Google Cities in Blender | Blender Blosm Add-on

In this tutorial, we'll go over the steps on how to install the Blosm Add-on for Blender so that you can import Google Cities. The Blosm Add-on is a fantastic tool that eliminates the need of prior versions of Blender or the need for RenderDoc!
You can download the Blosm Add-on for Blender here - prochitecture....

[@ChristophWerner]

Finally someone who explained all preparation steps in a clear manner. The most others just shows the final import steps. Thank you for this!

[@gissolutions4604]

Thanks so much for the feedback and glad it helped!

[@victoirethondo2922]

@ChristophWerner Totally agree.

[@laurentheid7538]

Fantastic walk through. Much thanks and lots of flowers.

[@gissolutions4604]

I appreciate the feedback and kind words!

[@richard_wenner]

So pleased to have found this direct route - that just works! Thanks.

[@Neburia]

awesome concise and straight to the point

[@gissolutions4604]

Appreciate the feedback!

[@justin7649]

Great video! I appreciate the concise instruction. Thank you!

[@gissolutions4604]

Appreciate the feedback!

[@mtscott44]

Thanks man, absolute legend!

[@gissolutions4604]

Appreciate the feedback! :)

[@charlottec5819]

That’s so useful and helps me a lot. Thank you!

[@gissolutions4604]

I'm so glad and thanks so much for the feedback!

[@rodrigoazam]

It worked! But I'm having some troubles with the selected areas that were completely ignored. It took some hours to export and i didnt get exactly what I've selected on browser. It was a close area, but I'm trying again cuz what I wanted didnt come. Anyways, thank you! I'll keep trying from here!

[@adiy3567]

All works as discribed. thank you very much!

[@gissolutions4604]

Thanks so much for the feedback and glad you were successful!

[@MichaelWilliamsII-f1r]

Hello is this free to use commercially within a graphic design project for my Job?

[@abcdefg__jklmnopqrstuvwxyz]

I'm curious too

[@gissolutions4604]

I'm not entirely sure...probably best to direct the question to someone who has more legal expertise.

[@activemotionpictures]

Thank you! Just in time!

[@valdeklaur]

Thanks for the tutorial, great stuff!

[@gissolutions4604]

Thanks so much for the feedback, so glad it was helpful!

[@rafaelraimundostudioalien9474]

I followed correctly and this message appeared when importing. UNABLE TO PROCESS 3D TILES ROOT URI: HTTP Error 400: Incorrect request

[@Panchocr888]

Same here, did you find a solution?

[@thcarneiro]

Thanks, this is very useful.

[@gissolutions4604]

Glad it was helpful!

[@nathantiller889]

any advice for when it says "Unable to process the root URI of the 3D tiles: HTTP error 403: Forbidden" when trying to import the 3D Tiles

[@keremayan452]

same problem

[@mobtae7825]

@@keremayan452any fix

[@HayesHaugen]

@@keremayan452 your google account must be setup for billing AND the map tiles api enabled. it takes a bit of work to get it setup but that's your problem. 403 is specific to not enabling the api. 404 is usually billing problem

[@tommurrin3079]

Hiya thank you for the video, I'm an architecture student trying to use this for a group project. Everything worked as described up until the import stage where it appears in the scene collection tab but doesnt show anything on the view screen except an orange dot on the origin when selected. Am i just being impatient and its still processing or did something go wrong?

[@simonfinger8760]

FYI: Google pricing. Never got a clear answer from Google. it is all very vague. However, be aware, after your trial expires, each google 3D tile will cost you $16. (i'm guessing each tile is approx 100m x 100m).

[@gissolutions4604]

Appreciate the feedback on this!

[@rickwhite9837]

At 7:37 into the video you said "let's go and click over here" which brought up a full color view of the imported selection. What is "over here"?

[@rickwhite9837]

Found it! Viewport Shading!

[@realadrieno]

when i paste areas on the map into blender it doesn't show up if i use google 3d tiles (but it does show content from open street map which has WAYY less detail). Solutions?

[@D1.JackFN]

Yo so I got it all loaded but just wondering, how do I like make it smooth and stuff and realistic? Cuz when it’s all loaded in blender is like not the best

[@stellular11]

Google 3d tiles will not import into blender via Blosm. I keep getting an error message: Unable to process the root URI of the 3D Tiles: HTTP Error 400 :Bad Request. how can i fix this? Thank you

[@gissolutions4604]

Thanks for reaching out with this error. I did some investigation and hopefully the following steps will resolve the issue: In Blender, navigate to Scripting at the top menu, A View Console window should appear. Paste the following "C.scene.blosm.cacheJsonFiles = False", then press ENTER Apparently there are some changes with Google that's causing these errors. Please refer to this link for more info on this error - github.com/vvoovv/blosm/issues/443 Please let me know if this resolves the issue?

[@Vanssvisor]

@@gissolutions4604 Follow the steps but unfortunatelly still get the message (might be something wrong on the scripting part, never used that) I opened the Python console, pasted C.scene.blosm.cacheJsonFiles = False hit enter and nothing happened, not sure if I was expecting a message or something, after that tried again and still get the error

[@oraocean]

it works , thanks!

[@gissolutions4604]

Awesome, thanks for letting me know!

[@aviationtalent]

Unable to process the root URI of the 3D Tiles: HTTP Error 404: Not Found What does this mean and how do I fix this? I followed everything step by step. I am using blender 4.1

[@luismagill]

yea got the same problem I am using Blender 4.0.2 I have also taken the advice of the add on maker to see the FAQ but it goes round and round no solution yet.

[@jskup]

Thank you, I find your explanations very clear, but I can't manage to extract the textures either. The interface on my version of Blender (4.1) is a bit different and I think I've checked ‘render’ in the export settings, I can see the materials in Blender, but none of my FBX or DAE exports contain textures, I've checked with Twinmotion and skethup. thanks for your help

[@jskup]

the only way for me to export correctly is to use the GLB format (glTF)...

[@samoparodije9595]

will i get charged by google? how long does the free trial last?

[@cranination]

Thank you!

[@gissolutions4604]

Absolutely, so glad it was helpful!

[@LindaHimes-u2j]

i enabled the map tiles API and it’s still giving me that error

[@thcarneiro]

Great Addon! I am loving it. But I am trying to make it react to light, so I could set it to day, night, dusk... Do you know how to render it in a fashion that makes the map react to light?

[@gissolutions4604]

Thanks so much for the feedback and questions. I haven't tried to react with light, but sounds like a great idea!

[@nkulls]

Hello i get, A valid directory for data in the addon preferences isn't set problem

[@simplyme80-GSP]

How would I now get this into unity? Exporting as FBX doesn't work

[@Reus-03]

Did u found out?

[@simplyme80-GSP]

Nope

[@loopsdotscreative9744]

Thank you

[@gissolutions4604]

You're welcome, thanks for the feedback!

Hey all i am getting is a 2D plane of the landscape kindly help. Thank you

[@Travispater101]

check google maps itself, some areas dont even have 3d world info in maps. So might not be able to import if there isnt 3d to import.

[@alextoh7389]

After we imported the cities, the building and tress mesh appeared to be disorderly and Brocken. is there any way for us to fix that ?

[@gissolutions4604]

Perhaps try a smaller extent or even try the process again? I've found that re-running the process gives me slightly different results.

[@SmusnSasketchewan]

Hi, sadly ive done all the steps and my API Key still seems not to be registering for blosm! The imported 3d is still blank! I would appreciate if you knew how to solve this. Thanks

[@gissolutions4604]

I'm sorry your having issues and haven't personally come across this one. I've attached a link to what I think you're describing...hopefully this thread will help?? github.com/vvoovv/blosm/issues/351

[@UpupBinweevils]

Im getting an error when trying to import the paste in blender saying unable to import 3d URI, Error 404: Forbidden

[@UpupBinweevils]

It started working it was an error with my API code

[@gissolutions4604]

Thanks so much for the update.

[@xystersmomo]

Although I've set the directory and have restarted the blender. I keep having an error that there was an error when processing the URI and No such file or directory. I tried to do with new API too.

[@SalymGuer]

just set up the directory to where you want the data to be downloaded, check that in the add on configuration

[@harsh0773]

how to solve error : unable to process the root URI of the 3d tiles???

[@bloxmaster9174]

Fr like I activated the map tiles api

[@oraocean]

Open the Python Console: Paste the line below and press Enter: C.scene.blosm.cacheJsonFiles = False

[@Lucifer-hl9ep]

This very helpful! Can we use the model in opengl with texture?

[@gissolutions4604]

Thanks for reaching out and providing feedback. I'm not familiar with opengl...hopefully you can find an answer to this question.

[@TMB_Randy]

Doesn't work. 'BlenderApp' object has no attribute 'init3dTiles'

[@gissolutions4604]

See if the instructions here helps you - github.com/vvoovv/blosm/issues/365

[@HBM020802]

How do you fix: Unable to process the root URI of the 3D Tiles: HTTP Error 404: Not Found

[@gissolutions4604]

Thanks for reaching out with this error. I did some investigation and hopefully the following steps will resolve the issue: In Blender, navigate to Scripting at the top menu, A View Console window should appear. Paste the following "C.scene.blosm.cacheJsonFiles = False", then press ENTER Apparently there are some changes with Google that's causing these errors. Please refer to this link for more info on this error - github.com/vvoovv/blosm/issues/443 Please let me know if this resolves the issue?

[@AlleonoriCat]

This is very good and useful but I can't seem to export the mesh with textures? When I managed to do this the RenderDoc route textures were there but this way I can't export them outside of Blender it seems?

[@AlleonoriCat]

I've managed to get textures working by unpacking all 70 used textures manually but that's not ideal, hopefully there is a better way.

[@gissolutions4604]

Thanks so much for the feedback and so glad you found a solution.

[@BlueForest763]

My 3d tiles don't show up in the viewport but they do show up in the scene collection even with meshes and materials included.. But invisible 😢 how to fix that?

[@CrazzyHippie]

same thing happened to me but try this. try using the roller on the mouse and zoom out i did and all of the sudden there it was

[@elvinalishov3191]

No 3D tiles were imported. 1 errors occured during the import. See the System Console. what is the problem?

[@gissolutions4604]

Have you tried closing down all programs and trying the process again?

[@SteveErnst117]

How do I keep from getting charged money after the 90 days?

[@prochitecture]

After those 90 days you will get a free $200 credit from Google Maps Platform each month.

[@gissolutions4604]

Great question! If you find out, please let me know!

[@SteveErnst117]

@@gissolutions4604 apparently they won’t charge you anything unless you manually upgrade from the free features

[@fredericoabreu8284]

Google Cloud offers a recurring monthly credit of $200 for the use of the Google Maps platform, which can be applied to the Map Tiles API. If your usage exceeds this credit, you would be charged according to the excess fees. The specific rates may vary based on several factors, including the type of tile requested (for example, base tiles, styled tiles, dynamic tiles) and the volume of usage.@@gissolutions4604

[@kirederf7862]

Would I be able to use this in a commercial for a company, license wise?

[@prochitecture]

Read "Map Tiles API Policies". It can be used for visualization purposes with some conditions.

[@kirederf7862]

@@prochitecture thanks I’ll do:)

[@mydaniel103]

Hi, good day! I have generated API Keys, enabled and pasted them in addon perferences. But when click Import "A Google 3D Tiles Key isn't set in the addon preferences." Could you please tell me how to solve this problem. Thank you!

[@PRODRONECHILE]

Hola amigo, debes activar (Map tiles Api)

[@bobby9568]

How to create something usable out of this because the end result graphics are not great when you zoom in? Otherwise great tutorial!

[@gissolutions4604]

Appreciate the feedback

[@MerStudiosYT]

Make sure you change the settings to "buildings with details" in the LOD drop down.

[@yourvfxhelper]

sir i did everything as u said but after Google 3D Tiles and Biuldings with More Details im getting flat surface with texture no building models plz help me out

[@gissolutions4604]

Not exactly sure what's going on....did you try the process again in perhaps a different area?

[@yourvfxhelper]

@@gissolutions4604 yes it worked in other countries but not in India any solutions?

[@prochitecture]

Most likely your area of interest doesn't have 3D buildings. Refer to the documentation page "Import of Google 3D Cities" (the section "Introduction" there) on how to see the areas with the 3D buildings

[@fredericoabreu8284]

Does this plugin work for relief?

[@ang_oose]

thanks

[@gissolutions4604]

You're welcome, thanks for the feedback!

[@ognyannedyalkov1881]

Hello, I am trying to export this to 3ds max, but it is exporting only the geometry, I am doing the right settings to export embedded textures also, but it is not and I can`t find those textures physically on the pc also. Any idea how I can convert the materials? Is it streamed textures also?

[@timspanjer6996]

I'm having the same problem. Were you able to find a solution?

[@pampu4978]

when i try to select an go to the map, when i click on Show selection rectangle nothing happens

[@gissolutions4604]

Were you able to find a solution to this problem?

[@Life.unscripted88]

When I import my map they show errors why this happened

[@gissolutions4604]

Could you please elaborate on the error you're receiving?

[@InspirationNation-eq7yk]

Can someone help me it says "A valid directory for data in the addon preferences isn't set

[@aedanting9654]

2:16

[@dimension03]

I am using Blender 3.5 but it doesnt work , even if I select a small area this just freezed up without any result for about 1 hour

[@gissolutions4604]

Thanks for the feedback. Sounds like you gave it plenty of time to process. Just verifying that you Enabled the API key and didn't receive the error as described at the 5:00 minute mark?

[@prochitecture]

Try importing a small area with the lowest level of detail to check that it works for you.

[@truthseeker318]

How granular can this get? Can you go up to a door step with good resolution?

[@gissolutions4604]

Don't know...haven't tried. Let me know if you do!

[@yantingye1677]

like google map

[@djohnworthy1040]

Hey, I use this for Turkey, I do not get 3D. Its all 2D. I do not know why this happens?

[@gissolutions4604]

I've heard instances like this where certain regions do not get 3D...sorry it's unavailable for you!

[@prochitecture]

Unfortunately 3D data area not available for Turkey. Refer to the documentation page "Import of Google 3D Cities" (the section "Introduction" there) on how to see the areas with the 3D buildings.

[@emg.1813]

1st And dem was i looking for this thanks. UwU

[@user-fh3fx3zs7c]

what if the city I'm living is not have the 3d view what can i do

[@gissolutions4604]

Thanks for reaching out...unfortunately there's not much that can done other than using another area that has the 3D view.

[@yantingye1677]

Will there be a charge after 90 days?

[@gissolutions4604]

Not sure, but please let me know if you do!

[@Shadowmaster4580-ri6nt]

can you render the entire world?

[@gissolutions4604]

would be cool if you could!

[@rainyrobloxian-xt9cl]

Is API free?

[@jhahleywolf478]

so its not possible without a CreditCard?

[@gissolutions4604]

Thanks you for the feedback on this.

[@gissolutions4604]

Thanks for your feedback on this.

[@Kaymations]

Do you have to enter billing info

[@gissolutions4604]

Yes, you have to enter the billing info in order to proceed.

[@juliocesaraldanaavila7039]

it says i need a credit card

[@nickbjones8833]

can this be done in blender 4.1

[@yantingye1677]

yes,it works

[@TheRafaelDesign]

You should warn that it is free just for a limited pediod of time.

[@gissolutions4604]

Appreciate the feedback. Could you please provide a source that explains this?

[@jonniebrasco68]

the textures were not imported

[@jonniebrasco68]

never mind i got it thanks

[@gissolutions4604]

So glad you've got it figured out!

[@高威-z3v]

please help me, how to export dae files with texture@@jonniebrasco68

[@GrayMoriarty]

error 403......m.....

[@gissolutions4604]

Thanks for the feedback, could you please provide some additional information about where and when this error occurred?

[@blackswan6386]

API Key 200$ lol...wtf Google !

[@tbne712]

Once, or per year/ month??

[@Reus-03]

Isn’t 200$ a credit they give?

[@rasach9748]

Hi, didnt work for me, it keeps saying that No 3D tiles were imported. and it is an error that I can see in a system console. I can not see any errors and I enabled Map Tiles API. What else can go wrong?

[@מתנאלגוטליב]

i also have this problem.... here to see if anyone can help/