Are you like the rest of us obsessed with Google Earth? You can’t help yourself from indulging to check out the satellite view of your neighborhood, your favorite landmark, even where you’re going to stay on your next vacation.
Well, Google wants to enlist your help. On its blog this week, Google launched a call to arms to ready-and-willing designers to participate in building its 3D view of the universe. Google is touting its new 3D software tool, Google SketchUp 6, as a way for enthusiasts to easily build their own 3D models (of their house or the Empire State Building, for that matter) and then share the models with the rest of the world. Here’s how Google says it works: Download SketchUp 6 to create your model, upload it to the 3D Warehouse and put your name on it (just in case it’s selected, you’ll get the credit). Then, download the most recent version of Google Earth, go to the 3D Building folder under the Layers tab in the lefthand sidebar, and activate the “Best of 3D Warehouse.” All you have to do next is visit the location of the model you submitted to see if it’s there.
If your model doesn’t show up right away, don’t despair. Google says it sometimes takes weeks for models to appear in Google Earth. Follow these guidelines for building models and you might just might have a chance.
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Against a backdrop of mounting product complexity and a need to keep a lid on development costs, companies are recognizing a need to make simulation a more integral part of the design process. In response, vendors in the CAD world are building out CAE functionality as part of their CAD suites while simulation vendors are building tighter integrations to leading CAD tools. Keith Meintjes, Ph.D., Practice Manager, Simulation and Analysis at CIMdata, Inc., joins Design News CAD Editor Beth Stackpole in this radio program to explore the new face of integrated CAD and CAE, how companies are benefitting from this tighter partnership between platforms, and how integrating CAE earlier in the development cycle pays off in optimized product designs.
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