3D Google Earth to Rhino: Quick & Painless Site Model with Reality Capture

3D Google Earth to Rhino

Step-by-Step Workflow Using RealityCapture

How to Convert Google Earth 3D Models to Rhino

Want a quick way to bring real-world sites from Google Earth into Rhino? This workflow is perfect for early site studies—estimating height, massing, and landscape context—without modeling everything from scratch.

Just a heads-up: the result is a rough reference model, not a perfectly clean, construction-ready mesh.

Below is a step-by-step on how to Google Earth to Rhino.

Let’s do this 👇

Overview: What We’re Doing

1. Screen-record a 3D site in Google Earth

2. Clean and trim the video in Adobe Premiere

3. Turn the video into images in RealityCapture

4. Generate a 3D mesh

5. Trim, export, and bring it into Rhino

Step 1: Screen Record the 3D View in Google Earth

1. Open Google Earth and zoom to your site.

2. Switch to 3D view and tilt the camera so buildings and terrain are clearly visible.

3. Start screen recording

   • On Windows: press Win + G → click Record

4. Slowly orbit, pan, and zoom around the site.

   • Move smoothly and evenly—this helps RealityCapture later.

Tips

• Closer views = more detail, heavier file

• Wider views = lighter file, less detail

• Try to capture all sides of buildings and terrain

When you’re done, stop recording and save the video. 👍

Step 2: Clean Up the Video in Adobe Premiere

Now we’ll prep the footage so RealityCapture only sees what it needs.

1. Import the video

   • Open Premiere → drag the screen recording into the timeline

2. Trim unwanted parts

   • Use the Razor Tool (C) to cut out:

     • Fast movements

     • Menu clicks

     • Zooming in/out too quickly

3. Crop the frame (optional)

   • Focus only on the site area if your screen capture is wide

4. Export the video

   • File → Export → Media

   • Format: MP4

   • Save the cleaned video

Clean footage = smoother 3D reconstruction ✨

Step 3: Import the Video into RealityCapture

Time to turn video into data.

1. Open RealityCapture

2. Go to the Workflow tab

3. Click Video Sequence

4. Select your exported MP4 file

5. Set Frame Step to 0.5 sec

   • Good balance between detail and performance

   • Smaller value = more detail, heavier processing

6. Click Import

RealityCapture will extract still images from your video.

Step 4: Align Images and Create the 3D Model

This is where the magic happens 🪄

1. In the Workflow tab, click Align Images

2. RealityCapture analyzes the frames and builds a point cloud

3. Check the Preview Model

If something looks off

• Missing areas → re-import with 0.3 sec frame step

• Model too heavy → remove extra frames and re-align

Once alignment looks good, proceed to generate the mesh.

Step 5: Trim, Export, and Bring into Rhino

1. Use the Box tool in RealityCapture

   • Trim out unwanted surroundings

   • Keep only your site area

2. Generate the final mesh

3. Export the model

   • Format: OBJ

4. Open Rhino

   • Import the OBJ file

   • Scale and position as needed for your project

And you’re done! 🎉

Final Thoughts

This workflow is:

• ✅ Fast

• ✅ Great for context, massing, and early design

• ❌ Not ideal for clean topology or precision modeling

• ❌ Can get pretty heavy

Think of it as a smart shortcut for site understanding—not a final model.