Model your Town for Google Earth and win $10,000!
Do you want to sketch your town for Google Maps? Do you want it to be re
presentative of your country’s print on the world wide web? Google has announced ‘Model Your Town’ competition which, in my opinion, a community driven contribution to Google Maps. It will surely be a matter of pride for your model to be shown whenever someone browses your town on Google Maps.
You can make 3D model of your town on any software of your choice. There are some wonderful free software also available and Google is encouraging to use it’s own free 3D modeler software “SketchUp” which is relatively easier to use and is basically meant for amateurs. You use SketchUp in combination with Google Earth to give models a precise geographic location.
Here are the rules for the competition:
You can model as many structures as you like – which types of buildings you choose to include is entirely up to you. The important thing is that your choices say something about the character and history of your town.
- Modeling teams may include up to six members.
- Buildings can be modeled with SketchUp, a free and relatively easy-to-use 3D modeling program from Google. You use SketchUp in combination with Google Earth to give models a precise geographic location.
- Buildings can also be modeled with Google Building Maker if your town is located in an area where Building Maker data is available. These models can also be edited and improved with Google SketchUp.
- Each completed building model should be uploaded to a dedicated town collection on the Google 3D Warehouse.
- Join our Google Competition Group to discuss ideas and issues with other modelers. It’s also a great way to find people to help you form a team.
- To enter, each team must complete and submit an online entry form.
- The competition submission deadline is 11:59 PM PST on March 1, 2010.
The best part of any competition is prizes, so here they are:
- USD$10,000 for the town’s public school district (or international equivalent)
- a visit from a Google team, along with an event in the winners’ honor
- a video profile of the winning team and their town, to be featured on YouTube
- a virtual tour of the winning town that will be added to the Google Earth website
- international publicity in the form of blog posts, tweets and other media
- additional coverage on Google websites
Here are some models already incorporated into Google Earth:
So what are you waiting for? Get started today
