Well, Trimble is arranging for new sources of terrain and satellite imagery: [quote=“Tommy, post:35, topic:40953”]
We like Open Street Map, too. In fact, SketchUp 2017 (Make and Pro) will use OSM to provide Map data for “Add Location” during the transition and after the Google service stops. SketchUp Pro 2017 will also offer satellite imagery from DigitalGlobe and terrain data from data that Trimble already possesses.
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Only time will tell how these compare with Google in terms of coverage and quality.
I have no inside info about either Trimble’s or Google’s positions on this matter. It could be that Google has decided to close down that service for technical or business reasons that no practical amount of money from Trimble could overcome.
Just imagine how different things would be if Google had decided to simply let SketchUp die (as they have done for other projects they lost interest in) instead of selling it to Trimble!
Google agreed to provide this data service for five additional years.
To continue supporting the Add Location feature, the new data provider comes with licensing fees. [quote=“FireDean, post:39, topic:40953”]
How does Trimble think it was in anyones interest to not have a seemless replacement solution ready
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both old and new data sources will be available so you can become familiar with the changes
I use TopoFusion for mapping / GPX work. Its relatively cheap, offers some incredible tools for routing / drawing and editing GPX files - and it has access to a ton of imagery and even some 3d data (it will download map tile sets, drop your route on it, analyze climbing data (from a GPS or from the terrain model), etc. etc.
Here is the list of imagery and data that TopoFusion has access to:
Se iriam tirar tudo que pertencia ao Google na mudança, era melhor ter feito antes dos recursos se tornarem tão relevantes para os usuários, se falta tirar mais alguma coisa, aproveitem a oportunidade e façam agora.
Which ttranslated (thanks, Google) becomes:
If they were going to take everything that belonged to Google in the change, it was better to have done before the resources become so relevant for the users, if they lack something to take, seize the opportunity and do it now.
Update 4/4/2017: The new data layers are now available in SU 2017. This means that Pro users will see two new layers in add location: “DigitalGlobe Satellite” and “Trimble Map”. Make users will now see a “Trimble Map” layer. Google Satellite will remain as the default layer for a few more weeks. For more info check out FAQ for Add Location changes in SketchUp | SketchUp Help.
Thanks for the update, Jody. I’ve just tried inserting the DigitalGlobe Satellite view for several locations. So far it looks like the terrain data is better than I’ve had from GE.
The digital Globe imagery is of really, low quality in my area. Everything is brownish, blurry and not photographed from straight above. Will the Google imagery stay? So far it’s still available to me in the layer list.
Btw, if Trimble maps where imported as vector graphics, not a bitmap, it would be incredible useful! Know I’m not really sure what it is for.
Unfortunately the Google Satellite imagery will not be sticking around after the May 22nd switch, they also had a fair amount of aerial photography rather than satellite as well… that’s also going away. Digital Globe doesn’t do any aerial imagery so moving forward we won’t have as pretty an image as before but the terrain data should be superior, so I’m glad to hear that it’s an observable improvement already. Keep banging on it, keep talking about it and hopefully can get clarify any and all limitations or changes to be expected moving forward.
For me, the digital terrain data from Google and Digital Globe are identical and both equally wrong. The quality of the Digital Globe satellite imagery takes me back to when Google earth was first introduced, or even worse, the original image for the area has been taken at a very low angle and then distorted. Disappointing at a time when accurate open source geodata abounds.
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