Yesterday I was having a discussion with Gerardo about the many models selected by Google to be in the 3D Buildings layer. I was showing him a 3D model I had been using for a project for a forthcoming GEB story. I commented that I was surprised more models didn’t have little easter eggs hidden in them. A moment later Gerardo says “I just found one!”. He says “It’s that crocodile guy from the TV show”. Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Man, is probably the best known Australian. So naturally, the model we were looking at was the best known Australian 3D building: The Sydney Opera House. Here’s a short video showing the easter egg and how to find it in Google Earth:
Or, you could just turn on the 3D Buildings layer, and follow this link
to see Crocodile Man in Google Earth. By the way, the 3D model of the Sydney Opera House was created by Josh Wilson.For another example of an easter egg in 3D Buildings, check out the Blues Brothers jumping over a draw bridge.
About Frank Taylor
Frank Taylor started the Google Earth Blog in July, 2005 shortly after Google Earth was first released. He has worked with 3D computer graphics and VR for many years and was very impressed with this exciting product. Frank completed a 5.5 year circumnavigation of the earth by sailboat in June 2015 which you can read about at Tahina Expedition, and is a licensed pilot, backpacker, diver, and photographer.
I went to an architectural exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC some years ago. Now, believe it or not – the idea for the design of the Sidney Opera House itself actually came from broken egg shells! As I remember it, the display case had an architectural model of the building along with broken egg shells (THE broken egg shells? I don’t remember) and sketches showing how they were developed into the building.
Another Easter Egg just for you Frank. Might have to start throwing these in from now on 😉 Wasserturm Mönchengladbach
My Steve Irwin is all blocky, and I don’t see the umbrellas behind him. How do I change the settings to display higher quality 3D buildings (and Easter Eggs!)?
Thanks
Actually, that’s a problem with the new model format in Google Earth 4.3. The Steve Irwin part of the Sydney Opera House model get’s compressed to low resolution and looks very blocky. I’ve reported the problem to Google, but I doubt it’s very high priority to fix it.
type in colorado springs, co and turn on 3d buildings and then zoom out a little bit and you will see 4 buildings floating in the air.
It does not work on my computer. I tried clicking on the link, no sucess. Can anyone tell how to do
It appears that the Crocodille Man was removed from Google Earth at some point, unfortunately.