FINALLY: Download 3D Models, Cities, and Landscapes from Google Maps and Import into Rhino

Update: Please make sure all instances of chrome are closed before trying to inject Renderdoc into chrome.
tools:
1. Blender 3.0: www.blender.org/
2. MapsModelsImporter v0.4.1 by Élie Michel: github.com/eli...
3. Renderdoc v1.17: renderdoc.org/
4. Everything Search (optional): www.voidtools....
chrome shortcut target :
C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe /c "SET RENDERDOC_HOOK_EGL=0 && START "" ^"C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe^" --disable-gpu-sandbox --gpu-startup-dialog"
if chrome is saved in Program Files instead of Program Files (x86) then use this:
C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe /c "SET RENDERDOC_HOOK_EGL=0 && START "" ^"C:\Program Files\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe^" --disable-gpu-sandbox --gpu-startup-dialog"
to can capture a larger parcel but still high-quality, zoom out in your chrome browser (ctrl + scroll or the three dots in the upper right corner)
bonus plugin to stitch multiple 3D screenshots together:
eliemichel.gum...
original post and additional reading:
blog.exppad.co...

[@jessegates3323]

this is working in 07/2024 with blender 3.4, mmi v0.6.0, and renderdoc 1.25. make sure you use Task Manager to close any background chrome processes!

[@nachiketnalamati564]

hey jesse, have you had any problems with the captured rdc file importing into blender as only a small building/part of the total capture, even though all seems well otherwise?

[@_ThisIsAGodDream]

I can confirm this works 👍 thank you !

[@jessegates3323]

@@nachiketnalamati564 yes i have been encountering this issue as well

[@Uzdefized]

does it work with latest blender???

[@user-yk1cw8im4h]

blender 4.1 now actually also works (with mmi v0.6.0, and renderdoc 1.25)

[@khawajataha4191]

You just taught me more in 10 minutes than I could ever learn in 4 years of college. Hats off to you man.

[@blackmamba5358]

Thank you for this tutorial! So well explained. I tested this in Jan '24 and it works with MapsModels v 0.4.1 / RenderDoc v.171 / Renderdoc v1.17 Note to others: I first started with later versions of the software, but that didn't work, and it's only after I installed exactly the versions of software stated here, everything worked like magic! Also make sure to have chrome closed during the injection process.

[@LOLAb2001music]

hey, thanks for the info! what version of blender are you using?

[@d6o9]

Im a social work student, designing a park and a walkable area for a part of the city that was neglected. this helps A LOT, thank you, genuinely

[@NikoDellic]

Give that park some love!

[@christinewong7478]

some updates: make sure you close all chrome tabs before injecting in renderdoc - also blender works better at the 3.0 version

[@kunhan1597]

THIS IS A GAME CHANGER!!!!!!!!YOU SAVE MY NIGHT AND POTENTIALLY 5 YEARS OF ARCHITECTURE STUDIOS

[@joeleckert9462]

Couple things to note if you have issues. Machine restart might help. Dual monitor can be problematic. Turning on ECC if you have an advanced video card will help. Turning on ECC for my RTX5000 fixed my issues. I was getting messy polygonal results for no reason.

[@UnityJeller]

what is ECC?

[@alexanderchan750]

Thanks for this. The blender tutorials that I used before don't go into as much detail on what the extension is doing and how to use it. My results were subpar with a lot of missing meshes. Excited to put this to use.

[@abdullahalfahmawi8352]

I am an aerodynamics student studying the wind load on a certain twin tower in Dubai, this helps a bunch with surrounding landscape thanks!

[@NikoDellic]

Enjoy!

[@vaa5118]

Omg thank you!!!! Please keep making these videos, so helpful! 😍

[@Dreamcasting123]

Blender can´t open the data but why ? i did everyting like in the video but the src data is empty

[@modicool]

To do this now you need `--disable_direct_composition=1` added as an argument. It won't work otherwise. You're welcome.

[@therealscarhomie]

can confirm, do this if it keeps kicking you out and giving you a new number

[@timoalie6706]

where exactly do I need to ad this?

[@therealscarhomie]

@@timoalie6706 to the chrome > properties - target line at the end Should look like this: set RENDERDOC_HOOK_EGL=0 "C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe" --disable-gpu-sandbox --gpu-startup-dialog --disable_direct_composition=1 Change the chrome path if its not on C drive.

[@Arch.Ali.Furkan]

Just I paste the thing to end of target ?

[@Arch.Ali.Furkan]

Try to ''blender 3.4, maps models importer v0.6.0, renderdoc 1.25 versions''

[@johnfmondro]

Nice work Brother. Rhino is an incredible software tool and this makes it even more useful!

[@goofseijkens1965]

Wow. Thanks for putting effort in making this video and sharing this. Much appreciated!

[@Brontupistos]

Greatest video of all time!!! I've been waiting for this video for years. Will completely change my workflow as an architect.

[@Brontupistos]

Works with Google Earth as well

[@synergywiz]

Thanks for making this! Keep up the great work!

[@amimehta2132]

I saw the notification and got so excited, thanks Niko! Life saver

[@NikoDellic]

no YOU are a life saver

[@cambrigeteam1354]

I logged in just to say thanks. I use photogrametry, but this method is much more precise, faster, and the model actually has less polygons.

[@DANNYonPC]

I never get chrome to get frozen, it just boots normally D:

[@Nightshade-Aurora]

Chrome restarts when I try to inject, quitting the injection and giving a new number

[@dextermotion559]

did you find a soultion for this?

[@maxsmeraldi6931]

I fixed it, you just have to install an older version of renderdoc, try v1.17

[@Teuvide]

@@maxsmeraldi6931 Thanks so much! i was facing this issue and this solved it. just installing from the latest release didnt work, you have to scroll down and install v 1.17

[@Jaguare19]

@@maxsmeraldi6931 Thanks

[@user-yk1cw8im4h]

Confirmed working: blender 3.4, maps models importer v0.6.0, renderdoc 1.25

[@jdieplinger]

what was your chrome version? cannot confirm it working with chrome version 110.0.5481.100

[@user-yk1cw8im4h]

@@jdieplinger 109.0.5414.120

[@jdieplinger]

@@user-yk1cw8im4h hmm, thanks for your quick response ... so your version is actually not that much older 🤔 that's strange ... for me the initial injection to chrome is working, but as soon as i start calling google-maps, it is prompting me a new PID ... when I try to inject to this new PID and click "ok" on chrome, again, a new prompt appears with a new PID ... so it seems chrome recognizes, that the process is injected and start a new one 🤔

[@jdieplinger]

ok, got it working ... for anyone else, having troubles: It is not enough to just put the flags "--disable-gpu-sandbox --gpu-startup-dialog" after the .exe in the shortcut target field. You have to create a new shortcut with this target prompt: C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe /c "SET RENDERDOC_HOOK_EGL=0 && START "" ^"C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe^" --no-sandbox --gpu-startup-dialog""

[@yuliagilbert3988]

@@jdieplinger still not working when i start short cut it displayes normal chome window (not blank as it needed for this to work) Version 110.0.5481.96

[@rodrigososa2980]

thank you so much. worked with the latest versions of blender 3.4 and renderdoc 1.25. lifesaver!

[@dean.lambros3695]

Thanks Niko! Managed to get it working. Hopefully my professor likes it. Currently a 4th year in my schools arch program.

[@NikoDellic]

The trick is to like it yourself and then tell your prof what you are doing. Don't wait around for their approval and suddenly your project will get much better. Their job is to gently nudge you, not control you ;)

[@IRSfr]

It keeps giving me new codes instead of letting me into chrome

[@Milkshakman]

Try RenderDoc 1.25. I was having that issue with 1.30.

[@haljen4053]

didnt make a difference for me

[@polarity2130]

You must use the versions specified in the video, I used Blender 3.4, RenderDoc 1.25, and 0.6.2 of the plugin for blender. Hope this helps.

[@jowilkins3286]

​@@polarity2130 Thank you! This helped so much

[@ryantoth531]

thanks so much, did have to use version 1.17, for renderdoc but everything else went great

[@Tabuu_]

This tutorial is amazing and is going to help tremendously on this project I'm working on.

[@simontrickfilmer]

hej chris: can you dl a hospital area for me? It would be "kantonsspital st.gallen" or, if not to much effort: the whole city?

[@el_mal_de_ojo]

Thank you so much! This is exactly what I was hoping to achieve!

[@tabbarakarim]

Whaou, so speed an dyet so clear ! Thanks

[@truesosense7722]

Thank you, I needed that for a videogame, thanks Niko Bellic! XD

[@1anhkhoi420]

I'm struggling doing the 3d model for my Urban Landscape Axis project at university, honestly, this save me one month for rendering

[@TorQueMoD]

This isn't working for me as of 02-09-2025. Chrome blocks injection and you get stuck in a loop where after you press OK when finished injecting, you immediately get a new PID endlessly :( I've tried disabling all chrome extensions, but I still get stuck in the loop.

[@phazyy]

You're doing people a huge favor.

[@arrafi7542]

Hey there Niko, first off, I wanted to say I loved your tutorial. However, I've hit a bit of a snag. Everything was going smoothly up to the injecting point; even the stats bar appeared on the top left side of Chrome. But here's the issue: whenever I attempt to inject it into the GPU process, it shows a 'connecting' or 'trying to connect' page, then quickly returns to the injecting page. I just can't seem to get it to insert into the process. I've tried versions 1.13, 1.28, and 1.16 of RenderDoc, but unfortunately, none of them seem to work. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

[@PinarWaleed]

this is sooooooo amazing, how did you even discover this process 💀

[@Corbsss]

Manged to fix the problem, of chrome not going into debug mode: 1. install render docs 1.11 or 1.13 2. close chrome 3. use this for the shortcut : C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe /c "SET RENDERDOC_HOOK_EGL=0 && START "" ^"C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Edge\Application\msedge.exe^" --disable-gpu-sandbox --gpu-startup-dialog" 4. follow the rest of the video on now to capture. also some trouble shooting the first time. I launched chrome it it goes white but then loads normally again, so I restarted my pc, also I noticed that if you have a theme on your chrome debug mode it doesn't work. So remove the theme of use a google account that is just basic google nothing special. Oh and also make sure when you close chrome youtube isn't open because that stops it from working too. Hope this helps someone who has a problem with trying to get it to work

[@valsalrveig]

✔ removed google theme works

[@DANNYonPC]

so use edge instead :p?

[@nehcnoraa5562]

I love you Niko

[@juanm-td4ks]

TOTALLY AWESOME ! THANKS

[@NikoDellic]

U R TOTALLY AWESOME! THANKS

[@larshammer5323]

Awesome, trying it out tomorrow

[@gulsenkeskin5916]

That video absolutely works damn i like it subscribe 🤩 thank you!

[@ezekielflores2149]

Hello, you mentioned that there were several things we could do to clean up the site in Blender. Would you be able to do a video where you show some of that? Thanks for the Content.

[@NikoDellic]

yep, as soon as i have time in my life again to make videos, I will make this one especially for you ezekiel flores

[@showtime2855]

@@NikoDellic Hello, im studying architecture in Germany, your video is super useful for a new project of mine, however it would be perfect if i could „clean up the site“ in blender. If you still dont have the time to do a video on that, could you give me some info where to search about it?

[@youdjparents]

thanks for this! I was getting an error in Blender, Windows 11 + Blender 3.0, but then I upgraded to 3.5 and that did the trick

[@catsven1973]

i subscribed because you .."actually don't care" bloody crazy laugh you gave me..looooooool......thanks for the tip by the way.

[@DenizYener43]

hi niko!! incredible tutorial and super easy to follow, thank you!!!! 🥰 is the clean-up video available on your channel? in rendered view my model looks fine, but without the textures the meshes are super jagged and i would like to use the non-textured version at a certain point. any tips as to how i could do that? thanks a lottttt

[@randyrosca6471]

Dude, you rule! Thanks!

[@BathroomTile]

I'm stuck at the injection process. When I click the shortcut, it gives me the code window. I put the code into the Inject Into Process filter, refresh, it shows up. I double click and a new code window pops up. It just keeps popping up with new codes and nothing happens on RenderDoc's end. If I press ok on the pop up and only then double click the chrome process, it says connection is established but all the capture buttons are greyed out.

[@BathroomTile]

The solution for me was to use the right combination of software release versions. I found one other video tutorial that actually said the versions they were using. I don't remember which tho.

[@ariabal6270]

Thanks for the content. So should we only have Rhino installed for that or can we use any other 3d apps?

[@GameOnCinema]

Hi, I'm having problems to get the pid number from Chrome. The icon changes but I can still open chrome with no problems. I dont get the white screen and I don't see the window with Gpu starting with pid:..... what should I do. Thank you in advance.🙏🙏

[@Duckers_McQuack]

Doesn't seem to work anymore. renderdoc just closes the chrome tab as soon as i click ok after the pin.

[@Nightshade-Aurora]

Same for me

[@khush_j2905]

@@Nightshade-Aurora use an older version, i tried 1.17 and it worked

[@aayushmaankate]

3:26 here I am getting the message API: Vulkan(Not Presenting), can’t press on the button”captures after delay”

[@juanpabloobregonllaca4589]

I could be installing 7 different types of computer aids but for some reason i trust the internet

[@jeffln5581]

This is amazing!

[@FairFunk92]

hey man this has been a massive help thank you. Did you ever do that video to clean up the file and get some more geometry? When I export past blender I lose a lot of the definition.

[@TyLorenz]

bro thanks! an actually good tut

[@pfschuyler]

You are a Rhino Ninja. The paid program LandsDesign can do this natively in Rhino now (with scale, which is vital).

[@NikoDellic]

Thx! Looks like LandsDesign can import OSM data to generate 3D buildings (which is slightly different and more useful in some cases)

[@jonasbocassel6308]

I tried using Lands Design after your suggestion, but the buildings are so crude. The buildings in Google earth are much more detailed. Thanks for the suggestion though.

[@NikoDellic]

get owned paul

[@adamc3607]

I made a mistake where my camera wasn't pointed down far enough but after fixing that it worked great!

[@johnmcguire2429]

Very Cool. I'm curious if you have a workflow for scaling the model precisely without having to scale it in google maps and eyeball it in rhino. Great video!

[@NikoDellic]

Unfortunately your GPU doesn't capture a set scale when it retrieves the geometry. That said, there are some rules of thumb that will increase your accuracy when scaling manually: The bigger the reference distance, the more accurate the scaling will be. For example, I scaled to 200' in the video, but if you used a reference distance of 2000' for instance, the accuracy of your scaling in rhino would be more accurate. Considering that even google maps isn't 100% perfect (The earth is always changing between sample periods and lidar has a fixed resolution), its not even necessarily possible to be exact, and that is okay. Even in more established workflows in GIS programs, georeferencing usually involves clicking a bunch of distinct objects in a satellite image, leaving room for human error.

[@tadavis]

Look up the blender gis addon. It will capture GIS data to scale and you can at least reference that in blender

[@Basah619]

This comment is a year ago, just wondering if there's still a way to get the model in full scale? Or is it still the same which is to scale manually? Thank you.

[@martinsmith3844]

Awesome video Niko! When’s the rhino “diagramming via rhino layouts and without illustrator” tutorial coming out? Looking forward to it

[@NikoDellic]

Soon! Just a little busy these past few weeks but its in the works

[@martinsmith3844]

@@NikoDellic hell yeah

[@discreetknight]

Cool demo, is there any change in process since you did the vid? Chrome screen not going blank but generates the pid pop up and after i enter the gpu pid the "connection" is established but "API" displays "None" then the inject into process tab just goes blank?

[@NikoDellic]

make sure all instances of chrome are closed first. let me know if this resolves your issue!

[@discreetknight]

@@NikoDellic cheers. All sorted. Running smoothly. Much appreciated hated.

[@gibbsondrums4981]

works perfectly, thank you

[@TrailsofEurasiaTV]

It's not working with me, when I close Googpe Chrome Gpu window the API remains None. Is there any way to fix it? 02:50 moment.

[@abc-lp6nb]

Same

[@RyanMcClure]

This is cool. I'm curious, since Google Maps 3D API has been released publicly, are you now using that approach to stream the tiles or do you continue to use this method: and if so why?

[@demontiger974]

When I imported the RDC file into blender the geometry is very rough unlike I see in your imports or the examples that are on the Github. Is there any solution to get smooth surfaces, some sort of blender setting perhaps?

[@Moki314]

The chrome shortcut isn't working for me. I get the popup with the number, but chrome goes to my normal new tab, rather than staying blank. Then, the buttons in Render Doc are grayed out. Can I get some help please? I'm on windows 11 btw

[@JuanDiegoVargasV]

Same issue here :(

[@ruphelan1307]

all chrome process in task manager must be off, then use v1.17 of renderdoc

[@Zeta4]

Is it possible to get this to work in Google Earth (web-based)? RenderDoc just shows a few images and stuff of the window when I try to get it from there, but I feel like it should be a pretty similar process. Earth seems to have more detail than Maps when zoomed out farther so I'd prefer to use it over Maps.

[@masquecenamarada945]

I'm wondering the same, also cant we mesh various screenshots to give it more information?

[@Tyler.Disney]

Many thanks Niko! Renderdoc 1.25 blender 3.6.1 mapsmodelimporter 0.6.2, chrome Version 120.0.6099.225. I found after a few captures it would stop working. Close chrome, open task manager and shut down all background chrome operations that started up, repeat the process. All good. 1/5 captures no good, maybe user error somehow.

[@dantoplus]

Thank you bro!!! amazing tool!!!

[@Omniscye]

Thanks

[@saab770]

brilliant work

[@NikoDellic]

no john, YOU are brilliant

[@razvanalx4748]

everytime shows up the pid and type it in renderdoc, and i click on ok on chrome, appear another pid

[@fabiobernardi4691]

Same

[@razvanalx4748]

@@fabiobernardi4691 I fixed it , I downloaded a older version of RenderDoc

[@razvanalx4748]

@@fabiobernardi4691 I fixed it, I downloaded an older version of renderdoc

[@APEX.86]

After clicking "capture after delay", then immediately switching back to maps and panning around, I get the same pause in the rendering as if it is capturing, but when I return to RenderDoc, there is no capture. Also, the button has changed and now reads "trigger after delay"

[@idengifafict9737]

Everytime I select the process in RenderDoc and then click ok on the PID popup, chrome opens a new PID popup and the previous process is gone. Its a never ending cycle... I Installed RenderDoc version 1.17 as another comment suggested and that fixed this problem.

[@cosasacelebrar3974]

PLEASE HELP: In the api it says openGLES(not presenting). How do I fix it?

[@nadaawabdy892]

thanks for this! I can't go to 3d mode in googlemaps, any Ideas why?

[@juliankuhl4918]

It works … with RD1.17 + MM0.4.1+Blender3.0.0 Thx!

[@BBiGiBB]

great video but still failing, maybe im wrong on changing target name of chrome, how you save it with ^ symbol it doesnt allow me to click ok and chrome wont change to any idea guys?

[@la.serenina]

Hi, thanks for the good work! In RenderDoc API doesn't become Active. What could be the issue?

[@noelcollado7094]

U SO TALENTED

[@brandonlanois1734]

I got this error message: "Core 254380 18:03:10 win32_process.cpp(295) Error Couldn't allocate remote memory for DLL 'C:\Program Files\RenderDoc enderdoc.dll': 5" Any idea how to solve this?

[@JimbobZip1977Lob]

Thanks for this tut its great, Do you have any advice on anyway to consoldate all the hundreds of textures into 1 giant texture or even 3-4 big ones?

[@dootboye]

any luck?

[@JimbobZip1977Lob]

@@dootboye nope if you find a way be sure to let me know:)

[@benbouckley1]

I am not sure this works anymore. I can't enable globe view because I have flags.

[@wojciechzaczek4729]

THX! Epic :D

[@JabaryI]

Legend

[@synja]

Thanks for this awesome tutorial... btw graphics cards don't render upsidedown, the Y axis is inverted so y=0 is at the bottom. I think RenderDoc flips it so that it doesn't confuse people?

[@impulsesdxs]

Hi, after i open chrome.exe don`t have this second tab (Google Chrome Gpu)

[@wtk5672]

THANK YOU😊

[@KarinNagano]

Hi! I've been trying this process with the latest versions of all the software (Blender 3.4 MapsModelsImporter v.0.5.0 RenderDoc v1.24) as well as the versions that are used in this tutorial, but both processes did not work in terms of importing the rdc file into Blender. The message I get is "Error: Failed to load the RenderDoc Module." Any advice on how to get past this issue? Thanks in advance!

[@abdulrahmanabdulall1773]

in github page it says to use blender 2.83 so maybe try that?

[@juliussalovaara9787]

I have the same problem, did you find a fix?

[@abdulrahmanabdulall1773]

@@juliussalovaara9787 not but ended up using digimaps and osmworld

[@YanniFotiadis]

Hello! I was having the exact same problem getting the same error message. Any fix to this?

[@Fistach22]

Lads add "--disable_direct_composition=1" if encounter problems with reseting Chrome and couldn't inject RenderDoc (info from MapsModelerImporter) :)

[@joedou7glas200]

Your a life saver❤

[@kylerbrunner6570]

I'm having an issue where when I import my capture into Blender, only 1 tile is there. All of the tiles are showing up in the scene collection but only one is actually visible in the model space. Any idea what I can do?

[@tylerlinnehan9352]

Same issue for me. Did you ever figure out how to solve this?

[@HugoOskarsson]

I have the same issue! 😭

[@Bonstorno]

My Chrome just generated new codes when clicking ok (RenderDoc v1.28). Fixed by using v1.17. +Blender 3.0 +MapsModelImporter v0.4.1 (otherwise the import wouldnt work)

[@robotekusa]

if you are scaling use the longest reference you can use for most accuracy

[@leflyingpadre]

Is this method for PC only? I don’t see any version of blender for MACOS.

[@Harith_jdog]

didn't work for me. After activating the AFI, Google Maps won't Allow you to use the maps in 3D mode. Sad. I tried every single thing with the Graphic settings and whatsoever. So Sad:T

[@mxlnny1]

I am using renderdoc 1.28. every time i enter the PID number and press ok on the dialog box it gives me a new PID number. Im not great with this stuff but wondering if anyone has ran into this or has a trouble shoot

[@SohailAslam-c6t]

Same problem man, did you find the issue?

[@nico9314]

Anyone find a fix for this? I'm using RenderDoc 1.35 but having the same issue

[@BamBamBahia]

CORRECT NIKO BB LETS GOOOOOOOOOOO

[@NikoDellic]

WOOOO!!!

[@LuisGonzalez-ht7hs]

Goat

[@jonas-j3h]

Great tutorial! Subbed. Unfortunately, my "Capture after delay" button is greyed out. Also, my google chrome is not blank when I open it up. I do get a pin. I have been using the exact identical versions of everything as you have in this tutorial, and tried several times over and over, replicating every step of the way. Maybe this method has stopped working with newer chrome versions? I am on windows 10.

[@theodorfransson9615]

Make sure you close all other chrome tabs before running the "modified" chrome, otherwise it won't be blank

[@stowjer]

Thanks for the instructional. Has anyone used this to generate a STL file and ultimately 3d print a cityscape?

[@srenandersen6766]

Hi. This looks fantastic :) But I only get to 2:49 :( It keeps telling me "Injection must happen emmidiately after .....". But Im doing exaxtly as on the video. I tried to reboot. All other Crome is closed. Can anyone please help me? I really want this to work :)

[@seungaeyoo9412]

Hi! What do you do when your chrome does no go to freeze mode?

[@francescolely8657]

2:33 help!!! my chrome at this point crashes without dropping the number or the Google Chrome Gpu, no one talk about that issue, someone can help me please?!