One of the things I plan to do with this blog is put up some descriptions and tutorials of how I create my files. 

This is something a few people have asked about - texture wrapped globes in SketchUp,  just as I used for my ‘Bouncing Google Earth’ model.   

As its primary use is for architectural modeling, SketchUp doesn’t have any texture wrap options. So rather than attempt to apply a material to every plane surface of a model sphere by hand (very time consuming!) , the simplest thing to do is use object-based 3d modeling software and import the model in.

The following tutorial uses Anim8or  (Freeware, Windows only - sorry) - download from here - much quicker to learn for a task like this than more elaborate software like blender. 

The global map image used for texturing needs to be in what’s known as ‘equidistant cylindrical projection’,  more commonly called a ‘cylindrical map’.   There are hundreds of these across Nasa’s website and elsewhere on the web.  For Earth as well as other planets.

In this example I use the January Blue Marble image from here.

Create the Mesh in Anim8or:

• Start Anim8or and go to File -> New.
• Click the ‘Add Sphere’ button.
• 
• Hold down the left mouse button in the main window and drag to create the sphere. Size and position are unimportant at this stage.
• 
• Double click on the sphere to open the Sphere Editor.
• 
• Change the Lon/lat divisions to make the mesh finer or coarser  - in the example I created here I used 24 in both directions.

Apply the texture:

• Use the Material drop down menu in the Sphere Editor and highlight – new –
• Select the button to the right of that to bring up the Material Editor.
• 
• Click the button next to diffuse.  The Texture Selector will pop up. 
• In the Texture Selector chose Load Texture.
• Open the image you want to wrap around the sphere.
• Select your newly added material (under CHECKS) .    A picture of the sphere will appear in the Texture Map section of the dialog.
• 
• Click OK in the Texture Selector, then OK in the Material Editor.
• 

Export the model:

• Object -> Export.
• Save as type:  3D Studio (*3ds).
• Save the file to the same directory as your texture - this *very* important - SketchUp won’t find the texture otherwise.

Import into SketchUp:

• Run SketchUp and go to File -> Import.
• Change the file type to 3DS Files (*.3ds) and Open the model you created in Anim8or.
• To remove the black lines simply double click on the model several times, right click and select Soften/Smooth Edges.  Move the slider to the right with Soften Coplanar on.
• That’s it!   The 3D world model can be resized and scaled in SketchUp just like any other - the texture mapping will stay in place.

Download the Textured Globe SketchUp file.