SketchUp user ‘pmolsen’ has just made me aware of a new addition to the 3D warehouse that he constructed — an exact 3D replica of Machu Picchu in Peru. Using data from a laser scan of the site, and putting in around 1,200 hours of work, the result is quite amazing.
Below is a video of the model, you can check it out in the 3D warehouse, or you can use this KML file
to fly there yourself (make sure that you have the “3D Buildings” layer turned on):He also built a ferris wheel animation at Luna Park in Sydney, similar to the London Eye animation we showed you a few years ago. You can download the animated file from the 3D Warehouse, or watch this video below:
Lastly, Google has added three more 3D cities to Google Earth, all in South Africa: Nelspruit (KML
), Polokwane (KML) and Phokeng (KML). The coverage areas aren’t especially large, but the quality of the buildings is solid.
About Mickey Mellen
Mickey has been using Google Earth since it was released in 2005, and has created a variety of geo-related sites including Google Earth Hacks. He runs a web design firm in Marietta, GA, where he lives with his wife and two kids.
Looks like 3D Warehouse link is broken?
This one works for me:
http://goo.gl/xZje
Thank you very much “pmolsen” for such extraordinaire work. Makes me feel prouder of my country and it’s culture. I’ve been 5 times to Macchu Picchu, one of the new wonders of the world. It is a mystic place, and it is usual to see famous people visiting such fantastic ruins, for example recently Susan Sarandom (last week), Lucy Liu, Cameron Diaz, and even The Simpsons! Take a look to this stunning short commercials about Perú and Macchu Picchu, I’m sure you’ll like them! Enjoy!
PERU- Live the Legend, 58 seconds.
Macchu Picchu, 32 seconds.
The Machu Picchu 3D models are fantastic! I’m really impressed. It’s amazing how having some good high resolution terrain can really add to the realism of a city model. But, Machu Picchu is really special.
My daughter is doing a project on Peru. She would like to download the Machu Picchu 3D model video to run on our computer during her presentation. Could someone please help us understand how to download the video to our computer so it can run independent of the internet? Thank you