Estate 3D

Chicago 3D Tour

Ash Scott — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 06:20:14 +0000

Here is a quick look at a 3D tour of a building in Chicago. Unlike a video, you can look around at anything that takes your interest. Once you 'let go' with your mouse, the tour will resume.

Not only this, but we can include icons in the tour that the user can click to find out additional information. For example, traffic flows for specific streets in the area or specific information on buildings, all contained in this attractive little 3D package.

If the 3D buildings don't load quick enough on your connection just hit the 'replay' button within the 3D viewer.

DISCLAIMER: There is a small error that causes this viewer not to load on some systems running Firefox if you get that issue use Google Chrome

Her Majesty Goes 3D.....kinda

Ash Scott — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 12:54:19 +0000

In promotion of the the London3DProject we thought we may as well throw up a 3D view of Estate3D's latest contribution to the project.

If you think your building, business premises, town, city or royal highness could benefit from the 3D treatment, hit Get Started, otherwise, ask us any question you want.

Keep in touch with us on twitter by following @estate3dmodels

Announcing Partnership With London3DProject

Ash Scott — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 08:52:04 +0000

We are proud to announce that Estate 3D is now the official modeling partner of the London3DProject.

The project aims to bring London to life in Google Earth by creating as much of it as possible in 3D.

The benefits of this charitable project will be great, on many levels:

Potential London visitors will now be able to get a much better feel for the city online, helping them plan their visit.
Businesses in London will have an additional way to promote themselves as potential customers will be able to visit business premises in 3D.
Info on London, it's buildings and it's businesses will be available by clicking the 3D buildings and/or linking to relevant websites.
London City and the businesses within will benefit from higher online exposure.

Estate 3D's initial contribution is the modeling of the HM Treasury Building in Westminster. Its not yet live in Google Earth but you can download and view it by clicking here.

Jack and Mads who are running the project deserve special recognition as they have obviously put a lot of work into it.

If you would like to help out with the project, contact them here: London3Dproject@hotmail.com

Alternatively, if you think your town, business or building could benefit from 'the 3D treatment', hit the Get Started button on our homepage and Estate 3D will get you in the 3D realm for just $99 USD.

We Offer Free Oxygen!

Ash Scott — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 06:56:16 +0000

And other reasons why a 3D model for your business is so important

"My building is already in Google":
It's a reply we often get when talking to people about the 3D buildings we offer, they are usually referring to one of two facts;

they can zoom in and see the roof of their building as seen by the satellite that took the Google Earth ground imagery, like this;

or they can go to Street View, through one of the various avenues, and scoot along to their building's address to see the front of their business premises, like this:

I want those people to do something, something that will always be good for your business; put yourself in the shoes of your potential customers.

Now, imagine (as your own potential customer) that you are looking around Google Earth in one of its guises (Google Earth, Google Maps, Google Earth API in a web page etc)........did you say to yourself:

“that flat roof over there, yes that gray oblong, they look like they sell the exact product I'm looking for”?

No you didn't, because every building on the planet has had its roof photographed by a satellite for Google Earth and now appears as a flat polygon on the ground. Nor, when you were looking for a particular business did you say;

“I'll just shimmy along the road in street view for a few miles until I find a business who looks like they provide the product I want”.

So, Does Your Business Offer Free Oxygen?
Every business – at least every business with a physical address - has these things, they aren't a point of difference and they don't add value to your marketing efforts. Firstly because everyone else has them and secondly because they don't provide any useful information on your business. Imagine a business who promoted themselves by saying “We Offer Free oxygen” its not a point of difference, and its not of value to their potential customers.

What is needed is a way to communicate as much as possible about your business in the clearest way possible. This is what 3D buildings achieve.

Here are the three main reasons 3D models are so important to marketing your business:

They are a container for information; A 3D model isn't a static item, once clicked it provides all kinds of info about your business and links to your website.
That container looks cool; 3D buildings look good, and they stand out. They project your business to potential customers in a positive way, reflecting how you project yourself to customers in the 'real world'.
That container appears without people looking for you and tempts them to 'click it'; You don't need to dive into Street View to see a 3D building, its simply 'there' even when you switch to 'Earth' view in Google Maps, if your business has a 3D model, it will be shown. People love 3D, the world we live in is 3D, so when people see it on their computer, they are tempted to 'check it out'. Our 3D buildings go in Google's 3D Warehouse so we can provide you with statistics on how many people 'click' your building.

Additionally, it is important to promote your business in it's local area so when people are actively searching for your type of business, yours is easy to find. The tools for doing this (like our 3D building service) are either free or cheap, so you'd be crazy not to take advantage of them. This post will give you more info on Business Promotion Tools

I Want To Offer More Than Oxygen:
If you want to offer more to your potential customers than what they are already getting, and you want to make your business information as relevant and useable as possible, hit 'Get Started' – for $99 we will have your building, and your business, standing out for the whole world to see in no time.

More Info Get Started

Target Real Customers With Google Places and Co.

Ash Scott — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 11:45:56 +0000

Last week we looked at the fact that, for most businesses, where you are and where your customers are is extremely important. I say most because there is a far higher percentage of businesses that target a local area than there are businesses that target the whole world.

Which is why, if you are a business targeting customers in a specific geographic area, your online marketing efforts need to be honed and not wasted on people that never will and never could buy your products. I.E. if you're a butcher in New York, there is little gained if a person in England who happens to be looking for a butcher finds your info online.

The goal is to utilize everything you do online to promote your business (blogging, tweeting, networking, SEOing and so on) and pinpoint it at the people that matter; your potential customers in your target area. For local business, broadcasting your info to the whole planet and having most of it land with non-target people is a waste of time and resources

Assuming you already have a website, let me elaborate on some of the important bits I didn't make clear in the last post:

Get a Google places account; I cannot emphasize this enough, the listings are created by Google so naturally Google is doing its best to make them findable to the right people. There are many location based services online but most people still turn to Google to get their information.
Optimize that account; If you are in a competitive local market you need to show up before your competitors online. There is plenty of info out there about optimizing your places page and many web development companies will help you with this. A good place to start is the Google Places forum page on optimising your places page.

Use Web Analytics; It doesn't matter what analytics tool you use but measure who is coming to your site and how they are getting there. Google Analytics shows you where your site visitors are geographically and tells you how they are getting there. This allows you to adapt your techniques and find out what works and what doesn't. Make use of it.
Make social media location-relevant; Ahh the social media explosion, its blessed me with the ability to get regular updates on the eating habits of my 2^nd cousin twice removed, but its also an online way to achieve that golden word of small business “Networking”. Facebook and Twitter allow you to make yourself location specific - if you're a local business this is a great thing so take advantage of it. There are a gang of other local-social services out there but that link will give you the gist.
Integrate the real world with your online efforts; Finally, your online location based marketing needs to relate to the real world (not just point people to your business premises). If your business runs a promotion, let everyone in the area who follows you online know about it. Talk about things relevant to the region. Keep your social profiles and pages updated with local goings-on. Use inside jokes that only local people will get, it makes people feel 'in the know'.

This is simply a bit of clarification for those that wanted more info from last week's location based web marketing if you want more, this mashable article is a good start.

Naturally, I personally think that having your business premises modeled in 3D for Google Earth is vitally important to reaching your target people (why else would we create a business providing just such a service?). However, there are other factors, this post was intended to outline a few.

In the next post I'll be a little impartial and explain exactly why 3D buildings are so important to your local marketing effort.

3D Buildings: Anywhere, Anytime

Ash Scott — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 17:53:01 +0000

A random mill in North Carolina just got the 3D treatment......is nowhere safe.

Stepp Mill is obviously a relic from a by-gone era, but here it is preserved from this day forth. Whatever happens to the physical building, future generations will now always be able to appreciate it in three-dimensional digital form.

Get your historic building preserved today for just $99.

Keeping up to date? You can keep in touch with us on facebook and twitter (@Estate3dmodels)

Location Based Web Marketing

Ash Scott — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 11:14:29 +0000

Where Are You?

Web marketing is great; its effective, fast, and its cheap....sometimes free.

Yet for many businesses, where you are situated is a very important factor that needs to be conveyed well. The local bakery in your town doesn't advertise in the newspaper of a town on the other side of the country does it? Local businesses advertise to the most relevant people possible, and for many this means the people in your locality.

View Location! in a larger map

I.E. what's the use of trying to compete with every plumber in the world for online marketing space when you can just be targeting the potential customers in your area?

Enter 'location based web marketing', a term that I may have made up.....if not, accuse me of plagiarism in the comments.

Google has been making the web locally relevant for a while now with Google Earth and Google Maps as well as the recent push of location specific marketing tools like Google Places and Hotpot.

Its not just Google either, sites like MapSEO, Foursquare and Twitter all understand the value of being geographically relevant on the net. Some are referring to this new scramble for local relevance as a location war.

Either way, the web is no longer irrelevant to local business. It is rapidly becoming a place where local businesses can target local customers. This makes the web a useful marketing tool for many more businesses, not just those that can deliver on an international scale.

Bye Bye Yellow Pages?....At Least In Paper Form

If local businesses make use of the ability to market to the local population online (and they are), I cannot see why the cumbersome, book based, local directories that you used to thumb through will be worth the paper they're printed on in years to come.....paying attention long term antique collectors?

With the explosion of locally relavent information comes more useable local information. Unlike the "old days" a directory listing no longer contains just a phone number and an address, but a whole raft of information that can help the purchase decision;

Relevant images of products/services
Relevant videos
Extended descriptions of the product/service being offered
An accurate map showing the place of business and how to get there as well as contact details
Reviews from other users thanks to Hotpot etc

The best thing, however, is the price; $0.00

Stand Out

One might assume that with all this offered for nothing a business isn't gaining a competitive advantage but merely keeping up with what the consumer will soon be expecting.

Enter 3D buildings. Your business and building can stand out, not just keep up with the crowd, but race ahead and make your info more relevant in the process.

3D buildings are live for all of Google Earth's users (300 million+) to see and interact with. Users don't need to be intentionally searching for a business like yours to find you because 3D buildings stand out on the landscape.

A 3D building isn't just an inactive shell, its a container for information, when users click it a "bio" shows up about your building and business with a link to your website. Your building can also be embedded right within your website so users can see exactly where you are in the world and what your premises look like.

To quantify the value of this, here's a quote by Google Earth Product Manager, Bruce Polderman from last week:

"Whenever I speak to a business owner, the two bits of advice I offer are: 1) Visit Google Places to manage the information Internet users will see about your business, and 2) develop, or pay someone to develop a 3D model of your business so that it's visually represented in Google Maps and Google Earth."

You can DIY the job using Google Sketchup or Building Maker, or if you haven't got the time or the patience to learn these disciplines, Estate 3D will do it for you ($99 USD). Either way the extra exposure gives you a quick return on investment and a unique way of showing your location and premises online.

5 Mins Talking To Bruce Polderman

Ash Scott — Sat, 27 Nov 2010 12:36:33 +0000

Ash from Estate 3D takes five minutes to ask Bruce Polderman from Google a few questions:

Ash: Bruce, you recently moved to Sydney, Australia, what do you think of the place?

Bruce: Sydney is a beautiful city. I've never considered myself a city type, but I've enjoyed what it has to offer thus far. The Google office is really special. In addition to all the smart, fun people, the office has fantastic views of the city, harbor bridge, etc. I've shied away from the Vegemite and "grilled roo" served in our cafe, but am working up the courage to try both.

Ash: What is your role at Google and how long have you been doing it?

Bruce: I'm a Product Manager on Google's "Geo" team. The Geo team is responsible for Google Maps, Google Earth, and Google Places. My primary area of focus is supporting both users and developers involved in developing 3D buildings for Google Earth - an activity we refer to as geo-modeling.

Ash: What does that involve on an average day?

Bruce: As the point-person for 3D buildings, I respond to lots of questions ranging from the use of our modeling tools (SketchUp & Building Maker), to the review process, to people seeking direction on the best methods to get their city on the virtual map.

Ash: May I ask what you were doing before you worked at Google?

Bruce: 3D design has been a consistent theme throughout my career. Prior to Google I worked as a Product Manager at Autodesk, Inc., and Cadkey, Inc.

Ash: What do you envisage Google Earth looking like in 5 years; what features will it have, which of these do you think will have the most useage?

Bruce: I can't really comment on that as our development activities are confidential, however from a personal perspective I would say that I share many of the same views that Google Earth users have.

Google Earth is one of the most exciting technologies that I've been involved with in my career. Seeing and hearing how the tool is helping consumers, businesses, cities and others is extremely rewarding.

When I first joined Google, 3D buildings in Google Earth were comprised of extruded building footprints in a couple dozen places around the world. Today you can explore the Moon, Mars, and the ocean. You can virtually visit places around the world in Street View. You can see millions of photos shared by people around the globe, and of course, near to my heart, you can explore cities in 3D on every continent.

Ash: Google has put a lot of work into different facets of the "3D buildings layer" of Google Earth is there a particular reason for this?

Bruce: Our vision is to build a digital atlas of the world. Achieving that is a massive undertaking. It's very exciting to be part of a community of geo-modelers, developers, and others who share that vision. It's also very motivating to work with people around the world on this project. If we succeed, and I think we can, then it's a legacy that everyone involved can leave behind for future generations to use and enjoy.

Ash: Do you think 3D buildings are an efficient way to communicate the attributes/features of a "real world" building?

Bruce: We live in a 3D world so it stands to reason that we'd feel comfortable searching in that environment. 3D buildings are interesting, but what most people are looking for is information about a place. A 3D building is really just a container for place data. When you click a building it should be the starting point for more information.

Ash: Do you think it is a valuable thing for individual building owners to get their buildings in the 3D buildings layer of Google Earth?

Bruce: Consumers are using Google Maps and Google Earth to find information about places. Having a 3D model for your business is a great way to get discovered. Many businesses hire someone to develop a web site and assume that they're done. Phone - check. Internet marketing - check. Savvy businesses know better. As they know, the web site is just the starting point. Driving traffic there is the goal. Making it easy for your business to get discovered is an important way to differentiate yourself from your competitors.

Whenever I speak to a business owner, the two bits of advice I offer are: 1) Visit Google Places to manage the information Internet users will see about your business, and 2) develop, or pay someone to develop a 3D model of your business so that it's visually represented in Google Maps and Google Earth.

Ash: Awesome stuff, before you go, who is the better team? All Blacks or Wallabies?

Bruce: All Blacks. Hands-down!

Ash: Good answer, thanks for your time Bruce

Maputo Hospital, Mozambique

Ash Scott — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 13:31:17 +0000

Maputo Hospital in Mozambique has barely been completed, but Estate 3D was commisioned to create a Google Earth 3D model of the building straight off the plans.

Now supporters and users who can't visit the real thing can see Maputo Hospital, Mozambique in all its 3D goodness right within Google Earth.....or on a website thanks to the Google Earth API. Check it out (download the API if you need to):

You can check out the official website for the hospital here; http://maputohospital.com/

If you have a project or building that could benefit from "the 3D treatment" Get Started now.

Estate 3D User Profiles

Ash Scott — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 04:43:27 +0000

Here's the first instalment of Estate 3D user profiles; sub 30 second glimpses at users of Estate 3D.

This edition welcomes Amber Dental from Gisborne, New Zealand. It shows that our clients don't necessarily need to have big buildings to enjoy the benefits of having their premises in 3D. Dr Nitish Surathu can take it from here:

Although Amber Dental are among the first in their area to "go 3D", we're hoping they are pioneers in the rapidly developing 3D world of Google Earth.

If you want your business presented in a similar way, go to our main page and hit Get Started.

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