Kenjeran Park's Racing Track

[TP]

Here's the 3D model made with Google SketchUp + Google Earth. I made this for about four hours. The track has two layouts: short and long. The long version is fantasy, although in real world this could be done, as I built the extended track based on what's available around the track.

[Gunnar]

looks interesting. do you build the track itself with splines or polygons?

[TP]

With Google SketchUp, there's no technical terms such as polygon or spline, all that exists is pencil, eraser, ruler, and paper 

Seriously, if I created this with 3DSMax, it would take more than just a mere 4 hours! SketchUp will cut/trim the polygon's surface automatically according to your sketch, and this automated process will save you lots of time. I now can concentrate more on the overall track design/layout rather than the technical stuff such as how to weld the vertexes, how to extrude the face properly, etc.

The 'snap-on-everything-on-paper' function also works pretty cool although sometimes can be very irritating if we wanted to place two vertexes very close to each other -they will glued to each other automatically. The snap function also can help us to place a vertex parallel to or perpendicular to faces/points/edges.

The Freehand Tool also works pretty amazing. You can literally paint on the poly surface (vertically or horizontally) and SketchUp will take care of the polygon-cutting transparently.

Track building is more fun with Google SketchUp! 

Some people managed to create complex vehicles or buildings with SketchUp. After the track is done, I'm going to make a car with SketchUp.

[TP]

SketchUp pen and paper model works best only with flat surfaces. For curved surfaces, I built the polygon manually, I trace the track and its elevation data like what I would be doing in 3DSMax. Only this time I don't have to worry about the elevation data and how to import that data into 3DSMax.