Importing Google Earth KMZ Files Into Blender

Support Tutorials, Tips and Tricks
#1

I created a video showing how to import KMZ files, the format used by Google 3D Warehouse, Google Earth, and Google SketchUp, into Blender. The links are at:

http://forum.irakrakow.com/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=182

The KMZ file is Google’s standard file format for models created in Google Earth, Google 3D Warehouse, and Google SketchUp. The goal of this tutorial is to show you how to import any of the many thousands of models from the Google 3D Warehouse, Google Earth, or Google Sketchup, into Blender. Why reinvent the wheel? It’s highly likely that models such as background scenes, and common objects like chairs and tables, are already available in these programs. If all you want is to use these as a background, for your game or animation, why not import them into Blender?

The secret to doing this is knowing how to import KMZ files. The KMZ file format is a compressed (actually a zipped) package of files, which includes the model as a Collada .dae file, as well as the textures associated with the model. I used the World Financial Center model, in New York City, a detailed model, stored in the Google 3D Warehouse, as a model.

I also show how to import a Google SketchUp 7 component, a bench, into Blender 2.49b.

I welcome all comments.

1 Like
#2

Its not an issue.I am also using Google earth and its really simple to import these files in Blender forums.

#3

An excellent tutorial! Thanks for sharing. I learned several useful tips like changing the view size.

I am however having problems taking a snapshot of Google Earth into Sketchup and then exporting the terrain geometry in a form that can be imported into Blender. I can get the terrain elevations to show in Sketchup but even exporting it as a .kmz results in a 700 byte (empty) .dae file.

Any ideas?

#4

Hey, guys, I cant open the link. Can you tell me how to import KMZ to Blender 2.8? Please))

2 Likes
#5

I would like to know this too. Most tutorials seem to assume you have access to SketchUp and the current free web version from Trimble doesn’t have the same options the free versions did in the past.