Google Earth question?

Question

Why cant i see 3D buildings like it said u could?

Answer 1

Keep in mind, the images in google Earth are mostly from a satellite called Ikonos. While accurate geolocation of these data can permit it to be mapped onto a known altitude map, that knowledge is not a priori a part of the data set. Accurate geolocation is not trivial so probably there are people at google monkeying around with mapping image data onto their altitude maps until it "looks right" a tedious process that will not happen instantly.

Also, while I don't know where these surface maps of altitudes come from, they probably do not cover everything, so expect this to work only in limited areas. Finally, Ikonos has probably not mapped each area on the earth from lots of different directions and elevations, so you might have buildings with data for one side, but not another.

Answer 2

Just as the last guy said, plus be aware that not all buildings are in the database (yet). It's only a few areas, like downtown New York or the Vegas strip that it works on.

Answer 3

There's an option to select what you want to view. Haven't been on in a while, but I believe it's on the left side.