Today Google released Google SketchUp 6 at the 2007 Macworld Conference & Expo in San Francisco, CA. Google SketchUp is a powerful, easy-to-use 3D software modeling tool that enables design professionals and armchair enthusiasts alike to model the world for professional use and sharing in Google Earth. Google SketchUp 6 enables simpler, more realistic modeling with the addition of new features and innovations. These include:

• Photo Match – Users can now quickly and easily trace a photo to create a 3D model of the photographed object or match an existing model with a background photo for near-instant modeling.
• Styles – New collections of display settings including Watermarks (2D images behind or in front of models) and Sketchy Effects (rendered as though drawn by hand) enable users to create 3D models to fit their professional or personal needs.
• 3D Text – Users can now convert text to 2D outlines, filled surfaces, or extruded 3D objects.
• LayOut Beta (Pro version only) – An innovative presentation/publishing application enables users to create professional design presentations and high-resolution documents with little additional work. By embedding SketchUp models in a LayOut document, professionals can create compelling presentations that enable models to remain interactive and modifiable.

Additional product improvements include an enhanced API which enables third parties to create custom applications to supplement the functionality of Google SketchUp, two-point perspective viewing, and improved screen and print quality.

Google SketchUp 6 is available at http://sketchup.google.com for both the Mac and PC. This release further integrates Google SketchUp with Google Earth and the 3D Warehouse, streamlining the sharing of 3D models with users around the globe. Google Earth now features a default "Best of 3D Warehouse" layer that showcases the most realistic, detailed models from Google SketchUp users. Additionally users can now create and contribute to user-designed 3D Collections in the 3D Warehouse such as "Stadiums of the World."

These developments further Google's efforts to create a fully-detailed 3D Google Earth with user-generated modeling. Google Earth combines satellite imagery, maps and the power of Google Search to make the world's geographic information easily accessible and useful. There have been over 200 million unique downloads of Google Earth since the product's launch in June, 2005.

For more information please see today's Google Blog post at: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2007/01/super-models-wanted.html.