, so your idea is cool!

There was a thread about the preview problem

But you can always just export your model to .kmz and then load it into Google Earth. I’m not sure if you’re asking about how to move your model up, if so, just move your model on the Z-Axis (blue) and type in 35790000m

3

Also, I just tried exporting a 5kmx5kmx5km cube 35000000m above nyc. Well…I can’t see/find it on google earth. I’m guess because it’s zoomed out to far for me to see and I can’t locate it to zoom in.

4

Wow, thanks for the quick reply!

I didn’t think of exporting it as .kmz and loading it into Google Earth, that seems to work!

Thanks a lot!

5

Did you manage to find your satellite? I’m curious on how it looks that far above earth.

6

That’s what I’m currently trying to figure out :smile:
The model is definitely on Google Earth but trying to find it in space is harder than I thought!

7

I’ve found a rough way to ‘try’ to find the model, I drew a column that is 35,790 km tall from the origin to the model. However, I find it would be a lot easier if I could ‘move’ the camera angle for a scene vertical along the blue axis.

What I mean is, set up a couple of scenes on ground level, then when I move the satellite model up, I also want the scenes to update and move up with it. As it it right now, I can move the model vertically but I won’t be able to find it, within Sketchup and (so far) can’t find it within Google Earth as well.

8

Oh, that gives me an idea. Have two files, one file is your satellite, the other is a column with the same geo-location from the ground all the way up. Load both kmz, and then just delete the locating kmz file.

9

When you load your model into Google Earth from a KMZ file, you should find the model listed in the resources list on the left towards the top somewhere. Just double click the name of the file from the list of things with a checked box next to it under “My Places” or “Temporary” to show it and it should automatically jump to your object wherever it is on the map. You can also right-click the file from that list and select “Get Info” where you will find a tab View where it shows the objects current GPS coordinates (and the view behind will show it in place where its at) or the other Tab “Altitude”. Not only does it show the info but you can also adjust the 3D position of the object by tweaking the values found in those respective two tabs live…