Sketchup 2021 | Geolocation

Simulate real shadow patterns for any specific day and time of year.

Master Guide to Geolocation in SketchUp 2021: Accurate Site Modeling Made Easy geolocation sketchup 2021

While SketchUp 2021 made great strides in geolocation, it is important to contextualize its limitations. SketchUp imports terrain as a mesh, but it does not natively provide survey-grade topography or GIS attribute data (such as soil composition or zoning boundaries). For high-level civil engineering, users must still rely on extensions or importing data from GIS software. However, SketchUp 2021 serves as the perfect middle ground—providing "design-grade" accuracy that is sufficient for 90% of architectural visualization and solar studies. The 2021 Live Components and better handling of heavy geometry also meant that geolocated models with large terrain imports did not bog down system performance as severely as in previous years. Simulate real shadow patterns for any specific day