I am a casual user of Sketch Up Make 2017, (mostly home projects) recently i was attempting to us geolocation imaging, (i live on a hill so terrain was of interest) only to discover that it was no longer supported.
Has anyone discovered a workaround for this new shortcoming.
This isn’t a new thing at all. It’s been years since terrain and imagery was available in SketchUp 2017. It was announced in early 2017.
You might be able to find a survey image and trace contours to make the terrain. Otherwise you need SketchUp Pro.
There are other sources of topographical information, depending on where you are at. USGS is one and (for example) some counties have GIS or LIDAR information available. The trick is working out how you can relate it to your lot, where some sources may not have that information available. You would likely need to have a plugin to import dwg or dxf–I am unaware of what possibilities you have in SU 2017. As Dave says you could trace an image which is not that bad for a lot.
I don’t believe there are any plugins for .dwg. there are several for .dxf that might work.
Thanks Dave & Pbacot for taking the time to reply. I did read the post concerning the removal of geolocating from Make 2017, (sad) Until recently I lived in a smaller less hilly environment, so this was actually the first time i had ever even thought of using this feature. Just kinda hoping someone with more experience and who is far more clever than I might have found a workaround…
Can you get a reasonable plot of your property from your county’s GIS department that includes contour lines?
You’re not missing much in the geolocation removal. There’s no detail at all compared to topographic data you could get otherwise. It may provide some context for large hills in the background of your model, but unless your lot is a ranch, it wouldn’t add much for the model. The best part of geo-location is giving you your position for accurate sun / time settings.