Placemaker Tutorials
SketchUp Extension Introduction Video
Quickly Model a City with Placemaker!
Extension Name
Placemaker
Extension Developer
MindSight Studios
Extension Cost
$199/Year
Where to get it
Placemaker Download Link (Affiliate Link) – http://www.thesketchupessentials.com/placemaker
*Affiliate disclaimer – I am an affiliate for Placemaker, so if you purchase the plugin through this link I will earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. These commisions help me offset the cost of running the SketchUp Essentials, so if you do end up purchasing, thank you very much!
Extension Description – Placemaker
Placemaker is an extension for SketchUp that allows you to create a city in a single click. It brings in geographical data and creates streets, paths, buildings, bodies of water, and more. It also has the ability to bring in high resolution map data in SketchUp.
More Placemaker for SketchUp Tutorials
Getting Started with Placemaker for SketchUp
In this video, learn to use the extension Placemaker for SketchUp to quickly create cities inside of your SketchUp models! Learn how to add trees, roads, paths, buildings, and high resolution Nearmap imagery as well!
SketchUp Extensions FOR ARCHITECTURE – Easy Cities with Placemaker!
In today’s video, we continue our series on SketchUp Extensions for Architectural applications by checking out Placemaker, an extension that creates a city with a single click!
Placemaker Version 2.1 New Features – SO MANY BUILDINGS in SketchUp
The newest version of Placemaker for SketchUp just released, and it contains a very significant upgrade – a huge database upgrade for 3D buildings in the USA! This update allows you to create cities using Microsoft’s mapping data, significantly improving the number of buildings that you can create in Placemaker!
EASY CITIES and PROFILES with Placemaker and Profile Builder for SketchUp
In this video, learn to use the SketchUp extensions Placemaker and Profile Builder to easily create cities, then detail them out using Profile Builder’s smart profiles!
STREET VIEW IN SKETCHUP with Placemaker Tours
In this video, learn how to use Placemaker tours in SketchUp to incorporate Google Street View Images into your city models!
HIGH RESOLUTION AERIALS in SketchUp – How to Download Nearmap Images with Placemaker
In this video, learn to use the extension Placemaker and Nearmap aerial map credits to download high resolution aerial map images into your SketchUp models!
Placemaker for SketchUp Function Description
Placemaker is able to import many kinds of geographical data into SketchUp, allowing it to create the following
High Resolution Imagery for SketchUp
Placemaker has the ability to import both medium resolution map imagery from Digital Globe, as well as ultra high resolution map images into your SketchUp models. This is a great replacement for Google Map data, which is no longer available for SketchUp. Note that there is an additional cost associated with the Nearmap data. I believe some Digital Globe data may be included with a Placemaker subscription, but please verify this with MindSightStudios, as I’m not 100% sure.
Roads
Roads are brought in based on Open Street Map data – you can set the widths of different sizes of roads. In addition, roads can also be draped along terrain, allowing for the creation of accurate cities on terrain as well.
Paths
Paths work the same way as roads, allowing you to set widths, and merge them with terrain surfaces.
Buildings
Buildings are brought in based on the most recent Open Street Map data. You can adjust the default heights of all the buildings created. In addition, these can also be dropped on terrain models, allowing for cities on ground that isn’t flat.
Water
Bodies of water can also be imported. They can be draped onto surfaces as well.
Trees
Trees are brought in based on OSM data as well. You can set spacing for treed areas, as well as adjusting the model that’s placed in the tree locations, and the sizes of your trees. These also work with terrain.
Tour Mode
Tour mode allows you to sync your view to Google Street View, so that you can see actual up to date images of whatever area you’re touring. You can also use these images to texture individual faces, allowing for PhotoMatch with street view in your created buildings.
About Justin Geis
Hi, I'm Justin Geis, and I'm the founder of The SketchUp Essentials. I started using SketchUp as part of my work as a general contractor in 2008. I quickly realized the power of the software and started using it for personal projects. I started The SketchUp Essentials as a place to share easy to follow SketchUp tutorials and tips to help everyone harness the power of 3D Modeling in their lives. When not working with SketchUp, I enjoy playing soccer and spending time with my wife and our two dogs.
Nice intro to a very powerful extension. But it might need an update. The Google connection has gone away and this may have changed the results of the extension significantly. Also, is it possible to move Google images of buildings onto the faces of buildings in the model. Although the white building blocks have a lot of functionality as is, wouldn’t it be cool to be able to more photo-realistically represent smaller areas of a city. Thanks! Rick
Hi Rick! The only connection to Google this tool has is to street view using tours, and that function is still there – Actually, you can use that imagery to texture the blocks like you described! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyA8r_tpyLc.
The imagery comes from a couple different providers, and allows for unlimited use of the low resolution images (which aren’t very detailed). I believe the license comes with some tiles of the medium resolution images (not 100% sure), and then you can also purchase ultra high resolution images from Nearmap as well. You are correct – you can’t get the map data from Google anymore though 🙁